Jun 172026
 


Edward Hopper Chair Car 1965


Hormuz Fears Ease As Trump, Ghalibaf Virtually Sign US-Iran Deal (ZH)
Trump Calls on Putin to Reach Deal With Ukraine After Zelenskyy Meeting (ET)
Hague Tribunal Rejects Ukraine’s Crimea Claims (RT)
Grenell: DOJ Investigation of Newsom Began Under Biden Admin (Salgado)
Senate Could Vote on Jay Clayton DNI Nomination Thursday (CTH)
Scott Jennings, Ana Navarro, Robert De Niro and Michelle Obama (Warren Squire)
UK Social Media Law ‘A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing’ – Musk (RT)
Elon Musk To Sue German Broadcaster ZDF For ‘Outrageous Lies’ (RMX)
Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Repeats a Warning Message (CTH)
The Grievance Industry in America Has a World Cup Problem (CTH)
1000s Of Italian Protesters Demand Remigration In Rome (ZH)
Where to Track (and Predict!) Your Congresscritter’s Insider Trades (Green)
JD Vance Shuts Whoopi Goldberg DOWN (Sam J.)
George Conway Is Back, and He’s Really, Really Gonna Get Trump (Spencer)

 


 

https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2066701232010362928?s=20 https://twitter.com/JesseBWatters/status/2066681754505683077?s=20

 


 


“.. But Energy Flows Remain Months From Normal”.

People can trust the flows will be restored, that’s all they need right now.

Hormuz Fears Ease As Trump, Ghalibaf Virtually Sign US-Iran Deal (ZH)

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


But Trump stated overnight the deal terms will be released “pretty soon,” likely after the formal signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday. Trump, who is attending the G7 club summit in France, suggested that he would not attend the signing event at the end of the week. VP Vance is expected to lead the American delegation in Switzerland on Friday to formally sign an interim peace deal with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Trump pushed back on MSM reports that his administration is considering a $300 billion fund for Iran as part of an agreement to end the war.

“Iran has agreed to never have a Nuclear Weapon! Also, the story that the U.S. is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Trump’s Truth Social comments came shortly after VP Vance the Iranians “could have access” to a $300 billion reconstruction fund. “That’s the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation,” Vance told CBS News in an interview.

The interim peace deal signals a major diplomatic breakthrough, though Israel remains opposed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Trump “do not always see eye to eye.” Conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah continued Monday in southern Lebanon. With the Strait of Hormuz set to open on Friday, blockades and the clogged maritime chokepoint could soon be in the rearview mirror, but the effect on physical markets could last for months, if not longer.

Read more …

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

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

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


“I’m going to do whatever I can,” Trump said, to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said he wants to focus on Ukraine now, saying Iran will soon be “back in the rearview mirror.” When asked whether he would increase sanctions on Russia, Trump said the United States could reinstate sanctions now that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. “Soon we’ll be able to do that, because the oil is now flowing,” Trump told reporters during a bilateral meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.“We took sanctions off because obviously we’re not looking to impede the U.S, so we’re in a position to do that soon,” Trump added.

Washington eased sanctions on Russia in March, permitting purchases of Russian seaborne oil to address the energy supply shortage caused by the war in Iran. The Treasury Department later extended the sanctions waiver, which is set to expire on June 17. Leaders of the world’s seven largest advanced economies have gathered in Évian-les-Bains, a lakeside town in eastern France, from June 15 to June 17 for their annual summit. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine is stronger now than it was at last year’s G7 summit in Canada.

“Ukraine is in a different position,” von der Leyen said at a press conference in Evian on June 15. “Ukraine is holding the frontline and even partially regaining territory.” She also praised the speed at which Ukraine was becoming a top producer of advanced military equipment. “On the other hand, Russia is feeling the strain and pressure. Our sanctions are biting and cutting deep,” she added. In August 2025, Trump invited Putin to a meeting in Alaska to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. However, the meeting ended with no breakthrough. Before heading to France, Trump said he had spoken separately with both Putin and Zelenskyy on the phone on June 15.

“We had a very good conversation yesterday with President Zelenskiy and President Putin, and I think maybe we can do something there,” he said following his bilateral meeting with Macron on June 15. “I really do. I think they’re both open to it.” He said that now the Iran deal is finalized, “we’re going to be focusing on that.” On June 15, Ukraine officially began European Union membership negotiations, launching a process that will require its government to commit to years of political reforms even as it fights the Russian invasion. Ukraine sees EU membership as a security guarantee for a stable future once the war ends.

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

Hague Tribunal Rejects Ukraine’s Crimea Claims (RT)

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


In a statement on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the tribunal’s final ruling, adopted unanimously by a panel of five arbitrators, as a “convincing victory” for Moscow. It said the tribunal rejected Ukraine’s demands for compensation and reparations related to natural resources around Crimea. According to the ministry, the tribunal also dismissed Kiev’s attempt to classify the Kerch Strait as an international waterway open to vessels of all states, including warships. Moscow said the ruling formally recognized the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov as Russia’s historic domestic waters.

The tribunal likewise rejected claims that Russia violated international law by asserting sovereignty over the Sea of Azov following the accession of the Donbass republics and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye. The largely Russian-speaking Donetsk and Lugansk republics, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye, joined Russia after referendums held in autumn 2022 amid the escalating Ukraine conflict. The ruling also dismissed Ukraine’s demand that the Crimean Bridge be dismantled. Kiev had argued that the crossing, built between 2016 and 2018 to link Crimea with mainland Russia, was illegal and hindered navigation through the Kerch Strait.

Moscow called the claim “absurd,” while the tribunal found Ukraine’s arguments unsubstantiated, according to the ministry.≥The bridge has repeatedly been targeted by Kiev using naval drones, explosives and Western-supplied long-range missiles, causing damage and civilian casualties. The ruling represents a significant “defeat” for Ukraine and its Western backers in the decade-long “legal war” against Russia, according to the ministry.

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

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

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

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


Special missions envoy Richard Grenell called Newsom’s bluff:

Newsom’s government is under a new investigation federal authorities launched into election fraud in California after evidence of bribery and ballot harvesting, along with stunning changes in state and city election results a week into “counting.” But when the Democrat governor griped on Monday about federal investigation into him and “First Partner” Jennifer Siebel Newsom, he was reportedly referring to investigations involving his staff and her taxes. And the Newsoms first came under investigation from the DOJ when the previous Democrat administration was in office.

As important context, Dana Williamson, Newsom’s former chief of staff and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra’s former advisor, pleaded guilty in May to corruption-related charges. Grenell explained, “The investigation of Gavin’s political money started in 2022.”

Grenell also reposted the following information:

https://twitter.com/qc_cin/status/2066622313466921431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066622313466921431%7Ctwgr%5E8a738acde186e92ac44bedae551005b6901c1d93%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fcatherinesalgado%2F2026%2F06%2F15%2Fgrenell-doj-investigation-of-newsom-began-under-biden-administration-n4954009

But reality never inhibits Democrats. “Justice is for sale,” Newsom pontificated grandiosely in a video he posted June 15. He whined that the DOJ investigation of him now extends to his wife, who over the years has been involved in multiple scandals involving taxpayer money allocation and sexual grooming of children through school films. Newsom did not in the video describe any of the actual charges against him and his wife, which seems to support the criticism that he doesn’t have any good defense against them. Instead, Newsom rambled on with self-righteous assertions of integrity, emotional condemnations of the investigation into his wife, irrelevant facts about the Trump family’s net worth, and promotion of his own potential campaign for president.

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

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

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

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



Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already dispatched the request of President Trump to attach the Save America Act to the FISA (702) reauthorization vote that will likely happen as soon as Jay Clayton is confirmed. Again, this example outlines how the DC system moves when they -not the executive- control the functions of the Intelligence Community. If you watch the Thune statement above, please note the professional obfuscation. It is very important to understand and recognize the issues as they face our nation.

The government (DOJ/FBI) does not need any authorization from congress to conduct surveillance on foreign nationals. There is nothing needed to spy on, intercept, surveil, or track the activity of a foreign national. The foreign person does not have any constitutional protection at all. However, if an American is the target of secret surveillance, tracking, spying, etc., the DOJ/FBI need some method of authorization to violate the fourth amendment protection within the constitution. That’s where FISA (702) come into the picture.

FISA (702) only pertains to an American in the surveillance process. FISA (702) is the presumed legal method, never tested in court, that permits the DOJ and FBI to violate the 4th amendment protection of the American person. FISA (702) only pertains to a legislative construct that permits this secret surveillance of the American person. The Title-1 surveillance warrant that often comes with the 702-authorized review or investigation; is all encompassing and authorizes the government to secretly look at the private records of the targeted American.

If FISA (702) did not exist, all of the electronic record keeping, the stored metadata of Americans, would be worthless. FISA (702) is the key that allows the government to unlock the data (private records) and review it. Without the key, you cannot open the door – as a consequence, the U.S. government doesn’t need the vault. FISA (702) has never been tested in court by any targeted person, in part because the evidence against the accused person only exists for prosecutorial use if the person is factually guilty of the suspected allegation. This is the catch-22 that has permitted the 702 violations to continue without challenge.

It doesn’t matter how many times our politicians try to position the argument, there is nothing that stops the DOJ/FBI from looking at the activity of foreign actors. However, there are constitutional protections that stop the DOJ/FBI from looking at the activity of Americans. FISA (702) is designed specifically to work around those constitutional protections. It looks like Jay Clayton is on the fast-track to be confirmed on Thursday, and FISA (702) to be reauthorized immediately thereafter.

We are in an abusive relationship with our government.

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

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

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


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

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

Jennings explained: “I think you have to love your country, whether or not you lost the last election. I love America… According to some polling that came out this week, and most Republicans love America. Ninety percent are very proud to be Americans. They’re proud of living in this country. Unfortunately, I think Mr. De Niro’s comments are pretty indicative of a majority of Democrats who can’t seem to find that attitude inside them even though they lost the last election. And, you know, loving America, being a patriot for America, feeling good about America shouldn’t be dictated by whether you won or lost. When I hear De Niro, I hear him saying, “I can only love America if we win every election from here on out. That’s a rather fascist statement.”

We wouldn’t be surprised if his obituary reads like the one for the recently deceased ALF actress known for her ‘burning hatred for Trump.’Posters say this hatred that Democrats have for the country when they are out of power shows what they truly cherish.

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

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

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

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

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


Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal will be exempt from the ban, the statement added. The ban is expected to come into force next year. Shortly after Starmer’s announcement, Musk warned that “this censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In a post on X, the billionaire claimed that its “real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.” In another post, Musk declared that “the UK is a police state.” In order to ban under-16s, the government must ensure that adults can verify their age before using social media platforms. Starmer’s office did not say how this would be implemented, instead stating that the government is exploring “different options for effective forms of age assurance.”

However, Starmer said that age verification would “use the same model for a social media ban as Australia.” Under the scheme, users must prove they are over 16 by submitting a government-issued ID or allowing a facial age check, with platforms responsible for carrying out the verification. The ban has been heavily criticized by digital rights activists. “Over 16s in the UK will have to hand over identity documents or biometric data to unregulated age verification companies,” the Open Rights Group warned, adding that “the government has completely failed to acknowledge the harms that could come from that.” “We will become one of the first democracies in the world to require IDs to access the internet,” Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo told Talk TV on Monday. “We are sleepwalking towards a total surveillance state.”

Starmer has lobbied for the introduction of a mandatory digital ID system since last year, but was forced to drop the plan amid public backlash this January. His government, however, has plowed ahead with other digital surveillance and censorship measures, including the rollout of facial recognition cameras by multiple police departments at demonstrations, a request to tech companies to require adults to submit ID to use mobile phones, and legislation that will enable the government to remove content from social media “during times of crisis.”

Read more …

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

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

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


Musk shared Robinson’s post on X and added, “Only through repeated and loud protests will anything change.” ZDF later used the incident in a segment on ZDFheute live, introducing it as part of a wider discussion about online agitation after violent crimes. Presenter Christina von Ungern-Sternberg said, A brutal attempted murder in broad daylight in Belfast. Someone films it. The video goes viral.

A racist mob then hunts down migrants. This was called for by a British far-right extremist and tech billionaire Elon Musk.”

She then asked, “What’s behind it? Which actors have an interest in using a violent crime to incite civil war?” The framing triggered criticism in Germany, including from journalists who said the broadcaster had gone beyond what Musk had actually written. Welt journalist Anna Schneider said, “ZDF is attributing a statement to Musk that he never made.”NDR editor Sebastian Eberle also criticized the segment, writing on X, “Dear colleagues in Mainz, with all due respect, this is unacceptable. We cannot and must not work like this. This is completely unacceptable.”

ZDF later acknowledged that the wording in the segment had been flawed. Asked by Nius about the controversy, a ZDF spokesperson said, “The presenter was supposed to succinctly summarize the complex situation of the violently escalating protests and the previous calls for protests on X at the beginning of the very comprehensive and nuanced 30-minute program. However, the chosen wording was imprecise and therefore misleading.”The broadcaster said Robinson had called for protests after the Belfast knife attack and that Musk had shared the post.

Musk responded on Monday by saying he would pursue legal action against the broadcaster. “Legal action is being taken against ZDF for their outrageous lies,” he wrote on X. This isn’t the first time this year the broadcaster has been enveloped in controversy for its reporting. Back in February, the same program was forced to issue an on-air apology after it was found to have broadcast a segment containing AI-generated footage depicting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arresting a migrant family. “We invest a great deal of effort to provide you with verified information. This time, we failed to do so,” it said at the time.

Read more …

5 Eyes Countries.

Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Repeats a Warning Message (CTH)

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


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

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

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

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

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


Yup, there’s visible patriotism everywhere and its being compounded by Freedom 250 events, celebrating 250 years of just being awesome America. Not only is the American flag being celebrated, but ironically European national flags are being waved everywhere in celebration of nationalism – and the people waving them don’t have to worry about being harassed by police or being arrested for it. This is a new experience for young Europeans and they are overwhelmed. The joy is evident and it’s more than a little awesome to see all of the videos capturing the thrill of it all. As one observer noted in a moment of contemplation, heck, this country didn’t even need to build anything to host the FIFA World Cup, they just changed the electronic displays on the modern billboards.

“Qatar built stadiums from scratch, constructed a complete metro system, redesigned roads, hotels, and entire neighborhoods—even after the event ended, they said they were going to give away a stadium because they had one to spare. South Africa had to erect new stadiums, parking lots, and massive infrastructure projects; it was a multi-billion-dollar investment that ate up part of its GDP. Brazil burned through billions on infrastructure and ended up with a president in jail for corruption (Lula); in the end, construction was still underway when the event kicked off. Russia remodeled half the country to measure up, and even then, the infrastructure deficiencies—from transportation to other areas—were still glaring.

And the United States? They just changed the grass in a few stadiums. Period. Nothing else. No megaprojects, no monumental works, no “reinventing” cities. And this happens because when you already have world-class infrastructure, the World Cup isn’t a problem—it’s just a formality.”

In American reality, the SEC football stadiums could have hosted the entire World Cup event all by themselves; easy peasy. Why? Because we are the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and all of those inhabitants are experiencing it in real life. This America thing is, actually, awesome. All of it. There are great American eagles flying around. Massive, thundering jets booming just above the audience. Rockets exploding with great fireworks and exhibitions of colorful explosions accompanied by music. Every sense is overwhelmed, and yet to an American, it’s just another Tuesday.

The great American podcast business is being drowned out by all this international optimism; it is very funny to witness. The voices of the American critics cannot begin to break through the noise and jubilation in the background, and the happy people just won’t shut up. How are these grievance-class podcasters supposed to make money, when their best level Mark Levin bitching and griping screeches are not loud enough? There’s a certain funny unfairness about it all. Making matters worse, the jubilation is not limited to soccer games. The happy people are starting to attend ordinary American activities like baseball games, rodeos, car and boat races and then the national parks and beaches. Jumpin’ ju-ju-bones, all of this is not what they expected.

https://twitter.com/lovetocook12345/status/2066477816657424715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066477816657424715%7Ctwgr%5Ef7a77ff6a984a9482dc4a45a3575f7ee7b2d8b32%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2026%2F06%2F15%2Fthe-grievance-industry-in-america-has-a-world-cup-problem%2F

At the same time, the happy people have realized America is a massive country. They are flying around and driving for hours only to realize they haven’t even left a few states yet…. and there’s 50 of them? OMG you cannot be serious. This is America. This is the America the great American grievance class have forgotten to appreciate. This is also the America their local media back home lied to them about. The happy people were told that everything over here was fraught with drugs, gangs and terrible dirty stuff. America was Gotham City. Except it isn’t. It is not any of that. America is clean, organized and fun. The American people are friendly, beyond generous and all-around awesome.

The Happy People are encountering everyday Americans. Middle American people who don’t need passports because there’s no reason to leave this amazing country – because all of the best stuff in the rest of the world is available right here without taking a trip. Keep in mind that for Europeans coming out of the COVID era, their entire life existence is constructed around keeping their global footprint as small as possible. America is not that, at all. The American food is big and tasty; the American stores are a hundred-fold larger than anything the Happy People have ever experienced. The roads are easy to travel. Everything is modern and the internet speed is way faster than anything at home. Technology exists at a scale that is far deeper than anything they expected.

This is America.We are Americans, and a new generation is gaining appreciation for why Lady Liberty can stroll along the Champs-Elysées with a swagger befitting Mae West; because without her arrival, they’d be speaking German in the Louvre. For the better part of the past few decades a group of intellectuals and influencers have been promoting an insufferable storyline that it’s better to be sitting around a campfire eating sustainable algae cakes and picking parasites off each other. Enough. We are Americans. When I hear Donald Trump say, “Let’s Make America Great Again”, I also hear the familiar echo “cowboy up” people.

It’s high time we stop being embarrassed about our exceptional nature, and start being proud of it again. Because when it matters most, when it really counts, when it’s really needed, there’s a whole bunch of people all around this world of ours that need to feel the type of optimism that walks with a swagger. And right now, there’s thousands of non-Americans experiencing and realizing why that swagger exists.

That my friends, is pretty darned cool.

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

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

A demonstration of several thousand people took place in Rome on Saturday to advocate for remigration and stricter controls on immigration. Coming from various regions across Italy, a crowd of roughly 3,000 individuals paraded through the nation’s capital behind a prominent sign declaring “Remigration and Recapture,“ a slogan used to call for the mandatory deportation of migrants back to their countries of origin.


The march drew participation from various right-wing organizations, including Casapound. According to Luca Marsella, a spokesman for Casapound, their objective is clear. “We want to throw out the illegal immigrants because they shouldn’t be here.” He further noted that their demands extend beyond those without legal status, adding, “And because we are not politically correct, we also say that we want to send home the legal immigrants who have obviously not adapted or integrated.”

https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2066125120565850455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066125120565850455%7Ctwgr%5E3918d20914048eeeb1381e61905ee4648960972d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Frmx.news%2Farticle%2Fitaly-thousands-of-protesters-demand-remigration-in-rome%2F

Concurrently, Rome hosted the inaugural party congress for Futuro Nazionale (National Future), a newly established right-wing political group organized by Roberto Vannacci, a former general who now serves as an MEP. Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Vannacci expressed an uncompromising stance on border control, asserting, “If it were up to me, no one should be allowed to enter Italy.” Vannacci previously aligned with the anti-immigration League Party party led by Vice Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. His political emergence means that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia), alongside her coalition allies, will contend with fresh rivals on the right.

Public opinion polls suggest that Futuro Nazionale could capture 4.5 percent of the electorate, drawing its strongest support from citizens who previously voted for League. Vannacci’s movement already possesses a foothold in the legislature, as eight sitting parliamentarians have already defected to join his ranks.The issue of migration is a contentious one, with migrants responsible for 43 percent of sexual crimes and 60 percent of robberies and thefts. Just days ago, two Pakistani men were arrested for allegedly burning alive four Pakistani nationals after the men demanded better wages for agricultural work.

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

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

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


Over on X, Ricardo dug into the “crazy” numbers and found that “56% of every stock purchase made by Congress in the last 16 months was on a stock directly affected by a bill the buyer later voted on.” Worse — or better, if you’re a member of America’s insider-trading nomenklatura — Ricardo also revealed that “343 of 540 Congress members actively trade stocks while holding access to nonpublic legislative information.” vBut wait, there’s more. bGovGreed’s AI identified 752 “triple signals” in the sitting Congress. A triple signal is when a congresscritter sits on the committee writing a bill, “they traded stock in a company affected by that bill, AND they received campaign contributions from that same industry.”

Triple signals trade at 5.4 times the normal rate of congressional trades, he found. In other words, Congress isn’t just trading on insider information. Congress generates the information, influenced by donations from the very companies whose futures are written by Congress. The result? While the S&P 500 so far is on track to generate a 10.8% return in 2026, Congressional traders earned 10.2% in the last 30 days, according to the site. You’ve probably long suspected all this, but GovGreed put it all in one AI-enhanced searchable database. There’s a subscription required to get to all the good stuff, and I’m debating right now whether to whip out my credit card.

Democrats like California’s dynamic trading duo, Nancy Pelosi and Ro Khanna, made some of the biggest returns, but plenty of Republicans are in on the game, too. The STOCK Act requires congresscritters to report their trades, but Ricardo found that Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, “made 1,443 trades in three years, more than 98% of all politicians tracked,” and also “violated the STOCK Act twice in a single year, disclosing up to $900,000 in trades months after the legal deadline.” The penalty for violating the STOCK Act is a $200 fine, because Congress writes the rules that Congress has to live by. “The number of Congress members ever prosecuted under the STOCK Act since it passed in 2012? Zero,” notes Ricardo.

Probably the only real solution is to start electing a better class of people to Congress, which is more than a little like saying, “I bet instead of messing with those big dangerous rockets, we could just all wish a permanent moon base into existence.” When Mark Twain wrote in 1894 that “It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress,” he was likely being uncharacteristically generous in his estimation for an elected office he also called “the trivialist distinction for a full grown man.” So if we ever do get that Article V Convention of States — which both fills me with hope and wakes me with night sweats — I have a modest proposal for the convention to consider.

It’s a rule of thumb that individual investors hope, over the long term, to earn a 7% return on their investments. I propose that instead of passing ethics laws that the most unethical people in the country will circumvent, we amend the Constitution to tax any congresscritter investment returns above 7% at 100%. And all revenues would go to deficit reduction. Nancy Pelosi alone could put a nice little dent in our national debt. Anyway, that’s my modest proposal. What’s yours?

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Crazy, crazier, Whoopi.

JD Vance Shuts Whoopi Goldberg DOWN (Sam J.)

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


When the co-host tried to frame the administration’s focus on law and order as some kind of racial slight, Vance countered with a clear example: Washington, D.C.—one of the most Democratic cities in the country and among those with the highest share of Black residents—has seen a sharp drop in violent crime, sexual assaults, and murders. He stressed that serious efforts to make neighborhoods safer apply to everyone, regardless of race or background, and that the usual race-baiting script no longer lands with people who simply want results. This is so good – watch:

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2066913357777514961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066913357777514961%7Ctwgr%5E6fb6a5d0a9133934e2732a39ea1ebb93bbd935ae%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsamj%2F2026%2F06%2F16%2Fjd-vance-shuts-whoopi-goldberg-down-for-claiming-trump-is-casting-black-people-aside-watch-n2429310

Post continues:” … of the BLACKEST—by share of population—cities, has seen a RADICAL decrease in violent crime and sexual assault and murders. We have tried to take the crime issue seriously in part because we believe EVERYBODY, whether you are black or white or rich or poor, deserves to live in a safe neighborhood.” The race hustling is TOTAL BS. And it doesn’t work on reasonable people anymore.

Love to see it.

Unless, of course, you’re Whoopi.

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

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

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


Conway has made no secret of what he will do if he does get to the House. That’s right: Conway’s program from first to last is Get Trump. Fox News reported Monday that Conway “is pledging to pursue President Donald Trump’s third impeachment and put him ‘away for good’ if elected to Congress.”

Yeah, the third time will be the charm, eh, George? The mere fact that someone — anyone — is talking about a third impeachment of Trump is an indication of how deranged the Democrats have become. The republic was preparing to celebrate its bicentennial when we had our second president who was ever in danger of being impeached, and he (Richard Nixon) resigned before the House voted on the articles of impeachment. The third impeachment of a president came just under a quarter-century later, and now George Conway wants the nation to go through its third such proceeding in a decade, all of the same man.

It’s clear that for the staggeringly corrupt Democrat establishment, impeachment is no longer a tool of last resort to deal with a president who is accused of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors,” as the Constitution puts it, but an everyday tool to try to destroy the man whom they can’t defeat at the ballot box (unless they cheat, of course). If Conway gets his third impeachment and it fails yet again, but the Democrats control the House, they’ll try a fourth time, and a fifth, and on and on and on.

Conway may not get his chance to vote to impeach the man he loathes with such passionate intensity. He is running for the seat that Jerry Nadler is vacating, and it’s a crowded field. Paradoxically, his long-ago support for Trump could be the biggest obstacle to persuading the people who voted for Zohran Mamdani to send him to Congress.

Nevertheless, Conway is in there pitching, appealing to the Democrats with what he is sure is a winning formula: not talking about how he will work to improve the quality of life of his constituents, but about how he will get Orange Man Bad. In a campaign commercial, he even addressed Trump instead of the voters. “Hi, Donald,” Conway chirped. “It’s me, George Conway. I cost you 88 f*****g million dollars, and I’ve only just gotten started.”

Turning up the threats and braggadocio to 11, Conway added: “I know you like putting your name on everything from your plane to the Kennedy Center. But the only thing your name is going to be left on when I’m done with you is the orange jumpsuit you’re going to have to wear in prison.”

At this point, you might be wondering exactly what crime Conway thinks Trump has committed that is going to land him in prison, especially in light of the fact that none of the Democrats’ previous lawfare frame-ups of the man they love to hate succeeded in doing so. But Conway didn’t even bother to explain. The Democrats have moved so far beyond rationality at this point that they don’t even need to spend the time and energy fabricating a crime that they did with the Russia hoax. They’ll impeach Trump for whatever crime anyone can think of. The charge doesn’t matter; besmirching and destroying the president does.

Conway pointed to the Capitol as he continued: “And you see that building back there. That’s where we’re going to hold your third and final impeachment trial, the one that’s going to put you away for good, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of that.”

A White House spokesperson responded with a message that sounded as if it came from Trump himself: “Lightweight George Conway is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person. His severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome has melted his brain and made him crazy in the head.”

The good news is that this lunatic is currently polling fourth in his congressional race, behind Assemblymen Micah Lasher and Alex Bores, D-N.Y., as well as Jack Schlossberg, who hates Trump as much as the next guy but has an altogether different claim to fame, as he is JFK’s grandson. Any of these guys will be a disaster in Congress, but none would be quite as spectacularly disastrous as George Conway.

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Jun 152026
 


Robert Campin A man 1435


Trump Announces Peace Deal with Iran Is Complete (Margolis)
Trump: Hormuz To Reopen Friday After Signing Of “Great Peace Deal” (ZH)
Iran Reveals Draft Of Trump-Touted MoU To Be Signed Sunday (ZH)
Scott Jennings Hammers CNN Panel Over Elon Musk Trillionaire Status (Amy Curtis)
Bakari Sellers Calls Elon Musk a White Supremacist (Margolis)
Elon Musk and the Politics of Envy (Tim O’Brien)
Carney: “Middle Powers” Can Collectively Counterbalance U.S. Global Power (CTH)
Pompeo Unmasked (CTH)
Buttigieg Joins the Calls to Take Over the Supreme Court (Turley)
‘Birth Tourism’ Networks Around the World Exploiting the U.S. (Salgado)
Puffy Putin Peril: The West’s Latest Attempt To Scare Itself (Amar)
Thinking for Oneself: Schopenhauer on Reflection vs. Regurgitation (Eskeldson)

 


 

https://twitter.com/BarronTNews_/status/2065789421379572045?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2065854007722311794?s=20 https://twitter.com/FarmGirlCarrie/status/2065912335248826563?s=20

 


 


What a way to spend your 80th birthday! He did it! Hats off. So many people wanted him to fail even if it was against their own interests, just to spite him.

Trump Announces Peace Deal with Iran Is Complete (Margolis)

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that a peace deal with Iran had been finalized, immediately lifting the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports and reopening the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping. The region that has defined American foreign policy anxiety for decades just changed dramatically — and it happened on Trump’s watch. “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, offering “congratulations to all!” He followed that up by authorizing what he called the “toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz” alongside the simultaneous removal of the naval blockade. Then, in classic Trump fashion, he added, “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”


Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the deal in a statement of his own. He announced that “the Peace Deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED” after what he described as “intensive talks.” He continued, “We would like to thank the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict. We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to our brothers in this mediation effort, the great leadership of State of Qatar, for their support in reaching this agreement. I would also especially thank the visionary leadership of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Türkiye for their immense contributions in this regard.”

A formal signing ceremony is scheduled for June 19 in Switzerland, with mediators facilitating preliminary technical meetings this week to lay the groundwork.Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the deal from Tehran’s side, saying an immediate and permanent halt to war and military operations — including in Lebanon — would begin Sunday. He also made clear that Iran would respond if the other side violates its commitments and that the next phase of negotiations hinges on Iranian assets being unfrozen. Make no mistake about it, Tehran is going to test the limits of this thing. That’s what Iran does. But the framework is there, and the verification mechanisms matter.

Vice President JD Vance laid out the significance on Sunday on Fox News. “Three things that I think are important for the American people just to appreciate about what this deal does for all of us as Americans,” Vance said. “Number one, this is the immediate opening of the Straits of Hormuz and, of course, the lifting of the naval blockade that we’ve had on Iran along with it. The number two thing that it means is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and not just pursue a nuclear weapon, but procure or try to buy a nuclear weapon as well that’s built into this agreement.”

The third element, Vance explained, depends on Iranian compliance. Still, the upside is enormous. “If the Iranians comply with this deal, it is going to fundamentally transform the Middle East for the next 50 years,” he said. “It’s going to end the war. It’s going to make the Middle East more investable. It’s going to mean a lot of prosperity, lower energy prices for the American people. This region of the world has been a basket case for my entire life and longer than that.”

Obviously, there’s still work ahead. And there’s reason to be skeptical of Iran because this is a regime with a long history of buying time while running out the clock. But, we aren’t sending them plane-loads of cash in the dark of night, or giving them a path to nuclear weapons, as Barack Obama did. And that’s the key here. Trump built in verification. Vance was explicit that the benefits flow only if Iran delivers. The approach is trust nothing, verify everything, and tie every concession to compliance. That’s exactly the kind of deal the Obama-era Iran agreement was never structured to be.

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“Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, also confirmed: “that the Peace Deal between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED.”

Trump: Hormuz To Reopen Friday After Signing Of “Great Peace Deal” (ZH)

“This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region. Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me. The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace. With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.


The timing of the peace deal is critical. The world was approaching a dangerous energy cliff, with strategic petroleum reserves being quickly drained to offset lost Gulf production and stabilize physical markets. Still, even with a deal in place, energy flows through the strategic maritime chokepoint will not normalize overnight. It will likely take several months, if not quarters, to clear the backlog, restore shipping confidence, de-risk insurance markets, and bring regional production and export flows back to pre-crisis levels. As for damaged energy assets such as those in Qatar, it’ll take years to get production back to pre-war levels.

Deal Confirmed By Trump, Pakistan PM, Just Ahead Of NY Futures Opening. Just 30 minutes before futures open in New York, President Trump announced on Truth Social that a “Deal” with Iran is now complete. “Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” Trump said.

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, also confirmed: “that the Peace Deal between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED.”

Sharif said, “The official signing ceremony will be on Friday, 19 June in Switzerland.”

Israeli journalist and Iran affairs correspondent/analyst for Israel’s Channel 14 reports that hardliners in Iran, including IRGC forces, will not derail the peace deal.

Read more …

From the lead-up to the accord.

Iran Reveals Draft Of Trump-Touted MoU To Be Signed Sunday (ZH)

Bloomberg and Reuters are reporting Sunday some fresh details on Iran’s version of what the MoU to be signed – which President Trump says will happen today (albeit remotely) will inlcude. “A draft of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding included diluting highly enriched uranium within Iran and the release of $25b of Iran’s frozen assets, Reuters reports citing a senior Iran official it didn’t identify,” writes Bloomberg in the latest. This includes:


• Final deal to be discussed in the 60 days following agreement by the two sides
• Also includes Iran immediately reopening Hormuz Strait to all commercial vessels and US lifting its naval blockade
• Tehran in draft agrees that will neither produce nor acquire nuclear weapons
• To maintain the nuclear status quo until final deal is reached, including by not enriching uranium and not expanding nuclear facilities

One potential major complication to the two sides actually signing is what’s happening in the Beirut suburbs, which the Israeli Air Force has just struck for the first time in about a week:

Provocative Israeli military actions previously effectively torpedoed prior Washington-Tehran attempts to get back to the negotiating table. Will the same hold-up happen again? Pro-Israel supporters and lobbyists in the US have been raging against what they see as a ‘failure’ of a deal, and ‘capitulation’ to Iran on kicking the can on the nuclear issue… not least among them is on display in the following:

The usual caveats which proved all prior ‘deal imminent’ headlines to be premature and wishful thinking still apply. Some latest from Iranian state media according to Al Jazeera: “Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, is reporting that Iranian officials were discussing the ceasefire points with the Qatari mediators in Tehran. The report added that the deal is yet to be finalised and “no agreement will definitely be signed at the time Trump announced”. The comments were made to the agency prior to Israel’s deadly attacks on Lebanon’s southern suburbs today.

Sunday Iran Deal (or rather: MoU Remote Signing) Expected Sunday, per Trump. President Trump said Saturday that an interim U.S.-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and wind down the four-month conflict could be signed as soon as Sunday. However, Tehran has pushed back on that timeline, signaling that no final decision has been made while Iranian officials continue to review the terms of a potential memorandum of understanding. “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday, while claiming that Iran “no longer wants a Nuclear weapon.”

The president continued, “At the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust, buried deep under the powerful sunken granite mountains, thanks to our beautiful B-2 Bombers and their brilliant pilots, and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States.” Pakistan and Qatar are mediating, with technical talks expected to follow any signing and last up to 60 days. The MOU is structured as a step-by-step framework, meaning the Hormuz maritime chokepoint will reopen first, followed by economic rewards for Iran as conditions are met.

Pakistan, which has served as one of the mediators, is preparing to sign the peace deal electronically, followed by technical-level talks next week, according to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said those talks would last two months and focus on Iran’s nuclear program. Meanwhile, the Iranian media outlet Fars News Agency reported earlier that Iran has not made a final call on a potential MOU with the U.S. Iranian authorities are still reviewing the political, legal, and technical details, with no final decision announced as of Sunday morning.

The urgency behind securing an MOU to reopen the Hormuz chokepoint is clear: the world is drifting dangerously close toward an energy cliff. Strategic petroleum reserves are being drawn down rapidly around the world to offset the loss of Gulf production, while China’s weakening fuel demand is helping to offset some of the broader supply shock. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made clear Friday that Iran understands that terms related to its nuclear program will be finalized within 60 days of the initial agreement being signed. So in essence, this means Iran could get its wish of pushing nuclear negotiations back, only after the hot conflict has clearly ended. Iran has long sought to separate the issues of a final end to the war from consideration of its nuclear program.

Energy markets priced in de-escalation last week, with Brent crude futures sliding as much as 5.1% Friday and European gas dropped as much as 8.4% after Trump canceled planned new strikes on Iran. IG’s weekend markets are pricing in a 50 bps decline in Brent crude when futures open on Sunday evening. But throughput traffic through the Hormuz chokepoint remains far below pre-war levels, and a vessel was struck off Oman on Saturday. Normalization could take weeks, if not many months. Bloomberg noted, “Roughly 140 ships passed through the narrow chokepoint each day before the conflict erupted.”

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“If Elon Musk had never gotten involved in politics, and never supported Trump, he’d be getting ticker tape parades right now for building this amazing company and sending rockets into space..”

Scott Jennings Hammers CNN Panel Over Elon Musk Trillionaire Status (Amy Curtis)

While Leftists melt down over Elon Musk becoming the world’s first trillionaire, they’ve demonstrated that they don’t understand how value works, or stocks, or how the economy works. Scott Jennings pointed out a very obvious truth: if Elon Musk were a Leftist, this wouldn’t be an issue.



“Are you saying because Elon Musk exists and is a wild success that that is somehow to the detriment of all the people you’re mentioning?” Jennings asked. “Elon is creating an environment where entrepreneurship, where success, where building is celebrated.” Then came the truth bomb. “The only reason anybody’s mad about this, let’s just be honest, is because he supported Donald Trump for President,” Jennings said.

“If Elon Musk had never gotten involved in politics, and never supported Trump, he’d be getting ticker tape parades right now for building this amazing company and sending rockets into space. It’s all political, and the people who should love Elon Musk hate him for that reason.” “But do you agree that one person should have control of American policy?” asked Gina Hinojosa. “That’s what money does.”

“It’s all about access to the United States,” she continued, “It’s not just about Donald Trump. There are races all across the country where he has access on policy.” “Call me when you’re made about Soros,” Jennings said.Do people with money have more influence in politics? Does CNN have a chyron for this? That’s how it’s always been. If money influenced policy, we’d have President Ross Perot. Hillary Clinton raised $770 million in 2016 and Kamala Harris raised $1.6 billion for her campaign.

https://twitter.com/wxmel/status/2066178897012490748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066178897012490748%7Ctwgr%5E8aab5d0d89583224ad4976df81987866feaa71be%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftownhall.com%2Ftipsheet%2Famy-curtis%2F2026%2F06%2F14%2Fscott-jennings-hammers-cnn-panel-over-elon-musk-trillionaire-status-n2677733

Clean vehicles, clean energy sources, space exploration, and Internet access via Starlink. Those are just some of his achievements and contributions. Bingo. If he funded Leftist causes and politicians, this wouldn’t be an issue.

It doesn’t matter what the narrative is today, as long as the Democrats can scream and whine about the “oligarchy” and against Donald Trump, Republicans, and anyone who isn’t their political ally.

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Sure.

Bakari Sellers Calls Elon Musk a White Supremacist (Margolis)

A CNN panel meant to discuss extraordinary wealth lurched far off the rails Friday night when one commentator went into full-on slander mode on Elon Musk, who became the world’s first trillionaire this week. He’s been getting attacked from the left for his success because that’s what the left does. Well, that and fantasize about spending other people’s money, which is exactly what CNN contributor Cari Champion started with. “If you spent a million dollars every single day, it would take you more than 2700 years to spend a trillion dollars,” Champion said.


“What you could effectively do with a trillion dollars is get rid of global poverty. You could end world hunger, you could cure major diseases like malaria, and you could completely transition the global energy sector to renewables. The fact that he has this type of money only tells me that his power will be more prevalent and that I could not — I cannot guarantee someone like this man would use his power for good.” Then Bakari Sellers took things further. After blaming Elon Musk’s influence for USAID cuts that he claimed killed thousands of women and children, Sellers leveled a charge that sent the panel into a frenzy: “Elon Musk is a white supremacist who believes in things like the —”

Criminal defense attorney Arthur Aidala jumped in. “Oh, boy,” Aidala said. “I wasn’t even finished a sentence,” Sellers shot back. Scott Jennings had a warning ready for Sellers. “You may need a lawyer when this is over,” he quipped. Sellers pressed on. Musk “believes in things like the Great Replacement Theory,” he said. But Aidala pushed back hard. “Considering we have about 12 defamation cases in my office right now,” he said, “before you start throwing things around like someone’s a white supremacist — I would win that case.”

He’s right. Democrats and the media often label mainstream conservative arguments about immigration and electoral incentives as “great replacement theory” and imply racism, but it’s not like Democrats haven’t made the very argument that, because of declining birth rates, the United States needed immigration to sustain population growth and the workforce. “We have a population that is not reproducing on its own with the same level that it used to. The only way we’re going to have a good future in America is if we welcome and embrace immigrants,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in 2022. But I digress.

In fact, Jennings cut through the whole exercise with a few pointed questions. “I’ve been listening to liberals count and spend Elon’s money for him,” Jennings said. “This envy, jealousy, hatred of success. Why is it immoral? Why is it wrong for somebody in our system — our capitalist system, in the greatest nation on earth, to go out and build a company — build companies, build technologies, go into space, aim to go put a colony on Mars, give internet to half the world. All the things he’s doing. Why is any of this wrong or bad? Why would we want to discourage entrepreneurship? Why would we want to discourage anybody building anything? That is the nature of it.”

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“Since the signs were pre-printed and funded by the usual funders of anything good for America …”

Elon Musk and the Politics of Envy (Tim O’Brien)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that with SpaceX’s Initial Public Offering (IPO), Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire. The implications of this for all of us and our grandchildren are many and far-reaching. Of course, the left has found a way to narrow it all down to one simple idea: “His money is our money, or it should be.” That’s not the way they say it. What leftists actually are saying is he doesn’t pay enough in taxes. Why? For the sole reason that he’s rich. If you’re a leftist, rich people are never paying “their fair share.”


This is the politics of envy, and if you study the vast majority of leftist messaging at any time on any topic, envy is a critical component. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if the Democrats, and the left at large, decided to quit being jealous of the right, the left would die as a movement in less than 24 hours. Envy is the lifeblood of leftist politics, and Musk is merely their latest, biggest, and most convenient target. But it’s worth being reminded that to the left, you are no different than Elon Musk. Let me explain. The left is miserable when you’re happy. It feels entitled to be the only source of your happiness, but it has no desire to make you happy. Rather, it simply wants to control how happy it will allow you to be.

You saw this during the COVD-19 pandemic when the left rationed aspects of your previous life to you in small portions. The desire to control you in this way came from a fear that you might find a way to be happy in spite of conditions, in this case a pandemic. The thoroughness with which arbitrary measures were taken to deny you the simplest of pleasures was rooted in envy. Around the same time and in the same environment, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the whole entitlement movement accused you, if you were white, of having “white privilege” and and said that you don’t deserve to be happy. Instead, you should feel guilty because some on the left are unhappy.

The “white privilege” guilt trip was not only one of the purest forms of the politics of envy, but it worked to get leftist and otherwise weak white people to voluntarily surrender their happiness. At some point, almost all leftist politics comes back to envy. And so, when Musk took SpaceX public and the company’s value skyrocketed (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), the left fell back on its most core strategy – the politics of envy. Leftist billionaires and their pawns were well prepared to opportunistically try to capitalize on Musk’s good fortune with protest signs, messaging, and rent-a-mobs ready to go.

A union representing leftist college professors showed up alongside all the other envious union members, paid protestors, and disgruntled leftists, complete with their pre-printed signs. They were there to air their grievance that someone was having a good day and just might be happy. Their signs alone showed an extremely high level of financial illiteracy and ignorance regarding just about everything related to the SpaceX IPO. They read: “Billionaires are a scam”; “Elon is stealing your pension”; “Overthrow the oligarchs”; “This billionaire is stealing from you”; “Elon is stealing your 401K”; and, of course, “Stop Elon. No Trillionaires.”

Since the signs were pre-printed and funded by the usual funders of anything good for America, we can only assume that the evil strategists on the left conceived of these messages because they knew the phrases would appeal to their illiterate base. First off, how could Elon making money from willing investors represent him stealing your pension? There is no relationship at all, and there can’t be. The money Musk and everyone else made from the IPO came from the market, not from unwilling American citizens or taxpayers. It came from institutional investors through mutual and index funds, universities, large pension funds, and millions of willing individual investors. People invested because they hoped to make profits at some later point. The protestors either don’t understand that, or they pretend not to.

Another sign that actually sidesteps all rational thought is the one that says Elon is stealing your 401(k). The truth is, the SpaceX IPO very likely already helped your 401(k), and if it didn’t, it soon will. Many, if not most of the big mutual funds are riding on the fortunes of a handful of companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, maybe Tesla, and Alphabet. SpaceX just joined the club. That means if you have a 401(k), it’s in your best interest to want SpaceX to do well. That can only grow your retirement savings. And then there’s that argument the left makes when it has no argument: “Stop Elon. No Trillionaires.” Why? I mean, really, why? What’s the point? If someone else becomes rich and it has no effect on you, why should you even care? I mean, other than pure jealousy.

That post from Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) is rich, literally. She’s playing upon jealousy and envy to encourage more taxation, but only of the rich, so we’re told (for now). They play this “lower effective tax rate” game to try to pretend Elon doesn’t pay a ton of taxes, which he does. Also, like the financially illiterate protestors in New York, Jacobs is drawing no distinction between income, which is taxed, and assets like stock, which only convert into taxable money if you sell shares. What makes Jacobs’ post curious is that she is one of the richest people in Congress. She’s got an estimated net worth of $76 million, and she didn’t earn any of it. She was born into it.

If ever there is such a thing as privilege, she’s got it. Her father is billionaire Irwin Jacobs, who founded semiconductor company Qualcomm. So, when she demonizes Elon for being a billionaire, or now a trillionaire, she’s pretty much demonizing her own daddy, and she’s not doing herself any favors. She just wants you to think she’s one of the good kind of millionaires. What’s obvious is she wants you to feel like a “have not,” and she wants you to hate Elon simply because he’s a “have.” Something Jacobs did not do and would not do is acknowledge all those who have immediately benefited from the SpaceX IPO. A lot of leftists are making money here. The University of North Carolina, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Virginia bought in early and have huge stakes in the company.

According to Fortune, “In total, more than 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees are expected to become millionaires in the IPO.” My colleague, David Manney, reported on how some of Musk’s loyal employees at different levels of the company will be rewarded. SpaceX counts 22,000 employees at the moment, and all of them pay taxes. The average salary of SpaceX employees is $155,000-$176,000, according to the company. All of these people pay local, state and federal taxes. Many, if not most, pay property taxes. Those who just made millions each on the IPO will ultimately pay a collective billions more in federal taxes. That means more money headed into the local, state, and federal piggy banks.

