Iran Archives - Page 2 of 21 - The Automatic Earth

Pray for President Trump.

Not sure what’s happening.

But whatever issue brought him back to Washington must be serious. pic.twitter.com/hffJroAfVN
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 22, 2026

President Trump FIRES UP the crowd at his New York rally, telling them they’re “going to see numbers like you’ve never seen” — as recession odds plummet to ALL-TIME lows.

The crowd loved every minute of it, especially when he TORCHED the Democrats as “bullsh*t artists” for… https://t.co/f1wgSgbTBU pic.twitter.com/Sn95DqXvML
— Overton (@overton_news) May 22, 2026

Elon Musk: "Trump is not evil, the real villains are the media and their game of lies." pic.twitter.com/bQCnCS9u3Q
— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) May 22, 2026

https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2057934621619470795?s=20

Gone again by the afternoon, as seems usual? Got to say, it’s a whole lot of people this time.

• Trump Says ‘ Agreement Largely Negotiated’ Between US and Iran (Spencer)

President Donald Trump made the momentous announcement on his Truth Social account on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.:

[VIA TRUTH SOCIAL] – “I am in the Oval Office at the White House where we just had a very good call with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of The United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and Minister Ali al-Thawadi, of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of Türkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, King Abdullah II, of Jordan, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, of Bahrain, concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all things related to a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE. An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed. Separately, I had a call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, which, likewise, went very well. Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
~ President DONALD J. TRUMP
The long list of participants in the call adds a gravity to this announcement that previous ceasefires did not have. It is also noteworthy that the president says that he has been in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but on a call separate from the one on which he spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, and more. The hostility of the Muslim states toward Israel remains implacable, and is likely to cause future conflicts, but for now, the fighting will apparently stop.
It is likewise noteworthy that the agreement is between, as the president noted, the U.S. and “the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Iran’s Islamic regime is still in place, and this is not a cause for rejoicing for anyone who cares for the well-being of the long-suffering Iranian people. Leading the Islamic Republic, even after its top leaders have been killed, is a group of fanatical Shi’ite Muslim believers who will not set aside their core beliefs, and those core beliefs do not allow for the possibility of a permanent peace between a Muslim entity and a non-Muslim entity.
As long as the Islamic Republic remains in power in Iran, it will continue to fight against the two countries it regards as its foremost enemies, the United States of America and the State of Israel. The U.S. is the “Great Satan” because its promise of a just society resulting from a government that derives its just powers from the consent of the governed is in direct competition with the Islamic Revolution’s idea of a government that derives its powers from Allah alone and rules solely according to his law. The Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, reiterated many times that the Islamic Revolution was not for Iran only, but that it was a foremost imperative of the Tehran regime to export that revolution’s core principles around the world. The U.S. has been and remains the chief obstacle to that goal.
And then there is the “Little Satan,” Israel, which the Islamic Republic hates with particular intensity, not because there is some territorial or economic dispute between the two countries, but because Israel is a Jewish state existing on land that was once under the rule of Islamic law. “Drive them out from where they drove you out,” says the Qur’an (2:191), and that is the foundation for the Islamic theological principle that any land that was once Islamic must always be Islamic, and that Muslims must wage war to recapture lost territory.
Thus, there is nothing more certain than that the Islamic Republic will fight on when it is able. Free people can only hope that the regime will collapse before then, or that it has been so extensively damaged that it will not be able to resume its jihad for years to come. In the meantime, the forces of the U.S. and its weary Israeli allies get a respite as much as the Islamic Republic gets a chance to regroup. That in itself is a small blessing.

“In this game, the most committed wins.”

• Finish the Job, Mr. President (A.j. Christopher)

If you’re a movie geek like me, you’ll remember the 1998 film The Siege, in which FBI agent Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) and CIA agent Elise Kraft (Annette Benning) attempt to root out and stop an unknown number of Islamic terrorist sleeper cells from wreaking havoc across New York City.

Agent Kraft has worked underground in the Middle East and knows the mindset of Islamic terrorism, whereas Agent Hubbard is a by-the-book, stick-to-protocol guy who can’t wrap his head around the warped reasoning of his adversaries. He’s used to dealing with criminals who avoid prison and fear death. Agent Hubbard assures Agent Kraft that he’ll be able to stop the terrorists once the judge approves his request for a warrant. The terrorists have a warrant from Allah, counters Agent Kraft.
Agent Hubbard tries to convince her (or himself) that the FBI will ultimately prevail. They have the infrastructure, the funding, the surveillance, the manpower, the training, the weaponry, and the advantage of being the good guys on their side, and in the end they’ll win this game. In this game, the most committed wins, counters Agent Kraft. It was early April when the ceasefire with Iran began. And by “ceasefire,” I mean that Iran continues its open hostilities against the United States and its allies, albeit at a lower intensity. For over a month before that, the militaries of the United States and Israel decimated Iranian leadership, its navy, its air force, and its ballistic missile defenses.
During Operation Epic Fury, Iran managed to infuriate any wavering potential allies, such as Qatar, by lobbing missiles and drones with reckless abandon at almost all of its neighbors. Since the ceasefire began, China has openly abandoned Iran, and whatever assistance it receives from Russia will continue to serve as little more than a mere annoyance. We’ve successfully blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and are starving the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of its only lifeline, its oil.
President Donald Trump claims that he holds all the cards. So why won’t the ayatollahs and the IRGC thugs see reason? Can’t they accept that they’re beaten? Don’t they understand that, like Agent Hubbard in The Siege, that we have the infrastructure, the funding, the surveillance, the manpower, the training, the weaponry, and the advantage of being the good guys on our side? President Trump holds every card except one.
The Iranian government sounds no different today from how it sounded in the months before Operation Epic Fury. The Iranian government sounds no different today from how it sounded on October 7, 2023, or on Sept. 11, 2001, or after the Beirut bombings in 1983, or after they took Americans hostage in 1979. Because its whole reason for existence is to spark a global apocalyptic war which will usher in the Hidden Imam, under whose rule the entire world will fall under the chains of Islam. And people who fancy themselves the future personal bodyguards for Allah’s earthly slave master don’t lie awake at night worrying about international law or public opinion or starving civilians, or even whether they themselves live or die.
In this game, the most committed wins. For the record, I don’t think President Trump is going to let Iran weasel its way out of anything here. I think his instincts tell him that negotiating with Iran is an exercise in futility. And I think we’ll see a resumption of military action sometime sooner rather than later. But I also think he leans too much on his desire to make a deal, to the point where making the deal is done simply for the sake of making the deal.
Ironically, this is the same trap that one of his predecessors, Barack Obama, fell into. The Iranians very badly wanted to pursue nuclear weapons. Barack Obama very badly wanted a piece of paper saying they wouldn’t. The JCPOA gave both of them what they wanted. Why we implemented a ceasefire with Iran to begin with is beyond me. My pea brain can only produce two assumptions. Either we were running low on armaments, and needed this past month as a breather to restock and reload. Or we had pummeled them so badly that we assumed that, if we let up for a bit, they’d be crazy not to jump at the first deal with offered them.
Well, they didn’t jump at the first deal. They went right back to the “Death to America” schtick, with zero retreat whatsoever from their stated desire to acquire nuclear weapons. And it’s not because they’re crazy. It’s because they’re committed. In this game, the most committed wins. Earlier this month, President Trump ordered limited strikes against Iran after they targeted U.S. destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump referred to our retaliatory strikes as a “love tap.”
All due respect, Mr. President, but the IRGC doesn’t need a love tap. It needs to be vaporized. It needs to be pounded into dust. It needs to be buried, once and for all, under a pile of rubble so deep that the world will forget it ever existed. Islamic theocracy is a cancer, and no matter how strongly you irradiate cancer, it will continue to spread and to kill until it itself has been completely annihilated.
Mr. President, forget the Democrats and half the Republicans. Forget the midterms. Forget the two-faced cowards in Europe. Forget our squeamish Gulf allies. Forget the fifth column traitors we call the media, who, we already know, will frame every military victory as a setback. Forget Tucker and Candice and the antisemites. Forget the anti-American campus nepo-mobs. Finish the job, Mr. President. Cement your legacy. Protect the American people. Show that your passion for making America great again overpowers the IRGC’s genocidal bloodlust to turn the world into an Islamic prison camp with underage harems.
In this game, the most committed wins.