Over time, millions of individual investors will make profits on their SpaceX stock at some point, and they will pay taxes on the profit. The point is, the government will see its share of cash from the IPO, and it didn’t have to do a thing except sit back and wait for the profits to roll in. Yet, Democrats like Jacobs and the rest of the left somehow want you to feel like only Musk is the beneficiary of the IPO. That’s not stopping the left from engaging in envy porn. Check out this post from millionaire Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), decrying the rich as she rides in the back of her limo. Or this common refrain that attempts to blame Musk for people putting themselves on government entitlement programs that you, the taxpayer, pay for anyway.

In other words, people getting free stuff are big mad that Musk is winning. Since he’s making more money, naturally, they want more free stuff…just because. That poster blamed Musk for just about every economic challenge anyone in America could face, but one thing he posted that deserves to be addressed is this notion that Musk is getting federal handouts to make his money at SpaceX. As though he’s running a non-profit that doesn’t reward the federal government. His rockets are the delivery system for satellites that protect our national security, among many other things. Oh, and remember the time NASA couldn’t rescue those astronauts, so Musk had to bail out the government?.

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I feel like I’m in the Shire (but of anti-heroes).

The Little People flock together

“Carney Affirms that “Middle Powers” with Same Ideological Construct Can Collectively Counterbalance U.S. Global Power..”

Carney: “Middle Powers” Can Collectively Counterbalance U.S. Global Power (CTH)

Making his ninth trip to Europe since become prime minister 15 months ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney once again outlined his governing model to combat a U.S. administration that he claims has fractured the globalist norms. During his press conference with Micheal Martin, Ireland’s taoiseach (Prime Minister), Carney once again built upon the idea of “middle powers” uniting together in common ideology against U.S. dominance until such a time as the U.S. government can once again return to a leftist ideology.


The specific objectives become clear about halfway through the presser today as Carney notes the importance of grouping nations together who agree on climate change, energy controls and the green agenda. Canada’s alignment with Europe is seemingly centered on the net-zero carbon model. This perspective makes sense from Carney as it is the same priority he’s carried since his time as governor for the Bank of England. WATCH:

As the former Governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, Carney used his platform to position climate change as a systemic financial risk. He then championed the view that private capital must be the primary tool to force an economic energy transition. [Post-COVID this was known as “Build Back Better.“] President Trump’s perspective and the majority American view on climate change and energy development is against the core professional effort of Carney and the banking interests he has always represented. This becomes very important to understand as the U.S-Canada conflict is about to hit an inflection point.

HISTORY: Through the “Net Zero” Banking Alliance (NZBA) Mark Carney pushed banks to agree with policies and protocols that forced them to set lower lending targets to high-carbon industries and clients. The goal was to force companies to ‘decarbonize’ or find themselves starved of capital. While working at the Bank of England and Canada Carney famously warned multinational interests and insurance companies, most of which were centered in London, that fossil fuel assets that did not fit the net-zero industrial model would become “stranded assets” worth nothing because they could not be capitalized or insured. This threat signaled to multinationals that any investment in a project that was against the “Paris Climate Treaty” was a bad financial risk.

This approach endeared Mark Carney to King Charles III, who is himself a major climate alarmist. Unfortunately, U.S. politicians -particularly during the Trump first term- accused the Carney banking/finance and insurance alliance of operating an illegal banking cartel to choke the larger American energy sector. Facing legal threats over antitrust violations, in combination with obvious violations of fiduciary duty, NZBA has to strip out its strict, mandatory lending restrictions. Slowly banks began retreating from the net-zero alliance.

Regional and national banks began citing the economic necessity of supporting traditional energy companies, and energy security became more important than adherence to voluntary restrictions on carbon emissions. This angered Carney as his life construct was under pressure. Carney then entered Canadian federal politics and sought to downplay his ideological climate agenda. However, all of his energy policies essentially come from the same mindset of opposition to fossil fuels.

The disparity in energy production is the core issue inside the details of the USMCA. The United States and Mexico are both aligned with low-cost fossil fuel use, which is particularly important for large scale industrial manufacturing (steel etc.). Whereas Canada doesn’t want the dirty jobs and wants only to focus on electricity production.

You can make electricity from windmills, solar farms and nuclear power. However, you cannot make iron, steel or aluminum without fossil fuels. In scientific fact, part of the largest global irony is because it’s impossible to make windmill components, solar panels or nuclear power equipment without using fossil fuels.

In the video below, while he was a banker you can see Mark Carney admitting on tape: When voters blocked his ESG plans, “We” (Central Bankers) shifted into the position of “Regulators” to work around the voters through the back door of finance and insurance. They manipulated fossil fuel production and prices by withholding lending and insurance.

https://twitter.com/vesperdigital/status/2064518878005174439?s=20

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“One month later we were in beginning of SARS-CoV-2, which we now accept in hindsight was a U.S. military and intelligence operation..”

Pompeo Unmasked (CTH)

Many of you will likely remember December 29, 2019, when Secretary Pompeo, Joint Chief’s Mark Milley and Secretary Mark Esper flew to Mar-a-Lago to inform President Trump about military strikes they had just conducted in Northern Syria and Iraq. At the time of the strike, President Trump was negotiating the exit of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and even having direct talks with the Taliban which was proclaimed as controversial by the traditional war machine elements in DC. The action by Pompeo, Milley and Esper did not align with the moment based on Trump’s ongoing effort.


President Trump made no comments about the strike they carried out, nor did President Trump post anything about the events. In fact, President Trump made Pompeo, Milley and Esper stand at the podium and inform the media and public. CTH said at the time nothing about this made sense. Our suspicion was that Pompeo, Milley and Esper had acted unilaterally without approval. Events later on indicated our suspicion was accurate. One month later we were in beginning of SARS-CoV-2, which we now accept in hindsight was a U.S. military and intelligence operation utilizing a virus created in a Wuhan, China biological lab. The global response to the virus was a combined military and intelligence operation.

The most excessive ‘western’ reactions to the virus were carried out by New Zealand, Australia, the U.K and Canada, all five-eyes countries. The November 2020 election result was specifically an outcome of the virus and fraudulent mail-in ballots. It’s also worth remembering that in 2016 the Trump-Russia collusion material originated from the U.K via former intelligence operative Christopher Steele and the Fusion GPS network in the U.S. That’s the context for last week Mike Pompeo paying tribute to his old friend in British intelligence who worked with him as CIA Director following the 2016 election of President Trump.

Mike Pompeo – Within hours of being announced as the nominee to be the U.S. Director of the CIA, I received a hand-delivered message on MI6 stationery congratulating me on my nomination. It was signed simply “C” in green ink. Legendary. I shared it with my son and even he thought I was now cool! More than that, this note, from Sir Alex Younger, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom, confirmed what I already believed: the work that the CIA and MI6 did together mattered, that the partnership was critical, and that two leaders focused on the mission could save lives and provide tools for our nations to deter our adversaries.

Alex’s passing this week brought back so many memories of our time in service together. He flew to Langley to see me the day I was confirmed. We brought our two senior teams together in the UK to plan and coordinate and build in the first several weeks of my time on duty: making clear to them all that this relationship was more than special – it was critical for the security of our two countries.”

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“Drinking the Court-Packing Kool-Aid..”

“This Nike School of Constitutional Law is catching on with a wide array of pundits and professors. Just do it.”

Buttigieg Joins the Calls to Take Over the Supreme Court (Turley)

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg apparently got the message this week that he cannot hope to win the Democratic nomination without promising radical measures, including the packing of the Supreme Court. After denouncing the current Court as “rogue” for not ruling as the left has demanded, Buttigieg endorsed the plan of Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren to pack the Court to reverse adverse constitutional interpretations.


For years, the Supreme Court had a liberal majority that overturned dozens of long-standing cases. That was not viewed as the work of a rogue court. Yet, even as President Donald Trump attacks this Court for ruling repeatedly against him, liberals are now demanding court packing. As the party becomes more radicalized, any candidate expressing doubts over radical demands like court packing is unlikely to make it out of the primaries. Accordingly, “Mayor Pete” is reaching for Court-Packing Kool-Aid. In making his pitch to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention, Buttigieg knew that he had to offer some radical bona fides. He decided to offer up the Supreme Court:

“We have to do [something] with the Supreme Court, that is now a rogue Supreme Court. To see them eviscerate the Voting Rights Act is to see them reverse some of the most important progress this country ever made, wiping out Black political representation, but also wiping out part of what actually is great within the complex American story.” That description is part of a campaign of disinformation about the Court’s recent decision to end racial gerrymandering. The Court reaffirmed that the Voting Rights Act would be used to prevent any intentional racial discrimination. It banned states (almost entirely Democratic states) from engaging in racial discrimination to guarantee election results based on the race of the candidates.

He then thrilled the crowd by promising to pack the Court to guarantee the results that he and they are demanding. Declaring that it is “time to think big,” Buttigieg explained: “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that there have to be nine Supreme Court justices. That one doesn’t even take a constitutional amendment. It just takes a readiness to set up a court that fits this country. We could have 13 seats matching the district structure of the federal judiciary, but also a process that makes it less partisan.” Buttigieg appears to be referring to the circuit system, not the district court system. What is most striking is that he promises to reverse decisions on issues like racial gerrymandering by packing the Court, but then says it will make the Court “less partisan.”

The whole point of adding four new justices selected by the Democrats is to create an instant majority to their liking and to reverse past rulings. Years ago, I wrote an academic piece on the possible expansion of the Supreme Court, but there is a world of difference between that and a court-packing plan. Under my proposal, the court’s expansion would take almost two decades to ensure that no president could pack the court. Various Democrats have been pledging to not only impeach Trump (and a long list of other figures), but to pack the Supreme Court as soon as they regain power.

James Carville declared, “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust. Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it.” This Nike School of Constitutional Law is catching on with a wide array of pundits and professors. Just do it.

Years ago, Harvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election.” However, he warned that “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder has put packing the Supreme Court front and center, explaining, “[We’re] talking about the acquisition and the use of power if there is a Democratic trifecta in 2028.”

At base is a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the Court. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) not only renewed her previous call to pack the court but said the court was illegitimate for rendering decisions against “widely held public opinion.” Former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said the court “defies the will of the people.” Reporter John Haltiwanger insisted that “the court is clearly not representative of the U.S. public. It’s supposed to be the people’s court.”

In reality, the court was never meant to be that. It was meant to be the Constitution’s court, designed to stand against everyone and everything except the Constitution. In a system designed to protect the minority, the court (like the Constitution) is counter-majoritarian in much of what it does. With the Supreme Court removed as a barrier to the left’s radical agenda, Democrats could indeed fulfill the objectives laid out by figures like Klarman to ensure they never lose power again.

That will make the 2028 election the most consequential election for our constitutional history in decades. The outcome will most immediately decide the fate of an institution that has been a stabilizing force for centuries. Even though this Court has ruled against the Trump Administration on a variety of key issues, the left is still demanding that it either yield to all of their demands or face a hostile takeover. On our 250th anniversary, these reckless and radical voices remind us that (as Benjamin Franklin warned us) this is our Republic if we can keep it.

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” Incidentally, Western and Northern Africa are two areas where Islam dominates the countries.”

“And if the Supreme Court does not make the right decision on birthright citizenship, we might as well kiss our country goodbye.”

‘Birth Tourism’ Networks Around the World Exploiting the U.S. (Salgado)

The U.S. State Department has uncovered sophisticated and dangerous “birth tourism” networks from West Africa, Europe, and North Africa exploiting our current unconstitutional “birthright citizenship” system. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is one of the biggest abusers of our idiotic “birthright citizenship” system, but plenty of other bad actors around the world cash in as well. Contrary to the original understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment, America now says any child born on our soil is automatically a citizen, even if his parents just flew into or walked into the country. Unsurprisingly, this has for years encouraged abuses.


Besides the practice of “anchor babies,” where illegal aliens give birth in America and use their new citizen kids to keep the family here, there’s also “birth tourism.” From The Daily Wire: In West Africa, a U.S. embassy uncovered a “sophisticated birth tourism network” wherein more than 100 foreign nationals were using fraudulent documents to obtain visas and secure U.S. citizenship for their children. The State Department shut down this birth tourism network and revoked the foreign nationals’ visas. State is also coordinating with local authorities to “systematically identify and cut off any similar operations.” Incidentally, Western and Northern Africa are two areas where Islam dominates the countries.

“Under President Trump, the State Department is defending the integrity of U.S. citizenship by ending illegal birth tourism schemes,” The Daily Wire quoted the State Department. “No foreigner is permitted to obtain a visitor visa for the primary purpose of acquiring U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the U.S.” This is why the upcoming Supreme Court decision on birthright citizenship is so important. The Daily Wire went on: A U.S. embassy in Europe found that more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases had occurred since 2024.

In this case, investigators traced the birth tourism to at least six companies that were coaching applicants on what to say in their visa interviews, arranging housing, and setting up delivery plans. State again shut down the process, revoked the visas, and permanently banned “several fraudsters from traveling to the United States ever again.” An embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 visas for “birth tourist” parents who came to the United States specifically to give birth to children who would get U.S. citizenship. State Department consular officers worked with law enforcement and used data analytics to identify the networks abusing the visa system in this case.

“A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right,” the federal department said. “The State Department is taking action around the world to stop this abuse, dismantle birth tourism networks, and hold accountable those who try to scam our system.” But even all these networks are small beans compared to the vast CCP apparatus for helping loyal party members come to the United States to give birth to kids who become automatic citizens of our country, even though many of them are then raised back in China. You can read more here. Up to a million Communist Chinese could be voting in United States elections by 2030, thanks to this huge “birth tourism” industry.

And if the Supreme Court does not make the right decision on birthright citizenship, we might as well kiss our country goodbye.

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“Headlines about the Russian president’s looks and ‘erratic’ behavior are a symptom of terminal Russophrenia..“

Puffy Putin Peril: The West’s Latest Attempt To Scare Itself (Amar)

You can’t argue with a man observing the obvious: We are living in unusually perilous times. In the Middle East, for instance, the Israeli-American infernal duo have been on a rampage of war, state terror, all-purpose devastation, and genocide that, as a bonus, has also brought the world economy to the verge of cardiac arrest by clogging one of its vital fossil fuel arteries. Indeed, that particular risk is so obvious that even Germany’s less than brilliant Friedrich Merz has long spotted it.


In the Far East, Taiwan is currently ruled by a government so hell-bent on antagonizing their fellow Chinese on the mainland that Taipei’s political reflexes seem almost as perverse as those of Berlin. In the West, you have the German elite which can’t find enough billions to fork over to Ukraine when Kiev and friends blow up Germany’s vital pipelines and lethally cripple its already ailing economy. In the East, there is Taipei, getting really, really angry when the Philippines and Japan start negotiating away Taiwan’s maritime Exclusive Economic Zone. Angry, that is, at Beijing.

And in the EU, that “garden” of “values” that really is a swampy jungle of eternal confusion and corruption, the catastrophe that in its foreign policy is now obvious enough for several European bigwigs to gang up on the abysmally, ragingly incompetent Kaja Kallas. Her tenure as de facto EU foreign minister has been so breathtakingly blundering that her employers aren’t merely itching to kick her out but thinking about, in essence, abolishing her job.

Being so horrible at something that you won’t just get fired yourself but take it down with you – perhaps only the Baltic Girl Boss Wonder could pull that one off. But then, maybe it’s really all just another power grab by EU’s German queen (of the absolute kind) and US viceroy (of the submissive kind) Ursula von der Leyen. Either way, frightful insanity abides. We could add more scary and grotesque evidence, but things are clear enough: It’s a grim picture all around. So, fair enough if you feel like being a big sad downer and doom monger. Where it gets weird is when you get your scare priorities all upside down.

Granted, from a hapless NATO-EU European perspective, Russia may look a little unsettling: after all, once you have waged years of proxy war, sanctions, and propaganda war against it, who knows what the mood is really like in Moscow? As a good NATO-EU apparatchik, you certainly would not, because you have displayed the foresight of a gnat by proudly not talking – or listening – to the Russians. So, when you feel a little insecure, that might really be your bad conscience calling (in a merely professional, not moral sense, which you are likely to lack).

But, generally speaking, the worse the stupidities and mistakes you have produced but keep repressing, the higher the price. Old Sigmund Freud called it “affective debility.” In essence, it means that lying to yourself makes you dim. And once you are BS’ing yourself for years as if there’s no tomorrow, you’ll turn positively imbecilic.

That’s the only way to explain a fresh wave of transparently hysterical scare mongering about Russia in the West, in particular, this time, in Britain. Thus, on the occasion of the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), centrist mainstream flagship The Independent came out with a fascinating piece of fiction masquerading as analysis. Under the clickbait title “‘Puffy-looking’ Putin is acting weirder than ever – and that should chill us to the bone,” readers were treated to a highly imaginative horror tale about, in essence, a terrible loose cannon in the Kremlin pondering staged incidents and nuclear terrorism and ready to blow up the world or at least Europe or perhaps just Britain because Russia is losing the war. Also, he looks “puffy”!

All of this backed up (not really) by yet another statement from a high British military officer that things are dire as never before in (his) living memory. He and his comrades in arms – plus a few tweedy spy gents and dames – produce these Cassandra screams at least twice a month; it seems to be a standing order.

Indeed, there is such an inflationary over-production of men and women in khaki and with stiff upper lips crying big bad Russian wolf that even Politico has already produced at least one ‘best of’ collection, gathering “The 5 doomiest Russia warnings from Britain’s military chiefs.” Perish the thought any of this may have anything to do with fattening defense budgets and driving up the obscene profits of His Majesty’s military industrial complex!

Generally speaking, The West has a rich tradition of declaring Russia vanquished, its president Vladimir Putin at death’s door or on the verge of being regime-changed away, and, of course, Ukraine (and, really, the West) on the cusp of winning the war. And, at the same time, of predicting that Russia will attack all of Europe, likely tomorrow. Notwithstanding occasional and intriguing anomalies, when a NATO commander (from Trump’s US, of course) lets slip a fragment of truth, such as that actually Moscow is not looking for conflict.

In short, we are speaking about the severe and very sad but also funny mental condition already well known as Russophrenia: the afflicted live with an imaginary Schrödinger’s Russia occupying their suffering minds, a Russia that is always simultaneously half-dead and yet so alive and kicking, it’s about to roll into their living room on a tank.

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Don’t learn from books, learn from life!

Thinking for Oneself: Schopenhauer on Reflection vs. Regurgitation (Eskeldson)

Arthur Schopenhauer’s argument is that thinking for oneself is better than regurgitating information from books and that the two produce very different effects in a learner. In the beginning of his essay, he compares the difference between regurgitation and reflection (or critical thinking) to two different libraries. Regurgitation is represented by a disorganized library with books all over the floor, furniture, shelves, or wherever else they have been mislaid. Similarly, someone who exclusively regurgitates information may have jumbled facts in his mind and will not have a clear picture of anything specific, despite learning (allegedly) so much about that thing. In the public domain essay “On Thinking for Oneself,” Schopenhauer shows us some men who appear to know so much about specific countries from travel books, but they cannot form their ideas into a gestalt to describe those countries as a whole. They cannot see the bigger picture because they were habitually exposed to only small bits of information.


Billie Pritchett writes, “Wouldn’t it be better for someone to discipline his mind by being instructed in the fundamentals of a subject, and then begin thinking within that framework?” as he recognizes an objection that Schopenhauer’s readers likely had in his day. The framework of other people’s observations on a given subject appears to be useful and airtight, but Schopenhauer believes it is more rewarding to learn that framework after doing critical thinking of one’s own. As he puts it, “the mind is deprived of all its elasticity by much reading, as is a spring when a weight is continually applied to it,” and “the surest way not to have thoughts of our own is for us at once to take up a book when we have a moment to spare”; furthermore, “the truth acquired through our own thinking is like the natural limb; it alone really belongs to us.”

After being spoon-fed material from book after book, someone will lose the ability to creatively solve problems and will learn to rely on others’ mental pictures exclusively in the effort to comprehend a subject. That person will essentially forget how to figure things out for himself. All of humanity will benefit from spending time reflecting on their thoughts.

Schopenhauer anticipated another likely objection: “What if all you get from your own thinking is the same material that has already been discovered and published by another person, or several other people, many times?” If someone tries hard to solve a problem himself, but finds out later that his solution had already been a well-publicized discovery, Schopenhauer would still appreciate the mental effort the person used to come to that conclusion. He would call that “small volume” of experimentation “valuable.”

Schopenhauer’s broader philosophical point is that the human mind forms a sort of stabilizing structure to make sense of an irrational, crooked world of “vicious little men.” People are so entwined in their self-centered desires that they “commit atrocities” to get their way and generally only use reason to justify their actions. The human mind must form a force of good intellect and strong moral character as a guard against falling into these irrational ways, according to Schopenhauer. Critical thinking is a way to strengthen the mind and develop good character traits (i.e. diligence), so it should be encouraged by all means. Regurgitation may become fuel for selfish desires (i.e. laziness) because of how easy and mentally painless it is, so it must be discouraged.

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https://twitter.com/tslaming/status/2066131447992443060?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Jun 072026
 


Claude Monet San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk 1908


US Led Over 100 Vessels via Strait of Hormuz in May — NYT (TASS)
‘Biden’s War’ Has Become Trump’s – Lavrov (RT)
Promethean Action PAC Discovers MAGAnomics (CTH)
Trump Says US Weighing Taking Stakes In AI Companies (ET)
California and the Politics of Low Expectations (Turley)
The EU’s ‘Strictest-Ever Migration Law’ Won’t Change Anything (von Hoffmeister)
Paris Riots Fuel The Right (RMX)
Tory Leader Warns Of ‘Civil War’ In UK (RT)
Questions and Answers (James Howard Kunstler)
The White Countries Have Become Rabidly Racist Against White People (PCR)
When Race is the Only Possible Verdict (Eric Florack)
Europe No Longer Attractive Global Hub, Only Itself To Blame – Kneissl (TASS)
EU Embassies In Moscow Should Establish Dialogue With Russia — Kneissl (TASS)
UK Government Plots Digital ID Lockdown On Every Phone (MN)
Bots Now Generate More Web Traffic Than Humans – Cloudflare (RT)

 


 

 


 


Surprisingly little war news today, but all the more -racial- discrimination.

About this article: 100 vessels a month is quite a lot. 3 per day, and not small vessels. An oil tanker carries two million barrels.

US Led Over 100 Vessels via Strait of Hormuz in May — NYT (TASS)

Last month, the US military helped coordinate the passage of more than 100 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times (NYT) wrote citing sources. According to the report, passage through this waterway remains dangerous for ships against the backdrop of stalled US-Iranian reconciliation talks. Earlier, The New York Times said the US Central Command (CENTCOM) assisted the passage of 70 ships via the strait. The majority of them switched off their transponders.


The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were also hit. Tehran decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to ships associated with the United States, Israel and countries that backed the aggression against Iran.

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“The US president could have ended the Ukraine conflict by following through on his own proposals, the Russian foreign minister has told RT..”

‘Biden’s War’ Has Become Trump’s – Lavrov (RT)

America’s position on the Ukraine conflict has become almost indistinguishable from that of the EU, making US President Donald Trump’s stated ambition to mediate an end to the fighting hollow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told RT. Trump repeatedly blamed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on his predecessor, Joe Biden, and claimed that he could bring it to a swift conclusion while campaigning in 2024. However, recent statements by members of his administration suggest a different course, Lavrov said on Thursday in an interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.


“Biden’s war has become Trump’s war,” the Russian foreign minister said. Speaking to Congress this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said efforts to facilitate Russia-Ukraine talks were complicated “because, frankly, we’re not an impartial mediator.” He cited the continuation of the sanctions on Russia and sales of US weapons to Ukraine. “After we agreed to the United States proposal in Anchorage [in August 2025], Washington began to shift its position. Instead of advancing those same proposals in its dealings with Ukrainians, it is now pretending that the parties should sort things out themselves. This is not a very consistent position,” Lavrov said.

“It is the West that cannot be trusted to keep its agreements. Its approach is: ‘I’ll promise something now, then stall for time.’ If the US had truly advanced its own initiative, I think… the fighting would already have stopped.” According to Lavrov, the only major difference between Trump’s policy and that of Biden and the EU is that his administration resumed direct talks with Russia. Dialogue is important, he said, but it must be matched by action on commitments already made.

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“.. both Trump and Bernie Sanders agreed on the problem. The difference between them was the solution.”

Promethean Action PAC Discovers MAGAnomics (CTH)

In 2015, even before President Trump came down the golden escalator, CTH was outlining a ‘new era and dimension’ in American economics that could be possible if a presidential candidate focused on specific Main Street policy. Throughout the next four years we watched carefully how Donald Trump was organizing that Main Street revival and what specifically was creating the economic growth. One of the points emphasized in 2016 about Trump’s unique MAGAnomic policy, was how both Trump and Bernie Sanders agreed on the problem. The difference between them was the solution.


Think of it like economic football.
Both Trump and Sanders identify the rigged game. Bernie Sanders wanted to change the referees so that government controls the game. Donald Trump’s approach was different. Trump wanted to change the rules of the game, not step in and try to play referee to a rigged game where the rules were flawed. One of the examples of economic “rule changing” is trade tariffs. You don’t need govt to regulate the corporations directly (ie. raise corporate income taxes). Instead, you can change trade policy to make the better corporate decision a return of production back to the USA (a fundamental rules change).

Both approaches involve a different govt policy, but Trump’s approach changes behavior. That’s MAGAnomics. One of the reasons Trump’s approaches are much more effective, is that his rule changes extend beyond the American corporate game. Trump’s approach changes the behavior of foreign governments and foreign corporations, a win/win/win.An example is the Japanese government investing in America to offset reciprocity tariffs; while Toyota, a corporation, invests in specific auto manufacturing expansion to avoid baseline tariffs.

You don’t get that kind of result through Bernie’s approach changing the American referee in an all-American game and raising corporate income taxes. And don’t forget, the corporation can just move offshore and avoid income taxes entirely. Apple used to have their company incorporated in Ireland. Trump’s rule changes brought them back.The Promethean Action PAC is now highlighting the fundamentals of Trump’s MAGAnomics and how the policy is distinctly different from all U.S. economic policy before it.

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“The bad news? His executive order is voluntary and does almost nothing to protect Americans,“ Sanders wrote. “Congress MUST act.”

Trump Says US Weighing Taking Stakes In AI Companies (ET)

President Donald Trump told reporters on June 5 that his administration is exploring the possibility of the United States acquiring a public stake in artificial intelligence (AI) companies. Trump made the comment in response to a question about a recent News of the United States report, which suggested that unnamed senior U.S. officials had discussed with major AI firms the possibility of the federal government holding some shares in their companies. “There’s so much money that is so big that there are concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies,” Trump said aboard Air Force One.


“I have spoken to all of [the AI companies]. There’s something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public, and we’ll look into that,” he said. Trump said he and his team have a meeting scheduled in the “very near future” with major AI firms to discuss this possible venture. “We’re talking about it, where the American people can benefit from the success of AI, and by doing that, they can like it better,” Trump explained.nSen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) penned an op-ed in The New York Times on Monday titled “A.I. Is a Public Resource. You Should Own Half of It,” where he announced he would soon introduce congressional legislation to give the American public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in the United States.

“It would create a sovereign wealth fund through a one-time 50 percent tax—not on the profits of OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and other companies, but paid with something far more valuable than that: the stock,” Sanders wrote in the piece. He said the legislation, which he plans to call the American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, would give the American public a direct role in determining the future of AI while also guaranteeing that the trillions generated by the industry are “used to improve the lives of all of us—not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer.”

When asked on Friday if he found it odd that he and Sanders were seemingly on the same page about the proposal, Trump said that the two “have certain things that aren’t that far apart” regarding economic policy. “People are surprised, but if you’ll take a look, many of the people who voted for Bernie Sanders … they went to me,” Trump said, referring to some of the voters who backed him in the 2016 presidential election after previously supporting Sanders in the Democratic primary that year.

Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday asking AI companies to voluntarily submit their frontier models for government review 30 days before a full public release. In a post on X hours after the order was announced, Sanders said it was “good news” that Trump had “finally acknowledged AI poses a real threat” after the president had previously criticized efforts to tighten regulation of the AI industry. “The bad news? His executive order is voluntary and does almost nothing to protect Americans,“ Sanders wrote. “Congress MUST act.”

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Expect nothing. You may be pleasantly surprised.

California and the Politics of Low Expectations (Turley)

This week, the nation watched as California grappled again with the ordinarily straightforward task of counting votes in an election. While large states such as Florida declare election winners within 24 hours, California may take up to two weeks to count all the votes. Even Los Angeles cannot count its votes in the time of large states despite giving the Clerk an annual budget of $336 million and a $448,179 a year salary with the help of 1,100 budgeted positions. In most states, voters would be outraged by the incompetence, waste, and inefficiency.


However, in the Golden State, voters shrug, as if they can demand no more from their elected officials than subpar performance. Call it the Politics of Low Expectations and California is the model for the nation. For years, my students have asked me what the secret is to a successful marriage approaching four decades (For full disclosure, there is an ongoing contractual dispute over my counting eight years of monogamous dating — leading to two dates on our anniversary cakes). The answer is simple. I reduced her expectations so low that I have exceeded them on a daily basis.

That began with our eloping on New Year’s Eve. We were married after an actual shotgun wedding where the clearly expectant teenage bride’s family was screaming profanities at the teenage groom. After paying $50 and using my high school ring for a wedding ring, we stepped out on the street of Old Town Alexandria as a drunk was retching in the gutter. That left only room for improvement. On any given day, my wife is simply grateful that I have not traded the house and car for a handful of magic beans. California Democrats seem to have applied my approach to matrimony to politics, creating a politician’s dream voter with few expectations.

That is most evident with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s infamous high-speed train to nowhere. In 2008, voters were promised a 500-mile High-Speed train running from San Francisco to Los Angeles for $33 billion. It is now projected to cost somewhere between $126 billion and $231 billion. After roughly two decades, no track has been laid, and the current plan is to focus on building a track between Bakersfield and Merced. Without any track to display, Newsom recently stood before a freight train on an existing track to insist that his train is moving speedily along.

One would think that citizens would be coming for their leaders with torches and pitchforks. Instead, there is a collective shrug as if it is perfectly normal to spend more than the entire budget of Amtrak on a non-existent train. The same leaders have burned billions in other boondoggles, including a massive solar power farm that produced energy at a higher cost and incinerated thousands of birds a year. California is facing a growing crisis of rising homelessness, dismal education scores, and an exodus of business and wealthy taxpayers. It has also imposed taxes that make gas the most expensive in the nation while suppressing its own energy industry.

Now, after many voters took the unprecedented step of voting for Republican candidates for governor and L.A. mayor, citizens will wait for weeks to learn the results of an election that would have been called days ago by third-world countries. The same politics of low expectations are evident in other states. In New York City, voters just shrug when told that they have a budget rivaling that of the entire state of Florida, resulting in awful educational, infrastructure, and other conditions. Voters have watched as wealthy taxpayers have taken their money and jobs to other states.

In return, figures like Mayor Zohran Mamdani promise state-run grocery stores, which will cost tens of millions of dollars to build and operate at a loss. In Minnesota, elected officials allowed billions to be stolen in fraud while businesses fled a state rife with rioting and homelessness.

Baltimore, a student failed all but three of his classes and was ranked in the top half of his graduating class. Yet, voters reelected the same leaders who have denied generations any real opportunity for advancement. While other countries maintain superior school systems at a fraction of the cost, urban voters cast their ballots like lemmings for the same party and politicians.

In states like California, politics has long been run on Henry Ford’s pitch that you can have any color Model T so long as it is black. This election seemed to offer voters something they had not seen in many years: a real choice between a Republican governor and an L.A. mayor. As California slowly counts its votes, the odds still heavily favor the continuation of California as a one-party state. Poor services, rising crime, rampant homelessness, hundreds of billions in waste and other failures are treated as virtually inevitable. The result is an electorate that only a politician would love: passive voters who expect little from their government and receive even less.

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“Politicians promise immigration control while the economic and demographic forces driving migration remain firmly in place..”

In other words: Europe is simply too far gone.

The EU’s ‘Strictest-Ever Migration Law’ Won’t Change Anything (von Hoffmeister)

The European Union’s new migration rules, agreed upon in principle by lawmakers and state representatives, will allow EU countries to transfer rejected asylum seekers to third countries if they cannot be returned to their countries of origin. They also introduce stricter rules for dealing with illegal migrants, especially those considered a security risk.


The media has called it “historic,” “hardline,” and the “strictest-ever migration law” as politicians behind their lecterns spoke of control and the defense of borders. Yet in truth, the EU has once again promised to become tougher while preserving the structures that produced the migration crisis in the first place. New procedures, databases, and regulations have appeared, but the underlying incentives have remained largely intact. The result resembles many political spectacles of recent years: a performance designed to reassure anxious voters while preserving the economic and ideological foundations of the existing system. The gap between rhetoric and reality has become one of the defining characteristics of contemporary Western politics.

The same pattern can be observed across the Atlantic. Donald Trump returned to office promising the strongest immigration enforcement campaign in American history. His supporters anticipated deportation operations on a scale never previously attempted. Yet the reality has proved considerably more modest. Immigration enforcement agencies continue to conduct highly publicized arrests that generate dramatic footage for television and social media. A worker removed from a restaurant kitchen, a raid on a warehouse or construction site – all good for cameras and for political supporters to receive confirmation that action is taking place.

Yet the larger economic machinery that attracts millions of migrants continues operating. Businesses that employ illegal labor rarely face penalties severe enough to transform their calculations. The availability of employment remains the primary magnet drawing people across borders. A government genuinely committed to ending illegal immigration would focus relentlessly on employers, labor contractors, and industries dependent on cheap foreign labor. However, such measures would provoke opposition from powerful economic interests. Consequently, symbolic enforcement often proves more attractive than structural reform.

Politicians frequently present immigration as a humanitarian question, a cultural question, or a question of border security. The economic dimension often receives less scrutiny. Modern capitalism and mass immigration have become deeply intertwined. Employers gain access to larger labor pools, which increases competition among workers and places downward pressure on wages in many sectors. Agricultural businesses, logistics firms, construction companies, restaurants, delivery services, and countless other industries derive substantial advantages from a continuous supply of foreign labor. The benefits remain concentrated while many of the costs become dispersed throughout society. Housing demand rises, infrastructure faces greater pressure, schools require expansion, healthcare systems absorb additional burdens.

Welfare programs support those who struggle to establish themselves economically. These expenses rarely appear on corporate balance sheets – instead, they get distributed across the broader population through taxation and public expenditure. This contradiction led the French thinker Alain de Benoist to formulate one of the most incisive observations in the entire debate: “One who criticizes capitalism while approving of immigration, of which the working class is its first victim, would do better to remain silent. One who criticizes immigration while remaining silent regarding capitalism should do the same.” The statement captures a reality that many ideological camps prefer to avoid. Immigration and capitalism frequently function as partners within the same economic system, and any serious analysis of one eventually encounters the other.

Back in Western Europe, governments routinely announce crackdowns on illegal immigration while simultaneously preserving the economic and demographic model that depends on continuous inflows of foreign labor. Public discussion frequently centers on boats crossing the Mediterranean or migrants entering through other irregular routes – images that dominate news coverage because they are visually dramatic. Yet illegal immigration represents only one component of a much larger phenomenon. The overwhelming transformation of Western Europe has occurred through legal channels. Work permits, family reunification programs, student visas, humanitarian admissions, labor recruitment schemes, and various residency pathways have altered the demographic composition of entire societies. A politician can reduce small boat arrivals while expanding legal immigration quotas. Statistical reports may then suggest success even as overall migration continues at historic levels.

Italy provides an instructive example. Giorgia Meloni rose to power promising a fundamental break with previous migration policies. Her electoral success depended heavily on public dissatisfaction with mass immigration. Yet her government subsequently approved hundreds of thousands of additional work permits for non-European migrants in response to labor shortages. Nearly half a million new non-EU work visas were authorized over a multi-year period even while the government continued presenting itself as a champion of immigration control. Supporters emphasized efforts against illegal arrivals, while employers welcomed access to additional labor, and the demographic trajectory remained largely unchanged.

This recurring pattern has created a phenomenon increasingly described by critics as the “Melonization effect,” where leaders campaign as insurgents against mass immigration and then govern as managers of the existing system. Similar tendencies have appeared across numerous Western countries.

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Marine Le Pen.

Paris Riots Fuel The Right (RMX)

:With French national elections approaching in 2027, the mass riots seen in Paris following the PSG victory in the Champions League are leading to an even sharper electoral shift towards the right-leaning National Rally’s Jordan Bardella. Verian’s June barometer, published by Le Figaro Magazine, places Jordan Bardella at the top of political figures, with 47 percent of those questioned wanting to see him occupy an important place in public life. This rating, up six points in one month, reveals a record result for the National Rally.


Marine Le Pen comes in second position and is also progressing. Several other personalities located on the right are also rising in the ranking, including Marion Maréchal, Éric Ciotti and Robert Ménard. The riots in Paris left stores and cars burned out and resulted in 890 arrests, 180 officers injured, and two deaths. The apocalyptic videos from the riots also sent shockwaves through the French public. While these polls cannot predict the election, they underline data showing that Bardella or Le Pen are well positioned to win the presidency in 2027 elections.

https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2061886947467919775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2061886947467919775%7Ctwgr%5Ed4eaf6b6844c32a7acab68214b84076630ca3930%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Frmx.news%2Farticle%2Fparis-riots-fuel-the-right-jordan-bardella-would-trounce-all-opponents-in-2027-national-election%2F

Other recent polls also show that Bardella would win a runoff against a range of candidates. A poll from a week ago from Odoxa showed Bardella beating former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe 52 to 48 percent. Other potential candidates, such as the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, were also beaten by wide margins, with polling showing Bardella nearly 50 points ahead of him, at 74 percent to 26 percent, illustrating the France’s distate for Mélenchon’s politics.

Brussels’ nightmare scenario
Politico ran a piece three days ago entitled “Brussels’ nightmare scenario,” which predicted that a Bardella-Mélenchon matchup is a real possibility and would be viewed as catastrophic by the EU elite, as both candidates have a highly skeptical view of the European Union.

“That prospect of stopping Bardella has hit a major potential hurdle, however, as momentum builds behind the campaign of the firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party. The latest polls suggest he now has a strong chance of qualifying for the second-round showdown — depriving the race of a centrist who could rally voters against the far right in the EU’s No. 2 economy.” The paper also quoted, Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister under President Emmanuel Macron. He said he now believes Mélenchon will be the main challenger to the “far right.” “You have … to be wearing blinkers not to see it,” he said.

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A brown skinned lady who swears that Britain “is not a racist country,” Now you know what you got there is a politician.

Tory Leader Warns Of ‘Civil War’ In UK (RT)

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has slammed UK politicians over what she described as attempts to score points on existing racial divisions, warning that it risked pushing the country towards a “civil war.”nSpeaking in an interview with the BBC aired on Friday, Badenoch reacted to the murder of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old Polish-British university student, who was stabbed five times by Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh. The incident took place in Southampton in December 2025, but gained a national spotlight only recently.


When police arrived, Digwa falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist assault, with police initially believing his account. Body-cam footage released after sentencing showed officers handcuffing the dying student as he repeatedly told them he had been stabbed and could not breathe. While Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years, the fall-out triggered widespread uproar, protests, and accusations of “two-tier policing” and “anti-white prejudice” in Britain. The incident also drew outcry from the US – a traditional UK ally – with the State Department warning that “ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline.”

Badenoch insisted that Britain “is not a racist country,” but acknowledged that “we are now seeing more and more hostility to people of every ethnicity, whether they’re English or not English.” However, she insisted that the real driver of tension was politicians using racial divisions to harvest votes and importing these conflicts into communities that had previously been spared from them. “Parties which do that, politicians who do that, they may get to benefit in the short term, but in the long term, that’s how you end up with civil war,” Badenoch warned.

While Badenoch did not name specific politicians, one of those who seized on the controversy was Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, widely known for his anti-immigration agenda. Farage called for “pure cold rage” in response to the incident. Reform UK is currently polling at around 27%, with Labour and the Conservatives tied at roughly 18% each. Meanwhile, Badenoch herself became the Tory leader after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s landslide defeat in the general election in 2024, which was in large part caused by the party’s identitarian and cultural policies as well as a failure to deliver on immigration promises.

The culture war has long plagued British politics, with one of the most notable instances coming in August 2025 when “Operation Raise the Colours” saw activists tying Union Jacks and St. George’s Cross flags to lampposts across England. While the protest was framed as an expression of patriotism, some Labour-run councils disagreed, ordering the flags to be removed over concerns that they were sowing division – a move that drew furious condemnation from Reform UK.

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“I’m the look-around candidate. All you have to do to understand why I’m surging in the polls is just look around. . . .” — Spencer Pratt

Questions and Answers (James Howard Kunstler)

Just watch in wonder and nausea as California’s mail-in ballots dribble in, providing a real-time demonstration of the “Our Democracy” party spitting in the country’s face again, since everybody knows exactly what’s going on. Meanwhile, the Senate voted down the SAVE Act again this week by 52 to 48 for. . . reasons. But, hey, cheer up, it’s Pride Month. At the same time that California was queering its own “jungle primary,” a troupe of drag queens swanned and capered around New York’s City Council Chamber in what was called a “Pride Ball” (actually more of a show than a ball).


And what it really showed is that the party running New York City has no shame. How, exactly, does mental illness intersect with the public interest, you might ask? Historians of the future, roasting armadillos-on-the-half-shell over their campfires, will probably figure it out. For now, you must pretend that no such question even exists. Don’t bother asking. Just go along with the gag.

Here’s a scene you might like to see: As you know by now, the president has nominated Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to be the Senate-confirmed full-on, bona fide AG. But Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) says he would require Mr. Blanche to declare that the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol riot was “an insurrection.” Wouldn’t it be fun to hear Mr. Blanche reply by saying, “Can’t do that, sir, because the DOJ has an ongoing case that involves dozens of federal officers from several agencies instigating the events of that day in collusion with members of Congress and the US military, and, well, I can say no more about that at this time. . . .”

Similarly, election fraud. Just days ago, Mr. Trump told Miranda Divine of The New York Post, “We had a rigged election [2020], we can’t have rigged elections. We know who rigged the election. We know everything now. . . we have information that nobody thought was possible. . . . Let’s see what happens.”

Hmmmm. . .. Wouldn’t that prompt you to suspect that the DOJ has a case, or multiple cases, involving 2020 election fraud cooking on its stove? Recall that not long ago the FBI seized 700 boxes of evidence from the Fulton County Election Hub in Union City, GA. And another truckload out of Maricopa County, AZ. Do you think they’ll discover some, er, irregularities in all that? Perhaps eye-wateringly blatant?

Would it not then be urgent to seek indictments of actual persons, if any are deserved, well before November, so that measures could be taken to preclude more fraud and cheating in the midterm election — measures like . . . passing the SAVE Act! How might Majority Leader John Thune explain his intransigence on the matter in the face of all that? Or, like New York’s City Council, does he have no shame?

In another momentous development this week, the new management at CBS-News cashiered 60-Minutes star Scott Pelley for apparent insubordinate behavior in a confab with the show’s newly-hired Executive Producer Nick Bilton and Mr. Bilton’s boss, Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. They had already sacked the querulous Sharyn Alfonsi a week earlier. Of course, 60-Minutes, with its giant audience following NFL games, was one of the main units in the Deep State’s gaslighting apparatus, and Mr. Pelley burned brightest there for years, flaring out one lying-ass narrative after another from the Russia Collusion hoax to 2020 election fraud to the Jan 6 fake “insurrection,” with the same burnished arrogance he showed his new bosses. Gone now. . . buh-bye. Next up, Lesley Stahl (“Sir!!! Sir !!!”), and the self-important prick Bill Whitaker. Fire them all!

If you seek to understand why the American public is so deeply bamboozled, it is largely the utter failure of the news business. You can trace that to a couple of signal changes of policy. One was the 1987 repeal of the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine,” which required TV stations holding federal licenses to cover controversial public issues in a “fair and balanced manner.” The other was the 2013 “modernization” (under Barack Obama) of the Smith-Mundt Act (1948), which had prohibited the US government from “propagandizing” its own citizens — and after “modernization” turned squishy on that.

The 1975–1976 (Sen. Frank) Church Committee — the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities — documented that the CIA had long-term secret relationships with dozens of U.S. journalists. This is casually referred to as “Operation Mockingbird.” Since the Church Committee, it has only gotten much worse as the Deep State struggles to cover-up layer upon layer of crimes it keeps committing. The nightly news shows now are just anchors and “panelists” shooting their mouths off. The news itself goes mostly unreported. A big reason is that broadcast news now employs nearly zero correspondents in-the-field. Nobody is out there reporting on events. They don’t want to spend the money. So, the news just spins and spins, mostly in the service of manufactured lies.

Also last week, famous New York Times columnist and fake Nobel economics prize-winner Paul Krugman put out a video calling for the “purging” of MAGA and everything MAGA-adjacent from American life — when his team (the party of “Our Democracy”) comes back to power, as it must. He didn’t detail whether this process would entail internment camps and crematoriums, but you could infer as much from his tone. Kinda gives you a clue of where their heads are at.

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Paul Craig Roberts.

The White Countries Have Become Rabidly Racist Against White People (PCR)

As I was writing this article several thousand British citizens were outside a police station in Southhampton, England, demanding accountability for the murder of a young white British student, Henry Nowak, by a black immigrant-invader and the white British police.


The black immigrant-invader murdered Nowak by stabbing him five times. The white British police murdered Nowak by ignoring his testimony that he had been stabbed and what turned out to be Novak’s last words: “I can’t breathe.” The British police, trained as they successfully have been to see the white person as the aggressor, instead of arresting the black immigrant-invader who attacked Nowak, fatally as it turned out, the white British police arrested the dying Nowak, who died in police handcuffs. The “racially sensitive trained” white British police believed the black immigrant-invader’s lie that Nowak had used a racial epithet. They did not believe Nowak that he had been stabbed. The “racially sensitive police” did not even look to see if Nowak had been stabbed. Instead, they handcuffed a dying man and did not call for medical help.

You would think that this would be a scandal–and it was–but not for the right reason. The rabidly anti-white white British prime minister Starmer characterized the several thousand white protesters, a small number in view of the enormity of the injustice, as “far-right rioters and racist thugs.” In other words, the Prime Minister of England sees racism not in the unprovoked deadly attack on the white Nowak by the black immigrant-invader, not in the British police’s ignoring of Nowak’s dying plea for help. The white British Prime Minister Starmer sees racism in the British citizens’ protest about what has happened. Is there any lower form of pure political excrement than Starmer ? How does a piece of political excrement such as Starmer survive as Prime Minister of Great Britain?