“.. the Iranian parliament is drafting legislation to offer a reward of €50 million for assassinating Donald Trump..”

• What Iran Says — or Threatens — as Trump Admin Seeks War’s End (Salgado)

As the American public waits for President Donald Trump to decide whether to attack the Iranian regime again or not, the Iranian regime has made its warlike intentions clear. Trump seemed to be more in favor of striking Iran again as of Saturday morning, since he had canceled all his weekend plans and posted a map showing an American flag over Iran with the comment, “United States of the Middle East?”

The Kobeissi Letter, which sometimes has the inside scoop and sometimes jumps the gun, claimed that the following deal was under consideration, extending the ceasefire by 60 days:
1. This would include a “gradual reopening” of the Strait of Hormuz
2. It would also include a commitment to discussing the “diluting or handing over” of Iran’s highly enrich uranium
3. The US would ease its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and agree to sanctions relief
4. The US would also begin a phased unfreezing of Iran’s assets
Both sides are nearing a “memorandum of understanding” to extend a ceasefire. The problem is that the Iranian regime has broken the ceasefire we have currently many times, and we really shouldn’t give them any relief until and unless they give us more concessions. We are the winning side in this conflict, while they merely want us to give them a little bit of respite as they rally for another round. In fact, the Iranian parliament is drafting legislation to offer a reward of €50 million for assassinating Donald Trump. And an Iranian-tied terrorist is now in American custody after committing multiple terrorist attacks culminating in an attempt on Ivanka Trump.
On May 14, Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Ebrahim Azizi declared, “We expect the government to pay a €50 million [roughly $58 million] reward to anyone who carried out this religious mission” of assassinating Trump. Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee member Abolfazl Zohrevand also declared his intention of orchestrating the assassination of Trump. The U.S. government has identified more than one Iranian assassination team in the U.S.
One problem that has always surfaced with Western nations that prefer not to be at war is that we have a tendency either to make deals that are compromising for us, or optimistically assume until it is too late to take the initiative that the other side must really want peace as well. This is an assumption born of cultural imperialism rather than reality. Adolf Hitler wanted war much, much more than Neville Chamberlain wanted peace. Yasser Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas wanted/want their jihad to continue until Israel is wiped off the map, no matter how many American presidents pander to them. And the Islamic regime of Iran has made terrorist war its consuming focus for half a century. It is never going to stop attacking America and Israel, not as long as any members of that regime are in power.

“..approximately 30 shots..” That’s a lot.

Sundance posted the second video somewhere near the article. Not sure about that.

• More Shots Fired Near White House Perimeter (CTH)

The White House was placed into lockdown after a series of approximately 30 shots were heard being fired near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Journalists and media correspondents reported hearing a series of multiple shots fired and were then told to go into the Brady Room of the White House where they were protected while secret security evaluated the danger.

Secret Service agents were seen on the White House grounds with their weapons drawn responding to the alarm. As far as currently reported, around 6pm a single gunman approached the White House gate on West Side. The gunman brandished pistol and fired toward the White House at least six shots. Secret Service returned fire and the shooter was taken down. A bystander on street is also reported to have been hit. The gunman never got through the security perimeter.

“The New York Post obtained a photo of the gunman and said he believed he was Jesus Christ.“

• Gunman Killed At White House Had Previous Run-ins With Secret Service (JTN)

Dozens of gunshots were reportedly heard near the White House on Saturday night. The incident resulted in a lockdown. The U.S. Secret Service shot and killed the shooter after he approached a security checkpoint and started firing at officers.The U.S. Secret Service said the suspect “removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers.” A bystander was also shot. Their condition is unclear at this time. The gunman has been identified as Nasire Best, 21, of Maryland. Reports said he suffered from mental health issues and had previous encounters with the Secret Service.

The New York Post obtained a photo of the gunman and said he believed he was Jesus Christ. Earlier on Saturday, FBI Director Kash Patel had confirmed a gunman fired shots and said law enforcement was on the scene. The shots were reportedly fired at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. Members of the press ran into the White House briefing room after hearing the shots.

Pepe is so focused on China that his prediction comes true of necessity: it’s all about China.