Now, let us ask ourselves how a white ethnic British Prime Minister from the Labour Party, which in former times prior to the despicable Tony Blair, represented the ethnic British working class, became indoctrinated and brainwashed to such an extreme extent that the racists in society are the white people who suffer from theft, rape, and murder by immigrant-invaders.? Confront this fact: The excrement that serves as Prime Minister of Great Britain, formerly a great and reasonably moral country, has defined protest about a racist murder of a white British citizen to be “white racism.” This is the position of white people today. In NO Western country do white ethnic citizens have the protection of law. Their own government is against them.

The UK, once an ethnic nation, now a Tower of Babel, has a “commitment to racial equality.” What does it mean? To quote the official answer, “it does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘color blind,’” it means limiting racism to white people. No one but white people can be racists. This is the official position of the Starmer UK government. It was the official position of the Biden regime and the official position of all Western European governments. Trump prefers to hand over to Israel the power otherwise handed over to immigrant-invaders. This is why the police automatically saw the murderer of Nowak as the victim and Nowak as the racist.

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“This death connects directly to George Floyd — not superficially, not controversially, but logically. In both cases, nobody asked what happened. They asked who did it — then let that answer bury every other question alive.”

When Race is the Only Possible Verdict (Eric Florack)

Vodkapundit put it best earlier this week: “By now you must know the story of Henry Nowak all too well. The 18-year-old student was stabbed five times on a Southampton street following an altercation with a British Sikh man. As he lay bleeding out, trying to tell the police he’d been stabbed, killer Vickrum Digwa told police that Nowak was a racist. So police cuffed the dying victim. Digwa and his brother knew exactly what to do even before the cops arrived. “We’ve just been attacked by…” Gurpreet Digwa told police dispatchers with a pause, “someone racially.”


Vickrum was just convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum term of 21 years, but the Southampton police have yet to face any consequences for their behavior. In today’s Britain, it’s basically impossible. Almost 250 years after Americans codified British notions of liberty, Britons returned the favor, so to speak, by institutionalizing the American left’s liberty-destroying racial grievance spoils system. “To understand how we got here,” Konstantin Kisin wrote for The Free Press this week, “you have to understand what the post-[George] Floyd ‘reckoning’ actually did to British institutions—especially the police. The response to Floyd’s death wasn’t merely emotional, nor was it just symbolic. It was ideological, and it was systematic.”

I have a lot of respect for Kisin. His statement here does nothing to diminish that respect. Kisin is right. This death connects directly to George Floyd — not superficially, not controversially, but logically. In both cases, nobody asked what happened. They asked who did it — then let that answer bury every other question alive. More succinctly, ethnicity didn’t influence the verdict. Ethnicity was the verdict, delivered before Nowak’s body finished cooling. But sure, call it justice. The left certainly does. News flash: That’s not a justice system. That’s an ideology with a gavel. On Derek Chauvin, I’ll be equally direct: overturn the conviction. George Floyd killed George Floyd. The fentanyl he swallowed in order to hide it from the cops did the paperwork.

I’ll grant the cops in the case of Nowak this much: they followed orders and training. How reassuringly Nuremberg of them. I mean, they were certainly caught in the middle here. That truth doesn’t exonerate them, but it does redirect the crosshairs. The politicians who enshrined race over logic in that department’s doctrine? They built this outcome, brick by brick. The brass who designed training that systematically lobotomizes human judgment deserve the lion’s share of the blame for Nowak’s death. You don’t get to manufacture robots, point them at people, and then act surprised when someone ends up dead.

Bill Glahn over at Powerline addresses this with appropriate sarcasm: It has been decreed by official Britain: the unprovoked, brutal murder of Henry Nowak shall not be “politicized,” lest the wishes of Henry’s surviving family be dishonored. In practice, to avoid politicization, one must refrain from any criticizing or questioning any errors or omissions by anyone in government. How dare you. The only prominent political figure to not go along with the Omerta is Reform leader Nigel Farage. For this incivility he was defamed on the BBC. Now that the official police watchdog has officially cleared the police response from any hint of wrongdoing, and now that Nowak’s murderer has been sentenced to the shortest possible prison term (21 years) for a murder conviction, we must speak of this incident no more.

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“We are to blame for a great many of these problems ourselves, former Austrian Foreign Minister said “

Europe No Longer Attractive Global Hub, Only Itself To Blame – Kneissl (TASS)

Europe has ceased to be a center of attraction in terms of economy, innovation, and demographics, and it has only itself to blame for it, former Austrian Foreign Minister and head of the G.O.R.K.I. Center at St. Petersburg State University Karin Kneissl said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). She noted that in recent years, a lot of Arabic and Spanish could be heard at SPIEF.


“That’s simply a reflection of the times. It’s interesting that American companies were here again this year. The world has changed, and overall I have much more confidence in the South and the East. And I have been saying this for a long time, even before this whole situation with the war in Ukraine began. Because for me, Europe is no longer the focus of attention. And it hasn’t been for a long time,” Kneissl said. “From a demographic standpoint, we have been left behind. We are not particularly strong in innovation either,” she continued. “We are to blame for the economic crises we are experiencing in Germany and other countries. There is too much bureaucracy, too much ideology in the energy sector, and the selection of personnel is too poor.”

According to her, there are even bigger problems on top of that. “And now, in just about every corporation, everyone has their own director of geopolitical affairs who explains where the Strait of Hormuz is. We are to blame for a great many of these problems ourselves. And some people are still trying to point the finger at Russia and say: this is ‘Putin’s inflation’ or this is ‘the Russian recession.’ You still hear this in Germany and especially in Austria,” the analyst noted. At the same time, she believes that there are forces in some countries that hold a different view. “There are also those who have realized that they created their own problems and that they must solve them on their own,” Kneissl stressed.

SPIEF
The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026) is taking place on June 3-6. This year, the event is held under the theme “Pragmatic Dialogue: The Path to a Stable Future.” Saudi Arabia is the guest country at SPIEF. The forum program is dedicated to shaping a new model of global development amid the ongoing transformation of the world economy.

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“According to former Austrian Foreign Minister, European embassies “just need to do their job”..” These days, she’s “head of the G.O.R.K.I. Center at St. Petersburg State University”..

EU Embassies In Moscow Should Establish Dialogue With Russia — Kneissl (TASS)

EU embassies should take the lead in restoring dialogue with Moscow, former Austrian Foreign Minister and head of the G.O.R.K.I. Center at St. Petersburg State University Karin Kneissl said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). “Every EU country has an embassy. They really need to start doing their job and maintain normal relations with Russia. I’ll say it again: there is no need for a mediator here. There are 27 EU embassies in Moscow, and their job is to maintain daily working contacts with the Russian authorities. That is their responsibility,” she said.

According to Kneissl, European embassies “just need to do their job.” “I do not see much point in having a separate coordinator. Theoretically, the EU high representative could perform this task. Who is that now? Kaja Kallas. We know her very personal stance toward Russia,” the expert noted. The former Austrian foreign minister added that if Javier Solana, the EU’s first High Representative, were hypothetically in Kallas’s position today, “he might have been a better fit.”


“Of course, a lot depends on the individual. But regardless of who holds this position, in my view, this task should be carried out by each individual EU embassy. French companies have one approach to the Russian market, German companies another, and Italian companies their own view of Russia. Ultimately, each country has its own foreign trade interests when it comes to Russia,” she emphasized.

According to Kneissl, “the high representative will never be able to take all these interests into account, especially since there is another position in the European Commission responsible for that — the commissioner for trade and economic security.” “Perhaps I am being too pragmatic. But I will say it again: the core tasks of diplomacy have hardly changed over the centuries. What should a diplomat do? First, represent their country. Second, keep their capital informed about what is happening in Russia. And third, conduct negotiations. They need to negotiate agreements in areas such as culture and sports. These are their responsibilities. And they must do their job,” Kneissl concluded.

SPIEF
The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026) is taking place on June 3-6. This year, the event is held under the theme “Pragmatic Dialogue: The Path to a Stable Future.” Saudi Arabia is the guest country at SPIEF. The forum program is dedicated to shaping a new model of global development amid the ongoing transformation of the world economy. The Roscongress Foundation is the organizer of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. TASS is its official general information partner.

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How much crazier are the British than everybody else?

UK Government Plots Digital ID Lockdown On Every Phone (MN)

The Labour government in Britain is accelerating its assault on digital privacy under the well-worn banner of child protection. Fresh plans leaked to the press reveal ministers intend to compel Apple, Google and other tech firms to restrict smartphones so thoroughly that a digital ID will be needed to use them with unfettered access. The mechanism comes in the form of expanded age verification that effectively demands digital identification for device setup and use. What is sold as safeguarding the young is shaping up as a backdoor mandate for every adult in Britain to submit ID just to operate a phone or go online.


This development lands alongside Google’s confirmation that it will soon bring digital IDs to Android devices in the UK via Google Wallet. Users will record a short video selfie and scan a government-issued ID to add a digital version of their passport or other documents.

The feature, already rolling out in select EU countries this summer, is explicitly tied to the UK’s Online Safety Act requirements for age checks on content involving self-harm, eating disorders, bullying and pornography. Google is exploring certification under the government’s digital identity trust framework, which could extend its use to everyday purchases such as alcohol. Apple has already implemented similar restrictions on iOS devices in Britain, forcing age confirmation or locking users into limited “child mode.”

ig Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo has been blunt about where this leads. “Protecting children online is vital, but these are outrageous plans that will fail to address the underlying causes of online harm. This will only result in population-wide ID checks for all of us to use our phones, tablets and laptops.” She continued: “Put simply, the Labour Government is introducing ID checks for the internet. No one in a democracy should need to show their passport just to get online.”

Carlo warned that the proposals replace genuine parental responsibility and meaningful tech design with “performative, authoritarian government control that children can easily circumvent by accessing adult-registered devices.” For the UK’s fifty million adult internet users, the outcome is stark: “this backdoor digital ID requirement would invoke the death of anonymity and internet privacy.” The mechanics are chilling. Without submitting to intrusive ID checks during device setup, users face a “chokehold on your software and internet access leaving you with a child-locked device.” Restrictions on messaging, streaming and browsing open the door to client-side scanning – government spyware sitting in every pocket. Carlo noted this has long been a GCHQ ambition and “will be exploited for other purposes before long.”

The bigger picture involving “The Government mandating that all phones/devices in Britain require ID and surveillance software is a crossing of the Rubicon that would make the UK one of the most authoritarian internet regimes in the world.” “I don’t know anywhere else in the world that has done this,” Carlo warned. The story broke via a leak to The Times rather than any parliamentary process. Carlo called it a travesty: “This extreme technological censorship requires rigorous public and parliamentary scrutiny that is totally missing.” Big Brother Watch has pledged to fight the measures. These phone-level controls do not exist in isolation. They slot directly into the UK’s wider digital ID infrastructure, already exposed as a dystopian experiment in mass surveillance.

The government’s One Login platform and planned GOV.UK Wallet create a centralized system for identity verification across public services, with biometric data, audit trails logging every use, and a permissions framework that can deny access to everything from jobs to age-restricted purchases. What begins as convenient “right-to-work” checks or alcohol verification quickly becomes a comprehensive record of daily life, open to expansion and abuse. nThe ambition reaches even further back – to the cradle. Labour ministers have privately discussed assigning digital IDs to newborn babies alongside their health records, modeled on Estonia’s system.

Framed initially as a tool to tackle illegal immigration through right-to-work verification, the scheme has ballooned into a cradle-to-grave tracking apparatus. Critics across the spectrum have labeled it a sinister overreach with nothing to do with stopping the boats and everything to do with building a permanent digital file on every citizen from birth.

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“The rise of AI agents has pushed automated requests past human activity, according to the internet infrastructure firm..”

Bots Now Generate More Web Traffic Than Humans – Cloudflare (RT)

Bots and AI agents now generate more web traffic than humans, according to data from internet infrastructure company Cloudflare. CEO Matthew Prince has described the development as a major turning point in the history of the web. Recent Cloudflare Radar data shows that automated bot requests account for roughly 57% of traffic to ordinary webpages across a selection of websites using the company’s services, compared with about 43% generated by humans.


“Welp, that happened faster than I predicted,” Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince wrote on X on Wednesday. He stated that he had expected automated traffic to overtake human activity only in 2027, but that “agentic traffic” has grown rapidly enough for bots to pass humans “for the first time in the Internet’s history.” The shift is primarily being driven by AI agents – automated systems that browse, retrieve, and process web content on behalf of users. While a human might visit a handful of websites before making a purchase or researching a topic, an AI agent can scan thousands of pages in order to produce an answer or complete a task.

Cloudflare’s figures suggest that much of today’s web activity is no longer ordinary browsing by people clicking through pages, but machine-to-machine traffic with automated systems requesting data from websites, apps, services and databases. The data covers web traffic only and does not include activities such as streaming, messaging, gaming, or app usage. The trend has revived debate over the “dead internet theory,” the idea that much of online activity is increasingly generated by bots, automated accounts, and AI systems interacting with other machine-made content.

The rise of bot traffic has also threatened the internet’s advertising-based business model. Since bots do not click on ads, concerns have been raised about whether websites may eventually charge AI agents for access to content. Meanwhile, researchers have also noted that large parts of the older web have been disappearing. A 2024 Pew Research Center study found that 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer accessible a decade later, fueling concerns that the open web is being transformed from a space built around human browsing into one increasingly dominated by automated systems.

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May 192026
 


John Atkinson Grimshaw A moonlit lane 1874


Trump: Holding Off ‘Planned’ Attack On Iran At Request Of Gulf Allies (ZH)
Gulf States Negotiating with Iran (CTH)
Iran Will ‘Under No Circumstances’ Give Up Nuclear Program To End War (ZH)
Trump China Trip, Canada/EU Conflict and 2026 Midterm Positioning (CTH)
Multiple 2020 Election Fraud Investigations in Georgia and Arizona (Margolis)
‘Smartest Guy’ In the Belatedly Realizes Trump’s Relevance (Morrissey)
Democrats Face Midterm Disappointment (Daniel McCarthy)
As Student Scores Plummet, Teachers’ Union Head Rants Against Trump (Salgado)
We’ve Been Taking Down Some Really Bad Guys Lately (Anderson)
Judge Dismisses Musk’s OpenAI Lawsuit After Jury Reaches Verdict (ZH)
The Too-Long Goodbye (James Howard Kunstler)
Germany Fears Next Migration Wave (ZH)
Secretary Marco Rubio Delivers Message of National Faith (CTH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2056410099137073194?s=20 https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2056111745282785295?s=20 https://twitter.com/mcucolo57/status/2056334846515925229?s=20 https://twitter.com/GOP_is_Gutless/status/2056121534993838325?s=20

 


 


There’s movement.

Trump: Holding Off ‘Planned’ Attack On Iran At Request Of Gulf Allies (ZH)


Trump ‘Not Open’ to Any Concessions for Tehran: NYP Interview

Another repetition of the weeks-long stale-mated reality: …so Trump is ‘not open’ to any concessions, but Iran deal happening ‘soon’ – we are yet again told, as the Iranians themselves haven’t appeared to budge on anything. President Trump told The NY Post on Monday he is “not open” to any concessions for Tehran after receiving the latest disappointing Iranian response on peace deal talks. Highlights: And in an ominous foreshadowing, Trump said Iran knows “what’s going to be happening soon.”

In the brief phone interview The Post, Trump seemingly shut the door to Iran’s Sunday offer for a diplomatic talks. Asked about his Friday remark that he’d be willing to accept a 20-year moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, Trump interjected: “I’m not open to anything right now.”The president declined to get into any detail. “I can’t really talk to you about it. Too many things are happening,” he said. “I can tell you they want to make a deal more than ever, because they know we’re—what’s going to be happening soon,” Trump said.

Questioned about regional source claims that Iran is attempting to “wait out” Washington on both the nuclear issue and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said he “hadn’t heard that.”

US Denies Tasnim Report It Agreed to Lift Iran Oil Sanctions
And the denials keep rolling in. First via CNBC:

…as the US side does not seem very confidently in control of the situation – quite the opposite:

Just like that, back to square zero once again we go… and back to headline roulette.

US PLANS NEW RUSSIAN OIL WAIVER AS IRAN WAR CRUNCHES SUPPLIES

US DENIES REPORT IT AGREED TO LIFT IRAN OIL SANCTIONS: CNBC

Steady climb in oil continues on the denials…

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New moves.

Gulf States Negotiating with Iran (CTH)

President Trump announced on Truth Social that he is delaying further strikes against Iran pending current negotiations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. According to the announcement the Gulf States are negotiating a ‘zero nuclear’ position.


This is an interesting development as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were previously the ones urging President Trump not to halt the military pressure campaign.

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond. This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN! Based on my respect for the above mentioned Leaders, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

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“It also seems Russia’s offer to take and temporarily hold Iran’s enriched uranium is being taken seriously. ”

Iran Will ‘Under No Circumstances’ Give Up Nuclear Program To End War (ZH)

In a far too familiar pattern, just before US market open on Monday, a slew of optimistic Iran headlines saw oil erase weekend gains, which mostly came through Saudi Arabia’s state-funded Al Arabiya, as well as Reuters… only to be followed by Iranian officials rejecting the substance of these reports, putting things firmly back at square one. nTasnim has newly cited Iranian government sources who seek to make clear that “Iran under no circumstances” will engage in new nuclear negotiations for an end to the war. Contradicting the earlier morning reports, it still sees negotiations to find peace in the war with the US as separate from the nuclear file. “Fundamental differences between the Iranian and American texts still remain”, Tasnim reports, citing a source.


“Despite some changes in the new American text, fundamental differences stemming from the Americans’ exaggeration and lack of realism remain,” Tasnim writes, citing the Iranian source. According to more of the statements per state media:

“Iran will not abandon its firm and principled positions on ending the war and realizing the rights of the Iranian people”.
“Iran’s frozen assets must be returned to the Iranian people in a transparent and definitive manner, and paper promises are of no use”.
“Despite some promises, there is disagreement about the return of the frozen funds”.
“Iran’s determination regarding the necessity of paying compensation by the Americans for the military aggression against Iran is very serious”.
“The Americans are far from Iran’s demands regarding its amount and some other issues.”
“the Americans are still trying to tie the negotiations to end the war to the nuclear issue, which is against logic and Iran will not agree to it. The Americans must understand that Iran will in no way agree to an end to the war in return for nuclear commitments”.
“Iran has not and does not have any intention of building nuclear weapons, and this claim is just an excuse and deception by the Americans. This issue has also been emphasized in the new text”.

Oil reacted as expected to this official ‘denial’ of the prior optimism – quickly rebounding, also as Trump is said to be “losing patience” with the progress of talks. A US source has told Al Jazeera Iran has “days not weeks” to show progress.

Tasnim: Another Iranian Ship Breaks Through US Blockade Line
Iranian state media is claiming that a Iranian oil tanker under US sanctions that was off the coast of India two weeks ago has now docked at Kharg Island, having broken through the US naval blockade. Tasnim reports that “the LPG tanker passed through the US blockade line undetected and entered Iranian waters.”

The Pentagon has been asserting an essentially airtight blockade on ‘illicit’ ships going to or from Iranian ports. CENTCOM has said it has turned around at least 75 vessels, while Iranian media has since the blockade’s start touted several ships making it through.

Long-Term Nuclear Freeze on Table
Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya early Monday has issued a bombshell if true (but still very much not officially confirmed), reporting that Iran has agreed to a long-term nuclear freeze instead of a complete dismantling. The outlet also reports that Iran has withdrawn its demand for compensation, instead demanding economic concessions. However, this could be highly dubious, given over the past several days Tehran has not shown willingness to back down from this demand of compensation.

It also seems Russia’s offer to take and temporarily hold Iran’s enriched uranium is being taken seriously. Here are the alleged “leaks” of the working draft peace document: “Working on a condition transfer of enriched uranium to Russia instead of the US.
Seeking multiple international guarantees for any agreement.
Wants Pakistan and Oman to have a ‘role’ in any ‘clash’ in the Strait of Hormuz.
Seeking a political formation that allows Iran to save face.
Separate the maritime route from nuclear issues.

Oil pushes lower on the additional headlines, following initial reports that the US would lift sanctions on Iranian oil during the negotiating period…

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”Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action PAC gives her take on the current situation.”

Trump China Trip, Canada/EU Conflict and 2026 Midterm Positioning (CTH)

Barbara Boyd Recaps Trump China Trip, Canada/EU Conflict and 2026 Midterm Positioning


Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action PAC gives her take on the current situation.

“Barbara Boyd argues the key outcome of Trump’s China visit was the personal trust between Trump and Xi, symbolized by Xi’s “secret garden” tour previously reserved for Putin, and framed as establishing guardrails for U.S.–China strategic and tech competition amid the Iran war and energy geopolitics. She says London and Democrats are “screaming” because Trump is reshaping global economic relationships while Treasury Secretary Bessent lifts U.S. sanctions on Russian exports.

The episode targets Mark Carney and Keir Starmer as City of London figures who tried to capture China finance, advance BRICS as a dollar alternative, promote a synthetic reserve currency via CBDCs, and steer $130T through green finance—efforts Boyd says have failed as Trump reverses “Green New Deal” policies. She highlights DOJ election-rigging probes, renewed scrutiny of “Russiagate,” anti-fraud prosecutions, voter backlash, and insurgent politics in Los Angeles and London.”

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The machine has started,

Multiple 2020 Election Fraud Investigations in Georgia and Arizona (Margolis)

In recent weeks, Trump officials have been promising that bombshell evidence regarding 2020 election fraud would be coming. Both FBI Director Kash Patel and Monica Crowley, the U.S. government’s chief of protocol, have said as much. On Sunday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down with Maria Bartiromo and confirmed that the Department of Justice has multiple active investigations into election fraud, specifically targeting Arizona and Georgia’s Fulton County.


Blanche didn’t hedge. He didn’t offer the usual bureaucratic non-answer. He said it directly: “Well, there’s a ton of evidence that the election was rigged. That’s not something the DOJ needs to tell you about. There’s been evidence about that for many, many years. What I can tell you is that we have multiple investigations going on in Arizona, in Georgia, in Fulton County, Georgia.”

The questions driving those investigations are fundamental ones that, frankly, should have been asked and answered years ago. Why is it taking so long? Blanche addressed that head-on, too. “They’re very good at hiding misconduct and hiding — hiding what they’re doing,” he said. “And so that’s why we’re very focused on finding out whether the right people voted, whether people who were supposed to vote voted, whether there was one vote cast per voter.”

Blanche acknowledged the frustration building among Americans who’ve been waiting years for accountability. “People will say to me, how long has it taken? Why is it taking so long?” he said. “And the reality, the answer to that is because it takes a lot of work to uncover what happened in 2020.” This makes sense. Democrats put a lot of effort into perpetuating the myth that the 2020 election was “the most secure election in history,” and went to great lengths to silence those who dared even to question the official narrative.

Obviously, those responsible for the kind of shenanigans we saw take place in 2020 aren’t just going to leave the evidence lying around. It takes, as Blanche put it, “good old-fashioned law enforcement police work” to get the job done. And we all know that had President Donald Trump not won the 2024 election, there wouldn’t even be an investigation. The Biden DOJ spent four years telling Americans there was nothing to see here. The Trump DOJ is at least willing to look. Whether these investigations produce indictments, a public report, or something else entirely, but FBI Director Kash Patel did say last month that accountability was coming. “We are going to be making arrests, and it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon,” Patel said.

And Blanche made a promise. “I assure you, I assure the American people that as soon as we have something to say for it, whether it’s charges, whether it’s a report, whether it’s the results of an investigation, the American people will learn about what we’ve uncovered.” Trump promised us that he’d get answers about what really happened in 2020, and you can bet that is one of the main reasons they tried so hard to put him in prison before the election. The truth is coming out, and they can’t do a thing about it.

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The bitterest guy. Sore loser.

‘Smartest Guy’ In the Belatedly Realizes Trump’s Relevance (Morrissey)

True enough. But to be fair, Politico only realized it belatedly, too.


Donald Trump finally got his revenge on Bill Cassidy this weekend. The incumbent Senator tried to survive a primary challenge with Trump pushing voters to give him the boot over Cassidy’s impeachment removal vote in January 2021. Instead, Cassidy came in a distant third to Julia Letlow and John Fleming, not even breaking into six figures in vote totals: Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict President Donald Trump on impeachment charges in 2021, has lost his Republican primary in Louisiana, as two challengers who had aligned with Trump advanced to a runoff.

Rep. Julia Letlow, who had Trump’s endorsement in the race, will face state Treasurer John Fleming in a June 27 primary runoff, NBC News projects. Cassidy’s loss further cements Trump’s grip on the GOP as the president looks to exact revenge against Republicans who have crossed him in the past. And it also means another Republican who voted to convict Trump during his 2021 impeachment will not be returning to Congress next year. Cassidy offered a bitter valediction to his political career, and also complained about being “attacked on the internet”:

“Let me just set the record straight, our country is not about one individual,” Cassidy later added. “It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And it is the welfare of my people and my state and my country and our Constitution, to which I am loyal. And if someone doesn’t understand that, and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they are about serving themselves. They’re not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to be a leader.” Cassidy also noted that he has been “attacked on the internet.”

“Insults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity, and I find that people of character and integrity don’t spend their time attacking people on the internet,” Cassidy said. Ahem. Being “attacked on the internet” comes with the territory, and not just for politicians in elections, either. If Cassidy is this sensitive, he should return to practicing medicine. Unsurprisingly, this did not dissuade Trump from sharing his joy at Cassidy’s failure:

Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his “relationship” with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane! His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER! I’d like to thank the Great People of the State of Louisiana, and this Big Victory will only make me work even harder for your success, and all that comes with it. I LOVE YOU ALL. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP.

Cassidy spent five years insisting that the vote was old news. Voters just reached the same conclusion about Cassidy. Once again, this demonstrates the pull that Trump has with Republican voters – not just a small subset of GOP voters, but the party’s mainstream. Not even Cassidy’s “massive war chest” immunized him from accountability, Politico noted, another belated recognition of that outlet of the same lesson Cassidy just learned:

It’s a massive warning sign for any Republicans who’ve provoked the president’s wrath: Trump’s revenge campaign has already mobilized voters in both Indiana, where he successfully ousted several state GOP senators over redistricting, and Saturday night in Louisiana. Tuesday’s primaries in Georgia and Kentucky, where Rep. Thomas Massie is up for reelection and he’s picked sides in the open Senate race, will be another test. Now, the president is entering those races with the wind at his back.

Cassidy’s distant third-place finish marks the end of his tenure in the Senate, one that was doomed by his vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection five years ago. That decision ostracized him from Louisiana’s rabidly conservative base and set up two strong primary challengers in Rep. Julia Letlow — the Trump-endorsed candidate — and MAGA-friendly state Treasurer John Fleming. Up until polls closed, Cassidy maintained that his massive war chest, his record in Congress and a high turnout of non-party voters would be enough to save him. I

n the end, it was not. “For a man with such a formidable intellect, his political strategy was breathtakingly dense,” said Lionel Rainey, a Louisiana GOP strategist, who is unaffiliated with any of the campaigns. “History will remember Bill Cassidy as the absolute smartest guy in the political morgue.”

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I can see the Dems losing bitterly. What are their strengths? Not being Trump?

Democrats Face Midterm Disappointment (Daniel McCarthy)

As they look to the midterm elections, Republicans have reason to worry — but not despair. They’re going to be fighting uphill all the way to hold onto their majority in the House, which they currently control by the razor-thin margin of just six seats. That includes one member, California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who officially left the GOP but still caucuses with the party. “Fragile” hardly does justice to the state of the GOP’s House majority. Democrats look at President Donald Trump’s approval ratings and exult: As of early May, exactly six months before the midterms, Trump’s approval in the RealClearPolitics polling averages was an anemic 40.7%, and since then polls have shown him slipping further.


Democrats took more than 40 House seats from the GOP in the 2018 midterms, when Trump’s numbers were a little better: RealClear’s aggregate notched him at 43.6% approval the day before the election. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is just counting down the days until he becomes speaker. What could go wrong? Two things might yet thwart Jeffries’ ambitions. One is the Supreme Court, which has overturned the race-based approach to drawing congressional districts that long served to protect Democratic incumbents and carve out blue seats in red states. The court also slapped down Democrats’ attempts to get the federal judiciary to toss out a Virginia Supreme Court decision that killed their dreams of gerrymandering away four Republican seats in that state.

As things stand, when all the mid-decade redistricting across the country is finished, Republicans stand to gain up to 10 House seats. Though they have to remember what they’re actually getting is more Republican-leaning district maps — they still have to close the deal with voters. But even if they do, 10 more seats won’t stop a wave like the one that swept away the Republican House majority Trump enjoyed at the start of his first term. Yet the second barrier Democrats will have to overcome is that voters just don’t behave the way they used to: For nearly a quarter of a century, the American public exhibited wild swings in party preference in House elections, creating midterm waves in 1994, 2006, 2010 and 2018.

But 2022 broke the pattern: Joe Biden’s aggregate approval in the polls was at 42.2%, and Republicans expected a massive swing in their direction — yet they didn’t get it, just as Democrats got no boost in the House two years earlier despite their success in the 2020 presidential election. Biden claimed record numbers of voters in his race, yet Democrats actually lost seats in the House that year. Trump’s victory in 2024 also didn’t bring about much change in the House; Republicans lost two seats.nnIn other words, the last three elections — in 2020, 2022 and 2024 — have told a tale of surprising stability, with only small adjustments to the numbers of Republicans and Democrats in the House, leading to nerve-rackingly narrow margins of control for each party.

Jeffries should be careful what he wishes for. He might wind up with only a slender majority, one that could be lost if too many geriatric Democrats die in office. As of a year ago, more than 50 House Democrats were over the age of 70. Three have since died. Republicans don’t have quite as many elderly members in the House, but so small is the GOP majority that even a single maverick member like Thomas Massie can threaten to derail major legislation or trigger new elections for speaker. Pain has forced Republicans to get serious, however, and Trump has been relentless about imposing discipline on the party. Massie can attest to that, as can the five Republican state senators who lost their primaries on May 5 after Trump condemned them for opposing a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to give the GOP a greater edge.

This is another reason to think Republicans have a fighting chance in November: Despite the headlines in hostile media, the Republican Party is remarkably unified behind Trump, who can end the careers of state senators in Indiana or a United States senator like Bill Cassidy in Louisiana. Trump can do that because — and only because — the voters are with him. If House elections have indeed reached a rough equilibrium since 2020, there will be no wave, and even a pickup of just eight to 10 seats through redistricting could save the Republican majority by the skin of its teeth.

Democrats are counting on this November being a replay of 2018, or George W. Bush’s disastrous second midterms in 2006. But look to the primaries so far for a clue: This is a very different Republican Party, and it’s well-adapted for the political landscape Trump has remade; in an era of close elections, it’s a party that can win.

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Time to spare.

As Student Scores Plummet, Teachers’ Union Head Rants Against Trump (Salgado)

While student scores continued to hit horrifying lows across America’s public schools, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union boss Randi Weingarten is prioritizing anti-Trump and pro-illegal alien propaganda.


Weingarten, who said she cried as she voted for Kamala Harris and who demanded huge amounts of taxpayer money to reopen schools during the COVID-19 lockdowns before not using that money on reopening, has a serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Her Bluesky account sounds like a full-time political activist’s, and she mostly seems to mention education as connected and secondary to her woke politics. For example, on May 15, she wrote, “In my new video, I talk about the big fights in front of us: making life more affordable and standing up to attacks on voting rights.” She’s not interested in raising test scores or improving literacy.

For example, here is just one message from May 16: “The Trump administration is now targeting people here legally through DACA, deporting them from the only country many have known as home, separating them from their families and forcing them out of their jobs. It’s cruel—Dreamers deserve a pathway to citizenship. Back on May 13, using a report from extremely biased NPR as “proof,” Weingarten ranted, “New evidence shows that Trump’s extreme immigration crackdown has hurt local economies and job growth. It’s time to rein in the chaos and violence ICE is causing in our communities.” This is why ICE agents face increased violence.

And the deranged union boss was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Democrats’ last-ditch efforts to gerrymander the state of Virginia and erase Republicans’ voice there altogether. Trying to frame Republicans’ efforts to reverse racial gerrymandering as either equivalent or inferior to one of the most egregious maps in American history, Weingarten griped, “So SCOTUS enables some states to move so quickly they suspend elections to gerrymander but refuses to allow a voter approved plan to go forward . What’s the difference? Which party is in power.”

Again complaining about the SCOTUS anti-racial gerrymandering decisions, she posted, “Retirees had questions about how we we have a democracy in light of of terrible court decisions like Callais and Citizens United. We talked, of course about voting. Energy like this gives me hope. We’re gearing up for an election cycle like no other and these activists are ready.” You might have noticed by now that she often has glaring grammatical and punctuation errors in her posts. She’s almost as illiterate as her students.

Speaking of which, on May 13, Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research admitted, “Compared with a decade earlier, reading scores were down last year in 83 percent of school districts where data was available. Math scores were down in 70 percent.” Last fall, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found “just 35% of high school seniors were proficient in reading” and the “math score for 12th-graders was even worse, with just 22% achieving proficiency.” Weingarten is so busy ranting against Trump that she is stultifying an entire generation.

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FYI.

We’ve Been Taking Down Some Really Bad Guys Lately (Anderson)

Donald Trump’s plan to clean up the Western Hemisphere is going pretty well. If you need proof of that, just take a look at the list of bad guys we’ve rounded up and who are now in U.S. custody as of the past week or so.


Alex Saab (Nicolás Maduro’s Bagman)
I’ve written a great deal about Alex Saab in the past, so I don’t want to rehash all the details of who he is, but for those who don’t know, he’s Maduro’s bagman. He’s quite a powerful guy, and he’s been accused of things like money laundering, sanctions evasion, and corruption schemes benefiting the Maduro regime in the past. At one point, he was actually in U.S. custody. However, the Joe Bide administration sent him back to Venezuela in exchange for Maduro’s good behavior. Seriously. Maduro promised Biden that he’d hold free and fair 2024 elections if he’d release Saab and other related criminals back into Venezuelan custody.

Spoiler alert: There were no free and fair 2024 elections. And to be fair, Maduro also released some U.S. hostages as part of the deal, but if you’ll recall, last summer, Trump and Rubio, with some help from El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, had Maduro release all U.S. hostages in exchange for, well, nothing. But I digress. So, on Saturday, the Venezuelan regime still in place “deported” (they did not use the word “extradited,” even though that’s what it was) Saab — who is actually from Colombia — to the United States.

Venezuela’s Administrative Service of Identification, Migration, and Foreigners Affairs (SAIME) released a statement, saying it made the decision because of implications “in the commission of various crimes in the United States of America — a matter that is public, notorious, and widely reported.” Actually, it did so because Delcy Rodríguez does what the Trump administration tells her to do, like a good little pet. She’s also been scrubbing past praise of Saab from her X account. According to the Miami Herald, the U.S. views Saab as a “potentially crucial witness capable of providing detailed insight into the financial architecture that sustained Maduro’s inner circle for years.” He will now face renewed criminal proceedings.

Jose Enrique Martínez Flores (Senior Tren de Aragua Leader)
Jose Enrique Martínez Flores, aka “Chuqui,” may only be 24 years old, but according to U.S. officials, he’s the Tren de Aragua (TdA) leader that oversees criminal operations, including drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder in Colombia. In case you forgot, TdA is the Venezuelan prison gang that is now a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) with a presence in the United States. Maduro sent many of them here (and to other countries in the Western Hemisphere) to create chaos in our communities and was using them as his own little army of sorts, even though he denied that they existed.

Anyway, this guy had been arrested in Colombia in March and was extradited to the United States, landing in Houston on May 14. He’s apparently the highest-ranking TdA member ever brought to justice and the first charged with terrorism or related offenses due to the FTO designation. He made his first court appearance last week and pled “not guilty” to all charges.

Gerardo Mérida Sánchez and Enrique Díaz Vega (Sinaloa State Officials)
Last month, I reported that “a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York unsealed a 34-page indictment charging Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other current or former high-ranking Mexican officials with drug trafficking and weapons offenses.” They were accused of partnering with the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel (the sons of El Chapo) to help smuggle massive quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the U.S.

Rocha Moya was the big gun. He’s the governor of Sinaloa, one of the most dangerous and violent states in Mexico, and, of course, the home base for the Sinaloa cartel. While Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum basically responded to the indictments with “nothing to see here,” at least two of those officials are now in U.S. custody, after having turned themselves in, presumably in hopes of ratting everyone else out and getting off easy.

The first is Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, a retired military general and the former secretary of public security for Sinaloa state. On May 11, he crossed the border into Arizona, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals, and flown to New York. He was the first to turn himself in and has pleaded “not guilty” to charges including narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. He faces a minimum of 40 years in prison (he’s currently 66 years old).

The second is Enrique Díaz Vega, a former secretary of administration and finance for Sinaloa and a close ally of Rocha Moya. Reports say that he was in Europe when he decided to surrender and flew to New York, where he was taken into custody on May 15. The 50-year-old faces the same charges and sentencing. None of these guys are small fish. They’re men who have propped up the widespread organized crime that plagues the Americas, and, hopefully, they’re just a small sample of what’s to come. It’s nice having a president who actually punishes criminals.

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Cloe to: “A profit-maximizing demon from hell.”

To be continued.

Judge Dismisses Musk’s OpenAI Lawsuit After Jury Reaches Verdict (ZH)

Update: Musk to appeal


***

A nine-person federal jury has sided with OpenAI, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Microsoft, determining that Elon Musk filed his high-profile lawsuit too late under the statute of limitations. The verdict effectively ends Musk’s claims that OpenAI abandoned its founding nonprofit mission to benefit humanity. The jury unanimously concluded that Musk knew or should have known about OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit model and major Microsoft partnerships years earlier – potentially as far back as 2019–2021, making his August 2024 filing untimely. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in turn accepted the advisory jury’s finding on this threshold issue and dismissed the case.

Musk, a co-founder who contributed roughly $38–44 million in OpenAI’s early days, alleged that the company betrayed its original charitable trust by pursuing massive profits and commercial deals, particularly with Microsoft. He sought up to $150 billion in damages or “ill-gotten gains,” the removal of Altman and Brockman from leadership, and a restructuring to restore the nonprofit focus on safe, humanity-benefiting AI. OpenAI countered that Musk was fully aware of the company’s evolving plans (including for-profit elements he himself had once advocated), waited until after launching his competing xAI venture in 2023, and was motivated by competitive rivalry rather than genuine concern for the mission. They described the suit as “sour grapes.”

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“. . . we are witnessing mass formation in real time, where the group delusion becomes the only permissible reality.” LH Grey on X

The Too-Long Goodbye (James Howard Kunstler)

Last week, Stephen Colbert celebrated his May 21 departure from late-night TV by French-kissing his fellow late-night soul-mate hosts goodbye, perhaps to honor the French origins of the Woke political ideology that guided his rocket flight to fame — Michel Foucault (1926–1984), who argued that power was all that mattered and that you could talk any absurdity about sex, mental illness, and criminality into mass belief. . . Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), who argued that reality depends on how you feel about it. . . Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), who denounced truth per se in favor of your truth. . . and Gilles Deleuze, father of gender-fluidity.


So, bonne nuit and au revoir, Monsieur Colbert, and don’t let the CBS screen door bump your ass on the way out. Few public figures in our time have done as much damage to the collective mental health of our country than Colbert did in his late-night operations. For instance, the dance routine, broadcast circa April 2021, titled “The Vax-Scene,” when “Joe Biden” and Dr. Fauci rolled out the mRNA products that would eventually maim or kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Colbert did the shimmy in front of a chorus line costumed as syringes capering to a musical arrangement of the old Latin hit, Tequila (original, by The Champs, 1958). His ignorance about what actually was at stake was surpassed only by his Cheshire Cat caliber smugness. So, what you see in this video is the rectified essence of the demonic idiocy that still animates the Democratic Party. Save it and watch it often to remind yourself what the nation has been battling for so many years.

I was actually a guest on Colbert’s show years ago in its early evening incarnation when the running gag was Colbert pretending to be a right-winger. In the green room before the show, his handlers told me to “not try to be funny because that’s Stephen’s job.” I had just published a novel about what life in America might be like after the collapse of our techno-industrial economy (World Made by Hand). Colbert treated that as a joke, too, of course. He already had the remarkable ability for finding comedy in all the wrong places. By the time Covid came along, he was no longer a pretend conservative; he was an out-front Democratic Party / Deep State propaganda tool.

It remains to be seen how the party can possibly survive the revelations-to-come of its monumental criminality. Sunday morning, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche turned up on Maria Bartiromo’s public affairs show. Maria was in a testy mood, repeatedly telling Mr. Blanche that America has lost patience bigly over the complete lack of “accountability” for the various seditions and treasons launched against the public since 2016, in particular, the obvious treachery so many witnessed in the 2020 election.

Mr. Blanche replied, ““Well, there’s a ton of evidence that the election was rigged. That’s not something the DOJ needs to tell you about. There’s been evidence about that for many, many years. What I can tell you is that we have multiple investigations going on in Arizona, in Georgia — in Fulton County, Georgia. And that’s exactly what we’re looking at.”

Quite so: evidence for many years, by the truckload, and indeed it was only a month or so ago that the FBI turned up at the Fulton County, GA, election records depository building and seized a truckload of ballots and other material related to the Big Switcheroo that the election workers there pulled off overnight on Nov 3, 2020 —because “broken water mains [toilets, that is],” and all. Mr. Blanche might not need to tell the irascible Maria B about that, but eventually he will have to tell the whole country what happened in Fulton County, GA, and Maricopa County, AZ, and Antrim County, MI, and Milwaukee County, WI, and Philadelphia. . . .

It remains to be seen how the stolen 2020 election business might be rolled into the “grand conspiracy” case being pursued in the grand jury convened at Fort Pierce, Florida. It will probably be a major entrée in the smorgasbord of prosecutable turpitudes presently under consideration. Also remains to be seen how half the country that still calls itself “Left” or “Progressive” or “registered Democrat” will greet the news that “Joe Biden” did not win that crooked election, but rather, their bête noire, Donald Trump, won. And not by a slim margin, but by a ton.

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Germany started it.

Germany Fears Next Migration Wave (ZH)

With Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez legalizing what could amount to as many as 1.6 million migrants, other EU member states are getting worried, and not just neighboring France. While the Socialist prime minister’s announcement originally aimed to naturalize some 500,000 migrants by handing them residency permits and work permits, German authorities estimate that there could be as many as 850,000 applicants in Spain, writes Bild. Leaked internal Spanish police documents have already put this estimated number even higher, at 1.6 million.


Since the announcement in mid-April, hordes of undocumented migrants have been overwhelming local offices across the country, with nearly 130,000 applications in the first week alone. Remix News posted videos of these crowds. French conservatives sounded the alarm early on, with National Rally leader Jordan Bardella slamming the ability for residence permits to freely move around the EU. “I believe that free movement within the Schengen Area should be reserved exclusively for nationals of European countries. Obtaining a residence permit in Spain, for example, should not allow free movement throughout all European Union countries,” he wrote.

Now, Germany’s Foreign Office in Berlin has stated: “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with Spain.” A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry also sought to clarify that a Schengen residence permit does not, in principle, authorize employment in Germany. Having one allows you to enter Germany and stay for a maximum of three months at a time. The domestic policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Throm (CDU), also expressed his concerns, according to Bild: “Such mass legalization sends a devastating signal to the world and creates an incalculable pull effect.”

Police union representative Manuel Ostermann has also warned of potential consequences given that many entering Europe are attracted to German jobs and benefits. “If the Spanish minority government fails, and a future government reduces payments or terminates residency permits, many of the migrants will continue their journey to Germany and remain here. Whether permitted or not,” he warned. Of course, jobs in Germany are already becoming scarce, including over 120,000 industrial jobs being shed last year, and after years of mass immigration, the German economy continues to go from weakness ot weakness.

Germany has already had problems with secondary migration from Greece for years. Last April, the country’s Federal Administrative Court authorized migrant deportations to Greece for the first time in years. Ostermann is now warning: “The migration crisis is not over. Germany must therefore consistently eliminate the remaining pull factors,” he says, adding that Germany should abolish “excessive financial incentives” and replace them with the principle of “bread and butter.”

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If you’re not Christian, you are Muslim. There is no third choice.

Secretary Marco Rubio Delivers Message of National Faith (CTH)

Those of dark whispered voices are shrieking loudly today, directing their soulless vessels to shout opposition to the Christian rededication of our nation. They listen to the voices of betrayal telling them to shriek about “freedom of religion” as noted in the constitution, yet their arguments are twisted around the false premise that does not exist, “freedom from religion.” Our constitution does not block the expression of religion; it blocks the favoring of one expression over another. Freedom of religion is entirely different than freedom from religion, though both represent a moral choice.

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https://twitter.com/WR4NYGov/status/2056140342014115902?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2056105680294297797?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2056170982784602538?s=20 https://twitter.com/sulekhat95/status/2055986390564061634?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 152026
 


Camille Pissarro Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain 1897


President Trump Discusses China Visit and Discussion with Chairman Xi (CTH)
“Fantastic Day” With Xi, 200-Jet Boeing Deal, China Offers Hormuz Help (ZH)
Iran Proclaims Safe, Toll-Free Passage For 30 Chinese Tankers (ZH)
The Secretary of State Is Cool (Sarah Anderson)
US Secretary of State Calls Chinese Military Second Strongest In World (TASS)
Europe’s Dependence On US LNG Set To Surge (Irina Slav)
US Wants To Restore Nord Stream & Purchase, At Steep Discount: Lavrov (ZH)
NATO Chief Wants To Triple Money Flows To Ukraine – Politico (RT)
Spain Wants An Eu Army: What Would It Mean? (RT)
Trump Administration Uncovers Massive Welfare, Citizenship Abuses (JTN)
This Is the Democrats’ Achilles Heel and the Republicans’ Super Power (Moran)
US Gov’t Settles With Former NYT Reporter in Vaccine Censorship Case (ET)
Fauci Accused Of Intentionally Burying COVID Lab-Leak Evidence (MN)

 

 

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2054756638155006263?s=20 https://twitter.com/CryptoNobler/status/2054841983630225712?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2054734278869602379?s=20

 


 


Let Trump explain himself. Works for Xi.

President Trump Discusses China Visit and Discussion with Chairman Xi (CTH)

President Trump sits down with Fox News Sean Hannity for an interview immediately following the fast-paced visit in Beijing, China.Hannity asks President Trump for his sense of the greeting and pageantry put on by Chairman Xi at the formal greeting, as well as some general discussion on the topics of a very lengthy talk between Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts.


President Trump and Chairman Xi discussed Iran and the current conflict which has impacted the global supply of oil. It should be noted that closure of the Strait of Hormuz in combination with the U.S. control over Venezuela oil production has reversed the dependency dynamic between Russia and China. Prior to oil/gas shortages (skyrocketing prices), and due to Western U.S/EU sanctions, Russia was very dependent on China for supplies and component goods. After oil/gas shortages were triggered by the Iran conflict, China became dependent on Russia for their energy demands. A rather unusual dynamic sitting like an 800lb Gorilla in the corner of the meeting between President Trump and Chairman Xi.

(1) Upon reelection President Trump told all U.S. energy providers to “drill baby drill” and maximize energy production. Trump then deregulated the industry for maximum efficiency: Secretaries Burgum (Interior), Wright (Energy) and Zeldin (EPA).

(2) Trump then meets with Putin in Alaska Aug 15, 2025. Three days later, Aug 18, 2025, Putin restarts Russia’s flagship Arctic project, the LNG export facility via the Northern Route to Asia.

(3) President Trump then signs contracts with Finland for the urgent start of Arctic icebreaking ship manufacturing in the USA and emphasizes the prior conversation about taking over Greenland which infuriates the Danes and EU.

(4) President Trump then triggers the Venezuela operation, captures Nicholas Maduro and -in addition to other benefits- forms a new strategic oil development relationship with the interim Venezuela government. Russia stays silent.

(5) President Trump then triggers Operation Epic Fury against Iran; completely changing the geopolitical landscape that surrounds energy partnerships. Energy flows through the Gulf of Oman are impacted.

(6) President Trump then removes specific sanctions against Russia permitting Russian oil and LNG to be sold (in petrodollars) into the Asian market. Meanwhile, the European Union is forced to increase LNG purchases from the United States.

Sure, it could all be just coincidence… or not. One thing is certain, the FIVE-EYES opposition (Canada, EU, U.K and Australia) do not think all of this downstream benefit that flows to Russia and the USA is coincidental. The FIVE-EYES opposition clearly see all of this as a strategic realignment between the USA and Russia, and they are going to do everything in their power to stop it.

Last point. The next world leader to visit China will be…. wait for it… Vladimir Putin.

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“Trump and Xi agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open to free navigation and that Tehran should not charge a fee to ships using the critical waterway.”<

“Fantastic Day” With Xi, 200-Jet Boeing Deal, China Offers Hormuz Help (ZH)

Boeing-China Jet Deal
A highly anticipated Boeing jet deal appears to have materialized after the first day of President Trump’s summit with President Xi Jinping. Fox News reports that Trump said Boeing secured an order for 200 “big” jets from China. He said the order was initially for 150, but the final figure will be 200


Trump Says China Will Help On Reopening Hormuz
It is nearly midnight in Beijing, and President Trump is still speaking on the record with corporate media, offering additional insight on the first day of the summit and state banquet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In comments to Fox News, Trump said Xi offered to help pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, signaling that Beijing may be willing to use its leverage over Tehran.

This comes as energy insiders and traders warn that continued closure of the Strait through the end of the month could spark a worsening energy shock.

Trump also said Xi would not provide weapons to Tehran.

Trump, Xi Put Hormuz, Iran, Trade, Taiwan At Center Of Historic Beijing Summit
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are currently seated at the main table at a state banquet. President Xi called the visit historic, and said U.S.-China ties are “stable” amid talks with Trump’s team.

According to a White House readout, Trump and Xi agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open to free navigation and that Tehran should not charge a fee to ships using the critical waterway.

Beijing also signaled interest in buying more U.S. oil to reduce China’s reliance on crude and crude products transiting the Hormuz chokepoint. This signifies how the U.S.-Iran conflict is rewiring global energy flows.mTrump-Xi talks also covered fentanyl, securing market access for U.S. companies in the mainland market, and increasing Chinese investment in American industries and purchases of U.S. agricultural products. “American enterprises are deeply involved in China’s reform and opening up, a process from which both sides have benefited,” Xi told the leaders of U.S. companies accompanying Trump on the trip. Those CEOs include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.

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They have to give it to all

Iran Proclaims Safe, Toll-Free Passage For 30 Chinese Tankers (ZH)

During President Trump’s ongoing state visit to China, he and President Xi Jinping agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy. They along with their senior officials have expressed agreement that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Following this, Thursday saw Iranian state media proclaim that some 30 Chinese vessels are being allowed safe passage by Iran. Bloomberg also freshly reports, “The vessels were allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz with the coordination of the Iranian authorities and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, state TV reports, citing an IRGC naval official.


While it’s as yet unknown or unclear whether the US Navy side of the de facto blockade will also let them pass, Reuters has also reported the following: Iran has begun allowing some Chinese vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz following an understanding over Iranian management protocols for the waterway, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Thursday, citing an informed source. In particular the move also follows formal requests by China’s foreign minister as well as Beijing’s ambassador to Iran, with Tehran reportedly agreeing based on safeguarding the two allies’ strategic partnership.

Bloomberg cited the IRGC official as saying of the Iranian protocol for passage, “A new era in the Strait of Hormuz has started as many countries of the world and fleets have accepted that the best, quickest and simplest way for transiting this very important waterway is only though coordination with the IRGC’s naval forces.” This was after Wednesday saw the key milestone of a Chinese supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude having successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, after previously being stranded for more than two months.

Also of note is that the Chinese Cosco Shipping tanker did not have to pay tolls. According to The Wall Street Journal: Lloyd’s List Intelligence data show the Yuan Hua Hu crossed the waterway through the corridor in the north controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ship trackers said the vessel switched off its transponder while sailing from an anchorage in Dubai towards Larak, then came back online for a couple of hours before going dark again. Ships crossing through Larak pay an average of $2 million each, according to brokers.

The Yuan Hua Hu is the third Chinese state-owned tanker to leave the Gulf since the start of the war. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott emphasized earlier this week that Washington and Beining “agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz.” China imports the bulk of its energy from the Middle East, and while it has amassed substantial crude oil stockpiles that are helping it weather the worst of the crisis – anecdotally over 1.4 billion barrels – restoring normal flows from the Persian Gulf is important for one of the world’s top energy importers.

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Spittin’.

The Secretary of State Is Cool (Sarah Anderson)

For years, we’ve had the media try to force the idea that certain Democrats were “cool” down our throats. Barack Obama is probably the best example. Turns out, he’s just a guy in mom jeans whose wife likes to go on podcasts and share enough marital gripes to make him sound overly henpecked. They tried with countless others. Eric Swalwell. We all know how that ended up. Turns out he’s less “cool” and more “pervy predator.” (Allegedly.) Gavin Newsom tries very hard himself to remind us he’s cool, but every time he does, he comes across as racist, ridiculous, or just plain out of touch.


For some, however, it’s effortless. I’m talking, of course, about our dear Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Most of y’all who read here regularly know I’m a fan and have been from the beginning of his career. I stuck with him, even when a lot of conservatives didn’t. I was thrilled when Donald Trump chose him as Secretary of State — it was the first breaking news story I got to write when I joined the team here at PJ Media. That’s who I learned so much of my Western Hemisphere foreign policy from over the years. bI say all this to admit that I’m biased. And I don’t know that Rubio is necessarily “cool.” He can actually be kind of dorky. But I’m not even sure that matters.

What does matter is that, while yes, he is a politician and proves that sometimes, he’s also human and relatable in a way that those guys I mentioned above will never be. Now that he’s arguably one of the most important men in the world, the MSM is catching on, and they don’t like it one bit. The biggest example of this is Rubio’s passion for rap music and the fact that he often injects lyrics into his speeches and appearances. He’s been doing this for a while, but the media has, apparently, just figured it out. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume a lot of you in our audience do not care for this kind of music.

Rubio has even joked himself in the past that it’s not really what a lot of conservatives listen to. Personally, I don’t mention it here often, but I’m a huge rap fan, and I think more conservative millennials like myself, who grew up on it in the 1990s, are too, and I think that adds to the secretary’s appeal to my generation. I’ve said before that one reason I always liked him is because I felt he spoke to my generation (even though he’s Gen X and a decade or two older than most of us). But this is not necessarily about his taste in the music. This is just one of many examples.

It’s about how he remains authentic and refuses to back away from his love for it, even if it may not be popular with all of his base. In his 2012 memoir An American Son, Rubio mentions that when he was in sixth grade, while his friends were listening to Van Halen and Ozzy Osbourne, he was discovering Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. He called hip-hop his “guilty pleasure,” and claimed that when he was on the campaign trail, he’d sit with his earphones on and close his eyes and envision winning his initial campaign for the Senate. And apparently his young staff members were always surprised about his musical tastes. Here’s something from the book The Rise of Marco Rubio:

Rubio liked to blast hip-hop on the stereo. ‘He can spit!’ one young staffer marveled to a friend, invoking the slang term for singing rap lyrics. A love of rap wasn’t exactly what they expected from the up-and-coming voice of righteous conservatism. You know, I get in trouble when I talk about that a little bit, because maybe I shouldn’t listen to that anymore, but the music is good, Rubio would later say. ‘[You’ve] just got to sometimes ignore what their politics may be and just enjoy the music.’

Fast forward back to 2026. On January 3, shortly after we captured Nicolás Maduro, Rubio said of Trump always doing what he says he’s going to do, “If you don’t know, now you know.” It’s a line from The Notorious B.I.G.’s — aka Biggie Smalls — 1994 song “Juicy.” The White House actually used it in a social media video last night, featuring Rubio aboard Air Force One, wearing the same Nike jogging suit Maduro wore the night we got him — a total troll move and yet another reason why Rubio is “cooler” than your average Democrat. During a hearing earlier this year, he quoted Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” when talking about life in Venezuela under the Maduro regime. At a Cabinet meeting in March, he quoted a Public Enemy song, “Welcome to the Terrordome.”

When he filled in for Karoline Leavitt during the White House press briefing last week, he worked in lyrics from Cypress Hill — saying the Iranian regime is “insane in the brain” — and Ice Cube, suggesting the regime should “check themselves before they wreck themselves.” For what it’s worth, Rubio has also said he’s a big EDM (electronic dance music) fan, and we’ve seen proof of that too. Most recently, him DJing a wedding in Florida a couple of weekends ago. My point is that none of this is forced. It’s not for political gain. He is just being who he is. And that’s something very few Democrats are able to do these days.

You can tell it’s a threat to the left because the MSM is starting to speak negatively about it. They see this cool dude whose star is rising at a rapid pace because of relatable things he says and does, who is a strong potential 2028 contender, and who is having fun while doing it. They also see they’ve only got, well, Gavin Newsom in Atlanta telling a predominantly black audience that he’s as dumb as they are, while his wife alienates most of the country with her absurd ideas that boys are bad and Southern conservatives are all hateful bigots.

They know they can’t win elections with that, so they have to send out their barking dogs to try to make Rubio look bad. On The Daily Show last week, they began mocking his use of rap lyrics, saying they’re inappropriate when talking about war. They also declared that rap music is no longer cool. And just look how sad Jake Tapper appears to be over the whole “rap lyric” situation.

https://twitter.com/KarluskaP/status/2052503376638669290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2052503376638669290%7Ctwgr%5E4d108a73701bc209eb84e584ad9138c3868f6e45%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F13%2Fthe-secretary-of-state-is-cool-and-the-msm-is-having-a-meltdown-over-it-n4952802

The Atlantic also recently published an article called “Is Marco Rubio the Happiest Cabinet Member?” On the surface, it sounds like a feel-good puff piece, like something, I don’t know, maybe yours truly would write, but the subheading gives it away: “While his colleagues deal with war and controversy, he’s laughing and talking in rap lyrics.” Laughing? Talking in rap lyrics? It’s criminal! Let’s just lock him up right now. I didn’t read the entire article, but it goes on to list all the supposedly bad things going on in the country, the world, and the Trump administration and declares “In a more normal time, he would seem like just another glad-handing politician. But consider the moment.”

If that’s the worst these people can come up — he laughs, he uses lyrics to make points, he’s enjoying his life — I’d say Rubio is doing much better than most of the current politicians in the U.S. And I, for one, am here for it. As a matter of fact, I’d like to see more.

https://twitter.com/SarahDownSouth/status/2051774945521279461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2051774945521279461%7Ctwgr%5E4d108a73701bc209eb84e584ad9138c3868f6e45%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F13%2Fthe-secretary-of-state-is-cool-and-the-msm-is-having-a-meltdown-over-it-n4952802

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And Russia?

US Secretary of State Calls Chinese Military Second Strongest In World (TASS)

China has been building up its military at an unprecedented pace over the past decade, making it the second strongest in the world today, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “I mean, the pace of growth in the Chinese military over the last 10 years has no precedent. <...> It’s hard to ignore how fast and how big [it’s growing]. <...> They are, right now, the world’s second most powerful military without a doubt,” he said in an interview with NBC News. According to Rubio, Chinese authorities “have ambitions to ultimately be able to project power globally the way the US does now.”
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EU declares itself ready to be fleeced.

Europe’s Dependence On US LNG Set To Surge (Irina Slav)

The European Union’s dependence on liquefied natural gas from the United States is set to rise significantly, reaching 80% of all LNG imports in two years, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has warned. In a report cited by Reuters, IEEFA noted that the European Union already imports significant volumes of U.S. liquefied gas, creating a potentially risky dependence on a single supplier. LNG imports from the United States into the EU accounted for 58% of overall LNG imports. Yet this dependence is only going to increase in the coming years, the outlet said, recommending more wind, solar, and heat pumps as an alternative.


This year, the United States will become the European Union’s biggest supplier of liquefied gas, even as the bloc also gobbles up every ton of Russian LNG it can buy ahead of the 2027 ban on Russian energy imports.The motivation for that ban, in addition to punishment for the war in Ukraine, has been to avoid overwhelming dependence on a single energy supplier, which is what the EU is currently doing with the U.S. Energy commodities are a big part of the trade deal signed last year by President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The deal featured a commitment on the part of the EU to buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy commodities over a period of three years. The European Parliament earlier this year signaled it has problems with the deal, which angered the U.S. president, and he threatened to hike tariffs on EU goods unless the bloc signs the deal as is. The arrangement elevated American LNG, oil, and refined fuels in Europe’s energy supply mix. The actual supply of so many energy commodities, however, would be physically – and financially – challenging both for the suppliers and the buyers.

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Someone actually mentions Seymour Hersh.

US Wants To Restore Nord Stream & Purchase, At Steep Discount: Lavrov (ZH)

The Nord Stream pipelines have long slipped from headlines, apart from the occasional whodunnit narratives, and they have remained damaged and offline. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline bombings occurred on September 26, 2022 – but their future fate is still up in the air and being wrangled over, including by Washington. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has alleged that Washington now it wants to buy the part of the pipelines owned by European companies, in order to assert influence and control over European energy.


“Take a look at how the Americans are planning to restore Nord Stream. I am talking about two gas pipelines, and they were blown up,” he told RT in an interview this week. “The Americans under Biden said that these gas pipelines would not work, but now they accuse the Ukrainians of blowing up these two pipelines,” he continued, before noting: “Actually, four pipelines. Three out of four were blown up. The Americans want to buy out the part that was owned by European companies.” He further explained that the US “wants to strike the deal at a price that is 10 times lower than the initial European investments” – according to Russian state media.

He explained that this would be about US control, and the ability to dictate the price of gas – instead of what would have been a prior mutual agreement between Russia and Germany, before the pipelines were sabotaged. “They [the US] openly stated that they wanted to halt gas transit via pipelines from Russia to Europe through Ukraine in order to control these flows as well,” he alleged. Last year ZeroHedge asked Trump directly about who was behind the Nord Stream sabotage op. “If you can believe it they said Russia blew it up,” Trump initially responded at the time.

“Well probably if I asked certain people they would be able to tell you without having to waste a lot of money on an investigation,” the president said. “But I think a lot of people know who blew it up, but I was the one who blew it up originally because I wouldn’t let it be built, and then when Biden got in he allowed it to be built.”

President strongly suggested that based on classified intelligence he knows exactly who was behind the September 26, 2022 covert operation which ended in the Baltic Sea explosions and major leaks which took the vital Russia to Germany natural gas pipelines permanently offline. Of course, with no investigation whatsoever (a serious European inquiry didn’t even begin till the following year), Western mainstream press coalesced around the dubious “Russia bombed their own pipeline!” narrative.

In early 2023, famed journalist and Pulitzer price winner Seymour Hersh published a bombshell report which concluded that the United States blew up the Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline as part of a covert operation under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise. Hersh’s report has been subject to a lot of pushback since then, but he’s not backed off this initial reporting and investigation.

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NATO want war. It’s that ssimple.

NATO Chief Wants To Triple Money Flows To Ukraine – Politico (RT)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has urged member states to devote 0.25% of their GDP to aid for Ukraine, Politico Europe reported on Tuesday, citing diplomatic sources.Rutte reportedly raised the issue during a closed door meeting of NATO ambassadors late last month. If adopted, the proposal, first floated by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last year, would effectively triple aid to Kiev to around $143 billion annually, according to NATO estimates of the allies’ combined GDP cited by Politico.


The proposal is said to be partly motivated by frustration among some countries that they are contributing more support to Ukraine than others. Several allies, including major NATO members France and Britain, reportedly oppose the initiative. The discussions on increasing support for cash-strapped Ukraine come as the country has been rocked by another major corruption scandal allegedly involving figures close to Zelensky.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s top anti-corruption court is expected to rule on whether to detain Zelensky’s former chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, who was named a suspect in a money laundering case involving kickbacks in the energy sector and elite real estate developments outside Kiev. According to the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the suspects, including former Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Chernyshov, laundered around $9 million through investments in the construction of the Dinastia (Dynasty) residential complex.

Last year, investigators uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme allegedly orchestrated by Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s longtime former business partner, who has been described in the media as his “wallet.” Mindich fled the country to avoid arrest, while several senior officials, including two ministers, resigned.

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““If you are already part of NATO, then you can’t create a separate army. And if you have, like the European army, and then you have the NATO one, then, you know, the ball just falls between the chairs.”

Spain Wants An Eu Army: What Would It Mean? (RT)

Spain has become the latest European nation to call for the EU to build its own army as opposed to relying on the NATO framework, citing a growing rift with the US. The idea itself, however, has split European NATO members, with many still viewing the US-led military bloc as a preferable defense mechanism. Whatever the outcome of those debates, most NATO nations are engaged in an accelerated militarization campaign costing hundreds of billions of dollars in the long run, citing an alleged Russian “threat.”


The idea of a joint European army harks back to the early days of the Cold War, when in the early 1950s, France pushed for the European Defense Community, which would have brought France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg into a common 100,000-strong European force. The plan received US backing. However, France later balked, fearful of a potential loss of sovereignty and West Germany gaining an oversized role while memories of World War II were still fresh. Still, under Charles de Gaulle, France was highly skeptical of NATO, seeing it as a tool for US dominance in Europe. In 1966, de Gaulle pulled France – which was struggling to cling to the remnants of its colonial empire and superpower status – out of the NATO command structure.

The idea of an EU army has since resurfaced several times, most notably during the Balkan wars and illegal bombing of the former Yugoslavia. While European leaders mostly backed the US-led strikes, the internal dissent was significant, and the campaign showed a humiliating reality for the EU: a security crisis in its own backyard was being handled mostly by the US. During the 2011 Libya intervention, it was much worse. Not only were EU powers dependent on the US doing all the heavy lifting, but the campaign also led to a European fracture. Only France and the UK coordinated the strikes with the US, while Italy was initially opposed to the intervention. Later, France and Italy worked at cross purposes, supporting different sides in the Libyan Civil War.

The EU army debate once again took center stage following the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014. Amid tensions with Russia, bloc members ramped up military spending and drew joint procurement plans. In 2022, plans were announced to establish a EU Rapid Deployment Capacity – a force of up to 5,000 comprised of personnel from European states with a mandate for missions abroad. Some EU nations, however, have called for a standalone European army with wider authority, citing Washington’s growing unreliability and the need for strategic autonomy.

Who is in favor?
Spain has become the most recent proponent of the EU army idea. On Monday, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares made the case in an interview with Politico, saying, “We cannot be waking up every morning wondering what the US will do next … our citizens deserve better.” He added: “This is the moment of the sovereignty and independence of Europe. The Americans are inviting us to that.” In a thinly veiled allusion to US President Donald Trump, Albares stressed that the EU has to be “free of dependence,” as well as “free of coercion, whether it comes to tariffs or the use of military threat, [or] the consequences of someone else’s decisions.”

While his comments came amid a stark rift with the US over the Iran war, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for “a real European army” already in February, stressing that the bloc needs it “not in ten years’ time, but now” and pledged Madrid would contribute all necessary resources. In France, an EU army has long been a personal project for President Emmanuel Macron, who began calling for a “true European army” as early as 2018, arguing the continent could not rely solely on the US. One year later, he famously proclaimed NATO “brain dead,” also citing failure to coordinate efforts with the US. In April, Macron also stressed that the EU’s “objective is not to be the vassals” of the US and China.

In Italy, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who leads the center-right Forza Italia party, has stressed that “if we want to be a peacekeeping force in the world, we need a European army,” describing it as a premise for “an effective European foreign policy.” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, however, has been more cautious, stating that the issue is not on the agenda, adding that the bloc’s defense should be based on the cooperation of national armies.

Who is against?
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has been among the most vocal critics of the concept. In February, she described the idea of a European army as “extremely dangerous,” saying that its proponents “maybe haven’t really thought this through practically.” “If you are already part of NATO, then you can’t create a separate army. And if you have, like the European army, and then you have the NATO one, then, you know, the ball just falls between the chairs.”

In Poland, the bloc’s most aggressive defense spender at 4.7% of GDP in 2025, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called the idea “unrealistic because national armies will not merge.” However, he was more sympathetic to a brigade-sized “European legion” comprised of EU citizens or even candidate states, which could be involved in foreign operations short of a confrontation with a near-peer adversary. In Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to build “Europe’s strongest conventional army,” but has been skeptical of a bloc-wide force due to legal hurdles, arguing that the EU should “focus on the tasks that we need to accomplish now.”

The Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have historically been among the most skeptical of EU defense autonomy, fearing it could dilute US commitments. In this vein, outgoing Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds has called NATO “irreplaceable.” As for the US, in 2018, Trump strongly opposed the idea of an EU army, dismissing it as “very insulting.” “Perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the US subsidizes greatly!” he said at the time.

What’s Spain’s beef with NATO?
Spain’s problem is not necessarily with NATO itself, but rather with the current US administration. Madrid has vehemently opposed the US-Israeli war on Iran, and refused to allow its bases to be used for attacks. Trump subsequently called Spain “a terrible ally” and threatened to cut off all trade. The US president encountered similar problems with the rest of NATO members, slamming the bloc as a “paper tiger” and accusing it of “turning their backs on the American people.” Another point of friction was Greenland, which Trump threatened to annex, meeting strong pushback from the EU.

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“Minnesota’s Somali community just the start ..”

Trump Administration Uncovers Massive Welfare, Citizenship Abuses (JTN)

The Trump administration’s work to pare back waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government has reportedly exposed a vast network of taxpayer-fleecing scams, abuses of immigration, and of the citizenship process across all corners of the United States. The story involves resettled refugees soaking up federal paychecks to run home healthcare and childcare businesses, transnational criminal organizations exploiting food benefit programs, and scammers using fake student profiles to make off with millions in federal student loans. It also involves non-monetary forms of fraud, especially in immigration — legal and illegal alike.


Minnesota’s Somali community just the start
The Trump administration’s focus on fraud was originally sparked by new attention on a massive COVID-19-era fraud scheme in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last year, the number of individuals charged by the Justice Department in the scheme surpassed 70. The defendants, the vast majority of whom are part of the state’s large Somali immigrant community, were accused of systematically defrauding a federally-funded state food program, instead using the proceeds to enrich themselves, as Just the News has extensively reported.

Recent public reports indicate that federally-funded state government programs beyond just Minnesota are ripe for exploitation and fraud. In a sweeping investigation, the Daily Wire and a researcher from the Capital Research Center found that Ohio spent billions of federal dollars on “personal services” payments to home healthcare companies with dubious credentials. These funds are frequently used to compensate individuals for performing non-medical tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and “companionship” for their own family members. Because these services are conducted inside private residences without supervision, it can be difficult to verify actual service delivery.

The investigation found a surge in dubious home health companies that appear to exist solely to bill the government. In Columbus, the reporters found a single windowless office building that houses 94 different companies that have collectively billed taxpayers $66 million over a few years. Many of the business owners lacked medical training or had criminal records, the outlet reported. There is evidence that this type of fraud is specifically encouraged by the way federal government programs are set up. For example, the Office of Refugee Resettlement runs a program that helps new immigrants develop “microenterprises,” like home healthcare companies, “to help generate an income and achieve self-sufficiency.”

Welfare fraud a top priority
The Trump administration has made hunting down this type of welfare fraud a top priority. President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this year establishing a national task force to combat such fraud and appointed Vice President JD Vance to lead it. The task force, with help from the Justice Department and other government agencies, has vigorously pursued states where potential fraud has been documented. Last month, it shut down 447 hospices and 23 home health agencies in California after Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Dr. Mehmet Oz in January raised concerns about fraudulent hospices in Los Angeles, linking the issue to the Armenian mafia in the area.

California and Ohio were apparently only the tip of the iceberg. On Wednesday, the task force announced that it would be halting $1.4 billion in federal funding for home health and hospice providers across the entire United States. Vance also issued an ultimatum to all 50 states on Wednesday, demanding they show that they are adequately protecting against fraud in federally funded Medicaid programs, or risk losing that funding.

“Today, we are sending, across 50 Medicaid programs, letters that will require them to show that they are effectively and aggressively prosecuting Medicaid fraud in their states,” Vance said at a press conference. “These letters are the first step. The first effort to try to force these states to get serious about prosecuting fraud.” “We’re a generous country. We’re generous people. I love that about this country,” the vice president added. “But part of that generosity is that it extends to our fellow Americans. We cannot give Medicare and Medicaid benefits to everybody all over the world.”

Dr. Oz said this week that there are signs the Medicaid programs were also exploited by foreign governments. “We’ve got Russian government involvement, we believe, in Los Angeles. We’ve got the Chinese government involved in a big fraud ring in New York,” Oz said in an interview with Fox News. “In New York State, the number-one job in the entire state is not retail, it’s not folks working in shops, it’s personal care services. Why? It’s because it’s a jobs program for the state.”

Federal investigators have previously identified foreign exploitation of federal benefits programs. Last month, prosecutors charged five Romanian nationals for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to steal nearly $1 million worth of food assistance benefits in Ohio and California. Last year, another Romanian national was sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing more than 36,000 EBT card numbers in California and New York using skimming devices. He had connections to a Romanian criminal organization, according to prosecutors.

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Something to do with age.

This Is the Democrats’ Achilles Heel and the Republicans’ Super Power (Moran)

Last month, 12-term Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) died at the age of 80. He was the fifth Democrat to die in office since Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress was seated. Someone is trying to tell the Democrats something (“Yes Lord, we’re listening”). We are, but what about the Democrats? The message is for them, and the “silver ceiling” they’ve placed on running for Congress is about to shatter into a thousand pieces.”In fact, scan the lists of congressional candidates this cycle, and you’ll find a record 80 Gen Z and millennial candidates challenging Democrats aged 65 and older — up from just 24 last cycle,” reports The Hill. “And those young challengers are increasingly outperforming older incumbents in both fundraising and polling, in some cases by double digits.”


These younger Democrats have lots of energy, lots of moxie, and a passel of bad ideas. And they’re coming to Congress in a revolutionary wave. Democratic leaders are holding back the change for reasons that, to them, seem sound. A change so drastic and radical would roil the party, setting off leadership fights and behind-the-scenes brawls for choice committee assignments. Also, while younger Democrats may win primaries in blue districts, how would they fare in the general election? Even some blue districts considered “safe” may end up being competitive.

“There’s a real rift in the ability of Democrats to reach young people and have an authentic message that they are fighting for them when it seems that [older lawmakers] are fighting just to hang on and have another term in Congress,” warned Brian Derrick, co-founder and CEO of a political fundraising platform. “There’s a silver ceiling on what Democrats can achieve while this generation refuses to pass the torch and step aside.” Republicans have their own problems with aging members, but they have taken steps to address that problem in the last two cycles. Speaker Mike Johnson is 54, while other leaders are in their 50s and early 60s.

The current leadership is younger than the previous era, particularly in the Senate, where the departure of leaders in their 80s has dropped the average age of the top brass by nearly a decade. The Massachusetts Democratic primary race is a good example of the Democrats’ problems. Rep. Seth Moulton, a veteran and experienced lawmaker, is running against 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey. The current leadership is younger than the previous era, particularly in the Senate, where the departure of leaders in their 80s has dropped the average age of the top brass by nearly a decade.

Semafor: “At campaign stops in community town halls to backyard fundraiser barbecues, Moulton is dragging the Democratic Party’s quiet family conversation about age into the light of day, arguing to voters that the stakes of the race are bigger than ideology and speak to the future of the party itself.

“Why does this race matter, beyond Boston or Newburyport?” Moulton asked a crowd of about 200 at Newburyport’s City Hall. “Because it’s a referendum on the future of the Democratic Party. In fact, it’s the last Senate primary before the November midterms. So people are either going to look at the Democratic Party and say: Oh, there they go again, reelecting the same establishment gerontocracy that we just voted against two years ago; or they’re going to say, no, it looks like the Democratic Party is changing. It’s listening.”

Markey isn’t alone. Elderly incumbents across the country who’ve won endorsements from colleagues, labor unions, and progressive organizations are not scaring challengers away. Instead, they’re drawing them – in the form of younger Democrats willing to say the uncomfortable part out loud to voters, whose harsh memories of Joe Biden dooming their 2024 campaign – and of four Democrats dying in their House seats since that election – are still fresh.”

In Connecticut, 77-year-old incumbent Rep. John Larson of the 1st Congressional District lost the party endorsement to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 46. There’s going to be a primary, but the writing is on the wall for Larson. Bronin won by 10 points at the convention and has outraised the incumbent. “

There’s a reason that so many Americans are starting to support age limits, because it’s just good and healthy to get renewal every once in a while to get some new voices and new perspectives,” Bronin told Semafor. “I’m running because he’s been in elected office for almost half a century, and in Congress for almost 30 years, and he’s part of a Democratic establishment that keeps doing the same thing despite the fact that the world has changed.”

“Moulton and Bronin are seeing some of the same angst in their parts of New England – a non-ideological worry that their party has too many senior citizens in power, and that they should have retired after Donald Trump’s comeback,” says Semafor. The younger Democrats have ideas, but don’t possess the power to make those ideas into law. Many of them have no idea how to proceed. They don’t realize that while some of their ideas sound good and poll well, turning those ideas into law requires an entirely different skill set.

The Hill: Voters are increasingly supporting younger candidates over older incumbents; the only question is whether the party’s older voices want to be seen as a constructive part of the party’s evolution or as the biggest obstacles to its growth.

Voters are proving quick to punish the latter: 78-year-old Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) is trailing 37-year-old challenger Christian Menefee by at least 20 points in his runoff battle. Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), at 78 years-old, had to suspend her Senate bid in April after voters flocked to the upstart campaign of 41-year-old Graham Platner (D). If older candidates are unwilling to recognize how the party is changing, voters will do the recognizing for them. These younger Democrats are more radical, angrier, and more willing to ditch the Constitution to get what they want. They’re a danger to the republic and a danger to the United States as we know it.

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Yeah yeah, NYT. Now do the Automatic Earth.

US Gov’t Settles With Former NYT Reporter in Vaccine Censorship Case (ET)

The U.S. government has reached a settlement with a former New York Times reporter who was kicked off Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic for posts about vaccines Officials in a settlement agreement dated May 11 and obtained by The Epoch Times said that the government “did in fact violate the First Amendment by exerting substantial coercive pressure on social media companies such as Twitter to suppress disfavored speech like Plaintiff’s,” referring to former New York reporter Alex Berenson.


Officials said they were paying Berenson $150,000 to settle the case, which was filed in 2023 against then-President Joe Biden, Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb, and others. In exchange, Berenson moved to dismiss the case. “I’d like to thank the Trump administration for acknowledging the government’s unconstitutional actions against me in 2021 and standing for my First Amendment rights as a journalist and American,” Berenson told The Epoch Times in an email.

The government under President Donald Trump already settled a case raising similar issues and involving multiple states, agreeing not to take actions “to threaten Social-Media Companies with some form of punishment (i.e., an adverse legal, regulatory, or economic government sanction) unless they remove, delete, suppress, or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social-media content containing protected free speech.”

Twitter banned Berenson in 2021 after he wrote in opposition to mandating COVID-19 vaccination because “it doesn’t stop infection or transmission.” Berenson and Twitter settled a different lawsuit arising from the same incidents, with Twitter acknowledging that it should not have banned the journalist. Emails disclosed in other litigation showed that U.S. officials during the Biden administration, as well as Gottlieb, who is also a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, communicated to Twitter executives their view that Berenson’s posts violated Twitter rules and that he should be punished. Berenson said in his lawsuit that the actions violated his First Amendment rights.

A federal judge in 2025 dismissed the suit against Gottlieb, a former White House adviser named Andrew Slavitt, and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, concluding that Berenson had not alleged “discriminatory animus” by the individuals. She later threw out the litigation against the government, finding that Berenson did not have standing to bring a First Amendment claim against federal officials. Berenson, in an appeal, said that Twitter’s permanent suspension violated company policy, which required leadership approval, noting internal emails that showed top Twitter executives did not approve the ban. He also said the case should not have been dismissed because he had adequately alleged discrimination.

“Defendants targeted Berenson’s speech by reason of his status as a representative speaking for and to unvaccinated Americans,” the appeal stated. Berenson told The Epoch Times, “I look forward to continuing to pursue Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb and chairman Dr. Albert Bourla for their role in the conspiracy to deplatform and silence me.” Lawyers for Gottlieb and Bourla said in a May 11 brief to the appeals court that Berenson’s claims fail in part because unvaccinated Americans do not constitute a recognizable class, undercutting the discrimination allegations. They also said Gottlieb’s communications with Twitter were “noncoercive expressions of opinion on matters of public concern,” and thus protected by the First Amendment.

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“Anthony Fauci is sitting sipping margaritas somewhere with his multi-million dollar financial success as a result of duping the American people into putting an experimental vaccine into their bodies..”

Fauci Accused Of Intentionally Burying COVID Lab-Leak Evidence (MN)

A CIA operations officer provided explosive sworn testimony Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of directly intervening in the intelligence community’s review of COVID-19’s origins. James Erdman III, a veteran CIA special operations officer, told senators that in August 2021 the intelligence community was on the verge of concluding the virus most likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Days later, that position reversed with no clear explanation.


Erdman stated under oath: “Dr. Fauci’s role in the cover-up was intentional. Dr. Fauci influenced the analytical process and findings by leveraging his position to ensure the IC consulted with a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health officials, and scientists.”

He added that intelligence leaders “purposefully downplayed the lab origin” and “knew the virus came from Wuhan but pushed the natural origin narrative anyway.” Erdman testified that CIA scientists had circulated papers noting “all the conditions were present for a lab leak,” yet senior analysts ultimately buried or softened those assessments.

Senator Rand Paul pressed Erdman on the timeline. Paul described the Biden administration’s final moves as a “clean-up operation,” noting: “Scientific analysts concluded multiple times between 2021 and 2023 that a lab leak was the most likely origin of COVID-19. Yet those conclusions never shaped the official narrative… It was not until after the 2024 election that the outgoing Biden administration directed the CIA to issue an assessment not because of new intelligence, but so officials could walk out of the door claiming there was nothing left to find.”

Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) demanded accountability. He told the witness: “All these hearings are important. What you said is super critical… But where is the accountability? This is what I hear from my constituents all over Ohio… they want to see the perp walks.” Moreno continued: “Anthony Fauci is sitting sipping margaritas somewhere with his multi-million dollar financial success as a result of duping the American people into putting an experimental vaccine into their bodies or risk losing their jobs. He’s not accountable to anybody.”

Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul pushed back after the CIA labeled the public hearing “political theater.” Johnson stated: “This committee needs an apology! This is not political theater. This is what the American people need to see.” Paul added: “Closed-door testimony doesn’t provide oversight. Public testimony provides oversight.”

Fox News reporter Bill Melugin noted the complete absence of Senate Democrats from the Homeland Security Committee hearing, despite several members serving on the panel. One Democrat, Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, walked past the media setup but did not enter the room. Erdman also raised separate concerns about oversight of declassification efforts. He claimed the CIA “took back 40 boxes of JFK and MK-Ultra files” that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was reviewing.

The whistleblower further alleged the agency “illegally monitored the computer and phone usage” of investigators working on the COVID-19 origins probe under presidential direction. He said: “These were Americans being spied on illegally while carrying out duties directed by the President and under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence.” The testimony aligns with earlier official reviews of the pandemic’s beginnings.

It builds on the White House’s comprehensive lab-leak assessment released in April 2025 and Department of Defense and Defense Intelligence Agency reports indicating the Biden Pentagon may have suppressed aspects of the origins investigation. It also connects to prior reporting on gain-of-function research and public statements downplaying alternative theories, including pieces examining the experiment that may have started the pandemic. The hearing underscores ongoing scrutiny of how federal agencies assessed and communicated the virus’s origins more than six years after the first cases emerged in Wuhan.

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https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2054868440762978330?s=20 https://twitter.com/XFreeze/status/2054906460308672707?s=20 https://twitter.com/JoshHall2024/status/2054701571913453926?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 102026
 


Douglas Percy Bliss High Noon, Windley 1951


US Reportedly Struck 4 Iranian Oil Tankers Entering The Strait (ZH)
Qatari LNG Tanker Transits Hormuz As U.S. Awaits Iran’s Response (ZH)
Iran Discloses Supreme Leader’s Status For First Time: Marginally Injured (ZH)
World Must Hear Russia’s Warning To Zelensky, Understand Importance – MFA (TASS)
Putin Rips NATO Aggression At Scaled-Down Victory Day Parade (ZH)
Trump: Ceasefire Between Russia, Ukraine Could Be Extended (TASS)
Starmer’s Labour Party ‘Wiped Out’ In UK Elections (RT)
Germany’s AfD On Verge Of Absolute Majority In Eastern Saxony-Anhalt (ZH)
From Market To Military: Germany’s Private Sector Is Imploding (RT)
Trump Indicates US Could Move Troops From Germany to Poland (JTN)
Federal Judge Sets Comey Criminal Trial For July 15 In North Carolina (JTN)
Is Marco Rubio The New Heir Apparent To Trump? (ZH)
John Fetterman: ‘I’d Be a Terrible Republican’ (Rick Moran)
Gerrymander Debacle in Virginia Leaves Dems with a Dangerous Agenda (Turley)

 


 

https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2052770921258143867?s=20 https://twitter.com/17QStorm/status/2053255626029961662?s=20

 


 


With my favorite photograph.

Key sentence:: “Iran Keeps US Waiting”.

US Reportedly Struck 4 Iranian Oil Tankers Entering The Strait (ZH)

Multiple accounts across social media are reporting that four tankers were apparently struck or disabled by the U.S. forces near Iran’s Jask area. @EGYOSINT notes that satellite imagery shows one tanker on fire and extensive oil spills, including leaks from two tankers, with another spill detected about 7.4 kilometers from the anchorage site. @Merrux confirmed that US forces hit an Iranian oil tanker near the port city of Bandar Jask last night.


The vessel is currently on fire. It remains unclear if other tankers were also hit, though smoke is rising from them. The tanker is visibly ablaze, there has been no response from Iran. Presumably these are just more “love taps” and do not represent any threat to the so-called ‘ceasefire’.

Iran Keeps US Waiting On Formal Response To Peace Proposal
A state of relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after days of sporadic flareups, as the Trump administration continues to await a formal response from Tehran on a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Hormuz chokepoint, following last week’s clashes between Iranian and U.S. naval forces in the world’s most critical waterway. As Times of Israel reports, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours and President Donald Trump later said it would likely be submitted “tonight.”

But a day later, there was no sign of movement from Iran on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including the Iranian nuclear program. With US President Donald Trump due to begin a long-awaited visit to China next week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the conflict, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil and posed a growing threat to the world economy. As Tehran kept Washington waiting for its response after saying Friday it was not paying attention to “deadlines,” the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his Turkish counterpart.

“The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy,” he said, according to an Iranian account of the call published by the ISNA news agency. While there were no official signs of a breakthrough in negotiations as of early Saturday morning, new ship data from the Hormuz area may suggest that positive developments are ahead.

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It’s getting busy.

Qatari LNG Tanker Transits Hormuz As U.S. Awaits Iran’s Response (ZH)

The Trump administration continues to await a formal response from Tehran on a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Hormuz chokepoint, following last week’s clashes between Iranian and U.S. naval forces in the world’s most critical waterway. While there were no official signs of a breakthrough in negotiations as of early Saturday morning, new ship data from the Hormuz area may suggest that positive developments are ahead. https://twitter.com/SStapczynski/status/2053100985346925013?s=20


The tanker is fully loaded with LNG and is currently transiting the Hormuz chokepoint. We must point out that the ship did not sail through the Hormuz Island route. There is no word on whether Iran charged the vessel a transit fee, but Tehran allows ships from “friendly” nations, primarily China, India, and the UAE, to pass. On Friday, UBS energy analyst Anna Kishmariya told clients that shipping flows through the Hormuz chokepoint remain very restricted and that the global oil market is getting tighter. There is certainly urgency among the Trump administration and other nations to unfreeze Hormuz, as oil market insiders see a roughly one-month countdown to global energy chaos if the waterway remains blocked through this month.

Latest overnight headlines, courtesy of Bloomberg:

Ceasefire and Diplomatic Efforts

• The US is waiting for Iran’s response to Trump’s latest proposal to end the war, which suggests Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the US ends its blockade of Iranian ports over the next month

• Tehran’s response to the US proposal is “under review,” according to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei

• Trump has changed his approach to prioritize reopening the Strait of Hormuz at all costs while leaving nuclear and ballistic missile negotiations for later

Recent Military Clashes

• The US struck Iranian military targets on Thursday after Iran fired multiple missiles, drones and small boats at three US Navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz, with no US assets hit

• US forces targeted missile and drone launch sites and other military assets in Iran that were responsible for attacking the US warships

• The US “disabled” two unladen Iranian-flagged oil tankers, according to US officials

• Iran seized the tanker Ocean Koi in the Gulf of Oman, which appeared to be carrying Iranian oil

Hormuz

• The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial shipping since Tuesday following the US-Iran clashes

• A Qatari LNG tanker, Al Kharaitiyat, is attempting to transit the strait, which would mark Qatar’s first export from the region since the war began

• Saudi Aramco and UAE’s Adnoc have managed to move some crude cargoes through the strait despite Iran’s effective closure of the waterway

Impacts

• The world has burned through oil inventories at record speed as the Iran war throttles flows from the Persian Gulf, eating into buffers that protect against supply shocks

• Chinese energy imports fell sharply in April, with crude cargoes dropping about 20% year-on-year to 38.47 million tons and gas falling about 13% to 8.42 million tons

• Global food prices climbed to their highest level in more than three years as the Iran war disrupted supply chains, with the UN food-commodity index gaining 1.6% in April

• Iran’s record internet blackout is taking a heavy toll on private businesses, with warnings it could lead to mass layoffs and closures

International Response

• The US imposed sanctions on three Chinese firms for providing satellite imagery to Iran, enabling its military strikes on American forces in the Middle East

• The UK will deploy HMS Dragon warship to the Middle East as part of planning for a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire

• Iran is ramping up trade with China via rail to bypass the US blockade, with cargo trains from Xi’an to Tehran increasing from one per week to one every three or four days

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Just refuse to address him until he shows himself. Anyone can claim to be him in a letter.

Iran Discloses Supreme Leader’s Status For First Time: Marginally Injured (ZH)

The Iranian government has for the first time officially weighed in on the health of new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the opening strikes of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, which killed the younger Khamenei’s father and wife. “A government official claimed Khamenei, who hasn’t been seen in public since that attack, is now in good health,” The Wall Street Journal writes Saturday. He hasn’t been seen in public since the war began, and even official statements have been read aloud on state media broadcasts. There have since been conflict reports. However, according to the latest:


Yet the chief of protocol for the supreme leader’s office, Mozaher Hosseini, said on Friday that Khamenei is in “complete health,” stressing that he has only been “marginally injured” on his foot and lower back and hit by “a small piece of shrapnel had hit him behind the ear.” “The enemy is spreading all kinds of rumors and false claims. They want to see him and find him, but people should be patient and not rush. He will speak to you when the time is right,” Hosseini told a crowd in Tehran.

Prior international reports suggested he was being treated for severe burns and that he could undergo surgery, and resorts to communicating commands to lower officials via low-tech means, including written and hand delivered messages, in order to avoid Israeli or US intelligence intercepting signals related to his whereabouts. Regional and Gulf media have also summarized of the latest official Iranian description of the Ayatollah’s health, that “there were no indications of a serious deterioration in his condition.”

And, “According to Iranian media reports, the official stated that medical examinations confirmed Mojtaba Khamenei’s condition was completely stable. He added that the injury did not require complex surgery. Furthermore, he is undergoing only routine medical monitoring to ensure his well-being.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian revealed on Thursday that he for the first time recently held a meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei, at an undisclosed location, and that the encounter was a long and productive one. State media said it was two-and-a-half hours.

“What stood out more than any other topic in the meeting was the way of dealing, the type of outlook, and the humble and deeply friendly manner of conduct by the leader of the revolution,” Pezeshkian described. He characterized the new Ayatollah’s approach as “a model based on taking responsibility, being close to the people, and truly listening to issues and problems.” Western officials and intelligence have all the while been seeking to assess just who is ultimately in charge of running the country. There have been reports of a growing split between the IRGC military apparatus and the Islamic Republic’s civilian leadership. However, none of these reports are confirmable, but it’s largely only guesswork by those far outside the country.

Read more …

Zelensky represents nazis. Victory Day commemorates the last time Russia defeated Nazis.

World Must Hear Russia’s Warning To Zelensky, Understand Importance – MFA (TASS)

The entire world must hear Russia’s warning to Zelensky, who is threatening the Victory Day parade, and recognize the importance of the moment, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with TASS arranged to coincide with the 81st anniversary of Victory Day.


“This (warning – TASS) was done because we understood that the collective West, this collective Western minority, is doing everything possible to once again avoid seeing the misanthropic logic and not hear the absolutely extremist, terrorist threats from Zelensky, to once again provide him with political support, to put him on the front pages in terms of information and, of course, to provide him with weapons, money, and so on. And precisely so that they would wake up and understand the seriousness of the situation, a set of appropriate measures was taken, which then had this kind of information support: clear, understandable, and, I emphasize again, responsive,” she said.

The Russian Defense Ministry declared a ceasefire for May 8-9 in honor of celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. The ministry stated that Russia expects the Ukrainian side to follow suit. However, if the Kiev regime attempts to attack Moscow on May 9 to disrupt the celebrations, Russian troops will launch a massive retaliatory strike against central Kiev. These are not mere statements, Zakharova noted. “This is a clear warning about retaliatory steps that will be taken if Zelensky’s monstrous threats, which he voiced in Yerevan, are carried out in practice. And all of this is not just relevant,” she said.

The Russian side has warned all states and international organizations through their embassies and missions in Moscow, as well as Russian diplomatic missions in foreign countries and at international organizations, that “this is not just a matter of urgency, but that they must take concrete steps in this direction,” the diplomat stressed. These measures are a response to “the aggression that Zelensky has declared as a threat,” she added.Zakharova said earlier that Russia views Zelensky’s threat to stage a drone attack on Moscow during the upcoming Victory Day celebrations as the Kiev regime’s intent to carry out a terrorist act.

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Many if not most Russians understand that their army cannot just go kill Ukrainians.p>

Putin Rips NATO Aggression At Scaled-Down Victory Day Parade (ZH)

By many accounts Russia’s Saturday Victory Day parade and memorial observances in Moscow’s Red Square were once again muted and somewhat scaled down compared to the immense pageantry which marked the pre-Ukraine war years. President Putin used the occasion while speaking in front of thousands of military personnel and flanked by a handful of world leaders to take swipes at NATO and the West, saying he’s fighting “just” war and called Ukraine an “aggressive force” that is being “armed and supported by the whole bloc of NATO”.


“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin said. “They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward.” He added: “I firmly believe that our cause is just.” The three-day Ukraine ceasefire announced and backed by President Trump appears to be holding, as no drone attacks have been registered on Moscow or other parts of the country. Large-scale drone waves were coming on a daily basis throughout last week. Massive bombardment of Ukraine has also ceased. Ukraine’s Zelensky had reportedly ordered his armed forces to adhere to the short ceasefire:

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on Friday (May 8) ordering the Ukrainian military not to attack the parade. He also confirmed that his government would adhere to the ceasefire and the prisoner swap of 1,000 detainees from each side. n”Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be returned home,” Zelensky said, referring to the historic site in Moscow where the annual event is held.

The Kremlin has over the past days repeatedly warned that Kiev would come under immense bombing if the parade did get attacked, and went so far as to tell foreign diplomats they should evacuate the Ukrainian capital in such a scenario. Among the foreign leaders that attended Saturday V-Day included Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Malaysia Supreme Leader Sultan Ibrahim, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The NY Times (and a lot of other Western media outlets) is reading all of this as a ‘loss’ and reputational hit for Putin, again given the scaled-down and lower key nature of everything.

“President Vladimir V. Putin has cultivated the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany into a cornerstone of Russian patriotic ritual,” NYT wrote. “Tanks and nuclear launchers roll across Red Square in a showcase of military prowess and righteous pride that the Kremlin has used to justify the country’s great-power posture toward the West.”But then the report underscores that “Moscow is under a heavy security presence as Ukraine rattles Russia with long-range drone and missile strikes. The Russian authorities have appeared exposed as they acknowledged that the beefed-up security was intended to protect Mr. Putin.”

It further highlighted: “The parade on Saturday included none of the usual muscle-flexing missiles and armor. Personnel from Russian military academies and other servicemen made their way through Russia’s most famous square.”

Read more …

But Zelensky’s Kiev mob needs weapons payments to skim off of.

Trump: Ceasefire Between Russia, Ukraine Could Be Extended (TASS)

The US leader Donald Trump admitted that the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could be extended. “I’d love to see that war end,” he told reporters on the South Lawn in front of the White House.Trump added that he “would like to see a big extension” of ceasefire. As has been decided by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow declared a ceasefire from May 8 to 10 during the celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.


On Friday, it was announced that telephone contacts between Russia and the United States, as well as Washington’s interactions with Kiev, had resulted in agreements on a ceasefire for May 9-11. The Russian Defense Ministry has reported a complete cessation of hostilities by Russian troops in the area of the special military operation as of midnight on May 8. The Ukrainian army continued to strike Russian military positions and civilian targets.

Read more …

“Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has hailed the results as “a complete reshaping of British politics”

Starmer’s Labour Party ‘Wiped Out’ In UK Elections (RT)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been decimated in parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, as well as local elections in England. However, Starmer is refusing calls to resign. Labour was the biggest loser in Thursday’s elections. As results came in on Friday, Starmer’s party had lost more than 1,300 local council seats in England, around five seats in the Scottish Parliament, and 21 seats in the Welsh Senedd, as of 11 PM local time.

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052921709930365100?s=20


While full results are not expected until Saturday, Starmer has already admitted that “when voters send a message like this, we must reflect and we must respond.” However, although the PM has been urged to resign by some within his own party, including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, he has dismissed the idea, stating that he is not “going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.”Some 5,066 out of 16,000 local council seats in England and all 129 and 96 seats in the Scottish and Welsh legislatures were up for grabs on Thursday. Labour went into the election holding 5,873 local seats, but looks set to emerge with closer to 4,000.

For the first time this century, Labour will lose control of Wales, with First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat and the Plaid Cymru and Reform dominating the Senedd. Labour’s loss has not been the Conservative Party’s win. While power has typically swung back and forth between both parties for more than 100 years, the Tories are on track to lose 550 council seats, plus 16 seats in Scotland and 9 in Wales.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was the big winner in England, picking up more than 1,200 local council seats. In some constituencies, Reform’s gains have come almost entirely at the Conservatives’ expense. Reform picked up 37 seats in Suffolk, where the Tories lost 36. Farage has spent years hammering successive Tory governments over their failure to reduce immigration and lower the cost of living, and as such has drawn the votes of dissatisfied right-wingers who once backed the Tories.

“It’s a big, big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way,” Farage told reporters, adding that Labour had been “wiped out.”Zack Polanski’s Green Party has also drawn votes from former Labour supporters abandoning Starmer’s party over the prime minister’s austerity policies and support for Israel. “I said that the Green Party was going to replace Labour,” Polanski told reporters, “and we’re seeing that right across the country. The new politics is the Green Party vs. Reform.” As of Friday evening, Polanski’s Greens had picked up 363 seats in England, five in Scotland, and two in Wales.

Read more …

Can they still try to ban AfD? Do they?

Germany’s AfD On Verge Of Absolute Majority In Eastern Saxony-Anhalt (ZH)

With just one more point on election day, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is closing in on producing a political earthquake. According to a recent poll by Infratest dimap, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is pushing its lead even further, now at 41 percent. The poll also shows that for the CDU, establishing a government is becoming more difficult, especially since any realistic option besides the AfD appears to be a minority government. There are just four months until election day, and much could change until then, but the AfD appears to be only gaining momentum, not only in the state, but also nationwide, where it just hit a record of 28 percent in the latest Insa survey. In the “Sachsen-AnhaltTREND” survey, which was conducted by Infratest dimap on behalf of the Magdeburger Volksstimme, the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the AfD hit 41 percent. Meanwhile, its closest rival, the CDU, lost 1 percentage point compared to the previous week and sits at 26 percent. Compared to an Infratest poll from last September, the AfD has increased its support by 2 percentage points. Following the CDU are Die Linke at 12 percent and the SPD at 7 percent. https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/1988598925142499805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1988598925142499805%7Ctwgr%5Ec1c41d11f941f7151318f62f1c7c460144d4d515%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fgermanys-afd-verge-absolute-majority-eastern-saxony-anhalt-just-months-election Both the Greens and the BSW are polling at 4 percent. These two parties, along with the FDP, would currently fail to enter the state parliament. The FDP, a current member of the state government with the CDU and SPD, was not listed individually in the results because of its low figures. All other parties combined represent 6 percent of the total. If all the current values of the other parties held, then just one point more for the AfD would allow the party to rule with an absolute majority. However, if other parties, such as the Greens, were to pass the 5 percent threshold on election day, this would complicate the math for the AfD. In addition, a majority of respondents are unhappy with the state government, with 62 percent stating they are only slightly or not at all satisfied. Only 33 percent expressed that they are very satisfied or satisfied with the government’s performance. Furthermore, 82 percent of people have little to no confidence that the state is generally fulfilling its duties, and the same number, 82 percent, assess the current economic situation as “less than good” or “poor.” Only 14 percent rate the economy as “very good” or “good.”
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“Public spending is coming to the rescue for an economy that is facing severe structural problems..”

Merkel has destroyed the economy so badly it now looks like the East-German economy she comes from: all is State.

From Market To Military: Germany’s Private Sector Is Imploding (RT)

After two years of recession, it seemed that Germany’s economy had stabilized in 2025 and was even inching in the direction of a return to growth. Sure, nobody was sounding the trumpets of a full-fledged recovery, but it seemed the worst had passed. That was, admittedly, before the US-Israeli war on Iran muddied those waters. But even apart from this black swan event, what has really been going on in the German economy deserves a closer look. After all, there are different ways of generating GDP growth and not all of them have the same deeper implications.


In Germany’s case, it turns out the nascent recovery was almost entirely fueled by state spending while the private sector is in virtual free-fall. This, incidentally, goes some way toward explaining the ongoing rearmament in Germany in response to the supposed threat from Russia – a threat that very conveniently is breathing new life into unsustainable industry. This is no less than military Keynesianism, a phenomenon few expected to see in Germany. And it is being tasked to address several major structural shifts at once.


2025 marked an inflection point
The German economy broke a two-year recession, growing by 0.2% in 2025, following a 0.5% contraction in 2024. However, the growth was driven in large part by government spending. There was a late-year pickup in industrial and construction output – also government-driven – while exports continued to lag.Public spending, however, rose 5.6% in 2025 and now represents more than 50% of GDP. This number itself isn’t particularly eye-popping in a European context. Several EU countries have higher ratios.

But Germany has historically been more fiscally conservative with an economy much more oriented toward private industry and exports. Helmut Kohl, German chancellor in the 1980s and ‘90s, once called a spending ratio above 50% socialism. This is a threshold beyond which Germany would be seen as having adopted a different economic model. That different economic model is now here. But think about it from this angle: What happens when you boost public spending by over 5% and still can only barely eke out any economic growth? It means the private sector is crumbling.

Digging into the data
A widening split has opened in Germany’s economy since 2022, dividing industries more exposed to market forces from those being backstopped by public spending. Traditional sectors – especially the automotive and chemical industries – have struggled with high energy costs and global competition. This has been reflected in the share prices, which have been very sluggish, with Porsche leading the way among the declines.

The weakness is also visible in underlying demand, with domestic orders broadly declining, although amid volatility, since 2022. Last year saw periodic spikes driven by large contracts – almost certainly state-driven – whereas underlying demand remained weak. Exports were weak, so was private investment. Capital goods orders, a key gauge of private-sector investment, have been falling, pointing to continued contraction in market-driven industrial activity.


At the same time, defense contractors and state-backed industrial firms have surged on the back of government spending. Rheinmetall shares have rocketed more than 1,000% since early 2022, with its market cap rising from about €4 billion to roughly €67 billion. Hensoldt and Renk have also posted strong gains, while even adjacent players such as Infineon have nearly doubled in value. Construction and industrial groups tied to public projects – including Hochtief, Heidelberg Materials, and Bilfinger – have also rallied sharply, in some cases climbing several-fold from 2022 lows.

This has all come while the economy has been in recession and the manufacturing sector has been hemorrhaging jobs. What this points to is that Germany’s headline market gains are masking a lack of real recovery. While the country’s stock market, the DAX, has risen strongly, most of the growth is concentrated in a narrow, state-backed segment.

The contrast reflects very different operating conditions. Automakers and chemical firms compete in open global markets, where rising energy and labor costs erode competitiveness and push production to cheaper regions. Consumers can choose from many options. Defense contractors, by contrast, operate largely outside these pressures, relying on government-funded demand. Arms deals are driven by political and strategic decisions rather than market pricing, meaning input costs such as energy matter far less.

Rising costs have made large parts of Germany’s traditional industrial base less competitive. The response of the German state to that has been to shift toward sectors insulated from the market. Industry is not recovering in a conventional sense, but being redirected to where demand is state-driven rather than market-driven. This shift is already reshaping Germany’s manufacturing base. According to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), about 17% of industrial firms are now tied to the defense supply chain, with involvement particularly high in vehicle manufacturing at 36%. Some struggling auto plants are being repurposed for military production.

Read more …

Just bring ’em home. Russia will not attack unless we attack first.

Trump Indicates US Could Move Troops From Germany to Poland (JTN)

President Donald Trump said Friday night that the United States military could decide to relocate the troops that are currently stationed in Germany and move them to Poland. The president touted his friendship with the country’s leader, President Karol Nawrocki, who assumed office last year. The Pentagon previously indicated that the U.S. would move 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months. Well, Poland would like that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have a great relationship with Poland. I have a great relationship with the president. I endorsed him, and he won.


He came from way behind, and he won. He’s a great fighter, he’s a great guy. I like him a lot, so that’s possible. Germany is currently home to the largest U.S. military presence in Europe, with more than 35,000 troops currently stationed in the country, and is also viewed as crucial to the U.S.’s presence on the continent. The United Kingdom and Italy also host over 10,000 U.S. troops each. Poland currently hosts 369 permanently assigned active-duty service members and about 10,000 personnel of rotational force, according to Reuters.

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If his defence really is that he didn’t know what “86-47” means, he’s toast. But…

Federal Judge Sets Comey Criminal Trial For July 15 In North Carolina (JTN)

A federal judge Friday scheduled former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming criminal trial for July 15 at her court in North Carolina, after a grand jury in the state indicted him on two criminal charges. The decision comes a day after the same judge agreed to cancel Comey’s first court appearance in the state, because he had already surrendered himself to authorities and appeared in a Virginia court for the same case. His appearance was scheduled for Monday. Comey was indicted by a grand jury in North Carolina last month for posting a photo of shells on a beach last year with the inscription “86-47” that prosecutors alleged was a threat against the president.


U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, who will oversee the trial, instructed Comey’s legal team to file all of its pretrial motions by June 5 and said Comey can make his first official appearance in her court to enter his plea on June 30. Comey’s team is expected to frame the case as a retribution campaign and will seek to toss the new indictment as selective and vindictive prosecution, according to The Hill. The former director has been officially charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

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2 years to go. Is the US ready for a Latino president?

Is Marco Rubio The New Heir Apparent To Trump? (ZH)

For months, the conventional wisdom inside Republican circles has been settled and simple: JD Vance is next. The vice president has led 2028 Republican presidential nomination polling by a country mile, averaging nearly 45.5 points in the RealClearPolitics aggregate — more than 30 points ahead of Donald Trump Jr. at 14.8% and Marco Rubio at 14%. And yet, something shifted this week. One press briefing, and the betting markets started hedging.


Rubio stepped in as White House press secretary on Tuesday, covering for Karoline Leavitt while she’s on maternity leave, and delivered what even the skeptics had to acknowledge was a polished, commanding performance. He defended the war in Iran before a press corps not exactly known for its generosity toward administration officials — and walked away with his standing improved. The room, by most accounts, was notably less adversarial than it tends to be when Leavitt or Trump takes the podium. Rubio was fluid and measured, giving the journalists little to sharpen their teeth on. Washington noticed, and Kalshi, one of the leading prediction markets, noticed too.

By Tuesday, Rubio had leapfrogged Vance to become the overall favorite to win the 2028 presidential election, coming in at 18% to Vance’s 17%. Gov. Gavin Newsom sits just behind at 16% – a reminder that the Democrats haven’t entirely vacated the field in the markets’ eyes. For Rubio, the jump is particularly striking given that he was sitting in the single digits on Kalshi earlier this year. Polymarket still has Vance in front overall – 19.6% to Newsom’s 16.7% and Rubio’s 15%. On the GOP nomination question specifically, Vance retains a meaningful edge on Polymarket (though Rubio’s odds are rising). Primary voters and general-election bettors, it turns out, are pricing these things very differently.

None of this, of course, happens in a vacuum. Trump himself has been notably careful — or deliberately noncommittal — about who carries the MAGA torch after January 2029. Weeks into his second term, Trump sat down with Fox News’s Bret Baier and declined to designate Vance as his heir apparent, saying simply that it was too early for such an endorsement. For a president who has never been shy about anointing winners and losers, that hesitation was conspicuous to say the least. He left the door ajar, and markets being markets, traders are now watching to see who walks through it.

Vance remains the favorite by most conventional metrics. His polling advantage is enormous, and he’s been the heir apparent since joining the Trump ticket in 2024. But Rubio’s trajectory is definitely worth watching to see if his stock goes higher or merely plateaus. His rise from the low single digits to within striking distance of Vance on Kalshi over just a few months could be a one-off or the opening act of a longer repositioning. For now, Vance’s commanding polling lead offers the most grounded picture of where Republican voters actually stand. But, prediction markets have a knack for capturing things polls don’t. And it will likely take some time to determine if Rubio’s rise will stick.

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“I’m sure Fetterman will find a way to anger Republicans, if only to reestablish his bona fides as a blue-collar Democrat.”

John Fetterman: ‘I’d Be a Terrible Republican’ (Rick Moran)

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is the quintessential iconoclast. He’s a disruptor of the first order, a thorn in the side of Democrats, and the media’s go-to guy if it wants a juicy quote from a Democrat who’s likely to say something bad about his own party. But Fetterman is no Republican. He made that very clear in an op-ed he wrote for the Washington Post, published Thursday. Talking about his first race for political office in 2008, the mayor of his dying steel town of Braddock, Penn., Fetterman wrote that it “wasn’t about being a Democrat or Republican, but about making sure places such as Braddock received the benefits, focus, and investments they deserved for their contributions to this great country.”


Fetterman has sought to maintain that political identity ever since.I’d say he was an “old-fashioned” politician, looking to work with the other party to achieve mutually beneficial goals, but it wasn’t that long ago that the sort of bipartisanship Fetterman ascribes to was the dominant political identity of members of both parties.Today, the base of both parties sees that sort of bipartisanship as weak and even traitorous. This has made Fetterman a lonely figure, as much of his own party shuns him. Democrats in Pennsylvania give Fetterman a 22% approval rating, while Republicans embrace him, with 73% approving of the job he’s doing.

What Democrats object to most of all is that Fetterman doesn’t hate Donald Trump. He opposes Trump on most issues, but the visceral, hysterical hate that Democrats feel toward Trump is missing from Fetterman’s rhetoric.On some issues, he supports the president, which drives the radical left nuts. He has been a strong supporter of Trump’s policy toward Israel and Iran, and he has backed Trump’s border crackdown.My party cannot simply be the opposite of whatever President Donald Trump says. The president could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, and my party would suddenly hate them. Such pointless pile-ons and attacks are unproductive. The American people want us to work together to find solutions on issues they and our country face.

It wasn’t long ago when Democrats wanted a secure border. I voted on an immigration bill in 2024 to make sure an influx the size of Pittsburgh doesn’t come through the border like it did under the previous administration. I have co-sponsored legislation to stop the flow of fentanyl. I was the lead Democrat on the Laken Riley Act, and I strongly believe that someone who comes here illegally and commits a violent crime should be deported. Full stop. This support for some of Trump’s agenda has Republicans eying Fetterman for a party switch. It’s not going to happen.

Fetterman is not the vindictive type, and even if Democrats boot him off committees and support someone more radical in the primary (he’s up for reelection in 2028), he will remain a Democrat. “I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor and even pro-rib-eye over bio slop,” he wrote. None of that except preferring rib-eye sounds very “Republican” to me. Fetterman explains: “Being an independent voice that works with the other side to deliver for Pennsylvanians might put me at odds with the party that I have stayed committed to and have no plans to leave — but I will continue to put the commonwealth and the country first,” he said.

He added, “Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, gives Fetterman a 0% score for the 119th Congress, indicating that from a staunchly conservative perspective, his voting record is still overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic caucus. Fetterman says he “has no plans to leave” the Democratic Party. Some commentators, such as Aaron Blake of Politico, point out that plans can change. The first thing to note is that while some have cast this as Fetterman rejecting a party switch, he didn’t fully rule it out.

Yes, it’s significant that he even felt pressured enough to write this op-ed downplaying the prospect, and Democrats should be heartened that he did. But “no plans” is not the same as “no chance,” and politicians often use the former phrasing to keep their options open. If things were to change, Fetterman — who’s not facing reelection until 2028 — could say he truthfully wasn’t planning on switching parties, but that his plans changed because of XYZ. I’m sure Fetterman will find a way to anger Republicans, if only to reestablish his bona fides as a blue-collar Democrat. But he remains one of the more colorful politicians in a city full of black, white, and gray.

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We’ll hear a lot about this, rest assured.

Gerrymander Debacle in Virginia Leaves Dems with a Dangerous Agenda (Turley)

“Eff around and find out”: That taunt from Hakeem Jeffries celebrating Virginia’s gerrymander did not age well. On Friday, the House minority leader found out that Virginia’s Supreme Court was not quite as gleeful as he about Democrats’ attempt to virtually eliminate Republican representation in the purple state. The court just cooked the party’s infamous lobster, a district over 100 miles long that was designed to help devour the GOP’s slender majority in the House of Representatives.mIt also cooked the ambitions of Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Democratic establishment, which tossed aside any pretense of principle in a raw political gambit.


The resulting faceplant is nothing short of legendary: Spanberger’s Democrats have succeeded in alienating half of the state. For the governor, the court’s decision was particularly embarrassing. Before assuming power, Spanberger denounced gerrymandering as “detrimental to our democracy and weakens the individual voices that form our electorates.”She ran as a moderate, but Spanberger immediately turned sharply left once in office and called for the most extreme gerrymander in the nation. The court found that effort was not only unconstitutional, but “wholly unprecedented in Virginia’s history.” It characterized the state’s position as “a story of the tail wagging the dog that has no tail.”

While some of us had previously expressed skepticism over the rushed effort to circumvent the state constitution, the media almost exclusively relied on liberal experts who predicted the new districts would be upheld. It was a calculated risk for Democrats, who have now burned their bridges with Virginia conservative and Republican voters. As Winston Churchill said, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” Exhilarating and unforgettable: In a purple state where politicians often require crossover votes to prevail, the redistricting push was not just partisan but personal for voters. National Democrats will soon “find out” whether Jeffries was right to prematurely celebrate a victory that seemed to secure his anticipated elevation to Speaker of the House.

The party is facing a potentially catastrophic reversal of fortune. When Democrats declared a gerrymandering war, some of us warned that the party, with its already heavily gerrymandered blue states, had far more to lose than the GOP did. It was particularly comical when Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey pledged to join the redistricting fray, even though her state is so badly gerrymandered that it’s elected zero Republicans to the House since the 1990s. Virginia, a state long opposed to gerrymandering, has been considered the fairest state in the country, with a distribution of congressional seats that closely matches its partisan divide.

Once Spanberger sought to eradicate Republican representation, total war broke out — and now red states like Florida and Tennessee have moved forward with their own redistricting. On top of the fact that GOP states have more room for partisan gerrymandering, the Virginia Supreme Court decision comes on the heels of the US Supreme Court’s ban on racial gerrymandering. That means a dozen or more Democratic districts could now be deemed unconstitutional — and Louisiana and Mississippi are moving to redistrict in line with the Supreme Court’s decision. The result could be a dramatic shift in districts favoring the GOP.

To make matters worse for the Democratic Party, a new census in 2030 will correct the mistakes that erroneously awarded them multiple districts after the 2020 census. Those corrections, and the ongoing exodus from high-tax blue states to booming red ones, could translate into even more congressional gains for the GOP. That prospect of a political apocalypse has Democratic strategists pushing for radical changes in Washington before it’s too late. Top priority: packing the Supreme Court as soon as they retake power. As Virginia has shown, an independent court can unravel the best-laid plans.

Democratic politicians, pundits and professors have been openly pushing for expanding the high court to 13 members with four new liberal additions, in order to rubber-stamp the radical changes needed to keep the party in power. James Carville recently told Democratic politicians that they have no choice but to pack the court, declaring “F–k it . . . Just do it.” He suggested, however, that they might not want to tell the voters.

“Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it,” he said. “Just do it.” Last week, Jeffries declared the Supreme Court “illegitimate” as he blasted its ban on racial gerrymandering. After the Virginia court’s ruling, the frustrated Democratic establishment is ever more likely to echo him — and to go beyond. Many Democrats are now “all in” with this radical agenda. With the courts declaring their redistricting efforts unconstitutional, it is the constitutional system itself that will now have to go.

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https://twitter.com/jackprandelli/status/2053052668529058006?s=20 https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2053114983098282460?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 052026
 


Ivan Aivazovsky Creation of the World 1864


Trump’s Strait of Hormuz Move Blends Power and Mercy (David Manney)
Obama’s Iran Tale Trips Over Its Own Halo (David Manney)
Trump Disapproval Rate Hits Career-High – War And Rising Costs Take Toll (ZH)
Trump Sends Rubio to Calm Tensions with Italy and the Pope (Anderson)
All’s Not So Quiet on Any Front (James Howard Kunstler)
NATO Holds Secret Meetings With Movie, TV Makers – Guardian (RT)
EU to Begin Censoring Emojis on Social Media — For ‘Safety’ (Bartee)
Erika Kirk Brilliantly Dismantles White House Correspondents’ Hypocrisy (Salgado)
Extensive Interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (CTH)
Interesting Reversal in Position by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CTH)
Acting AG Todd Blanche On Legal Aspects of Iran, James Comey and More (CTH)
Greece Rejects Ukraine’s Terms For Naval Drone Deal – Media (RT)
Epstein Inheritor Kills Himself (RT)
Volkswagen to Let Chinese Automaker Build in Shuttered Volkswagen Plants (CTH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/BoLoudon/status/2051012329362317518?s=20 https://twitter.com/Tironianae/status/2050939495596347494?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2050822211947356494?s=20 https://twitter.com/ToscaAusten/status/2051013132970017132?s=20

 


 


“Trump threatened that any interference with the U.S. operation would “have to be dealt with forcefully.”

Two things are not up for negotiation:

1) No nukes for Iran.

2) Free passage in Street of Hormuz.

So far, Iran refuses to acknowledge this.

The guys who play the leadership now may not be the leaders.

Trump’s Strait of Hormuz Move Blends Power and Mercy (David Manney)

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States will begin helping ships from “neutral and innocent” countries leave the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning. He called the effort Project Freedom and framed it as a humanitarian move for ships trapped by the Iran war. Plenty of politicians mention compassion when cameras are rolling, but Trump continues to demonstrate how removed he is from “regular” politicians, tying the decision to action, sea power, and safe passage through one of the most dangerous waterways on Earth.


The Strait of Hormuz carries enormous weight in global commerce, and energy markets still watch it like a man watches smoke near a dry field. Hundreds of ships and roughly 20,000 seafarers have been stranded as the conflict involving Iran disrupts traffic through the region. Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months. Last month, the U.S. imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports. It was not immediately clear which countries the U.S. operation would aid or how the operation would work. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter and the Pentagon declined to comment.

Trump threatened that any interference with the U.S. operation would “have to be dealt with forcefully.” Iran said on Sunday it had received a U.S. response to its latest offer for peace talks a day after Trump said he would probably reject the Iranian proposal because “they have not paid a big enough price.” Many crew members come from South and Southeast Asia; they had nothing to do with the war. They didn’t start it, write Iran’s threats, or choose to become bargaining chips in a dangerous waterway. Ships and seafarers, many on oil and gas tankers and cargo ships, have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began.

Crew members have described to The Associated Press watching intercepted drones and missiles explode over the waters, and running low on drinking water, food and other supplies. Many sailors come from India and other countries in south and southeast Asia. Those people were doing ordinary work when an extraordinary crisis fell on them like an ex-Iranian cleric cannonballing in a pool. Trump’s statement cut through the usual fog, saying the United States had told those countries that America would guide their ships safely out of restricted waterways so they could “freely and ably get on with their business.”

The wording set the mission’s tone: America isn’t rescuing hostile actors; it’s notifying neutral nations that lawful commerce and helpless crews won’t be abandoned because Iran turned a vital shipping corridor into a danger zone. The market noticed. Oil prices fell after Trump’s announcement. Brent crude dropped $1.83 to $106.34 per barrel — it’s not much, but better than a stick in the eye — while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell $1.72 to $100.22. Markets don’t reward speeches because the words sound cool; they move when a president signals that chaos won’t be allowed to spread.

Nobody should pretend Project Freedom will be simple; public details remain limited, and follow-up from the White House and Pentagon hadn’t filled in every operational blank by Sunday afternoon. I’m not a CNN reporter; I’m smart enough to avoid asking the president his military plans. Trump’s posture is clear; he’s telling Iran, shipowners, seafarers, and energy markets that the United States sees what’s going on and intends to move. In a region where hesitation often gets read as weakness—or, as in the case of U.S. mainstream media, thinking Trump is overmatched—the announcement gives America’s allies and neutral partners something firmer than diplomatic shrugging.

The compassion angle deserves notice because strength doesn’t only count when it punishes. American power protects supply lines, calms markets, and helps stranded crews get home or get moving again. The same Navy that deters enemies also clears a path for working sailors who just want to leave a dangerous place alive. People on the left will find reasons to complain because some people find a scandal when the rest of us call it Monday. They’ll argue over timing, tone, risk, wording, tie color, head angle, and whatever else can be fed into the outrage machine before breakfast. Mike seems to get hangry before breakfast.

Meanwhile, the ships still need passage, crews still need safety, and oil prices still affect American families filling their tanks and paying their bills. Trump is acting in the space where leadership has to live, between danger and delay. Or between the space of $4.25 gas and the Biden-era genius of calling paralysis a policy. Project Freedom gives the country a clean view of Trump’s governing style in a crisis; he didn’t offer sympathy cards to the gay, comatose Iranian leader; he’s offering safe passage to neutral nations trapped near Iran. Trump’s not treating energy markets as abstract numbers on a screen: he understands that every barrel eventually touches a household budget somewhere. Strength and mercy don’t have to be enemies; sometimes they work best when they sail together.

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Was Obama right about laughing off Bibi’s threats? We’ll never know. Trump thinks even if it is an empty threat, Iran still has terrorized the Middle East for 50 years.

Obama’s Iran Tale Trips Over Its Own Halo (David Manney)

And now for something completely different. Picture an old Shakespearean theater (or, as the snobs would say, thee-aa-taaa-hh), right when the fidgety crowd grows silent because the holy curtain, resplendent with images of the miraculous Obama, slowly rises. Barack Obama, former president of these here United States, appears on the stage of world events wearing the invisible crown of moral superiority. Entering stage right is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who carries ill tidings about Iran, nuclear danger, and the small matter of a regime that’s spent decades threatening Israel and chanting “DEATH TO AMERICA!”


Obama looks up, with a face appearing to be pulled out at the chin, leaving a pair of substantial ears to anchor him in place. He raises one hand, pausing for applause only he can hear (it’s the ears, you know), and announces that he alone resisted the madness. “Drag me into war? Never,” he seems to say from his very tall stool of virtue. Out of nowhere, a fake medieval trumpet wheezes, dust blowing out the bell, a giant foot drops from the sky, covering the stage, and the sketch abruptly ends. Okay, it’s not the best Monty Python parody to use for satire, but hopefully some symbolism pulled through.

In a recently published interview, Obama claimed that Netanyahu used the same arguments with him that the Israeli leader later used with President Donald Trump. Obama cast himself as the steady man who refused military action and, instead, opted for diplomacy. He also said he still believes his approach was right. In Barack Obama’s final days in office, he found himself in the painful position of trying to console his staff, the Democratic Party, and millions of supporters. He attempted to convince them—even if he could not entirely convince himself—that the looming Presidency of Donald Trump was not a national calamity. In the past, he would say, the country had endured slavery, the Civil War, the Great Depression, Jim Crow, assassinations.

And, though Trump was alarming in many ways, America was blessed by the strength of its institutions and the resilience of its people. The word “guardrails” was uttered constantly. In Obama’s estimation, Trump would not erase all his achievements. As he put it, “Maybe fifteen per cent of that gets rolled back.” This kind of calm was pure Obama. His appeal had as much to do with character and temperament as it did with his center-left ideology. Although Obama believed that Trump’s ugliest slurs against him, particularly his deployment of the birther theory, were a racist outrage that heightened the threats against him and his family, he now took pains to set aside his contempt. Insuring that there was another orderly transition of power—that, too, was part of his rhetoric of consolation.

Such poise was not easy to sustain. When Obama met Trump for a ritual pre-Inauguration visit to the Oval Office, he was struck by how unschooled and incurious the President-elect was. Trump, Obama told people, seemed indifferent to hearing about potential national-security perils—North Korea, Russia—preferring to brag about the size of the crowds at his campaign rallies. Obama pitched Trump on preserving several of his signature achievements, including the Affordable Care Act and the Iran nuclear deal. Trump responded that he would consider the request, and Obama thought it was not impossible that he meant it. Naturally, the tale arrives with Obama placed at the center of wisdom, restraint, and good lighting—lighting tips learned at the knees of Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The timing isn’t subtle: Trump authorized Operation Epic Fury against Iran after months of pressure, intelligence sharing, and escalating danger involving Israel and Iran. Obama’s story lets him suggest that Netanyahu used the same pitch for years and that Trump finally went where Obama refused to go. In an interview with The New Yorker, Obama said Netanyahu had tried to convince him to pursue war with Iran, adding that the Israeli leader “got what he wanted” in more recent developments. However, Obama questioned whether such an outcome ultimately benefits either Israel or the United States.

Beyond the immediate issue of Iran, Obama warned that current geopolitical shifts could have long-term consequences for global stability. He pointed to strains in traditional alliances and cautioned that the international system built after World War II, anchored by institutions like NATO, is under pressure. Obama also discussed the broader challenges facing US global leadership, arguing that rebuilding trust with allies may be more difficult than addressing domestic issues. If you think about it, it’s really a neat little performance: Netanyahu becomes the pushy salesman, Trump becomes the buyer, and Obama becomes the only adult in the room who read the fine print.

Netanyahu has long warned that Iran’s nuclear program poses an existential danger to Israel. Obama knows that history, and he also knows many Americans remember his Iran posture as weak, naive, and too eager to treat Tehran like a difficult negotiating partner instead of a hostile regime with innocent blood on its hands. Instead of pursuing joint strikes with Israel, Obama said he prioritized diplomacy with Iran. Those efforts led to the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which imposed limits on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Netanyahu strongly opposed the agreement, warning it would fail to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and would strengthen the country economically and militarily.

Trump later withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018, reimposing sanctions on Iran and aligning more closely with Netanyahu’s position. Barry’s new version tries sanding down all of that to leave one shiny statue standing: Obama, the restrained, austere scholar, nobly blinking while everybody else reaches for a sword. The real purpose looks obvious: Obama wants to reopen an old argument and drive a wedge between Trump supporters who disagree over foreign policy. Barry is implying that Trump got handled by Netanyahu while Obama stayed too wise to be moved. It’s less foreign policy analysis than reputation repair with better upholstery.

There’s something missing that I just can’t place my finger on. Please help me remember something about a plane, pallets, tons of cash … ah! Yes, even after paying a several billion dollar bribe to the mullahs, Obama removes the part where Iran didn’t become less dangerous because of his preference for green diplomacy. Tehran, with help from brand-new U.S. dollars, kept funding terror, threatening Israel, and expanding its reach while Western leaders congratulated themselves for managing the problem. Obama’s defenders call his approach patient, while plenty of Americans would call it wishful thinking — at best — in a tailored suit.

Let’s return to our stage. Obama takes his final bow, still certain of his intestinal fortitude to resist the warmongering fever. Netanyahu remains Israel’s prime minister, dealing with Iran as a legitimate threat, not a TED Talk topic. President Trump remains president of the United States, making decisions in a world Obama (and, with Susan Rice’s work, Biden) helped create. The curtain falls. The giant foot lands again, but in a way that a set of ears sits on either side of the heel, looking like a giant Temu version of Mercury’s foot, about to send a message from the Roman gods.

The audience is asked to admire the former president’s restraint, but the joke lingers because Obama is speaking without a script, so the man keeps talking and talking and talking. Barry never sees what happened; he didn’t stop the danger out of Iran. He just wrote himself inside a narrative where he never belonged, where he never succeeded, and into a reset of a history that never happened. In short, Obama has long since become a president losing hold of his carefully crafted narrative, one polished for years until reality started showing through the shine.

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WaPo-ABC poll.

At the same time, CNN came with a poll that said 100% of 2024 MAGA voters still would vote MAGA.

Trump Disapproval Rate Hits Career-High – War And Rising Costs Take Toll (ZH)

Though tempered by the prospect of additional GOP gerrymandering of House districts in the wake of a pivotal Supreme Court decision, Democrats’ hopes for a rout of Republicans in the approaching midterm elections are rising after a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that President Trump’s disapproval rating is now the highest of either of his two terms in office. Trump’s decision to launch a war on Iran is taking a toll — voters are not only dismayed by his handling of Iran, but also dissatisfied with his work on the economy, which is itself being harmed by the war.


In a survey of US adults taken in the last week of April, 62% said they disapprove of his general performance in the Oval Office. A whopping 76% disapprove of his handling of the cost of living and 66% disapprove of what he’s done with Iran. A majority of Americans surveyed expressed disapproval of his handling of every issue covered by the survey.


While 85% of Republicans approve of his performance, the share who strongly approve fell to 45% — that’s down 8% since September and is a new Trump low. Perhaps more importantly, his approval among Republican-leaning independents is also at a new low of 56%. Overall, just 25% of independents approve of his performance. Trump also scored terribly on some personal attributes. For example, 71% said the descriptors “honest and trustworthy” are not applicable to Trump, while 67% said Trump does not “carefully consider important decisions.” Meanwhile, 59% said he lacks the “mental sharpness” required of his position.

The poll provides a little insight into the upcoming midterm races. Today, Republicans have a slim, 3-seat margin of control of the House of Representatives. Asked if they would vote for a Democrat or Republican candidate if the House election were held today, 49% said they would for a Democrat, compared to 44% who would choose a Republican. At the same point in the 2022 midterms, that question yielded a 42-42 tie, with the GOP proceeding to win the House when votes were cast six months later, securing a 222 – 213 margin in seats (a 9-seat pickup for the Republicans). As for intended turnout, 79% of registered Democrats say they are “absolutely certain” they’ll vote, compared to 72% of Republicans — a 7-point improvement on the GOP turnout expectation recorded in a February survey.

Vance had higher approval and disapproval ratings than Rubio — as more survey participants shrugged at the Rubio performance question. Looking at the big picture, 67% of Americans said the country is moving in the wrong direction. Here, there’s a vast difference among parties: 94% of Democrats felt that way, compared to 25% of Republicans. As a general caveat, we’ll note that — since more and more Americans identify as independent — party results are growing less meaningful. A hefty 78% of independents say the country is heading south.

Finally, the poll had some incidental insights for those looking ahead to the 2028 presidential race. While participants weren’t asked about that contest, they were asked to rate the job performance of various Trump administration officials, including two potential GOP contenders: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They came out with similar approval ratings — 35% for Vance and 33% for Rubio — but Vance had a 48% disapproval rating, compared to 40% for Rubio. The remainder of respondents had no opinion.

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No longer “little” Marco.

Trump Sends Rubio to Calm Tensions with Italy and the Pope (Anderson)

Relations between the United States and Italy and between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV have been delicate lately to say the least. So, the Trump administration is sending in the one man to the Vatican who can possibly help them recalibrate them this week: Marco Rubio. The State Department announced on Monday that the secretary of State will travel to Rome on Wednesday “to advance bilateral relations with Italy and the Vatican.” “Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere,” the statement continued. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.”


Several MSM outlets are saying that he will meet with the pope and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s foreign minister, on Thursday. He’ll most likely also meet with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, and possibly even Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself, but the State Department didn’t specify that information. We all know the background. The pope has repeatedly criticized the United States and Israel’s conflict in Iran, calling for more dialogue and peace talks — you know, the sort of thing that hasn’t worked for decades. “Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions,” he said in March, shortly after the conflict began. “I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!”

While this is standard Vatican peace talk, he’s also criticized Trump’s rhetoric regarding Iran, particularly calling the infamous “a whole civilization will die tonight” line “truly unacceptable.” Trump didn’t take too kindly to that and has responded via social media and interviews with various outlets, calling the pope “weak on crime,” “very liberal,” and “terrible for foreign policy.” On Truth Social on April 12, the president wrote: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon…I don’t want a Pope who thinks U.S. action against Venezuela was wrong.” (I can’t speak for the Iranians, but I can tell you that the Venezuelans are firmly in favor of the U.S. action against Venezuela.)

The president added, “And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do…” He concluded that the pontiff needed to “get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” When talking to reporters later, the president said, “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime. He’s a man that doesn’t think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world. I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

Eventually, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — someone who is typically a pretty staunch Trump ally — got into the spat and criticized Trump’s words against the pope, calling them “unacceptable.” She said it was normal for the head of the Catholic Church to condemn “every form for war.” Trump didn’t take too kindly to this either and said that “she’s the one who’s unacceptable” and claims she’s “no longer the same person.” The two have been distancing themselves from each other ever since.

Meloni has also been critical of military action in Iran herself, and “sided with France, Spain, the U.K., and Germany in declining to participate in mine sweeping and other military operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz during Iran’s initial blockade of the strategic waterway.”So, can DJ Rubio Secretary Rubio save the day? He is our country’s top diplomat after all, but more importantly, Trump knows that Rubio’s got the personality to handle these types of situations when the president himself… well, let’s just say he’s a bit more blunt. And he admits it too. Earlier this year, he confessed that Rubio, who has become one of this most trusted advisors, was teaching him.

“I became a diplomat for the first time. Well, you know, taught me that? Marco Rubio. He said, ‘Let me teach you about diplomacy,’” the president said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The president has also admitted on several occasions that Rubio is “a bit more diplomatic” than Vice President JD Vance, who has Trump’s knack for telling it like it is. But that doesn’t mean Rubio is soft. We all saw the speech he gave at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, telling European leaders that “we in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline.” Let’s just hope he carries that energy into his trip this week. And maybe a little of this energy too. I mean, who can resist it?:

Read more …

“CENTCOM confirms Iran has NOT successfully struck ANY Navy ships this morning, despite claiming they’ve done so.” —Eric Daugherty on X

All’s Not So Quiet on Any Front (James Howard Kunstler)

Project Freedom. Cute move! Notice that it’s not Operation Freedom. That would frame it as a military move. The President is tactically framing this as a humanitarian action. Mr. Trump has advised Congress as of May 1 that hostilities with Iran (Operation Epic Fury) are terminated, at the 60-day limit of the War Powers Resolution. Commercial ships from countries not involved in the Iran / US dispute will now get escorted safely through the Strait of Hormuz by US naval vessels.


Any attack on these ships by Iran would prompt a forceful response and trigger a re-wind of the clock on the War Powers Resolution (WPR), meaning, another sixty days to conduct military operations, such as the destruction of key bridges and electric power plants promised earlier. Iran’s leadership — whoever that is — thought it could juke Mr. Trump on the 60-day deadline by stalling negotiations while it reorganized its remaining missile launchers. Tactical fail. Incidentally, the Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the WPR’s constitutionality or enforced the 60-day limit.

Also, by the way, the “neutral and innocent bystanders” designation means that oil tankers from Kuwait, the Emirate states, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia will be given safe escorts out of the Persian Gulf. That will have two effects: 1) avert the “shutting-in” of their productive oil wells (and the prospective geological damage to the oil fields); and 2) alleviate the price pressure on oil generally with new supply reentering the global oil market.

You can conclude that this “project” will bring new pressure on the “whoevers” running Iran to stop shucking and jiving about how this thing ends — which is them surrendering the 1000-pounds of 60-percent enriched uranium stashed somewhere on their premises. Of course, coming to terms on the nuclear bomb-making issue would allow Iran the possibility of becoming, once more, a normal advanced industrial modern nation, should it also decide to eschew the rule of the mullahs and their psychotic minions in the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). But that remains to be seen.

The other major project underway is on the domestic US scene: the much-needed severe beat-down of the so-called Democratic Party that has become captive to seditionists, overt communists, racketeers, and jihadis. DOJ prosecutions of color revolutionaries accelerate under Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. James Comey finally has to account for his “86 / 47” seashell prank in a Carolina federal court while a long-dormant case was revived in the Eastern District of Virginia of Comey having used Columbia prof Daniel Richman as a cut-out to leak classified information to the press at the inception of RussiaGate, 2017.

Nobody knows exactly what’s going down in the Southern District of Florida these days (no leaks) where a grand Jury was convened in January to hear evidence in the RussiaGate matter including the years’ long train of organized seditions aimed at bum-rushing Mr. Trump out of the Oval Office in his first term, plus the mounting of various other operations (2020 election-rigging, the J-6 “Fedsurrection,” and maliciously fake serial prosecutions) aimed at stuffing him in prison at the end of that term.

All this is being treated as a “grand conspiracy” involving scores of agency officials and lawfare ninjas operating in the penumbra at the edge of government. Do not be surprised when rafts of indictments come out of the Fort Pierce, Florida, grand jury, probably in bunches, each bunch dedicated to a particular phase or operation.

Characters such as former President Barack Obama, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CS), CIA-agent Eric Ciaramella, legal tacticians Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and Mary McCord, Andrew Weissmann, crooked member of the Senate Intel Committee Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and former CIA Directors Brennan with former DNI James Clapper, were involved in multiple seditions and possible treasons. Supporting actors such as the tag-team of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, former AG Merrick Garland, former Deputy AG Lisa Monaco, former Sec’y of State Hillary Clinton, “Joe Biden” autopen operators Jake Sullivan, Mike Donlon, Steve Richetti, Anita Dunn, Neera Tanden, former Sec’y of State Antony Blinken, and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, are probably in the mix somewhere, too.

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“The greatest threat the bloc currently faces emanates not from “external enemies,” but rather its “ongoing disintegration..”

NATO Holds Secret Meetings With Movie, TV Makers – Guardian (RT)

Creatives reportedly fear that the US-led military bloc is moving to influence TV and film industry professionals. NATO is holding closed-door consultations with TV and film industry professionals across Europe and the US, The Guardian reported on Sunday. The move has prompted accusations that the bloc is working to leverage the arts for “fear mongering” and “propaganda,” it added. The military bloc has held three private meetings with directors, producers and screenwriters in Los Angeles, Brussels and Paris, and is planning to convene with members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) in London next month, the newspaper wrote.


The upcoming meeting will be overseen by the British think tank Chatham House and will discuss the “evolving security situation in Europe and beyond,” according to the report. NATO cyber and innovation technology deputy head James Appathurai is expected to attend, among other officials, the newspaper added. So far, the conversations have partly “inspired” at least “three separate projects,” The Guardian wrote, citing an internal WGGB e-mail.

The military bloc’s move has reportedly sparked concern in the film and TV industry. The planned meeting is “clearly propaganda,” Irish film writer Alan O’Gorman said, as cited by The Guardian. “I think there’s fearmongering throughout Europe at the moment that our defenses are down,” he reportedly said, adding that he has seen a media and government push in Ireland “to present NATO in a positive light and align ourselves with them.” Other screenwriters were “pretty offended that art would be used in a way that was supporting war” and believed they were being asked to “contribute towards propaganda for NATO,” he said, according to the newspaper.

The Washington-led military bloc has been undergoing a growing internal rift, with US President Donald Trump again describing NATO as a “paper tiger” after multiple member states refused to join his war on Iran in recent months. Tensions between European NATO countries and the US had already been heightened by Trump’s threats in preceding months to annex Denmark’s autonomous territory of Greenland. The greatest threat the bloc currently faces emanates not from “external enemies,” but rather its “ongoing disintegration,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday.

Read more …

It’s not the people who had a happy childhood who do these things, decide for you what you can see.

EU to Begin Censoring Emojis on Social Media — For ‘Safety’ (Bartee)

The European Commission apparently finds itself no longer satiated with controlling what combinations of letters it permits the serfs on its techno-planation to spell out on social media and has now expanded the scope of its Orwellian censorship regime to emojis.


Via European Commission: \”European regulators, the European Commission and the Board of the Digital Services Coordinators, enforcing the Digital Service Act published a world-wide first report on the landscape of prominent and recurrent risks on very large online platforms and search engines in the European Union. The report (pdf) identifies systemic risks such as, among others, the spread of illegal content or threats to fundamental rights, occurring on very large online platforms. It also gives a first overview of the mitigation measures taken by platforms, based on the transparency requirements under the DSA.

Key findings cover risks to mental health and to the protection of minors online*; the impact of emerging technologies, such as generative AI, on online platforms; and challenges to intellectual property protection on online marketplaces. Among the notable mitigation measures highlighted are, for example, the use of automated systems to detect emojis used as code for illegal activities online, such as the sale of illegal drugs.

*Always “for the children” — the eternal excuse of the nanny state gynocrats to trample on fundamental civil liberties.

https://twitter.com/DigitalEU/status/2046872384649478568

Who is going to decide which emojis have to go?Probably some unelected bureaucrat behind a screen in some Brussels lair — or else AI; I’m not sure which is more dystopian. Via Hungarian Conservative: “Beyond mockery, critics have also raised concerns about the implications for free speech and digital governance. A frequently cited argument is that identifying ‘coded language’ requires platforms to interpret context and intent—moving beyond clearly illegal content into more subjective territory.

This concern ties into broader scepticism surrounding the DSA, which obliges large platforms to assess and mitigate so-called ‘systemic risks’, including illegal content and threats to public security. Critics argue that this framework increasingly incentivizes proactive and interpretive moderation, rather than responses limited to clearly unlawful material, and in doing so risks encroaching on online free speech. The debate also highlights the technical challenges involved. Emojis are inherently ambiguous and context-dependent, making accurate detection difficult and increasing the likelihood of false positives. Experts have long noted that content moderation already operates in ‘grey areas’,** where meaning is fluid and difficult to define, particularly as platforms rely more heavily on automated systems.”

“Of course, in such cases of “grey areas,” the censor will always and reflexively err on the side of maximum censorship, which is what’s surely going to happen here. Was any of this what the European states signed up for with the 1950 establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the promise being a limited economic cooperative agreement between a handful of Western European states that has now somehow ballooned into a sprawling bureaucracy dictating what emojis some Pole is permitted to use on Facebook?

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“The problem is, Cole Allen did believe the rhetoric to the point of allegedly attempting to murder Trump administration officials at the dinner on April 25.”

Erika Kirk Brilliantly Dismantles White House Correspondents’ Hypocrisy (Salgado)

Erika Kirk slammed attendees at the White House correspondents’ dinner who inspired the shooter’s hate but had intended to enjoy a luxury dinner with Donald Trump undisturbed, calling it the “ultimate hypocrisy” to “manufacture the hate and then profit off the results.” The crazies were “willing to have dinner with ‘Hitler’” if it meant free champagne.


Leftists believe in hurling the most inflammatory and vile rhetoric at their opponents, ginning up as much violence and chaos as possible, but never personally experiencing the negative results of any of their own lies. The same journalists and media anchors who spent years calling Donald Trump the greatest threat to democracy were cheerfully attending a dinner with him as the featured speaker, illustrating they didn’t really believe their own extreme rhetoric, as Erika highlighted. The problem is, Cole Allen did believe the rhetoric to the point of allegedly attempting to murder Trump administration officials at the dinner on April 25.

“We may have big problems with illegal immigration in this country,” Erika said. “I have to tell you, we have an even bigger problem when it comes to the systemic indoctrination and radicalization of our own citizens. This is what got my husband killed.” It’s what inspired Cole Allen.

Charlie Kirk wanted his wife Erika to take over as head of his organization, Turning Point USA, if anything ever happened to him. Since her husband’s tragic assassination, she has managed to deal simultaneously with her own grief and that of her young children while also zealously carrying on Charlie’s legacy — all while sickos vilify her. She was understandably very traumatized by the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but that did not stop her from continuing to tell the truth afterward with courage.

She emphasized, “Many of the left-wing journalists that attended the WHCD have spent years consistently calling President Trump a ‘Nazi’, a ‘threat to democracy’, and ‘Hitler’,yet they still joyfully attended the evening’s event.” But if “they truly believed their own rhetoric, they’re either joyfully willing to have dinner with ‘Hitler’ or they’re lying to radicalize American citizens with narratives they know are grossly exaggerated.”

Read more …

Sunday -weekend- interviews.

Extensive Interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (CTH)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss current geopolitical events and the ramifications for the U.S. economy. It is a rather lengthy interview and discussion that touches on numerous key points. Bessent notes the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Chairman Xi of China is still on schedule and U.S. Operation Financial Fury against Iran is yielding good results. I had no idea the U.S. government has made $30 to $40 billion from the Intel backstop.


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“..when people argue that it’s not about the economics of the thing – remind them, it’s always about the economics of the thing.”

Interesting Reversal in Position by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CTH)

Six days ago, in Marsberg, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and demanding the conflict end “as quickly as possible.” Three days ago, President Trump responded with an announcement that U.S. troops in Germany would be drawn down, and there would be a 25% tariff on all imported European autos. {GO DEEP} Suddenly, Friedrich Merz reverses his position:


Imagine that.

But seriously folks, when people argue that it’s not about the economics of the thing – remind them, it’s always about the economics of the thing. Germany is facing a perfect storm of economic consequences following their decision to chase the climate change agenda (Build Back Better) and eliminate their coal and nuclear power plants. Combine the German/EU policy to stop purchasing cheap LNG and oil from Russia, in addition to skyrocketing energy costs from oil/gas flows from the Middle East, and the outcome is rising manufacturing costs leading to massive layoffs.

The German industrial economy is the heart of the EU economy, and President Trump is now hitting them both right where it hurts.Chancellor Friedrich Merz is already facing serious political issues within Germany as the economy continues to contract. The political opposition parties are on the rise and Merz is in a very precarious position. President Trump is exploiting this vulnerability by apply further economic pressure on Germany.

Just yesterday….

Via Bloomberg – “Germany’s automotive industry pleaded for an urgent de-escalation in the tariff dispute between the US and the European Union and called for immediate talks between the two sides after President Donald Trump said he would increase auto tariffs on the bloc next week.”

Let him cook.

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“..there has been nothing going on, no hostilities, no exchange of fire since – in almost a month, in almost a month. And how do you end a conflict? How do you end this? You have a ceasefire. ”

Acting AG Todd Blanche On Legal Aspects of Iran, James Comey and More (CTH)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears on NBC News to discuss the legal framework for the Iran conflict and push back against the media’s defense of James Comey.


[Transcript] – KRISTEN WELKER: And joining me now is acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Mr. Blanche, welcome back to Meet the Press.

ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE: Good morning.

KRISTEN WELKER: Good morning. Thank you for being here in person.

ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE: Of course.

KRISTEN WELKER: We really appreciate it. Let’s start right there with the war. As you know, the War Powers Act requires Congress to authorize military action beyond 60 days, which the U.S. passed on Friday. The president did send a letter to Congress, just to recap, saying that hostilities have been terminated, given the ceasefire that was put in place on April 7th. And yet, the U.S. is actively engaged in a naval blockade of Iranian ports as part of this conflict. Is the United States at war with Iran?

ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE: No. I mean, what President Trump said this weekend is absolutely true. My job as the acting attorney general is to make sure that the president, that we all are doing the right thing legally. And we absolutely are. As we said to Congress last week, there has been nothing going on, no hostilities, no exchange of fire since – in almost a month, in almost a month. And how do you end a conflict? How do you end this? You have a ceasefire. And that’s exactly what we have, and Congress knows that and the leadership knows that. And there’s a lot of drama. I’m sure that Senator Schiff will come on here and say something different. This has been done repeatedly for many, many years, with many, many presidents. And there’s nothing inconsistent about what we’re doing and what’s been done in the past.

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-Orthodox- Greece was occupied by the -muslim- Ottoman empire for a very long time. That’s the background.

Greece Rejects Ukraine’s Terms For Naval Drone Deal – Media (RT)

Negotiations between Ukraine and Greece over the joint production of naval drones have stalled because Kiev wants to retain control over how Athens can use the technology, local media have reported. According to Greek Reporter, the countries agreed last November that Ukraine would supply components for drones to be built at shipyards in Greece, while Greek companies would manufacture electronic and optical systems. The end result would have been an improved version of the Magura-type attack drones which Kiev uses against Russia.


The newspaper Kathimerini reported on Thursday, however, that Ukrainian officials had demanded that Kiev retain a say over how the Greek military would use the drones, a condition Athens rejected. Greece believes Ukraine set these terms to “maintain a balance” with its longtime rival Türkiye, the newspaper said.

Greece and Türkiye have long accused each other of fueling tensions, with Athens reportedly opposing Ankara’s bid to join the EU’s Drone Wall program aimed at improving the bloc’s ability to detect and intercept hostile UAVs. Türkiye hosted Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in 2022 and 2025, presenting itself as a neutral mediator in the conflict. Ankara also condemned Ukrainian attacks on Russian-linked tankers near the Turkish coast last year.

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“Edward Juul Rod-Larsen, 25, was found dead in Oslo days after French and Norwegian police reportedly launched a joint investigation into his parents,”

Epstein Inheritor Kills Himself (RT)

The son of two senior Norwegian diplomats under investigation over ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has taken his own life, Norwegian newspaper VG reported earlier this week, citing lawyers for the family. Edward Juul Rod-Larsen, 25, was found dead in Oslo days after French and Norwegian police reportedly launched a joint investigation into his parents, Mona Juul and Terje Rod-Larsen. The probe is centered around allegations that the disgraced US financier had helped the couple purchase an apartment, and left $5 million to each of their two children in his will.


The probe is part of widening international fallout from the latest release of millions of Epstein documents, which have triggered criminal investigations, arrests, and resignations across politics, business, and even royalty. Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting sex from a minor and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence, was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. He died by suicide in his jail cell ahead of his trial. The US Department of Justice has gradually released materials related to the case under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by US President Donald Trump.

The released documents mention numerous high-profile figures, linking some to Epstein’s network or questionable financial dealings. The disclosures have triggered resignations, probes, and reviews worldwide, with many acknowledging contact but denying wrongdoing, with some charges brought in a limited number of cases. Last month, Former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland was hospitalized after a reported suicide attempt, days after being charged with gross corruption over accepting Epstein’s hospitality. World Economic Forum CEO Borge Brende stepped down over dinners and communications with the disgraced financier.

In the US, the release has placed renewed scrutiny on former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Both have been deposed about their associations with Epstein, but have denied knowledge of his trafficking operation.

Commenting on the disclosures, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the scandal as exposing the “pure Satanism” at the heart of the collective West, accusing Western elites of inventing threats from Russia to distract from their own “monstrous crimes.”

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“Now, replace [Germany] with [Canada]

Volkswagen to Let Chinese Automaker Build in Shuttered Volkswagen Plants (CTH)

How do you sum up the economic forecast for Europe? This story highlights one of the craziest stories in a long time. This is so blindingly suicidal, it cannot be stupidity. This is intentional. BACKGROUND – You might remember last year due to climate/carbon emission regulations inside Europe EU automakers had to pay fines to the EU Commission if they did not meet electric vehicle targets. In order to avoid the penalties many EU automakers began purchasing ‘carbon credit’ offsets from Chinese EV automakers.


European car makers were paying China for carbon credits, and Chinese car companies began using the payments to lower prices. Europe was, essentially, paying China to undercut their own auto market. The result was European car makers, specifically those in Germany, losing market share to lower price EVs from China. German industry began shrinking. If that wasn’t crazy enough, what comes next is beyond laughable. As a result of lost sales and diminished volumes, Volkswagen had shut down auto plants. Now, Volkswagen is announcing that Chinese automakers, their China “partners,” will take over the underutilized facilities and start building Chinese cars in Germany.

GERMANY – Volkswagen Group is facing increased pressure from its board to further cut costs despite already announcing radical measures, such as axing around 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 and reducing production capacity by up to 3 million units per year to 9 million, which would make it very difficult to avoid plant closures or sales. Overall, Europe’s largest automaker aims to reduce costs by 20% by the end of 2028. bIn an attempt to mitigate the effect of these measures, the automaker appears ready to do what not too long ago would have seemed unthinkable, namely selling China-developed cars in Europe and even sharing its underutilized plants in the region with its Chinese partners.

That’s what CEO Oliver Blume told investors and analysts on April 30 after presenting the company’s first-quarter 2026 results, which saw the automaker’s profit drop 14% to $2.92 billion amid higher U.S. tariffs and intense competition from Chinese carmakers. In order to deal with excess capacity in Europe and rising competition from Chinese brands in Europe in the coming years, Blume said VW Group is considering selling China-built cars in Europe. It’s the first time that Volkswagen has acknowledged it is contemplating such a move. (read more)

SUMMARY: Volkswagen went to China to sell cars. Volkswagen opened EV auto plants in China bringing in German industrial technology and equipment. China learned from Volkswagen and started their own EV auto companies to compete. Volkswagen EV sales in China started dropping dramatically, and the Chinese EV brands took over. Due to internal climate regulations in Europe, Volkswagen in the EU then begins giving money to China that subsidizes their competition. China exports their EVs to Europe. Volkswagen EV auto plants start closing. China now takes control of the Volkswagen EV auto plants to build Chinese EVs in Germany.

With operations now inside the house, the Chinese government extract European wealth and pump subsidies into their EV operations in Germany, flooding the European market with cheap EVs that will undercut the German auto manufacturing sector. You cannot make steel with windmills and solar panel energy. Germany has destroyed much of their coal and nuclear power plants. German energy prices have skyrocketed. German steel is expensive. German cars are expensive as a result. Where do you think the inexpensive steel for the ultra-cheap Chinese EVs will come from?

Now, replace [Germany] with [Canada].

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https://twitter.com/MikeBales/status/2050884796725788721?s=20

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

May 042026
 


Giovanni Strazza The Veiled Virgin, Carrera marble 1850s
this is one piece of marble!


Iran on the Verge of Historic Economic Collapse. Will It Lead to Peace? (Moran)
Iran Submits New Peace Terms, Says ‘Ball In US Court’ (RT)
Trump On Hormuz Blockade: “We’re Like Pirates – And It’s Very Profitable” (ZH)
Trump Must Choose ‘Impossible’ War Or ‘Bad Deal’ With Iran: IRGC Message To US
US Debt Tops 100% of GDP, Deeply Troubling For Economy, National Security (JTN)
Visualizing Europe’s Birth-Rate Collapse (ZH)
60% of Voters: ‘A Replacement of the French Population by Non-Europeans’ (RMX)
UK School Books Say ‘There’s Plenty Of Room’ For Small Boat Migrants (MN)
DOJ Releases Report Alleging Anti-Christian Bias Under Biden (ET)
It’s Time for Erika Kirk to Step Down as CEO of Turning Point USA (Pinsker)
Where Washington and The Rest of The World Diverge (Lukyanov)
The US Wants To Ban Chinese Cars, But They’re Already At The Gate (ZH)
Jerry Seinfeld Drops a Truth Bomb About Electric Cars (Matt Margolis)
Tesla Made $573 Million Selling To Musk’s Other Companies Last Year (ZH)
Animal Farm Film A Hollywood Perversion Of Orwell’s Anti-Communist Classic (ZH)
Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized In Critical Condition (ZH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/QuantumGuard17/status/2050917184851849526?s=20 https://twitter.com/Tironianae/status/2050889856495071522?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2050901895011512595?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2050655450362962290?s=20 https://twitter.com/17QStorm/status/2050707200935358803?s=20

 


 


I said when they started this thing 2 months ago, that it all depends on language. Iran knows they can’t win. Trump et al need to find the words that let whoever speaks for “Iran” concede, but without losing face and/or their lives.

Iran on the Verge of Historic Economic Collapse. Will It Lead to Peace? (Moran)

Iran’s economy has passed the point of no return, and there is now no avoiding a historic economic collapse. The raw numbers tell some of the story. Food inflation is at 104% per month. Iranians have lost 90% of their purchasing power. The rial has hit a new all-time low of 1.84 million against the U.S. dollar in the open market in Tehran. That means that a 256GB iPhone 17 Pro Max, priced by Apple at $1,200 in the U.S., was being offered at close to 5 billion rials ($2,750) by some shops in the capital. Other shops are refusing to sell, knowing the price will probably dramatically increase in a few days.Al Jazeera reports,


“A Peugeot 206, a modest French passenger car that is also now produced and popular in Iran, costs an eye-watering 30 billion rials ($16,500).””The monthly minimum wage in Iran is currently less than 170 million rials ($92), and that is after the government raised it by about 60 percent for the current Persian calendar year that started on March 21,” reports the outlet. “The government is also offering subsidies towards food and essentials worth just less than $10 per month per person.” “You look at the prices and salaries, and you see the numbers don’t add up,” one unnamed Tehran resident told Al Jazeera.

Naturally, the currency collapse and inflation have led to huge job losses. The government is no longer announcing unemployment figures, so we have to guess how bad it is. In addition to the bombardment of Iran’s infrastructure, U.S. sanctions, and a naval blockade, the resulting economic crisis has magnified the already massive corruption in the economy. You can’t survive without cheating the system in some way, and even normally honest merchants have been forced into a life of crime.Iran is entering the 65th day of a total internet shutdown. In trying to keep Iranians off the streets in protest, the government is deliberately sabotaging the economy.

But is all of this pain enough to bring about the kind of peace Donald Trump will accept?Fox News: “The escalating pressure campaign marks one of the most aggressive U.S. efforts in years to economically isolate Iran. But the central question is whether this strategy can force meaningful concessions from a regime that has historically absorbed economic pain, or whether it risks triggering broader instability — from energy market shocks to regional escalation — before Iran is pushed to a breaking point.

A senior administration official told Fox News Digital that Treasury is aggressively expanding “Economic Fury” beyond traditional sanctions by targeting Iran’s ability to generate, move and repatriate funds across oil, banking, cryptocurrency and covert trade networks. The official said Treasury has disrupted billions in projected Iranian oil revenue in recent days alone, including freezing half a billion dollars in regime-linked cryptocurrency, while also escalating pressure on Chinese “teapot” refineries, foreign banks and sanctions-evasion networks facilitating Tehran’s trade.”

China is ignoring U.S. sanctions and is using these “teapot refineries” to buy up Iranian oil through third parties. The small, independentnt refineries have become a focal point in global energy politics. They have been instrumental in keeping the Chinese economy stable by importing sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil, often using China’s Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to bypass Western financial networks. They are very difficult to get at, especially since China is telling them to ignore the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has got to find a way to, if not shut them down, then clog up their financial and supply networks, which is easier said than done.

Alireza Nader, an Iranian independent analyst based in Washington, doesn’t think that economic pressure alone will force Iran to settle. “It looks like a game of chicken and I think the regime thinks that it can win this game of chicken with President Trump,” he told Fox News Digital. “I don’t see this economic blockade … leading to some sort of breaking point for the regime,” Nader added. He says that the Iranian leadership has shown in the past their willingness to allow the people to suffer in order to maintain their hold on power.

According to U.S. intelligence, Iran will run out of places to put the oil they are taking out of the ground in less than two weeks. They are now loading crude into derelict tankers, railroad cars, and any other receptacle that can hold oil. When they run out of places to store the oil, they will be forced to shut down wells. That will result in laying off large numbers of workers and losing revenue totaling hundreds of millions of dollars a day. Eventually, Iran will be forced to meet Trump’s terms or witness the government’s inability to feed its 90 million people.

Read more …

“President Donald Trump said Tehran’s proposal would likely be rejected..”

Iran’s leadership has been beheaded. Who speaks in the media? Some spokesperson for the IRGC. Tomorrow someone else?!

Khameini jr. may or may not even be alive. We have no idea what power he has.

So we can’t react to what he says. Trump will make his own conversation.

Iran Submits New Peace Terms, Says ‘Ball In US Court’ (RT)

Iran has submitted a new comprehensive peace plan, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Saturday, adding that “the ball is in the US court.” Both countries have previously accused each other of putting forward unacceptable terms, as a ceasefire reached nearly a month ago has failed to produce an agreement. Negotiations have been further complicated by the twin Iranian and US blockades of the Strait of Hormuz and the resumption of Israel’s bombing campaign in Lebanon.


The Islamic Republic of Iran has submitted its plan to Pakistan as the mediator with the aim of permanently ending the imposed war, and now the ball is in the US court to choose between a diplomatic solution or a continuation of the confrontational approach,” Gharibabadi said, as quoted by Press TV. According to Iranian media, the 14-point plan is a counterproposal to a nine-point document presented earlier by the US. News agencies reported that Iran’s terms include security guarantees, the withdrawal of US troops from the region, the lifting of sanctions, and an end to the war “on all fronts,” including Lebanon. Iran is also reportedly seeking compensation from the US and a new framework for the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said he would review the plan soon but added that he could not “imagine that it would be acceptable.” The president previously told journalists that he was “not satisfied” with Iran’s terms and threatened to “blast the hell out of them and finish them forever.” The US has demanded that Iran completely abandon its nuclear program and surrender its enriched uranium stockpiles, a condition Tehran has flatly rejected, insisting that its nuclear program is for civilian use only. While the prospects for a peace deal remain uncertain, oil prices surged past $120 per barrel this week for the first time since 2022.

Read more …

Oil=profit.

Trump On Hormuz Blockade: “We’re Like Pirates – And It’s Very Profitable” (ZH)

Rare agreement with Iranian officials? President Trump has newly said the US Navy is acting “like pirates” as he described an operation about seizing a ship amid the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports. “We … land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump told a large audience at a rally in Florida on Friday. “We’re like pirates,” he added as the crow cheered him on. “We’re sort of like pirates. But we’re not playing games.” Watch the US President also declare “it’s a very profitable business”:


The irony in this statement is that it precisely echoes Tehran’s own accusation that the Pentagon is indeed engaged in ‘piracy’ in Persian Gulf waters, and as the US seeks to interdict other Iranian vessels on the high seas globally, especially near Asia. This week Iran issued formal request to the UN Security Council that it stop the “continuing internationally wrongful acts of the United States through yet another piracy-style seizure and deliberate targeting of commercial vessels, namely the M/T Majestic and M/T Tifani.” Some of Iran’s embassies abroad have also directly responded to the fresh Trump piracy clip. Here’s what the Iranian Foreign Ministry had to say on X through one of its diplomatic outposts in south Asia:

“Sort of like pirates”? No, Donny—that’s textbook piracy. One upside to an incompetent opponent: moments like this. But the crowd cheering and clapping along? That’s the truly disturbing part. U.S. urgently needs a swift and serious regime change. Additionally, one show host with Russia’s RT had this to say by way of reaction: “The only good thing about Trump is that he openly admits the US is a rogue state that doesn’t care at all about international law, he doesn’t bother to cover up the US’ heinous actions with the bogus liberal PR language that previous Presidents used.”

It is also akin to when Trump became the first US leader to declare that American troops were in Syria to “secure the oil” – contradicting prior presidents and officials who insisted Washington was merely engaged in ‘counter-ISIS’ operations. Meanwhile, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has said on X this week Americans have an “undeniable right and the solemn duty” to demand accountability from the White House over the ongoing US-Israel “war of choice” against Iran. The war is “a clear, unprovoked act of aggression” – he stated, and called on Americans to rise up challenge their leaders for “waging this illegal war against the nation of Iran and for all the atrocities perpetrated.”

Read more …

” The intelligence unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has newly stated…”

Don’t listen to a word they say. Make them re-act, not act. It’s the only thing you can do.

Trump Must Choose ‘Impossible’ War Or ‘Bad Deal’ With Iran: IRGC Message To US

Iran is telling Washington that the ball is in its court as President Trump has affirmed over the weekend that he is reviewing the latest peace deal submitted via Pakistani mediators. Tehran is further saying the US is going from worse to worse as it must now choose between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad” deal. The intelligence unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has newly stated that “Trump must choose between an impossible military operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to Al Jazeera referencing the official statement. The provocative words framing the dilemma came soon on the heels of the following Saturday Truth Social post from Trump:


As for the IRGC statement about an “impossible” miliary operation, it further indicated that Tehran sent the US military a deadline to end its blockade of Iranian ports. It highlighted that Europe, China and Russia are are increasingly taking a more critical toward Washington’s war.”The room for US decision-making has narrowed,” the IRGC intelligence unit sad additionally, emphasizing “there is only one way to read this.” At the moment, the two-week ceasefire which was announced on April 8 through Pakistani mediation has been unilaterally extended by Trump, to now be indefinite. On Friday as the conflict reached 60-days, President Trump submitted a formal letter to Congress stressing Operation Epic Fury had already been ‘terminated’ due to the ceasefire.

The White House is arguing that this loophole – or the fact that there’s currently no exchanges of fire between the US and Iranian sides – means that required Congressional review and authorization of use of American troops is essentially voided. In the meantime gas prices at the pump for Americans are steadily rising. The below is the full IRGC statement to the US side:

https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/2050871274788847962

The current Iran-submitted plan now being reviewed at the White House reportedly contains 14 points. A Russian correspondent has said that “Iran is seeking a decisive and permanent end to the conflict with the US, rather than a previously proposed two-month ceasefire” and that it seems a one-month window to end all hostilities. “The plan includes a demand to resolve all issues and end the war within 30 days,” said RT correspondent Saman Kojouri, adding that “”he space for compromise between Tehran and Washington is narrowing.” Just by the close of last week Trump said he was ‘not satisfied’ with what he had seen so far.

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“Without major changes to federal fiscal policy, the U.S. government will default on its debt in about 20 years ..”

US Debt Tops 100% of GDP, Deeply Troubling For Economy, National Security (JTN)

The U.S. national debt is now larger than the entire American economy and is only set to keep growing, further exacerbating the affordability crisis and risking national security. Out of the $39 trillion total national debt, debt held by the public hit $31.27 trillion on March 31, surpassing the $31.22 trillion in Gross Domestic Product over the past 12 months. The fact that the national debt has reached 100% of GDP – the highest in history except for the years immediately following World War II – is “deeply troubling,” Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, told The Center Square.


“Following World War II, we actually had a good reason for having such a high debt, and the government was on a path to reduce that debt after the war ended,” Boccia said. “In this case, we have debt as high as since World War II, except we are on a steep upward trajectory, and it’s not driven by a temporary war but by permanent entitlement obligations that are expanding – that’s Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.” Social Security and Medicare spending alone made up more than 30% of federal outlays in fiscal year 2025, and that spending is projected to continuously increase in the near future.

While some U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern over the unprecedented debt increase, there is little to no action on substantially reducing federal spending. Yet if Congress does not rein in deficits quickly, current and future generations of American taxpayers will feel the economic brunt of the rising interest costs that servicing the debt requires. “The reason we concern ourselves with debt to GDP is primarily because of the burden it poses for current and future generations, and that is primarily measured in the interest costs that servicing the debt requires from working Americans and taxpayers,” Boccia said.

“There’s strong research indicating that when debt grows to such high levels, above 80% of GDP, it tends to crowd out private sector investment, which reduces economic growth, and therefore economic opportunities, jobs, and higher wages.” In the immediate term, rising debt worsens affordability by spiking interest costs on Americans’ credit card debts, mortgages, car loans, student loans and more. “The federal government is using up so much credit in the market that it’s driving up interest costs, and it affects all of us,” Boccia said. “It has these downstream effects.” The U.S. currently spends more money on financing debt interest costs than it does on national defense – even as high debt ratios directly endanger national security.

“The reason we want governments to maintain low stable debt ratios, preferably below 60% of GDP, is so that they have room, so-called fiscal capacity, to borrow during times of crisis. And that can be a pandemic, a national security crisis, a financial crisis, or an economic recession like we saw in 2008,” Boccia said.“When governments have that room to borrow for that emergency response, it means that their recessions aren’t as severe and they can more easily return to normal economic growth after the crisis ends,” she added.

“But when a government enters a crisis already over-leveraged, holding too much debt, they’re not able to borrow as much as they otherwise would have in order to weather the crisis, and so the crisis will be more severe.” In a situation where America is at war, the results would be disastrous. “If you don’t have the fiscal capacity to respond to a military threat, then you are leaving yourself at risk of not being able to defend yourself,” Boccia said. The national debt is our greatest national security risk.” Without major changes to federal fiscal policy, the U.S. government will default on its debt in about 20 years, according to Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates.

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Make babies or wear a burka.

Visualizing Europe’s Birth-Rate Collapse (ZH)

Europe’s population is no longer replacing itself. Across the continent, fertility rates have fallen below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain stable population levels, with no country meeting that threshold as of 2024. The map below, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen, shows the number of live births per woman across Europe using the most recent data from Eurostat, FRED, and the UK’s Office for National Statistics.


From Ukraine (0.99) to Spain (1.1), some of Europe’s largest countries now rank among those with the lowest birth rates, highlighting how widespread the decline has become.

Fertility Crisis in South and Eastern Europe
Europe’s lowest birth rates are concentrated in the east and south, where economic strain and geopolitical instability have accelerated long-term declines. Ukraine has seen the sharpest drop. Its fertility rate, which last exceeded the replacement level in 1986, fell to 0.9 in 2022 before recovering slightly to 0.99 in 2024. Among countries at peace, Malta has one of the lowest fertility rates at 1.01, followed by Spain (1.1) and Poland (1.14). [..] Lower fertility in countries like Spain and Poland reflects a mix of economic pressures, including lower wages and the rising cost of raising children, alongside broader trends seen across developed economies. Aging populations are already reshaping national priorities. As Poland seeks to build a larger military, its shrinking population presents a strategic vulnerability.

Europe’s Fertility Woes
This trend extends across the continent. Europe’s largest economies, including Germany (1.36), the UK (1.41), France (1.61), and Italy (1.18), all remain well below replacement levels. Even countries with relatively higher fertility rates, such as Bulgaria (1.72) and Montenegro (1.75), are not producing enough births to stabilize their populations. One response has been increased immigration. In Germany, migration policy in the mid-2010s was shaped partly by the need to support the country’s labor system. However, this approach has also fueled political backlash and the rise of anti-immigration parties.

Family Incentives As A Solution?
Some countries are attempting to boost birth rates through financial incentives. France, Hungary, and Poland have introduced tax credits, subsidies, and other programs aimed at encouraging larger families.Hungary, for example, has spent over a decade expanding benefits for young couples, with the goal of reaching the 2.1 replacement rate by 2030. So far, the results have been limited. Hungary’s fertility rate of 1.41 is similar to countries like the UK and Portugal, suggesting that financial incentives alone may not reverse the broader trend.

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France is the most advanced in the Great Replacement,. UK a close second

60% of Voters: ‘A Replacement of the French Population by Non-Europeans’ (RMX)

A new poll from the presitigous ifop polling firm shows that a large majority of French citizens believe in a core tenent of the Great Replacement. Specifically, 60 percent of French people told ifop they believe we are witnessing “a replacement of the French population by non-European populations, mainly from the African continent.” The poll also found that 66 percent see it as a bad development, compared to 9 percent who see it as a good thing. Two weeks ago, Marion Maréchal, leader of Identité Libertés, posted to X: “60% of French people think that we are witnessing ‘a replacement of the French population by non-European populations mainly from Africa’ according to @IfopOpinion. To our greatest misfortune, our rulers are among the 40%.” Analyst Paul Cébille, from the Hexagone Observatory, posted the same line.


According to the data from IFOP, 7 percent are undecided. According to the French Directorate General for Foreigners (DGEF), valid French residence permits in 2025 hit an unprecedented level of 4.5 million, an increase of approximately 3 percent, driven primarily by multi-year permits and long-term resident cards, writes Le Journal du Dimanche.= For 2025, one in three permits was issued for family reasons (1.5 million), while one in five was an automatic renewal. New permits also increased to 384,000, a jump of 11 percent, which was partly driven by a 65 percent increase in admissions for humanitarian reasons.

Foreigners with legal status now represent 8.1 percent of France’s adult population, with a high concentration of nationalities from the Maghreb. At the same time, regularizations have declined (-10%, to 28,610), while deportations have increased sharply (+15.7%, to 24,985), reaching their highest level in a decade, notes JDD. Maréchal more recently posted a telling video of the number of illegals coming to the EU, blasting French leaders for their continuous stance of “above all, let’s do nothing!”

Maréchal has also been a vocal critic of Spain’s Socialist PM Pedro Sánchez for his “irresponsible regularization of 500,000 undocumented immigrants,” a figure that some say is likely to skyrocket to over 1.5 million. “Closing Schengen at the Spanish border is a vital act to deter and protect the French and Europeans,” she wrote. The National Rally’s Jordan Bardella has also sounded the alarm over what many consider an immediate threat to France. Bardella has made it clear that he feels the EU must alter current rules to disallow free movement within Schengen for those holding a resident permit.

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Lock down the UK.

UK School Books Say ‘There’s Plenty Of Room’ For Small Boat Migrants (MN)

British kids as young as five are now being read picture books that paint small boat crossings in glowing terms and urge them to open the door to unlimited migration. While record numbers of illegal arrivals strain housing, schools and public services, left-wing charities are using taxpayer-backed programmes to turn classrooms into recruitment centres for open borders ideology. More than 1,100 schools and nurseries across the UK have signed up to the Schools of Sanctuary programme, run by the City of Sanctuary network. The scheme requires schools to complete a “rigorous” award process to prove they are “working collaboratively to strengthen community approaches to welcoming refugee children and families.” Once awarded, they pay a minimum donation of £75 to £300.


As part of the programme, schools are given a suggested reading list packed with pro-migrant messaging. One book, Kind by Alison Green, illustrated by renowned children’s illustrators such as Quentin Blake and Axel Scheffler, tells children: “Sometimes people have lived through very hard times. They’ve had to leave their homes and their countries because of danger. They are brave and amazing and have extraordinary stories to tell.”

It continues: “Sometimes people say there’s no room for anyone more. But maybe you can say ‘There’s plenty of room! Come on in!’ After all, if you don’t let people in, you’ll never know what you’re missing.” Yeah, come on in! In fact, come on in and live in a hotel in a nice green village, all at taxpayer expense! The book features a cartoon lion in a crowded boat with other animals and encourages pupils to share toys, draw pictures together and even learn words from a foreign child’s language.

Another title, Everybody’s Welcome by Patricia Hegarty, states plainly: “Everybody’s welcome, no matter who they are, wherever they may come from, whether near or far.” No matter who they are. Never a truer word spoken. The classic Elmer and the Hippos is also recommended. In it, elephants initially resent hippos arriving at their river because “there isn’t enough room for them and us.” By the end, the two groups work together and become friends after clearing a blockage. Except of course, in this story none of the hippos go on a stabbing or raping spree. Something the UK is experiencing every single day now.

Schools are also encouraged to hold an annual “Day of Welcome” in June, complete with non-uniform days to raise funds for the scheme or local migrant-support groups. Secondary pupils can even meet real-life refugees promoted by the charity. What could possibly go wrong? Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott has demanded the books be withdrawn “immediately.” She told the Daily Mail: “Classrooms should be places of learning not promoting political ideology, schools have a very clear duty to stay out of politics.”

Trott added: “Portraying the arrival of small boats as a positive thing in books for children as young as five is indoctrination, this is an illegal practice. This organisation has already made clear its aim is to turn pupils into ‘ethically informed change makers’ and that crosses a very clear line.” She concluded: “We must get a grip on these third party resources infiltrating our schools and peddling political agendas to young children.”

The City of Sanctuary UK defended the materials, saying it “works with schools to support a culture of welcome, inclusion and understanding for all members of the community.” It added: “Our suggested educational resources, including book recommendations, are designed to help children develop empathy, critical thinking, and awareness of the experiences of others.” This is not an isolated incident. It fits a clear pattern of using British schools to enforce mass-migration acceptance while cracking down on any pushback.

A Pattern of School Indoctrination
As we previously highlighted, the far left UK Green Party, which is about to become much more influential in Parliament with upcoming local elections, wants to teach children they have a “moral obligation” to accept unlimited immigration: The current government has also urged schools to snitch on “anti-Muslim hostility” in an Orwellian crackdown:Meanwhile, counter-terror police are running ads warning teenagers that sharing “funny content” online could amount to terrorism:And a government-funded video game explicitly warned kids they could be flagged as terrorists for questioning mass migration: Even primary school children are not exempt from the rampant indoctrination:

The message is relentless: British children must be conditioned to accept endless migration, share what little they have, and never question whether “there’s plenty of room.”After all, we’re reliably told to expect the arrival of another 7 MILLION migrants in the coming years: Parents and politicians are right to push back. Schools exist to educate, not to manufacture “ethically informed change makers” for the open-borders lobby. Until third-party political materials are banned from the curriculum and real scrutiny is applied to groups like City of Sanctuary, Britain’s classrooms will continue serving as recruitment tools for the very policies destroying community cohesion and national identity.

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/2049157270043291715 Read more …

Think Ilhan Omar and it’s not so surprising. But it’s very important that Europe and US remain Christian.

DOJ Releases Report Alleging Anti-Christian Bias Under Biden (ET)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 30 released a 500-page report detailing alleged anti-Christian bias on the part of the Biden administration. According to the report by the DOJ’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, the former administration’s prosecutions, policies, and practices constituted bias throughout multiple agencies, in accordance with the administration’s priorities. The task force is chaired by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” Blanche said. “As our report lays out, the Biden Administration’s actions devastated the lives of many Christian Americans.”


Around 200 pages of the report are dedicated to the actions of more than 17 federal agencies that uncovered alleged religious discrimination. The investigation included a review of internal discussions and case files, as well as prosecutorial decisions. There were details of a since-retracted 2023 FBI memo on “radical traditionalist” Catholics, which cited the Southern Poverty Law Center. The review also listed Biden-era regulations on abortion, contraception, gender, and human sexuality, among other issues that pitted the government against religious groups.

The report also makes note of the Biden administration’s reading of the 2019 Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which led to decisions that were based on what the Trump administration report called “sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools and sports.” According to the DOJ report, the previous administration used the FBI, IRS, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies to monitor, investigate, and apply pressure to various Christian groups at a federal level. The current DOJ’s task force was formed in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Feb. 6, 2025, executive order titled Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias. The president ordered multiple agencies to investigate what he called an “egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.”

Conflicting Response
This is a “very different Department of Justice … than the previous administration,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. “The conclusion in the report, at least from an enforcement perspective, was that … federal law was disproportionately used to prosecute pro-life and other Christians under the Biden administration,” he told The Epoch Times. However, Rahmani, who worked at the DOJ from 2009 to 2012, said that while policies change, he has not seen a “systematic bias for or against” any one religious group.“I don’t necessarily see … [that] Christian activists in this country are receiving more prison time for violent acts, as opposed to, you know, Muslim or other religious groups.”

According to Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of the Conscience Project, the report “calls out the brazen assault against religious freedom by the former administration for what it was: a failure of constitutional and statutory duty.” Picciotti-Bayer said in an emailed statement that the Biden administration disregarded “fundamental guarantees” in the First Amendment and federal civil rights law, and treated “sincere religious objections as obstacles to overcome, prosecuting peaceful prayer, trampling on parental rights and steamrolling conscience rights.”

The Interfaith Alliance, however, which states its mission is to “challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism,” responded to the DOJ report, saying their group has “consistently opposed the work of this ‘task force.’” It accused the DOJ of trying to “undermine Americans’ religious freedom and First Amendment rights.” The alliance called the task force’s report a “political stunt designed to promote the lie that American Christians are a persecuted group, while providing justification to target anyone deemed out of step with their Christian nationalist agenda.”

Previous Report
This report comes just weeks after an 800-page report from the department, detailing the “weaponization” of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which called out alleged prosecutorial problems, surveillance activities undertaken by pro-abortion groups, and failures to comply with federal law. Biden’s DOJ did not enforce the law evenly, according to the April 14 report. The task force under the Biden administration treated pro-life groups differently from pro-abortion groups, outlining disproportionate coordination with pro-abortion groups that, according to the report, indicated bias and prosecutorial overreach. In her statement, Picciotti-Bayer said, “Religious freedom isn’t a courtesy the government extends—it’s a legal check on what government can do. It’s refreshing to see that recognized today.”

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Why do you want to tell her what to do? Does it make you feel good about you?

It’s Time for Erika Kirk to Step Down as CEO of Turning Point USA (Pinsker)

It’s not about right and wrong, because if it were, Erika Kirk would continue as chairwoman and CEO of Turning Point USA for many years to come, fulfilling her dream of advancing her late husband’s legacy — and all those gruesome, ghastly parasites gorging at the trough of a widow’s grief would gag on their own obscenities. But sadly, it’s not about right and wrong. Our world runs on cause and effect. This is a vexing topic to measure on its merits because the emotions strike like a tsunami. Hey, I’m biased, too: Personally, I hope Erika Kirk takes a breather — not out of malice, but because I suspect she’s suffering more than we realize.


Not “suffered.” Not past tense: Her suffering is constant and continuous, without any end in sight. She’s paying a price that’s absurdly unfair, and now she’s being tortured for clicks, clout, and lolz. It’s a dreadful commentary on our conservative community: Charlie Kirk isn’t around to protect his wife anymore, and the silence of his “friends” is deafening. The same people who waved his bloody shirt won’t lift a finger to protect his widow. Didn’t have to be this way, of course. Charlie’s “friends” could’ve circled the wagons around her. If they had despised Erika Kirk’s exploiters, parasites, and liars as much as they despised, say, AIPAC and Israel, the entire PR trajectory would’ve been different.

But they didn’t. And those actions — or lack thereof — have consequences. One of them, unfortunately, is that Erika Kirk has become a distraction from Turning Point USA’s core mission, because the focus is going to be on her. She didn’t ask for the spotlight, but now it’s inevitable. If she’s at a TPUSA event, everything she says and does — even the way she smiles/frowns, interacts with speakers, and the clothes she wears — will be scrutinized. She’s become the lead story. And when she’s NOT at an event, the focus will be on that, too. It’s a no-win situation.

The smartest PR solution is “promotion by demotion”: Announce that Mrs. Kirk will assume the title of Chairman Emeritus (or something equivalent) and will spearhead a new passion project — something directly tied to Charlie Kirk’s legacy. At the same time, announce the appointment of a hot new CEO — someone with credibility and gravitas for TPUSA’s young-leaning audience. (Twenty-four-year-old Nick Shirley could be a very compelling candidate.) The higher the new CEO’s profile, the better. It’ll pull the media spotlight away from Mrs. Kirk: Can the new guy succeed? What will be different? Will TPUSA grow or shrink? How will his first event go? What happens next?

In the meantime, Erika Kirk can catch her breath and mend her (many) wounds. Then, in two or three years, if the new guy is knocking it out of the park — elevating TPUSA to dazzling new heights — everyone wins. Charlie’s legacy grows even larger. Plus, there’s always the option of the new guy stepping down at a pre-agreed time, and reappointing Erika Kirk to CEO. The media climate won’t be the same in another few years: Mrs. Kirk could assume the role when she’s ready — and without this carnivorous feeding frenzy.

I thinkit’s a wiser PR option than continuing with the status quo. But there’s a caveat: I’m placing pragmatism ahead of morality. And I told you so from the very beginning: In my mind, this isn’t about right and wrong; it’s about cause and effect. But what if TPUSA thinks otherwise? I don’t own TPUSA. It’s not my company. These are my values, not theirs.

If the people in charge of TPUSA — those who knew Charlie Kirk the best — decide it’s better to be moral than pragmatic, that’s absolutely their right. And if they conclude that Charlie Kirk would NEVER cave to those loathsome liars, so neither will they, then God bless and hooray for TPUSA. Perhaps stepping down as CEO would be immoral. If so, I hope and pray Erika Kirk, CEO and chairwoman, succeeds. But I also hope and pray that if her suffering is overwhelming, she’s given an offramp. Her children need her more than we do. She’s an amazingly brave woman, but like all of us, she’s flesh and blood. We’re all fragile, flawed, and breakable. Eventually, enough is enough.

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Trying to look ahead more than a few days is hard.

Where Washington and The Rest of The World Diverge (Lukyanov)

There will be much talk this May about the so-called “strategic triangle” of Russia, China and the United States. US President Donald Trump is expected in Beijing first, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Whenever the leaders of the three most influential powers meet, speculation inevitably follows. What if they strike some grand bargain? What if the world suddenly becomes more orderly? Such expectations are misplaced. The restructuring of the global system is already under way, and it isn’t a process that can be halted or reversed by summit diplomacy.


Even so, turning points in history can unfold in different ways; carefully managed, or recklessly accelerated. That’s what makes the coming meetings significant. Both Russia and the United States are now deeply involved in large-scale military confrontations. The importance of these conflicts lies not only in their scope, but in their broader consequences for the international system. China, by contrast, has historically kept its distance from such entanglements. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear in Beijing that it can’t remain insulated from their effects. Discussions at the recent Valdai Club conference in Shanghai suggested that China is reassessing its position.

At the center of this reassessment is a simple question: what, if anything, is still possible in relations with Washington? For decades, China’s rise was closely tied to its economic relationship with the United States. The arrangement sometimes described as “Chimerica,” American capital and technology combined with Chinese labor and manufacturing, formed the backbone of globalization. It wasn’t an equal partnership, but it was mutually beneficial. For a long time, it seemed that basic economic self-interest would prevent either side from undermining it.That assumption has now collapsed.

By the late 2000s, dissatisfaction in Washington was already evident. The United States increasingly viewed the arrangement not as a source of shared gains, but as a structural imbalance. Over time, the accumulation of tensions, economic and strategic, reached a point where incremental adjustments were no longer sufficient. What followed was a qualitative shift in the system itself. For several decades, the global order operated largely in the interests of the United States as the leader of the Western bloc. Its gradual erosion now threatens those advantages. Washington’s response has been to use the current period of transition to secure as much of a head start as possible for the future.

Donald Trump has become the most visible embodiment of this approach. His rhetoric, openly transactional and even boastful, may appear unconventional, but the underlying logic predates him. The objective is clear: maximize immediate gains and build up national capacity as quickly as possible. Then use that accumulated strength to dominate the next phase of global competition. This represents a sharp departure from the earlier American strategy, which prioritized long-term investments in the international system. Those investments didn’t always produce immediate returns, but they reinforced a framework that ultimately benefited the United States more than anyone else. Today, the emphasis has shifted toward short-term advantage, even at the risk of longer-term instability.

Whether this strategy will succeed remains uncertain. The initial phase has already produced setbacks. But the broader direction is unlikely to change. Future administrations may adopt a different tone, but they will operate within the same constraints. The liberal international order won’t return, not because of Trump’s personality, but because the conditions that sustained it no longer exist.

For other major powers, including China, this has profound implications. The idea of a comprehensive “big deal” with the United States, one that stabilizes the global system for years to come, has effectively become unrealistic. Trump’s frequent use of the word “deal” is revealing. In his vocabulary, it’s more than a mere strategic concept but a commercial one. A deal is “big” not because it is durable or all-encompassing, but because of the scale of immediate gain it delivers. And like any commercial transaction, it can be abandoned if a more desirable opportunity presents itself.

Under such conditions, long-term agreements on the structure of world order are impossible. Washington is unlikely to commit to any arrangement that limits its flexibility before it has secured what it considers a sufficient advantage. This is not necessarily a product of malice or arrogance. It is, in its own way, a rational response to a period of extreme uncertainty. The United States is seeking to preserve the foundations of its future dominance by acting decisively in the present. But rationality on one side forces adaptation on the other. If key players conclude that stable agreements with Washington are unattainable, their behavior changes.

Military capability becomes more important as a safeguard against pressure. At the same time, interest grows in alternative forms of cooperation. That is, frameworks that operate independently of the United States and are insulated from its influence. This logic isn’t new, but it’s gaining urgency. Russia has been advocating for such arrangements for several years. China, by contrast, has approached the idea with caution, hoping instead to preserve some form of mutually beneficial relationship with the United States. That hope now appears to be fading. The upcoming visits to Beijing will provide a useful indication of how far this shift has progressed.

The meeting between Trump and Xi will likely define the limits of a temporary accommodation between two powers that remain economically intertwined, yet increasingly distrustful of one another. The question is no longer whether a comprehensive agreement is possible, but what narrow, short-term arrangements can be reached, and how long they will last. Putin’s subsequent talks with Xi will address a different issue: the extent to which Russia and China are prepared to develop mechanisms of cooperation that bypass the United States altogether. Moscow has been moving in this direction for some time. Beijing now appears to be considering whether it must follow. May will not produce a grand bargain. But it may show, more clearly than before, how the world is adjusting to the absence of one.

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BYD has a factory the size of the city of San Francisco?

Thing is, with the Cybercabs and Cybertrucks coming, you won’t be allowed to drive Chinese cars on American roads.

Or any other cars.

The US Wants To Ban Chinese Cars, But They’re Already At The Gate (ZH)

Efforts in Washington to block Chinese-made cars often sound like a future problem – but in practice, those vehicles are already within reach of American consumers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Just south of the U.S. border, Chinese automakers have been rapidly expanding in Mexico, setting up dealerships and offering vehicles at prices far below what most new cars cost in the U.S. Brands like BYD, Geely, and Great Wall Motor are selling electric and gas-powered models packed with features – often for the price of a used car in the U.S. That proximity matters: American consumers living near the border can easily see, test, and in some cases drive these vehicles, even if large-scale imports remain restricted.


Meanwhile, U.S. policymakers are moving in the opposite direction. Proposed tariffs, import restrictions, and national security reviews are all aimed at limiting Chinese auto penetration, especially in the electric vehicle market. The concerns go beyond economics—lawmakers have raised questions about data security, supply chains, and the long-term competitiveness of domestic automakers. The Journal writes that the situation is more complicated than a simple “ban.” Chinese-built vehicles are already entering the U.S. market indirectly. Some come through global partnerships, shared manufacturing platforms, or brands that don’t obviously appear Chinese to consumers.

Others arrive in small numbers through personal imports or cross-border use. In other words, the presence is already here—it’s just not always visible at scale. At the same time, Chinese automakers are becoming major global players. Companies like BYD, for example, have surged in electric vehicle production and are expanding across Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Their strategy often focuses on affordability and speed to market—areas where traditional U.S. automakers have struggled, especially as new car prices continue to climb.

That pricing gap is a key pressure point. Many American buyers are increasingly priced out of new vehicles, creating demand for cheaper alternatives. If Chinese automakers were allowed to compete freely in the U.S., they could significantly undercut domestic offerings—something that worries both policymakers and legacy car companies. So while the political conversation centers on keeping Chinese cars out, the reality is that the market is already shifting around that goal. The vehicles are being sold nearby, seen by U.S. consumers, and in some cases already used on American roads.

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Using Seinfeld to brag about having an EV. Well, at least it’s not someone relevant today.

Jerry Seinfeld Drops a Truth Bomb About Electric Cars (Matt Margolis)

What’s the deal with electric cars? Am I right? Jerry Seinfeld has a lot of opinions about cars. If you know much about him, you know he loves classic cars, particularly Porsches. So, it’s hardly surprising that when it comes to electric cars, he’s not so enthusiastic.”I’m not interested in electric cars at all,” Seinfeld said in a recent interview with AirMail. “Anybody else wants to do it, that’s fine. I think it’s a big, stupid virtue signal. ‘Look at me. I’m saving the planet, yeah.’ What about the lithium? It’s all BS.”Here’s the thing: on the environmental question, he’s not wrong to be skeptical.


The lithium argument isn’t just a talking point. Mining one ton of lithium emits roughly 15 tons of CO2, and producing a large EV battery can generate over 70% more carbon dioxide than manufacturing a conventional car. Of course, EV advocates are quick to note that those upfront emissions are offset over time and that, over the life of the car, EVs might be better, but I’m not convinced the difference is significant. Maybe it is. But, as an EV owner myself, that wasn’t even a factor in my decision to get one.

I bought my 2026 Model Y (Juniper) a year ago, Saturday. And saving the planet was not on my list of reasons to do it. I’ve never bought the idea that EVs represent a clear-cut environmental win. They trade one set of problems for another. It’s a different impact, not no impact. If anything, the last thing I wanted people to think when I bought the Tesla was that I was some hippie environmentalist. It probably helped that the left started despising Elon Musk. So, my Model Y was, if anything, a minor act of defiance. Works for me.Still, what kept me sold wasn’t ideology — it was the car itself. The minimalist interior is genuinely elegant in a way that most modern vehicles are not.

The technology is impressive, and charging at home has eliminated something I never realized I quietly resented: the gas station. I don’t miss it.The savings are quite real, too. Yes, I’ve paid a lot of money to get a home charger and have it installed. But during the six-month period from October through March, my home EV charging costs totaled $330.77. Think that’s good? Well, off-peak charging discounts reduced the cost to $186.17—about $31 per month.But the feature that has genuinely changed how I drive is Full Self-Driving. I pay extra for it, and it’s worth every penny. Right now, roughly 95% of my miles are driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged — grocery runs, highway cruising, a road trip to Boston. I hand the car the wheel and let it work.

Seinfeld, for his part, had a joke ready about self-driving technology, too. He predicted future generations will be stunned that people once steered themselves around at any speed and “just crash and kill themselves constantly.” He’s not wrong about that either. For someone who claims not to care about the technology, he nailed the pitch. And yes, I do feel safer with FSD activated. So here’s where we land: Seinfeld is right that the green halo around EVs is overblown and that lithium mining is an inconvenient truth. He’s right that a lot of EV buyers are performing environmentalism rather than practicing it. But the car itself — stripped of the politics and the posturing — is genuinely good. Mine has been. Buy it or don’t. Just don’t buy it because you think you’re saving the planet.

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Who else are they going to buy a battery pack from, or vahicles?

Tesla Made $573 Million Selling To Musk’s Other Companies Last Year (ZH)

Elon Musk’s business empire is becoming increasingly intertwined — and if SpaceX eventually goes public, Wall Street will likely take a much harder look at how money moves across his companies. A newly disclosed filing shows Tesla booked more than $570 million last year from transactions with Musk-controlled companies, according to Insider. That included roughly $430 million from selling Megapack battery systems to xAI and another $143 million — primarily vehicle sales — to SpaceX. Some of those purchases included Cybertrucks, which have reportedly become a significant part of SpaceX’s vehicle fleet.


The relationship goes both ways. Insider writes that Tesla also disclosed that it put $2 billion into SpaceX and xAI last year and paid the companies a combined $15 million+ for various commercial and consulting services. Taken together, the filings offer a clearer picture of how frequently Musk’s companies now rely on one another. xAI has been absorbed into SpaceX, engineers from Tesla have previously worked on projects at X, Grok is being built into Tesla products, and Musk has publicly discussed future collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX on the Roadster.

Tesla also disclosed last week that Elon Musk’s total 2025 compensation was valued at roughly $158 billion, based on the maximum fair value of stock options tied to his newly approved pay package. The figure immediately caught Wall Street’s attention because of its sheer scale…it’s nearly 40 times Tesla’s annual net income and roughly 1.5 times the company’s total revenue for the year.

For investors already uneasy about the growing overlap between Musk’s companies, the compensation number adds another layer of concern around governance and capital allocation. Between massive cross-company transactions, shared talent across SpaceX, xAI, and X, and now an unprecedented pay package, analysts are likely to keep a much closer watch on how Musk’s empire operates — especially if SpaceX eventually becomes a public company too.

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“Some critics have argued that the character looks strikingly similar to Elon Musk’s mother, May Musk, and she even drives a vehicle that looks like a pink Cybertruck. “

Animal Farm Film A Hollywood Perversion Of Orwell’s Anti-Communist Classic (ZH)

George Orwell’s prognostications about the future of authoritarianism have proven consistently accurate. They have only been limited by his inability to foresee the creation of certain technologies which make the future look even more bleak. The reason his books, like 1984 and Animal Farm, are considered classics of literature is because they are timeless. Their warnings and messages still apply today and will probably apply centuries from now.


Animal Farm, first published in 1945, is a tale specifically written as an allegory for the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of Soviet Communism. Despite the characters being talking animals, the themes are dark and disturbing. It is a story about the naivety of the “underclass”, the exploitation of the “have-nots” by communists seeking to use gullible people as weapons against their “imperialist” and capitalist enemies. It is a grotesque tragedy composed like a children’s novel, which makes it all the more effective. It destroys the notion of “equity” and exposes the truth: There is no such thing as a socialist Utopia, there can only ever be socialist dystopia. And to get it, leftists are happy to sacrifice you and everything you love. Not only that, but they expect you to applaud them for it.

The message is made iconic in the book’s famous phrase: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others…” This is the epitome of woke ideology and how progressives behave today. It’s no surprise that Hollywood is incapable of telling this story properly. In order to do that, they would have to put their own warped beliefs under a microscope, and that’s simply not going to happen. The new animated adaptation of Animal Farm is being billed as a kid-friendly foray into concepts of “authoritarianism”; but it perverts Orwell’s message about communism and demonizes capitalism instead.

Audiences across the board are not happy. The movie is distributed by Angel Studios, which bills itself as a Christian and conservative leaning company. However, the makers of the film (director Andy Serkis and The Imaginarium Studios) are entirely left wing. Given the people involved, Angel Studios should have know what kind of disaster they would have on their hands.Andy Serkis is a former member of the Socialist Workers Party, a Troskyist Group in England in the 1990s. Though he is no longer involved, he still considers himself left wing, and his exit from political provocation was largely because of conflicts with his acting career. Enlisting a hardcore socialist to direct Animal Farm feels like a deliberate middle finger to conservatives who see the story as a cautionary battle cry against leftist movements.

The film was even released on May Day (International Workers Day), which is a communist holiday. In developing the film as far back as 2013, Serkis (still riding the high of his successful role as “Gollum” in the Lord Of The Rings movies) admitted that he had no intention of sticking to the critique of communism. Rather, he believed that if Orwell wrote Animal Farm today, he would obviously compose a takedown of capitalism. “First and foremost, we are not making a film about Communism and Stalinism because if Orwell was writing the story today, he would be talking about other relevant topics like globalisation and corporate greed…” In other words, Andy Serkis, like most communists, wants to rewrite history in favor of his ideology.

This is exactly what he did in the new Angel Studios film. Many of the characters from the book are the same, and some of the plot points remain. The animals revolt against the farmers and seek to build their Utopia of fairness. But, the pigs (who represent the communist manipulators in the book) are not evil in the film. Rather, they are corrupted into doing bad things by a new character – Ruthless billionaire Frieda Pilkington and her corporation. Frieda is the typical evil rich white person common in leftist mythology. Some critics have argued that the character looks strikingly similar to Elon Musk’s mother, May Musk, and she even drives a vehicle that looks like a pink Cybertruck.

Rather than the pigs being conniving and malicious from the beginning, Frieda corrupts them into evil with the promise of riches. Her plan is to use the pigs as a means to get control of the farm. In the end, the animals realize their mistake and their solution is yet another communist revolution. The message being, communism only goes wrong when evil capitalists influence the outcome. Collectivist ideology is inherently good. Leftists are not psychotic ideologues thirsting for power and control. They are just led astray sometimes.

There are numerous hatchet job films denigrating capitalism out of Hollywood. There are few if any that explore the nightmares of communism and left-wing collectivism. Orwell’s Animal Farm is one of the few stories that captures the insidious nature of “equity” and suicidal empathy that permeate communist societies. It is about the tools that communists use to lead the population astray, not about capitalism leading communists astray. Even worse is the marketing strategy of Angel Studios, which has tapped into the pockets of conservative and libertarian influencers (including Tucker Carlson) to sell the movie.

It is likely that most of these influencers never watched the film before they promoted it, and if they did, it might be time to question their motives. Critics and audiences alike have given Animal Farm a thunderous thumbs down. Angel Studios is the same company that put Sound Of Freedom in theaters; a movie which was relentlessly (and suspiciously) attacked by the political left for putting a spotlight on child trafficking and pedophile rings. It is unfortunate that they made placed this project in the hands of the same left wing community that tried to tear them down only a couple years ago.

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Not everyone can say that they saved a city of 8 million people. Godspeed.

Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized In Critical Condition (ZH)

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalized and is in critical condition, according to The New York Times, citing his spokesman, Ted Goodman. “Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Goodman said, before asking “that you join us in prayer” for the former NYC mayor.


Goodman did not disclose what medical emergency sent Giuliani to a Florida hospital Sunday afternoon. President Trump also released a statement on Giuliani’s medical emergency, telling those on Truth Social, “Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition.” “What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! They cheated in the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did everything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!” the president said.

Giuliani is a former federal prosecutor, NYC mayor, and longtime Trump supporter. He first rose to national prominence as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in the 1980s, where he prosecuted organized crime, Wall Street corruption, drug trafficking, and public corruption. One of his most defining legal wins was helping break the power grip of NY’s Mafia families through RICO prosecutions. From the mid-1990s through 2001, Giuliani served as mayor of NYC, where his administration became known for its tough-on-crime posture. He later ran unsuccessfully for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination before re-emerging as a major political figure and Donald Trump’s personal attorney, particularly during the Russia hoax investigation and the post-2020 election fight. *This is a developing story.

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https://twitter.com/MinusWells/status/2050716693656489993?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 032026
 


Rembrandt van Rijn The standard bearer 1636


Trump: ‘We Cannot Let Lunatics Have a Nuclear Weapon’ (Robert Spencer)
Sen. John Kennedy Sums Up the Iranian Regime’s Current Predicament (Lower)
Hope for America (Ron Paul)
Trump Jokes US Will Be ‘Taking Over’ Cuba After Iran Conflict (JTN)
The Greatest Salesman: Zelensky Promotes His Favorite Weapons Company (RT)
Georgia, South Carolina Won’t Postpone Voting to Review Redistricting (CTH)
Republicans to Best Democrats in Mid-Decade Redistricting War (Josh Hammer)
Pressure Campaign to Get Scott Jennings Booted From CNN (Matt Margolis)
Watch the Look on Gavin Newsom’s Face As Bill Maher Torches His Insanity (Doug P.)
Trump Says Medicare Will Soon Cover Weight-Loss Drugs (ET)
Trump Targets Merz in Geopolitical Maneuver (CTH)
Pope Leo XIV Names Former Illegal Immigrant As New Bishop (JTN)

 


 

https://twitter.com/triffic_stuff_/status/2050239340664512879?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2050161519254548669?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2050265533988360556?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2050268785089871912?s=20

 


 


Easy enough. You may not agree, but that’s not the same thing.

Trump: ‘We Cannot Let Lunatics Have a Nuclear Weapon’ (Robert Spencer)

On Saturday, President Donald Trump revealed the startling news that he is awaiting the precise details of a peace proposal from the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whoever exactly they may be. “They told me,” Trump said, “about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.” This is odd on its face, as it is ordinarily the winning side that dictates the terms of the peace, but of course the people who are reaching out to Trump aren’t dictating anything; they’re just hoping to survive the present conflict with the Islamic Republic still in power.


That would be a victory in itself, for the fanatical ideologues in Tehran only need time to regroup and resume their jihad. They also need to settle the question of who exactly is in charge, for, as Trump noted, they are currently “having a hard time figuring out who their leader is.” However, the Islamic Republic will remain the Islamic Republic until it is overthrown, however and whenever that might happen. The idea that the mullahs will abandon their jihad once and for all as a result of the reversals they have suffered in this conflict is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of their beliefs, and of what the Islamic Republic is all about.

Trump, however, made it clear that it would take the Islamic Republic a great deal of time to rebuild. “We’re doing very well with regard to Iran,” he said. “Again, they want to make a deal. They are decimated.” He explained that “if we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild. But we’re not leaving right now. We’re going to do it so nobody has to go back in two years or five years.”

All this followed his remarks on Friday, in which he made it clear that he was not intending to give an inch: “We cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. He explained that the war was necessary to achieve this objective, and that the economic downside hadn’t been as bad as he had expected it would be: “I thought the numbers would be much worse. I thought the stock market would go down much more. I thought the oil prices would go up much more. I said, ‘But we have no choice. Whether it does or doesn’t, I have to do what’s right.’ We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

In his Friday remarks, Trump also painted a picture of the Iranian regime in dire straits: “They’re getting decimated. They have no Navy. They have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment. They have no radar. They have no leaders. Their leaders are all gone.”

Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic still remains in power, and as long as that remains true, no terms they send to the president for a peace settlement will be worth the paper they’re printed on. When a regime is made up of true believers and based on a fanatically held ideology, it is not going to compromise, no matter how difficult its circumstances become. There was no chance during World War II, even when it became abundantly clear that National Socialist Germany was certain to lose the war, that moderate National Socialists would supplant Hitler and negotiate a peace agreement. For the National Socialists, it was always a fight to the death.

And so it is today for the mullahs. Mojtaba Khamenei, the alleged supreme leader who still has not been seen since he became the Islamic Republic’s top dog, may or may not even be alive, and may or may not be in charge of the government. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its hands red with the blood of tens of thousands of Iranians who dared to protest against the regime, may indeed be the functional new government, determined to rule through terror inside the country and to spread it internationally as much as they possibly can. Or there could be, or could emerge, some other leader altogether.

Whatever the case may be, until the leader of Iran announces that the Islamic Republic is no more, any American president would be foolish to accept, or to trust, and peace offer from Tehran. Deception is at the heart of this regime’s philosophy, as is the divine mission, as the Iranian leadership sees it, to destroy Israel and America. Trump is right to be determined to deny the “lunatics” a nuclear weapon. If he follows through on that determination, the conflict will continue.

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“We “have Iran by the ying-yang,”

“.. if they shut down their wells – as they may have to – because of the low pressure, they’ll never get them started again.”

Sen. John Kennedy Sums Up the Iranian Regime’s Current Predicament (Lower)

Never fail, when you are craving some funny video to lighten the national mood – especially during a weekend break, and in the middle of so much uncertainty- you can look to Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (R), who is awesome at finding the perfect phrase to tickle everyone that is unique – just like him. That was certainly the case this week, when he was asked about where he thinks the current situation stands with ending the conflict with Iran. I’ll swing back to that shortly. As RedState previously wrote, the U.S, has put quite a squeeze on Iran over the past two or three weeks, with the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz slowing the Iranian government’s ability to sell its lifesblood – oil – to a standstill.


We have also managed to stymie them financially, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his department putting the Iran regime in a vise grip, as my colleague Nick Arama wrote. And as we wrote late last week, Bessent laid out the facts on the banking front, in answer to the despairing propaganda of Iranian Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, while USCENTCOM estimated the blockage effort had drained a jaw-dropping “$6 billion-plus” from Iran’s coffers. Now, we are hearing the most current estimate, with the Pentagon telling Axios Friday that since the U.S. blockade began, that staggering amount of wealth the regime has lost stands at just about $5 billion (again, that’s with a “B”).

“The Defense Department estimates Iran has been denied nearly $5 billion in oil revenue because of the U.S. blockade in the Gulf of Oman, causing unprecedented pressure on Tehran’s government [….]

Zoom in: Since the blockade began April 13, the U.S. military has redirected more than 40 vessels that have tried to pass through the blockade by carrying oil and other contraband, Pentagon officials say.
• In total, 31 tankers laden with 53 million barrels of Iranian oil are “stuck in the Gulf” and have a value of at least $4.8 billion. Two ships have been seized by the U.S.
• Unable to fill oil in new tankers as on-land storage facilities reach capacity, Iran has begun to use older tankers as floating storage.
• Some tankers are taking “a costlier and longer route to deliver oil to China for fear of U.S. maritime interdiction,” officials said.

Back to that fun clip of the sage, John Kennedy. In a recent appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” program, he talked about the success President Trump and the U.S. military have had to this point, saying in his unique way that the Iranian regime has run out of moves on the metaphorical chessboard. We “have Iran by the ying-yang,” Sen. Kennedy said. But he didn’t stop there. He then brought the receipts: “There’s nothing going in, and there’s nothing coming out. The only source of revenue that Iran has is the sale of oil, and they can’t sell a drop.

“They have to continue producing because if they shut down their wells – as they may have to – because of the low pressure, they’ll never get them started again.” The senator said “another two to three weeks” of the blockade will force the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard “to have an epiphany, and be born again “. He also dismissed naysayers in the media who claim that the U.S. getting a hold of Iran’s fissile [nuke-building] materials needs to happen before claiming victory; Sen. Kennedy said he disagreed with anyone who said a regime change needs to take place first. And he said those yard sticks aren’t accurate—all indications, he said, prove that the United States “has [already] won.”

Trump said late on Friday we got a new offer from Iran, so we will see where things go next.

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And then Trump says: ‘We Cannot Let Lunatics Have a Nuclear Weapon’

Hope for America (Ron Paul)

Last weekend my Institute for Peace and Prosperity hosted another conference here on the Texas Gulf Coast. Not only did we have a full house attending the conference – which is in a way the most important thing – but in this era of profound disappointment and disillusionment, we struck a note of optimism thankfully due to our wonderful line-up of speakers. The main topic of the conference, titled “War is Back on the Menu,” was of course the disastrous decision by the Trump Administration to launch an unprovoked war against Iran – both last June and again on February 28th.


Professor Robert Pape from the University of Chicago offered a compelling blueprint to break free of some of the neocon chains that bind us to the Middle East to our own detriment. Let the states in the region manage their own security, he argued. It is not our job to be their policemen. Very importantly, we were fortunate to have had as speakers two individuals who stood up for their principles when putting them aside for expediency – and personal gain – would have been so much easier.

Former US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was, in her own words, “a General in the MAGA Army.” She dedicated her life and plenty of her own money to the cause of electing Donald Trump because she believed he would put America first, as he had promised. She watched that cause betrayed, first with the President’s support for tyrannical central bank digital currency and then with his refusal to release the Epstein files. Finally, she explained, after he had dubbed her a “traitor” for disagreeing with him on these issues, constant death threats forced her to resign her seat in the House.

She could have gone along to get along – as most do in Congress. Instead, she stood up for what was right. Likewise Joe Kent, who was serving as director of Counterterrorism at the Office of National Intelligence, could have kept quiet as he watched another war being launched on a mountain of lies pushed by special interests. He was a highly decorated US combat veteran who held a Senate-confirmed position in the Administration.That would have been a golden ticket to any number of future profitable opportunities if he “played his cards right.” Instead, he did what was right. He resigned, writing in a statement that the war was not justified and that it was being fought for Israeli rather than American interests.

As could be predicted, Joe suffered the same demonization that Marjorie suffered for standing up for his values and principles. Their courage in making this sacrifice for truth should inspire all of us. It should give us hope. My words of encouragement were simple: we don’t need a majority to change things. A purposeful minority dedicated to the principles of peace and liberty can move mountains. We must stay strong and, importantly, stick together and work together across all party and ideological lines. We must be the big coalition that refuses to sacrifice our principles just as Joe and Marjorie refused to sacrifice theirs.

We will be in Dulles, VA, on Labor Day weekend for our tenth annual DC conference. Mark your calendars and be a part of our movement!
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Little Marco.

Trump Jokes US Will Be ‘Taking Over’ Cuba After Iran Conflict (JTN)

President Donald Trump jokingly claimed Friday night that the United States will be “taking over” Cuba in the near future and hinted that it could be after the conflict with Iran is resolved. The president made the comment when recognizing attendees at a Florida event in West Palm Beach. The guests included former Rep. Dan Mica.”He comes from, originally, a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately,” Trump said of Mica. “Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job.”The president then jokingly suggested that the takeover could happen as some U.S. warships return from the Middle East.


“On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world,” he said. “We’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’” The comments come after Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Cuba, citing concerns regarding threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The president has also teased in the past that Cuba could be “next,” after the U.S. successfully carried out a military operation to retrieve former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his country to stand trial in the United States.

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“Sitting on top of the rubble will be Zelensky, his cabal, with begging bowls in one hand, a movie script and a sales pitch in the other.”

The Greatest Salesman: Zelensky Promotes His Favorite Weapons Company (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whom US President Donald Trump once heralded as ”the greatest salesman on Earth,” promoted his bag-man’s weapons company at the centre of new revelations of corruption, on multiple trips abroad, signing deals that have enriched his close associates even as they attempted to hide their de facto ownership of the company. Reported transcripts of surveillance recordings of Zelensky’s longtime former business partner Timur Mindich – known as “Zelensky’s wallet” in Kiev – reveal him to be the de facto owner of the Fire Point weapons company and in constant conversation with former defense minister and Zelensky insider Rustem Umerov to secure contracts with Kiev’s backers and inflate its value.


Fire Point co-owner Denis Shtilerman has consistently denied the company’s ties to Mindich and dismissed the recordings as a slander campaign aimed at “damaging the reputation of one of Ukraine’s most effective weapons producers.” Zelensky, though, with his ability to secure billions from foreign governments – the EU has just backed a €90 billion package for Kiev dressed as a “loan” – has promoted the company at home and abroad as a cutting-edge technology player central to the conflict with Russia, likely in full knowledge that he would eventually be lining his own pockets.

How often has Zelensky promoted Fire Point
Zelensky lauded Fire Point on most of his 130-plus trips since 2022, first as an opportunity for partnerships with European firms and later as a cost-effective solution against Iranian drones in the Middle East. In recent weeks Zelensky has touted what he grandly announced as a “European joint security system” to smiles and applause at meetings across Germany, France and Norway, promoting Fire Point’s largely untested missiles as a “new patriot” – a reference to the in-demand and highly expensive US batteries. But his weapons grade con-trick goes back further and deeper than that.

The ‘most successful weapon’
Just days after the Associated Press published the first photo of the Flamingo in August 2025, Zelensky described it as “by far the most successful missile in Ukraine’s arsenal.” There are no recorded cases of the weapon having been used in combat by then. He added that it would be mass-produced by February. Then-Defense Minister Denis Shmygal hailed the Flamingo as “a very powerful” weapon capable of striking deep inside Russia.

Crowdfunded in EU, cashed in Ukraine
In October 2025, Zelensky presented Fire Point as one of Ukraine’s top drone makers at the International Defense Industries Forum in Kiev, which was attended by Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. “By the end of the year, no less than 50% of the weapons at the front must be Ukrainian-made, and this task must be accomplished,” Zelensky said. A month later a Czech crowdfunding campaign donated approximately $760,000 to the company, which was by then courting hundreds of millions in investment from the UAE-based weapons group EDGE. In April the Ukrainian anti-monopoly Committee blocked the deal.

Transcripts suggest Umerov and Mindich believed that each Fire Point shareholder would cash out some $300 million on the back of the EDGE deal and other European contracts, which would value the company at some $2.7 billion. The crowdfunded cash is not mentioned but the transcript lists Mindich saying 50% of the money received from public defense contracts should be taken as cash out.

Rocket fuel and special terms in Denmark
In 2025, Denmark announced plans to host a Fire Point rocket fuel production plant in Vojens, southern Jutland, near the Skrydstrup Air Base. Copenhagen rushed through special legislation forbidding any local, social or environmental opposition to the proposed plant, judging it to be in the national interest. In September 2024 and June 2025, Umerov as Ukrainian Minister of Defense, met with his Danish counterpart to finalise protocols, knowing Fire Point was beneficially owned by Zelensky’s close confidant Mindich and not by the former movie location scout Egor Skalyga, listed as Fire Point’s CEO and minority shareholder. Zelensky personally met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen multiple times in early 2025 to finalize the “co-production” strategy and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was brought onto the board of the Danish company.

Zelensky closes deals for his “wallet”
During Zelensky’s visit to Madrid in March 2026, Fire Point signed a cooperation agreement with Spanish defense giant Sener, which produces components for the IRIS-T missile used by Ukraine. “We are deeply grateful to President Zelensky for showing interest in our capabilities and for recognizing the value of Sener’s contribution to Ukraine’s air defense,” Sener President Andres Sendagorta said at the time. Fire Point signed a similar deal with German defense company Diehl during Zelensky’s trip to Berlin in March. Diehl manufactures several anti-air missile systems, including IRIS-T.The transcripts reveal that Umerov told Mindich of incoming contracts worth several billion dollars.

Shtilerman, the company face that has denied the businessman known as “Zelensky’s wallet” owned Fire Point, suggested that Ukraine could serve as a testing ground for European missile defense systems and proposed a project called Freya, which would integrate Fire Point’s technology into a joint European ballistic missile defense framework.

Oil money from the Gulf
The US-Israeli war with Iran provided Ukraine with an opportunity to market interceptor drones to Gulf states hosting American bases as a cheaper alternative to air defense systems such as the US-made Patriot. In March Zelensky proposed using Ukraine’s “fire points” to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. On April 23, Zelensky announced that Ukraine had signed a drone deal with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. “We want to help them defend themselves and will continue to foster partnerships with other countries,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine could share its defense technology with the US.

When did Zelensky welcome the first use of Fire Point?
In February, the Ukrainian military began reporting the use of the Flamingo in combat, which Zelensky later highlighted at international events. Speaking at a press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Kiev, he claimed the missile had struck a weapons factory in Russia’s Udmurtia region. “I believe this is a real achievement for your industry,” Zelensky said, adding that the strike demonstrated “the high quality and accuracy” of the weapon. Zelensky also discussed the missile at the Munich Security Conference the same month, where he met with European officials, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, he acknowledged that Russia had destroyed “a large production line” but said Flamingo production would continue.

What is the bottom line?
Zelensky and his backers have played a convenient role for Western war hawks and hoodwinked them at the same time. The West’s pro-war cabal have been willing to accept massive graft as an inevitable consequence of pouring billions into the most corrupt country in Europe to fuel a proxy war that will cost Ukraine lost generations.

Sitting on top of the rubble, will be Zelensky, his cabal, with begging bowls in one hand, a movie script and a sales pitch in the other.

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Now it’s about time.

Georgia, South Carolina Won’t Postpone Voting to Review Redistricting (CTH)

It has been said by many the reason the leftists on the Supreme Court delayed their minority dissent was in order to stall the high court ruling that would have given states an opportunity to redistrict prior to the 2026 primary voting. There is no data that disputes this assertion.Today Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced he is calling the state legislature into special session to review the congressional districts in light of the Supreme Court ruling that dispatched ‘racially motivated’ district boundaries. However, Georgia and South Carolina will not review districts. Georgia has already begun early voting, which gives Governor Brian Kemp justification to avoid redistricting for an election scheduled for May 19th.


GEORGIA – […] Kemp made it clear that he will not be a part of that push this cycle but praised the court’s ruling. “The Supreme Court’s decision Louisiana v. Callais restores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges,” Kemp said Friday. “Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections,” he added, meaning changes to the maps would not be possible this year. (read more)

SOUTH CAROLINA – […] Republican leaders in the South Carolina General Assembly say redistricting isn’t going to happen this year. House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, told reporters the lower chamber wouldn’t redraw South Carolina’s congressional map this year. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, also said redistricting this year would be “unlikely.” Georgia has been a target for the Democrats for several election cycles. The Chicago machine targeted Georgia some time ago, with Fulton County representing the epicenter of the effort. Meanwhile, South Carolina is DeceptiCon central. The network that binds both states together is the AME Church.

Those who follow elections closely understand the compact between Chicago (Obama Inc.) and South Carolina Congressman, James Clyburn. This partnership was responsible for using Joe Biden as the 2020 vehicle, and this partnered alliance subsequently was responsible for the plan to elevate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Clyburn’s electoral control, which extends directly into Georgia comes from the Emanuel AME Church network, that provides the poll workers who count the physical votes. In all of the precincts that matter, AME generates the poll workers. The poll workers control the vote outcomes.

Drawing districts that no longer take race into the equation is against the interests of Democrats, the AME network, James Clyburn and Barack Obama. Thus, it will be very challenging for those two states specifically to redistrict while the non-black state representatives and governors are worried about being called racist. While it may not be politically comfortable to stop pretending around the issue, the fact remains that racially ideological poll workers essentially have the majority of control over the key precinct voting systems. The AME Church is well represented, and almost all of the poll workers are black; this is not coincidental.

[GEORGIA] When Fulton County Fanni Willis wanted to defend herself publicly, she used the pulpits at AME Church’s. [South Carolina] When Democrats wanted to change their presidential primary contests, they wanted South Carolina to be the first state that votes, again using the AME poll workers. In 2020 President Obama brought the Black Lives Matter movement and James Clyburn brought the AME Church network. This partnership resulted in Joe Biden selected as their choice for the Democrat nominee, and together Obama and Clyburn chose Kamala Harris as the VP nominee; Biden had no say in the matter.

The collaboration resulted in an effective system of Democrat control. Donor funding like Mark Zuckerberg provided the revenue stream to indulge and reward the poll workers. ActBlue is part of this system. The money is laundered through various activist groups until it ends up in the hands of the poll workers.The AME Church network operates vote control operations through their poll workers in several states and key regions within them. Ballot harvesting, mail in voting and direct election vote counting is controlled through the operation.

There are a lot of states involved, however, elections in South Carolina and Georgia are specifically controlled within this operation due to their proximity to the AME command HQ.Lastly, political leaders in both states are well aware of this issue and the fear of racism keeps them from doing anything about it.

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“The “gerry” in “gerrymandering” refers to Elbridge Gerry, who served in the First Congress and eventually as James Madison’s vice president..”

Republicans to Best Democrats in Mid-Decade Redistricting War (Josh Hammer)

For almost a year now, America’s two parties have been engaged in a mass congressional redistricting battle royale.


The fun kicked off in Texas last July, when Gov. Greg Abbott, following President Donald Trump’s urging, first pushed the Texas Legislature to redistrict the Lone Star State’s congressional maps in a pro-Republican direction. Missouri and North Carolina soon followed, prompting California Gov. Gavin Newsom to get in on the action: Golden State voters approved the use of a new map at the ballot box last November. On April 21, Virginia voters narrowly approved a new congressional map that heavily favors Democrats. This week, Florida responded with a Gov. Ron DeSantis-led redistricting that heavily favors Republicans. In the interim, some other states, such as Ohio and Utah, redistricted for nonvoluntary reasons such as litigation or statutory requirement.

And other states, such as Indiana, famously defied Trump and refused to voluntarily redraw their maps. One might be inclined to ask who started this latest bout of mass, iterative gerrymandering. It’s true that Texas, an iconic red state, drew first blood last July — although the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t finally permit Texas’s new maps to go into effect until a summary order earlier this week. What’s more, Texas’s new GOP-heavy map will likely provide Republicans less of a lopsided partisan advantage in its congressional delegation than will California’s own new map for the Golden State’s regnant Democratic Party. Republicans also claim Democrats have been the more blatant systemic gerrymanderers for decades — an assertion buttressed by even a cursory glance at bright-blue Illinois’ hilariously delineated congressional map.

The reality is that both parties have gerrymandered their respective controlled states for a very long time. That is a tedious and uninteresting observation. The more interesting and pressing question, as this rare mid-decade redistricting war nears its end, is this: Looking at the aggregate nationwide redistricting efforts, which party will come out on top in advance of the midterm elections this November? Democrats had a projected one-seat partisan advantage according to the website Ballotpedia, as of Thursday. But there are multiple reasons why this is likely to change. It appears the big victor will be the GOP.

First, this tally does not account for Florida’s redistricted map, which just passed through a special session of the Florida Legislature on Wednesday and has not yet (as of this writing) been signed into law by DeSantis. That alone will likely net the GOP four additional seats. Second, Virginia’s controversial ballot referendum redistricting measure, which was just approved by Old Dominion voters by a much narrower margin than that by which Virginians swept Democrats back into power last November, is facing serious legal challenges. Most recently, on Wednesday, the Virginia Supreme Court left in place a lower-court order blocking the commonwealth’s certification of the referendum results. If Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s new map is tossed out, Democrats will likely be out an additional four seats.

Finally, there is the landmark redistricting case that the U.S. Supreme Court just decided this week. In Louisiana v. Callais, the court held that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits states and localities from imposing any voting “qualification or prerequisite” that “results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen … to vote on account of race or color,” cannot be invoked to create race-conscious congressional maps — a dubious practice lawmakers had been blithely engaging in for decades. The court correctly held that such race-conscious mapmaking, including the devising of so-called majority-minority districts across many Southern states, runs afoul of the 14th Amendment’s sweeping equal protection guarantee.

Bright-red Louisiana, which was party to the Callais case, already suspended its upcoming primaries to give its legislature enough time to draw new congressional maps. In addition, many other safe Democratic “majority-minority” seats across the broader South are now extremely vulnerable. These Southern states can either redistrict of their own accord to comply with the Supreme Court’s new ruling, or they will be forced to do so through offensive litigation. Either way, the era of race-conscious mapmaking is now over. This is first and foremost a victory for the colorblind U.S. Constitution. But it will also benefit the GOP before November’s midterms — in Louisiana and likely beyond.

Our redistricting battles tend to rile up passions on all sides. But it’s a practice as old as the republic: The “gerry” in “gerrymandering” refers to Elbridge Gerry, who served in the First Congress and eventually as James Madison’s vice president. If one disapproves of how his state draws its maps, there is always the political check of the ballot box. And if that fails, he can always vote with his feet and leave. In fact, that’s already happening en masse: from blue states to red states. And for Democrats, that’s a trend not even the most aggressive gerrymandering can possibly alleviate.

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Larry Ellison will own CNN soon. Who will stay?

Pressure Campaign to Get Scott Jennings Booted From CNN (Matt Margolis)

Scott Jennings might be the best thing to ever happen to CNN. That’s not hyperbole. Without him, most of us would have stopped clicking on clips from the network a long time ago. He’s one of the rare voices on that channel who actually makes it worth watching — which is exactly why the left wants him gone. The calls to fire him have been building for a while. Back in 2025, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell singled Jennings out in a monologue, accusing CNN of paying “a Trump supporter to lie on CNN every day and night for Donald Trump.” So the groundwork was already laid. Now they have what they think is their opening.


On Thursday, Jennings got into a heated on-air exchange with Adam Mockler, a 23-year-old reporter and YouTuber with the leftist MeidasTouch network. The two were debating the unpopularity of the Iraq war when Mockler brought up Jennings’ service in the George W. Bush administration during the Iraq war, accusing him of supporting an “endless war.” Things got tense fast — both men talked over each other, hands were gesturing near faces — and Jennings told Mockler, “Get your f***ing hand out of my face, first of all.”

I seem to recall the left fawning over Joe Biden whenever he cursed… But, Scott Jennings? They want blood. Jim Acosta climbed out of the hole he currently occupies to demand that CNN fire Jennings. “At any other network, in any other era of television news, uttering an impromptu F-bomb would be a fireable offense,” Acosta claimed. He also claimed that Jennings was a “hothead” during their days working together, and made sure to note that Mockler is “almost a kid” and “a nice one,” concluding that “Jennings should be fired.”

Political commentator Keith Boykin piled on, too. “I’ve been on the air with Scott many times over the years,” Boykin wrote, reminding everyone that when he was under contract with CNN, contributors were called “brand ambassadors,” before asking pointedly, “Is this the brand?” The implication being, of course, that dropping an f-bomb is worse than anything CNN’s liberal voices have ever done on air. Sure.

Meanwhile, Mockler, after a fresh diaper change, posted a YouTube video following the segment in which he accused Jennings of deliberately provoking conflict and routinely picking on guests, while apparently lacking the toughness to take criticism in return. Really? The same guy who goes on CNN every day, with leftists constantly outnumbering him, and demolishes them without breaking a sweat, lacks the toughness to take criticism? That’s cute.

Here’s the thing about the left’s sudden commitment to broadcast decorum: it evaporates the moment one of their own is in the hot seat. Jimmy Kimmel joked about Melania Trump becoming an “expectant widow” — a thinly-veiled reference to President Donald Trump being assassinated — just days before a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The left’s response? Defense, deflection, and accusations of fascism are lobbed at anyone who dares to suggest Kimmel face consequences.

So let’s be honest about what’s happening here. The left’s “outrage” over Jennings’ f-bomb isn’t about standards or decency. They’ve wanted him off their network for years, so they’re seizing an opportunity to try to get Jennings booted. It’s not the first time, and likely won’t be the last.

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“I mean the train! Gavin, you got to get rid of the train!”

“I say this as a friend, you got to let that train go! Let the train go.”

“It’s up to $231 billion.”

Watch the Look on Gavin Newsom’s Face As Bill Maher Torches His Insanity (Doug P.)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom clearly has his sights set on the Democrat presidential nomination in 2028, but as he found out during an appearance on Bill Maher’s show, he might have a hard time spinning his style of “leadership.” Newsom was just trying to sell his book, but Maher had other plans. Newsom didn’t seem to know what he was walking into and he most certainly didn’t arrive at the studio on any high speed train.

Here’s the rest of the post, via @overton_news:

MAHER: “The other side, what they are going to say though is, but have you seen the stats from California?”

NEWSOM: “Good! One of the largest economies. Let’s go!”

MAHER: “Well… are they going to say good about gas prices?”

“Are they going to say good about how high their rents are?”

“So many people live…I mean there’s a whole litany.”

“I mean the train! Gavin, you got to get rid of the train!”

“I say this as a friend, you got to let that train go! Let the train go.”

“It’s up to $231 billion.”

OUCH!

The moment what’s left of Newsom’s soul left his body:

It’s sad that Bill Maher goes in way tougher on Newsom than most “journalists” ever will.

Things just kept getting more awkward for Gavin:

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2050542406844444840

Yeah, he wants to be Trump so bad but just can’t say it (or do it for that matter). Maybe we should call him Temu Trump. Newsom also got called out over his draconian lunacy during COVID and tried to pretend that too much wasn’t known about the virus at the time (apparently Newsom thought that a guy alone on a paddleboard might spread the disease to fish, or something).

https://twitter.com/TheyCallMeNans/status/2050421455892935087 https://twitter.com/WEdwarda/status/2050429049365754257

Gavin also told Maher he “took on Ron DeSantis” but didn’t point out that he got smoked in that debate, poop map and all.

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Anything better than healthy food.

Trump Says Medicare Will Soon Cover Weight-Loss Drugs (ET)

President Donald Trump announced on May 1 that Medicare patients will soon be able to obtain coverage for weight-loss drugs for $50 per month. Speaking at an event in Florida, Trump said the coverage for the weight-loss and diabetes medications will begin in July, referencing drugs that contain semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist. “Today, I’m thrilled to announce that starting on July 1, we will also provide Medicare patients with the coverage for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Zepbound, Wegovy. Will be available for $50 a month,” he said.“So if it was $1,300, now it’s $50. And the $1,300 doesn’t cover a whole month. So it’s really even more than that. So it’s now down to $50.”


In December, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a voluntary model known as Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive Health to expand access to GLP-1 medications for weight management and metabolic health, allowing Medicare Part D plans and state Medicaid agencies to cover the drugs while negotiating lower prices. The model, which would enable CMS to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices and standard terms of coverage, was initially expected to launch in January 2027, but officials said in April it would be delayed “pending further evaluation and data collection.”

CMS said in April that it would extend its bridge program, a short-term solution to provide eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries with access to certain GLP-1 drugs, until December 2027 b Part D refers to the prescription drug benefit run by private insurers approved by Medicare. CMS stated on its website that the bridge program would “operate outside of the Medicare Part D benefit’s coverage and payment flow.”

Meanwhile, drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced in February that it would lower the list prices, or wholesale acquisition costs, of Wegovy and Ozempic to $675 respectively, starting Jan. 1, 2027. According to Novo Nordisk, semaglutide is the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy, and both are considered GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptides. These hormones are produced naturally within the body and regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. GLP-1s are typically used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

In addition to GLP-1s, Ozempic and Wegovy contain FDA-approved medicines with indications for adults with Type 2 diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease, and co-morbid cardiovascular disease. “Lowering the list price of Wegovy and Ozempic is the best approach to address the unprecedented opportunity to help more than 100 million people living with obesity, and over 35 million people with Type 2 diabetes in the United States,” Jamey Millar, Novo Nordisk executive vice president of U.S. operations, said in the statement.

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“The German industrial economy is the heart of the EU economy, and President Trump is now hitting them both right where it hurts.”

Trump Targets Merz in Geopolitical Maneuver (CTH)

Keep in mind the background issue of Germany supplying Ukraine with weapons and material to keep fighting Russia, while the Merz administration triggers policy to force increased German military troop levels. Facing crushingly high increases in energy costs, last Monday in Marsberg, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and demanding the conflict end “as quickly as possible.”


Germany is facing a perfect storm of economic consequences following their decision to chase the climate change agenda (Build Back Better) and eliminate their coal and nuclear power plants. Combine the German/EU policy to stop purchasing cheap LNG and oil from Russia, in addition to skyrocketing energy costs from oil/gas flows from the Middle East, and the outcome is rising manufacturing costs leading to massive layoffs. The German industrial economy is the heart of the EU economy, and President Trump is now hitting them both right where it hurts.

Today two announcements hit an already vulnerable Germany directly. The first is: “The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital. “This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.” {source}The second announcement is even more brutal for Chancellor Merz:

While the EU auto tariffs do not mention Germany specifically, it is the German auto industry (BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi) that will be impacted the most. A 25% tariff on German vehicles destined to the USA will severely hurt the German auto industry. This is a massive hit to their already weakened position. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is already facing serious political issues within Germany as the economy continues to contract. The political opposition parties are on the rise and Merz is in a very precarious position. President Trump is exploiting this vulnerability by apply further economic pressure on Germany.

One of the outcomes of this pressure in combination with the internal friction Merz is facing, will be a demand by the German people to stop providing support for Ukraine and focus time, effort and energy on getting the structural economy back on solid footing. This can have an ancillary benefit to President Trump as he seeks to have Ukraine come to the negotiating table with Russia to end the conflict. There are multiple facets within this geopolitical positioning, and it is worth watching it play out closely.

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You try and tell me this has nothing to do with the church not likng Trump. “Church leaders backing the appointment argue that Menjivar-Ayala’s lived experience brings valuable perspective to his new role, particularly due to current immigration issues ..”

Pope Leo XIV Names Former Illegal Immigrant As New Bishop (JTN)

A prominent Roman Catholic diocese is defending the decision made by Pope Leo XIV to appoint a new bishop who is a former illegal immigrant. The pope selected Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala to lead the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, a role overseeing the Catholic community across West Virginia. “Any insinuation that the Holy Father made this or any other appointment in any way to increase vitriol or insinuate that it gets back at the president of the United States is absurd,” a Wheeling diocese spokesperson said, according to Fox News. As a teenager fleeing violence in El Salvador during the country’s civil conflict, Menjivar-Ayala made multiple attempts to reach the U.S. before eventually crossing the border hidden in the trunk of a car near San Ysidro, California.


In recent years, he has been outspoken against stricter enforcement measures, describing them as matters of human dignity and human rights. He has also directly responded to criticism from some Catholic figures aligned with tougher immigration policies, including officials within the Trump administration. Church leaders backing the appointment argue that Menjivar-Ayala’s lived experience brings valuable perspective to his new role, particularly at a time when immigration remains one of the most divisive issues in society currently.

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https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2050293964247335318?s=20 https://twitter.com/JoshHall2024/status/2050381377254613239?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Apr 282026
 


Johannes Vermeer Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window 1657-59


A Feral and Savage Party (James Howard Kunstler)
No Conspiracy Required (Stephen Green)
Obama Said This About the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt (Margolis)
President Trump 60-Minutes Interview on Events During Attack at WHCA Dinner (CTH)
Again, Fetterman Breaks Ranks After the Third Attempt on Trump’s Life (Manney)
Melania Trump Deplores Jimmy Kimmel’s Disturbing Shooting Jokes (Salgado)
How the GOP Should Respond to the ‘Both Sides Are Guilty’ Nonsense (Pinsker)
The New York Times Explores the Case for “Microlooting” to Murder (Turley)
Muslim Voters Are Reshaping U.K. Politics (JTN)
Trump’s Prescription Drug Policies Make Small-Town Pharmacies Great Again (JTN)
Charlottesville: The Deceit Underlying the Hoax (Steve Cortes)
The Siege of Iran, and Other Matters (James Howard Kunstler)
Iran Offers New Proposal To Reopen Strait – Trump Open To Deal Via Phone (ZH)
Bessent: IRGC Leaders ‘Trapped’ Like ‘Drowning Rats’ By US Blockade (ZH)
Senator Chuck Grassley’s Office Requests Answers from DOJ and FBI (CTH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2048492303531364530?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2048439348463337953?s=20 https://twitter.com/CRRJA5/status/2048585821163254218?s=20 https://twitter.com/eagameover/status/2048427971476705443?s=20

 


 


“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.” —Ian Fleming

A Feral and Savage Party (James Howard Kunstler)

Don’t you love the way the news media pretends it can’t figure out the motive of Cole Tomas Allen, who tried to shoot-up Saturday’s White House correspondents’ gala. He was a creation of the very White House correspondents who ducked under their tables at the sound of his shots. Cole Tomas Allen had digested and internalized the “narrative” spewage of the Democratic Party’s propaganda department. MSNOW occupied his brain like a glistening parasite.


CBS tried to amplify the shooter’s own motive on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes show when Norah O’Donnell read out-loud from his manifesto, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and asked President Trump “What is your reaction to that?” Mr. Trump did not fall for the ruse — which was just an opportunity to reinforce a well-worn scurrility. “You’re a disgrace,” the president replied, and Ms. O’Donnell just continued with the interview as if his answer never registered. There it is.

In fact, Cole Tomas Allen traveled all the way from Los Angeles to Washington for the rare chance to find Mr. Trump and most of his cabinet all together in one room where he might be able to kill as many of them as possible. He styled himself: “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen. “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” he concluded in his short manifesto, reportedly composed and sent out minutes before he left his room at the Washington Hilton to perform his rash deed.

That rage, you understand, was planted in his head by the likes of Norah O’Donnell of CBS news and the scores of reporters, editors, and news producers who had to abandon the festive menu starters of spring pea and burrata salad and crab terrine with a nice Veuve Clicquot when the shots rang out. The gala is a night when the Blob’s media errand boys and call girls like to treat themselves like royalty. (Meanwhile their hated enemies back in the truck stops of MAGAland get by on lowly chili-lime jerky and Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, washed down with Red Bull — good for five-hundred miles of hauling, at least.)

The former president can’t guess Cole Tomas Allen’s motives. He is a liar, a cad, and a fraud. As for political violence in general, you have not heard Mr. Obama complain about Antifa mayhem, BLM riots, tranny school murders, harassment of ICE officers, or any other violence approved by the Lefty-left. Mr. Obama is himself a bona fide seditionist. When he repeats the shibboleth “our democracy” he means simply the Lefty-left’s malevolent will to power — which is predicated on nothing more than feeding the Democratic Party’s never-ending rackets, doling out money to its captive clients for votes, solely to remain in power: Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail. His mealy-mouthed sanctimony serves only his personal need to evade prosecution for his own crimes.

The only way Barack Obama can evade prosecution for RussiaGate and then for covertly running the “Joe Biden” White House from his HQ across town is if he is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the RICO cases to come. That will be enough for historians to understand what happened here in the early 21st century. And what about the other traitors, the long list of Blob apparatchiks who schemed to overthrow the executive from 2016 to 2021, and then labored to throw thousands in prison, ran a fake pandemic op, queered two elections, hijacked the courts, shut down opposing opinion, and poisoned the minds of several assassins?

Justice is coming for them. They know it, and their “resistance” seeks to turn feral and savage in the months leading to the midterm elections. It will start in a few days with “Mayday Strong” rallies and street marches. Their slogan, “It’s workers over billionaires,” is just another lie. The part they leave out is that these actions are funded by billionaires: George Soros, Neville Roy Singham, Hansjörg Wyss, et al. Don’t expect the action to remain “mostly peaceful,” either. The idea, of course is to get violent so as to goad President Trump into invoking emergency powers to put down an insurrection.

I doubt that President Trump will shrink from invoking the Insurrection Act, an amalgamation of laws passed by Congress starting in 1792–1795 with the Militia Acts, then the key 1807 law signed by President Thomas Jefferson, and major amendments during and after the Civil War, including the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. It is codified in Title 10 of the United States Code, Chapter 13, specifically §§ 251–255. It is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act (1878), which generally prohibits using federal troops for domestic law enforcement.

The Insurrection Act (with its predecessor statutes) has been invoked approximately 30 times in U.S. history by 16 presidents — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, Wilson, Harding, FD Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, and Bush — in episodes ranging from the Whiskey Rebellion, the Southern Secession, many violent labor strikes, several race riots, and looting in natural disasters.

President Trump might have to use the Insurrection Act to stop what has been an ongoing coup against his elected administration by an opposition party that has turned criminal and traitorous. He may have to convene extraordinary military tribunals to adjudicate crimes that include those committed by the federal judiciary itself. If he does all this, it must include an executive order mandating common sense election procedure for the midterm: citizenship and photo ID required, paper ballots only, no vote-counting machines, voting only on one day deemed Election Day, and mail-in ballots limited only to military, people required to be out of the country, and the disabled. All this is looking increasingly unavoidable.

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“If the Democrats don’t knock this off, there really will be a civil war in this country, and it won’t end well for them, just like the last one they started in 1861.”

No Conspiracy Required (Stephen Green)

“The Democratic Party has created monsters among them,” Jan. 6 criminal defense attorney Marina Medvin posted to X in the wake of yet another assassination attempt on President Donald Trump Saturday night. “The most interesting part” of attempted assassin Cole Allen’s manifesto and social media posts is that they’re “generally indistinguishable from most liberal social medial accounts belonging to Democrat voters in America.” Dems, you have a problem.


“The same week the New York Times published a cozy interview justifying the murder of people whose politics you don’t like, the same week we learned that the Unite the Right Charlottesville rally was funded by the Left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, President Trump survived his third assassination attempt,” Batya Ungar-Sargon wrote on Sunday. “A recent YouGov poll says it all: 25% of very liberal Americans consider political violence justified—compared to 3% of very conservative Americans. Another 17% of liberal Americans say it’s justified, compared to just 6% of conservatives.”The left has worked hard at normalizing political violence — and Allen’s murderous intent is the left’s new mainstream. Let’s start with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, widely believed to have 2028 presidential ambitions, speaking last week:

As John Bulkeley warned, “If the Democrats don’t knock this off, there really will be a civil war in this country, and it won’t end well for them, just like the last one they started in 1861.” Speaking of war, here’s Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries doing just that.

Barring some big change before the midterms, Jeffries will be the next House Speaker. Maybe you remember James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by four-term incumbent John Cornyn. Writing for the New York Times last month, pseudo-conservative David French praised him as “one of the most faith-forward politicians in the United States.” Here’s Talarico’s pastor on Sunday:

Please note that the pastor did not go on to chide people for having mixed feelings about an assassination attempt, but instead doubled down on the very rhetoric that Allen echoed on BlueSky and in his manifesto. In church, if you can believe it. Finally, here’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday, calling first lady Melania Trump “an expectant widow” right to her face.

One more? OK, one more:

And don’t even get me started on the mainstream media… but if CNN’s Jake Tapper is at all unusual, it’s only because he’s so high-profile.

As I’ve written here for two years, there’s no conspiracy required to produce a left-wing assassin like Tyler James Robinson or Ryan Routh. They just amp up the rhetorical pressure, 24/7/365, until somebody pops. Lee Harvey Oswald was a weird teen, easy to pull out of the crowd. He embraced “theoretical Marxism” in high school and soon after earned the name “Oswaldovich” from his fellow Marines. But he seems to have required renouncing his citizenship and a two-year stint in the Soviet Union to turn him into a lefty assassin. If his manifesto is anything to go by, all Cole Thomas Allen had to do was watch CNN and read the New York Times.

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“Allen’s manifesto made it clear he has fallen for the lies of the Democrats, radicalized by their rhetoric — including Barack Obama’s.”

Obama Said This About the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt (Margolis)

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents Association dinner at the Washington Hilton, where 31-year-old Cole Allen of California tried to assassinate President Donald Trump and other administration officials, there was a lot of confusion. Early reports suggested that the shooter had been killed. Those reports turned out to be false. During that time, many people on the left were trying to distract from the obvious, that someone had tried to assassinate Trump again. Left-wing influencers started chiding conservatives, pointing out the obvious. They claimed we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Of course, they also claimed the shooting was staged, but that’s a whole other story.


And then there’s Barack Obama. “Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all of us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama wrote on X. “It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”

There’s just one huge problem with Obama’s statement. We already knew the shooter’s motive at this point. Obama posted his statement at 5:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday, and the shooter’s manifesto and its contents were first published late Sunday morning. So by the time Obama decided to weigh in, the manifesto had been in the public domain for several hours, and his anti-Trump motives were already widely reported.] Here’s what Cole Allen’s manifesto said:

“I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. (Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.) […] Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest

Allen made clear that Secret Service agents were only to be engaged if necessary — and even then, he claimed he preferred to incapacitate rather than kill. Hotel security, Capitol Police, and National Guard personnel were to be avoided unless they intervened, and he explicitly stated that hotel employees and guests were not targets. In short, there is no doubt he came there to kill Trump and other Trump administration officials. And Obama’s response was to tell the public the motive remained unclear.

There’s a pattern here worth naming. When political violence touches conservatives, the motive becomes suddenly complex, nuanced, perhaps unknowable. The calls for unity arrive with a side of fog. Meanwhile, the very writings that explain everything are either broadcast for maximum damage or quietly tucked away to avoid inconvenient conclusions.

No one can honestly believe that Obama was clueless. So why keep pretending that the motive is some unsolvable mystery? The answer is the same reason some on the left rushed to claim the assassination attempt was staged. They understand how damaging this is, so the instinct is to downplay it, muddy the waters, and dodge any real reckoning with the kind of radicalism that keeps surfacing on their side. Allen’s manifesto made it clear he has fallen for the lies of the Democrats, radicalized by their rhetoric — including Barack Obama’s.

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He shows himself in total control. This is obviously not the first time he thinks about it. How could it be?

Donald Trump came out of this weekend a lot bigger than he went in. A lot.

President Trump 60-Minutes Interview on Events During Attack at WHCA Dinner (CTH)

President Trump details his experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where a gunman charged toward the ballroom. President Trump says he wasn’t worried and praised the actions of law enforcement.


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“Fetterman cut through the noise and picked action over argument. While others kept talking, he picked a solution.”

Again, Fetterman Breaks Ranks After the Third Attempt on Trump’s Life (Manney)

If the man wasn’t a bloody lefty, I’d create a chorus of people asking him to flip to the Republican side. When compared to other Senate freshmen, he’s ranked the second most leftist. Alas, I believe him to be the maverick that the media’s favorite maverick, John McCain, thought himself to be. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) didn’t hedge after the chaos at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when a gunman, Cole Allen, rushed a Secret Service checkpoint and opened fire. The shooter has now been identified as 31-year-old schoolteacher Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., who sprinted past security checkpoints inside the hotel armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and two knives. He never made it into the ballroom.


Gunfire was exchanged during the incident, but Allen was not hit, and police arrested him. A Secret Service agent was struck but was wearing protective gear. No other injuries were confirmed among the attendees. In seconds, a routine political event turned into a live test of how much risk members of the Trump administration accept when they gather away from the White House. Fetterman saw enough, telling fellow Democrats to drop the reflex of opposing anything “Trump” and back a practical fix: build a secure, bulletproof ballroom on the White House grounds. A hardened, on-site venue would let presidents host large events inside a controlled perimeter instead of relying on facilities that weren’t built for modern threat levels.

President Donald Trump drove the point home within hours, saying the shooting proved why a protected ballroom isn’t optional; it’s basic security. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and senior officials moved off the stage as agents contained the threat. One Secret Service agent took a round to his chest and, thanks to his vest, survived. Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., never reached the main seating area, but the gap between “contained” and “catastrophic” was very thin. Fetterman’s position isn’t a one-off; he votes with his caucus most of the time, yet he breaks from it on national security when it counts. He backs Israel, supports Trump’s effort to block Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and, last year, defended the ballroom plan as appropriate and in line with the White House’s long history of upgrades.

Private donors would fund the ballroom, which removes the usual fight over money. For years, security professionals have warned about concentrating the president, vice president, cabinet, and lawmakers at off-site venues like the Washington Hilton. A single breach threatens multiple layers of leadership at once. A White House ballroom keeps those events inside a fortified perimeter designed for current threats, not assumptions from the past 30 years. You can’t put it more plainly than Fetterman did on X.

His point isn’t partisan; it’s operational: protect the office, reduce exposure, and control the environment. Washington typically defaults to posture over progress when leaders dig in, defend their side, and stall anything tied to the other party. Fetterman, however, did the opposite; he looked at what happened and backed a fix already on the table. Allen’s “alleged” attack didn’t create a new problem; he exposed one that’s been tolerated and kicked down the road for years.

How many times will it take for people filled with common sense to look at the critics of the ballroom, smack ‘em in the head, and, in the most sarcastic tone possible, exclaim: It doesn’t bear repeating, but for some dunderheads, it does: a secure, on-site venue won’t solve every risk, but it closes obvious ones. The presidency demands more than ceremony and tradition; it demands infrastructure that matches the reality of modern threats. Fetterman cut through the noise and picked action over argument. While others kept talking, he picked a solution.

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‘Political Sickness:’

Melania Trump Deplores Jimmy Kimmel’s Disturbing Shooting Jokes (Salgado)

After vile “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel referred to First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” in a series of grossly inappropriate jokes before the Saturday assassination attempt on Trump administration officials, the first lady responded with dignity but without holding back on emphasizing just how dangerous the rhetoric is.


Just days before Cole Allen opened fire at the April 25 White House correspondents’ dinner, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! chortled, “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” That ugly display was part of Kimmel’s Thursday parody of the then-upcoming correspondents’ dinner. And the shooting highlighted vividly how irresponsible or downright bloodthirsty the media is for their constant pro-assassination rhetoric. No wonder the first lady wants ABC to take him off the air.

Melania posted on X Monday, “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” That is exactly what we see across the political left in America now, a sickness that has pervaded not only their politics, but their minds and their morals as well.

Then, Melania continued by challenging the networks that platform such incredibly dangerous rhetoric. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him,” she said. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”

Jimmy Kimmel was also despicable about the Charlie Kirk assassination. He falsely claimed that Kirk’s murderer was MAGA (actually, Tyler Robinson was an LGBTQ leftist) and smirked that the right was trying to score political points off the tragedy. The problem is that he is mainstream for lefties. He might be a little more candid about his unholy glee when Republicans die or are in danger of death, but his mainstream media pals agree with him.

Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, was at the correspondents’ dinner on Saturday and understandably was extremely traumatized after the near-deadly incident, considering how recent her husband’s assassination was. But Kimmel thinks it is all a great big joke. While ABC is not a public broadcasting station that essentially receives a form of government subsidy, and therefore the government cannot challenge Kimmel’s employment directly, it is entirely reasonable for Melania to ask why the Walt Disney Company keeps funding this hideous human being’s show.

Why is Kimmel even still on the air? At the very least, Donald Trump needs to stop going on mainstream media like CBS News’ 60 Minutes and legitimizing these poisonous propagandists. The president and his wife are absolutely right that the media is fueling violent hatred, and therefore, Republicans should allow these same media stooges to fall into the complete irrelevancy they have so richly earned.

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Don’t get ahead of yourself: Only one man should decide and proclaim how the GOP should respond: the President.

How the GOP Should Respond to the ‘Both Sides Are Guilty’ Nonsense (Pinsker)

If you’re an absent-minded married shlub, you’ve probably played the “golly gee, both sides were wrong, let’s move on” card, too. It goes like this:

Wife: Scott, why haven’t you taken out the garbage yet? I asked you two days ago. It’s starting to stink.

Me: But that was in the past! We need to look to the future. Let’s not dwell on the blame-game, honey — we’re better than that.

Wife: What are you talking about? Just take the garbage out, please.

Me: Look, we both contributed to the garbage. You threw away plenty of stuff, too. Probably more than me.

Wife: I can hear the garbage truck coming! Take it out to the street before it’s too late!

Me: Really, we’re both at fault: You asked me to do something — and somewhere along the way, there was a communication breakdown. So instead of pointing fingers, let’s be grownups and admit we were both wrong. Mistakes were made, but life goes on. That’s why pencils have erasers. Right?

Wife: [sighs] Never mind, I’ll do it.

Me: Thanks, honey. While you’re up, can you grab me a beer?

Yeah: It doesn’t work when you’re married any better than it’ll work for the Democrats. On the heels of yet another assassination attempt, the American people are beginning to recognize the media’s Political Violence Blame-Game Template. After all, it’s really not that complicated: When there’s no political violence: Blame Donald Trump and the GOP for inciting this awful, terrible epidemic of violence that doesn’t exist (yet).When a Democrat is the victim: Blame Donald Trump and the GOP for “extremist language” and racist/fascist “dog whistles” that are an “existential threat to democracy.” Demand greater civility in political discourse — while threatening to jail Republicans who appear “threatening” to liberals. (The only long-term solution to political violence, of course, is to remove Republicans from power.)

When a Republican is the victim: Blame both sides. (“It’s everyone’s fault! How the heck did things spiral out of control?”) Neither party has a monopoly on unstable nutjobs, but according to opinion polls, one side is a helluva lot more likely to support political violence than the other. Spoiler alert: It’s not the GOP.

For the Babylon Bee, the parody writes itself:

The assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner will likely dominate the headlines for the next several days. Unlike most Black Swan events, this one will have extra-long legs because:

1) All the D.C. journalists who witnessed it are highly incentivized to continue talking about the most exciting moment of their careers. Like I wrote yesterday, if reporters like Brian Williams can’t resist bragging about fake bullets, you better believe they’re gonna be talking nonstop about the real thing.

2) There’s a legitimate mystery to investigate: Who, what, when, and how was Cole Allen, the (alleged) “Friendly Federal Assassin” radicalized? On the surface, he seems like your normal, typical, nondescript leftist. As far as we know, this wasn’t a kid who was in and out of mental hospitals. So, was he radicalized by TikTok and Reddit? By the Epstein conspiracy? A hate-merchant like Hasan Piker? What pushed him over the edge?

Which means, the mainstream media will play the “both sides are equally guilty” card, but its attention will be diverted: Journalists can’t investigate Allen, beat their chests and brag about their (remarkable) bravery, AND be laser-focused on blaming both sides. Not enough oxygen in the room. Too many competing storylines to juggle. And therein lies the GOP’s opportunity. Because the media’s attention will be divided, the GOP will have a free hand to publicize its own message to the masses — and counterprogram the mainstream media. But we’ll have to be picky: With all the competing storylines, only one or two “talking points” will break through.

This means that we can’t say EVERYTHING we think about Cole Allen and left-wing political violence. We must be selective: It’s all about bang-for-the-buck. So how should the GOP counterprogram the Dems? Conservatives tend to favor intellectual, evidence-based arguments over raw emotions. It’s why we rely so heavily on statistics. Already on social media, we’re seeing swaths of posts about polling data — such as the one embedded above — that make a compelling mathematical argument about left-wing America’s sick tolerance of political violence.

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“Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

The New York Times Explores the Case for “Microlooting” to Murder (Turley)

“It is so hard to live ethically in an unethical society.” That lament heard this week from New York Times opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman could well be the Democratic Party’s epitaph. Spiegelman was interviewing two left-wing influencers about how everything from shoplifting to murder may be excusable today in light of the unfairness they see in society.


The podcast, a product of the nation’s newspaper of record, reveled in the moral relativism that has taken over the American left. It featured the ravings of the antisemitic Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who calmly explained how the murder of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson was perfectly understandable. His rationalization came from Marxist revolutionary Friedrich Engels, who had called capitalism “social murder.” If capitalists are “social murderers,” then why not kill them? The logic is liberating and lethal for some on the left looking for a license for violence.

Mind you, this same newspaper had once condemned and effectively banned a U.S. senator for writing an op-ed advocating the use of the military to quell violent protests during the summer of George Floyd’s death. The Times even forced out its own opinion editor for having the temerity to publish such an opinion. But glorifying murder? The suggestion of open hunting season on corporate executives did not appear to shock or repel Spiegelman. After all, we are living in “an unethical society.” She explained that many felt that the murder of Thompson, the father of two, meant that “finally, someone can actually do something about health care.”

Even liberal comedians are practicing a literal version of slapstick. Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.” To be far, Spiegelman did concede that it might seem a bit “scary” for some to start murdering our way to social justice. She also explained that shoplifting can be justifiable because people are “stealing from Whole Foods — not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification.” New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino also contributed to the podcast, titled “The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?” She immediately threw in her own experience with “microlooting” and explained why it is arguably moral: “I have, under very specific circumstances. I will say, I think that stealing from a big-box store [isn’t] significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest.”

She detailed her own past thefts and added, “I didn’t feel bad about it at all, in part because the store was a corporation. And it certainly felt, in a utilitarian sense, I was like, this is not a big deal. Right, guys?” Not in the confines of the New York Times, where apparently you are entitled to all goods that are fit to pilfer. The bizarre exchange highlighted the moral chasm that is opening its maw on today’s political left. In my book “Rage and the Republic,” I write about how rage helps people excuse any offense or attack. It dismisses the humanity of others and provides a license to hate completely and without reservation. It is not really murder or theft if there are no real humans on the other side, is it?

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And the country.

Muslim Voters Are Reshaping U.K. Politics (JTN)

The growing numbers of Muslims in the United Kingdom, along with their organized and issue-driven politics, has made them an increasingly consequential – if not outsizes – part of the country’s electorate – representing new challenges for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left government and efforts to maintain a unified stance on key issues.Recent elections have shown the country’s estimated 4 million people, or roughly 6.5% of the country’s overall population, have been enough to determine electoral outcomes in specific districts and nudge national parties to re-calibrate their platforms.


U.K. foreign policy – particularly when it concerns heavily Muslim parts of the world such as Gaza and Iran – has become especially prickly, according to surveys. Changes among Muslim voters have also fragmented the traditional Labour Party coalition, and according to some reports, have accelerated a shift toward “transactional politics.” “The size of the Muslim population and even more so, the areas where it is concentrated are helping to leverage influence in key areas,” political scientist Rana Dancyger told Just the News. “They do not vote as a bloc, but their influence is large enough that their priorities must be taken into consideration.”

Census data shows that the U.K.’s Muslim population is concentrated in urban constituencies such as Birmingham, Bradford, parts of London, and cities in the north. The Muslim Council of Britain has for years identified dozens of constituencies in which Muslim voters could play a decisive role in tight races. That played out in 2024, the last national vote, where Starmer’s Labour Party lost significant support among constituencies with large Muslim populations, meaning hundreds of thousands of voters shifted away over protests on specific issues including the government’s policies on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, where roughly 99% of the population Muslim. And likewise with Iran, who’s at war with Israel and the United States, and whose population is 99% Muslim.

It didn’t hurt Labour in the final tally, in which Starmer and his allies swept the Conservatives out of office for the first time in 16 years. But the shift helped to fuel growth for more extreme parties, such as the Liberal Democrats and the right-wing Reform UK party. The shift has forced Starmer’s government into a delicate balancing act, as positions that in the past would have been framed through political alliances – such as support for Israel or backing Israeli and U.S. policies toward Iran — now carry clear domestic consequences.

Even within the Labour Party itself, Muslim members of parliament, other government officials, and activists, have become more vocal in criticizing government policies, making it increasingly difficult for Starmer to maintain a unified message. One survey warned that the historic ties between the Labour Party and Muslim representatives could be “at a breaking point,” adding to Labour’s woes stemming from weak economic growth and indirect ties to scandals involving the Epstein files in the U.S.

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Wonderful.

Trump’s Prescription Drug Policies Make Small-Town Pharmacies Great Again (JTN)

President Donald Trump recently announced a substantial deal with drug manufacturer Regeneron to lower drug prices and onshore nearly $10 billion to $27 billion in U.S. manufacturing, further expanding access to domestic medicine, the absence of which has caused headaches for America’s thousands of community and rural pharmacies. “Seventeen of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, representing 80% of the branded drug market, have now agreed to sell their drugs to American patients at the lowest price anywhere in the world. This will result in the largest drop in prescription drug prices in the history of the United States of America,” Trump told the press Thursday during the announcement in the Oval Office.


Earlier in April, the Trump administration imposed a timed 100% tariff on patented pharmaceutical ingredients and products from most countries, which has accelerated the return of drug manufacturing to the U.S., producing stability and economic wins for independent pharmacies that have long struggled with supply-chain fragility. Key policy drivers include the April 2 Presidential Proclamation imposing 100% ad valorem tariffs on patented pharmaceuticals and ingredients (effective July 31 for major companies and September 29 for smaller companies). Companies with secretary of Commerce-approved onshoring plans qualify for a transitional 20% rate, which escalates to 100% on April 2, 2030, while MFN pricing agreements can yield 0% tariffs (with their own sunset provisions).

Complementary actions streamline FDA approvals and inspections to accelerate domestic manufacturing.The data have shown dramatic early results. In 2025 alone, drugmakers announced more than $370 billion in new U.S. manufacturing commitments – the largest reshoring wave in industry history – creating tens of thousands of jobs and dozens of new or expanded facilities. Major players have pledged over $480 billion total (e.g., Eli Lilly’s $27 billion for four new sites, Johnson & Johnson’s $55 billion including multiple plants, AstraZeneca’s $50 billion with a major Virginia facility, and similar multi-billion-dollar moves by Novartis, Roche, and others.)

The investments are generating roughly 44,000 direct manufacturing and support jobs while reducing reliance on overseas APIs, where 70–80% of U.S. generics and many branded drugs historically originated from China and India. For rural and small-town pharmacies, the re-shoring translates into tangible long-term gains. Independent operators – who often operate on razor-thin margins and serve Medicare/Medicaid-heavy populations – have faced chronic shortages, stock outs, and price volatility from global disruptions. Domestic production ramps are already easing those pressures by shortening supply chains, cutting transit risks and enabling faster replenishment.

Early signs that these policies are improving the industry, all the way down to small pharmacies, include stabilized generic supply in key categories (like antibiotics and diabetes treatments) and renewed local economic activity as new plants (many in heartland or Southern states) boost regional wages, supplier networks, and tax bases that indirectly support pharmacy viability. The administration’s parallel Rural Health Transformation Program further amplifies this by aligning pharmacies with goals like “sustainable access” and “make rural America healthy again,” positioning independents as frontline partners in expanded care delivery.

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“The SPLC created hate groups and activities like the Charlottesville rally, and the complicit media then weaponized these concocted offenses by spreading outright lies about Trump’s reaction to the staged events.”

Charlottesville: The Deceit Underlying the Hoax (Steve Cortes)

For years, Democratic politicians and their allies in the legacy media have spread the damnable Charlottesville Hoax: the propaganda myth that President Trump praised bigots who rioted in 2017 in the Virginia town. Of course, the opposite is true, as Trump actually said: “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”

Now, we learn that the entire hoax of Trump and Charlottesville is, itself, built upon another grand lie. The media and people like Joe Biden have continually pushed the narrative that some big, organic gathering of hateful Americans descended upon Charlottesville and represented some larger threat to the republic itself. But it now turns out that the “Unite the Right” rally was organized and financed by the highly partisan, left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a sweeping 11-count indictment, the Department of Justice and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche charge the advocacy group with criminal defrauding of donors and “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” The charges contained in this indictment are akin to the fire department becoming an aggressive criminal arson enterprise, setting fires all across a town, and then demanding more budget and authority to fight the very infernos it set ablaze.

So…the end result is that America endured years of propaganda that convinced a large segment of the population – in contravention of the facts – that their president supported violent hate merchants. Even worse, masses of unskeptical Americans, who consume only legacy media content, believed that the entire America First populist movement was based on bigotry, rather than patriotism.

Now, nearly a decade later, the truth is revealed about the deception that lay beneath that grand lie. There was a layer of duplicity here that is almost difficult to fathom. Only true Marxists could excuse this level of propaganda. The SPLC created hate groups and activities like the Charlottesville rally, and the complicit media then weaponized these concocted offenses by spreading outright lies about Trump’s reaction to the staged events.

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“What matters now is ending the war as quickly and decisively as possible. . . After that, people can wrestle over the “moral and constitutional” quandary to their heart’s content.” —Brandon Smith

The Siege of Iran, and Other Matters (James Howard Kunstler)

Other matters first, then Iran. The fall of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in an eleven-count fraud and money-laundering indictment is a watershed moment for exposing the bad faith business model of the Lefty-left: pay for the creation of imaginary monsters so you can pretend to be the defender of your fake victim-clients, the sundry “oppressed minorities” yearning to breathe free.


The money was paid to various manifestations of “white supremacy,” ranging from the good old Ku Klux Klan (more venerable in America’s memory than Frankenstein) to the avant-garde Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, affiliated with the Aryan Nation. And, turns out, the SPLC also engineered the Fine People Hoax in Charlottesville, 2020, that loomed so large in “Joe Biden’s” supposedly victorious campaign for president. The Left’s moral center-of-gravity is a black hole of grift and subterfuge.

Of course, this SPLC farrago might raise some questions about many other Lefty-left NGOs that infest our political landscape, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Al Otro Lado in California, which launders taxpayer money into all manner of freebies for illegal aliens — all of these orgs accused of rank improprieties. CAIR, which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, was declared a terrorist or transnational criminal organization by Texas and Florida. BLM grifters in Atlanta and Oklahoma City were indicted for wire fraud and money laundering.

Between the zillions of dollars flooding the USA from foreign dark money pass-thrus like the Soros family’s Open Society Foundations, the checkbook of Shanghai American expat Neville Roy Singham, The Tides Foundation, The Hopewell Fund, et cetera, ad infinitum, plus the taxpayers of California, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota, vast fortunes are pumped into civic mischief and chaos creation here, including all the riots of recent years. Is it not time, a least, to revoke the 501(c)(3) tax exemption status of all these nefarious outfits? Should be easy. (Paging Treasury Sec’y and IRS chief Scott Bessent!)

Next up: The Democratic Party’s savage stupidity played out this week in Virginia with a big election win for a shamelessly impudent Congressional redistricting scam that would sculpt away all but one GOP district of eleven on the Virginia map. NGOs poured a ton of money into the op. The ballot proposition was worded artfully “to restore fairness in upcoming elections,” which, as always with the Lefty-left, was the exact opposite of what it was designed to do.

Within hours, Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack C. Hurley, Jr., ruled the proposition void and blocked Virginia from certifying the referendum. The case now speeds to the Virginia Supreme Court where the prop is expected to fail on at least four counts of blatant affront to the state’s constitution. Virginia’s new governor, former CIA analyst Abigail Spanberger, ran in 2025 on the explicit promise that she would not advocate a Congressional redistricting measure. This is exactly what Democratic Party bad faith looks like.

You’ve noticed, no doubt, that bad faith is not solely owned by the Democratic Party. We watch in wonder and nausea the bewildering psychodrama of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) refusing to allow procedure that would get the Save Act passed (common sense election reform). Nor will Thune allow confirmation votes to proceed for nominated DOJ US attorneys and other jobs submitted by the executive branch. He shows every sign of wanting his party to lose. . .which means, allowing the Democratic Party to continue queering elections, including the crucial midterms. . . which means he wants our country to fail.

Seems like nobody knows what to do about Sen. Thune and his dishonorable cohorts in the chamber. If the president knows, he isn’t saying just now, and that would be consistent with his mode of fighting battles. But remember, Nicolás Maduro has been in US custody for months, and you can be sure he’s been debriefed on the subject of Dominion and Smartmatic voting machine shenanigans that originated in Venezuela years ago in order to ensure his own election. The FBI is also sitting on 2020 election evidence harvested out of Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona (perhaps other states, too). The truth about 2020 will come out, probably sooner than later, and when it does, Senator Thune will be sufficiently humiliated to drive him out of his post. He appears to be too dumb to realize that.

Now, as to Iran: The country’s putative “leadership” marinates in rage, impotence, and factional squabbling as the ceasefire dwindles. They can make some more mischief in the Persian Gulf, perhaps, but in a matter of days Iran’s oil industry will be permanently wrecked, its economy strangled, and its ordinary citizens in a desperate fury to make it all stop. If that doesn’t force a deal — no nukes, hand-over the 1000 pounds of Uranium, let in the neutral inspectors, etc. — then it’s onto the bridges and power plants. There really is no other way now. Show a little more patience. Won’t be long. The world will be a better place when this is over.

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Trump demands NO NUKES; not maybe, not halfway.. They can anwser yes or no. New proposals are useless.

Iran Offers New Proposal To Reopen Strait – Trump Open To Deal Via Phone (ZH)

Running a little ahead of schedule, Sunday evening brought this week’s infusion of pre-Monday-open optimism about prospects of ending the US-Israel war on Iran. Axios’ Barak Ravid, a veteran of Israeli intelligence who routinely posts anonymously-sourced scoops, reported that Iran has presented a new proposal for opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the shooting — though Iran’s concept includes a potential non-starter via a proposed postponement of nuclear negotiations. No details were reported, beyond the notion of either an extended ceasefire or permanent end of the war that would accompany a full reopening of the strait.


Earlier on Sunday, President Trump said face-to-face discussions with the Iranians weren’t essential to ending the war. “If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” he told Fox News. “They know what has to be in the ` agreement. It’s very simple: They cannot have a nuclear weapon; otherwise, there’s no reason to meet.” Sunday’s micro-dose of hope capped a weekend in which negotiations were perceived as grinding to a clear stalemate marked by a lack of warfare but also a continued choking of traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, Trump’s lead negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, were poised to travel to Islamabad for another round of negotiations with the Iranians when Trump nixed their trip at the last minute.

Iranian Foreign Minister Shuttles Between Pakistan, Oman, Russia
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Araghchi has “conveyed written messages regarding Iran’s red lines to the American side through Pakistani intermediaries.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been on the go. On Saturday, he left Pakistan after meeting with Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. On parting, Araghchi said he’d had a “very fruitful visit,” while cautioning it’s unclear “if the US is truly serious about diplomacy.” Then he was off to Oman for talks centered on re-opening the strait — which lies between the two countries — then back to Pakistan. By Monday, Araghchi was in St Petersburg, Russia for discussions with President Putin. Commenting on the relationship via X, Iran’s envoy in Russia said:

“Iran and Russia are present in a united front in the campaign of the world’s totalitarian forces against independent and justice-seeking countries, as well as countries that seek a ` world free from unilateralism and Western domination.”Trump: Iranian Oil Infrastructure In Peril From Limited Capacity Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the US blockade on traffic to and from Iranian ports is putting major pressure on the country’s export infrastructure: “When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them — they have no ships because of the blockade — what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth.”

“It’s something that happens where it just explodes. And they say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was.” That approximate scenario has also been outlined by the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. “Once the tanks are filled, Iran would have to shut down its oil fields, which risks long-term damage to the fields,” AEI’s Annika Ganzeveld told the New York Post. A worst-case scenario doesn’t only imperil Iran’s economy, but also threatens to put more upward pressure on global energy prices. Analysts differ on how much time Iran has before a forced shutdown of production — with estimates ranging from mere days to seven weeks.

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NO nukes and NO control of the Strait.

Bessent: IRGC Leaders ‘Trapped’ Like ‘Drowning Rats’ By US Blockade (ZH)

In the early evening of Monday, well after markets closed, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued the following on X (below), describing IRGC leaders as now “trapped like drowning rats” amid the enduring US naval blockade of Iranian ports, which will soon result in gasoline shortages and anger – and potential protests leading to uprising (according to US desires and aims). Also here is where things stand on the stalled negotiations, and an early hint of the potential White House reaction, per WSJ:


Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war, including the U.S.’s lifting of its naval blockade of Iranian ports and the postponement of nuclear negotiations, according to officials familiar with the matter. nThe proposal, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during his tour of the region and Pakistan over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. President Trump and his national-security team are skeptical of Iran’s offer, U.S. officials said. Trump previously said negotiations could happen over the phone instead of in person.

And: “Trump held discussions with aides Monday morning about the offer. While he didn’t reject it outright, officials said Trump sounded notes about Iran not dealing in good faith or being willing to meet his key demand: ending nuclear enrichment and vowing never to make a nuclear weapon.”

Meanwhile..

Rubio: ‘Will Not Tolerate’ Iran Control of Strait
The latest via WSJ on what Iran is proposing, centered on immediately lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports: Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war and a lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, according to officials familiar with the matter. The proposal, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during his tour of the region and Pakistan over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. It would see discussions about Iran’s nuclear program shelved. Washington hasn’t responded to the proposal, one of the people said. Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Fox News on Monday that the US will not tolerate Iran controlling or establishing a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio further asserted that the strait would remain open either through international pressure or a coalition-led effort. Just days ago Iran began declaring that the first toll passage funds had been successfully transferred to the Central Bank of Iran, after Trump stated the US won’t allow a toll system. Rubio further said the US will not normalize the Iranians being essentially a gatekeeper, with countries seeking permission from Iran.

https://twitter.com/Martin_Sedi/status/2048783696749355471 Read more …

A theme that will grow in importance as we go along,

“Inside Chuck Grassley’s office there is an investigative team that every GOP senator and congressman will admit consists of the very best researchers and knowledgeable staff..”

Senator Chuck Grassley’s Office Requests Answers from DOJ and FBI (CTH)

First, it becomes very important for people to understand some of the inside baseball in Washington DC circles in order to hold context for what has been made public today by the office of Senator Chuck Grassley. Inside Chuck Grassley’s office there is an investigative team that every GOP senator and congressman will admit consists of the very best researchers and knowledgeable staff officials on how the Deep State operates. Grassley’s office is the venue, the vehicle or vessel, for those investigators to operate; Chuck Grassley is not organizing this group – he facilitates it.

Just as Robert Mueller served as the figurehead holding the legislatively authorized power of the special counsel—while the actual investigative work was carried out by his team—Chuck Grassley similarly acts as a symbolic leader, with the real action happening within the organization he oversees. Mueller at 75-years old (2019) was to the special counsel as Grassley at 93-years old (2026) is to senatorial inquiry.

That said, today the office of Senator Chuck Grassley sent a dispatch of connected information about Hillary Clinton from DOJ/FBI files retrieved over the past several years as part of a longer-term investigation. Grassley’s office released the FBI Washington Field Office’s 12-page “electronic communication” (EC) that opened a preliminary investigation into the Clinton Foundation. [SEE HERE] They also released a trove of documents showing overwhelming evidence of pay-to-play criminal activity by the Clinton family and emphasize lack of response from the DOJ which highlights both politicalization and weaponization of information by the Department of Justice and FBI.

The FBI and DOJ buried the investigations of Hillary Clinton, yet the evidence of corruption was simply overwhelming. With time running out on their ability to retain the venue, in essence Grassley’s office is urgently asking the DOJ and FBI, how could this not have been prosecuted?

Chuck Grassley, who turns 93 in September, has served in the U.S. Senate for 45 years. Grassley has spent more than 50 years in Congress overall, having served in the U.S. House from 1975 to 1981 before being elected to his first term as senator. In 2022, Grassley was elected to an eighth term, winning against Democratic challenger Michael Franken with 56% of the vote — a smaller margin of victory than in many of his previous elections. He will be 95 by the time his current term ends in 2028.

Currently, Grassley serves as president pro tempore of the Senate, in addition to being the Senate Judiciary Committee chair. I strongly doubt there will be another Grassley term in office and given the stakes of the 2026 midterm election it looks like the people in his office are trying to push out as much information as possible while it can still do some good. I would bet you a donut this is the correct context to view this information flow.

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https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2048534614755467353?s=20 https://twitter.com/Gitmo99/status/2048574878026985630?s=20

 

 

 

 

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