“The New Silk Roads/BRI and its derivations such as the Northern Sea Route/Arctic Silk Road remain alive and kicking..”

• The Russia-China Spaceship Rushes Towards Planet Multipolar (Pepe Escobar)

SHANGHAI – This is it.The Russia-China strategic partnership, the leaders in the process of Eurasia integration, the leaders of multipolar bodies BRICS and the SCO, have formally endorsed and boosted the drive towards multipolarity and a new system of international relations via a strategic joint declaration signed, sealed and delivered during President Putin’s visit to China this Wednesday.This is one for the History books – in several more ways than one. I was privileged to follow the proceedings in Beijing during the whole day at the Aurora College, a top Shanghai private school and university, among a fabulous congregation of teachers and students.

So we had plenty of time to discuss the implications of how the Top Two Eurasia powers – and global powers – are establishing the lineaments of a new geopolitical future for most of mankind. The exceptions will be exceptionalist recalcitrants and vassals addicted to commit serial political suicide. We all remember President Xi’s visit to Russia in 2023, when leaving the Kremlin, side by side with Putin, he voiced what he was already polishing for some time, in a very concise way: “Right now there are changes we have not seen in 100 years.” And then Xi and Putin agreed that now, “we are the ones driving these changes together”. The practical result is the sharply focused Beijing joint statement, penned by unmistakable “civilizations with ancient history.”
Let’s go through some of the highlights. The declaration minces no words and no concepts when it comes to offering a serious alternative to the current – dwindling – unilateral historic moment.
Polycentrism: “The attempts of a number of states to single-handedly manage global affairs, impose their interests on the entire world, and limit the sovereign development of other countries in the spirit of the colonial era have failed.” Russia-China will focus on establishing a “long-term state of polycentrism.”
The ”law of the jungle”: “Basic universally recognized norms of international law and international relations are regularly violated (…) there is a danger of fragmentation within the international community and a return to the ‘law of the jungle’.”
A new security architecture: “It is necessary to pay due attention to the rational concerns of all countries in the field of security, to focus on cooperation on security issues, to reject bloc confrontation and zero-sum game strategies, to oppose the expansion of military alliances, hybrid wars, and proxy wars, and to promote the creation of an updated, balanced, effective, and sustainable global and regional security architecture (…) It is unacceptable to force sovereign states to abandon their neutrality.”
This is exactly what Moscow proposed to Washington and NATO in December 2021: indivisibility of security. The non-response response precipitated the SMO in Ukraine two months later, as it became obvious to Moscow that NATO’s plan was a blitzkrieg in Donbass.
Hegemony: “Hegemony in the world is unacceptable and should be prohibited. No state or group of states should control international affairs, determine the fate of other countries, or monopolize opportunities for development.”
Global governance: that’s President Xi’s cherished concept, fully delienated in the SCO summit last year in Tianjin: “In global governance, which is an important tool for streamlining the system of international relations, it is necessary to adhere to the principles of sovereign equality, the rule of international law, multilateralism, human-centeredness, and results-oriented approach.”
The United Nations: it’s necessary to “strengthen the role of multilateralism as the primary tool for addressing the multifaceted and complex global challenges, and to prevent the weakening of the United Nations.” That should lead to “the reform of the United Nations”. Yet everyone knows that will definitely not happen under the current administration in the White House.
Point 4 of the declaration: global civilizational and value diversity. That may be the crux of the matter – inexorably burying any Exceptionalist pretensions: “The spiritual and moral system of any civilization cannot be considered exceptional or superior to others. All countries should advocate a view of civilizations based on equality, mutual exchange of experience, and dialogue, and should strengthen mutual respect, understanding, trust, and exchanges between different nationalities and civilizations, promote mutual understanding and friendship among the peoples of all countries, and protect the diversity of cultures and civilizations.”

“Moroccan security forces have stepped up their role as Europe’s de facto border enforcer ..”

• Morocco Launches Mass Deportations To Block Europe Migration Route (ZH)

Since April 14, Morocco has been conducting large-scale deportation operations targeting sub-Saharan Africans migrating to Europe, reportedly arresting over 100 per day, local sources told Middle East Eye. According to Moroccan human rights groups, around 800 people were detained during coordinated raids in the forests between Fnideq and Belyounech, in the northern tip of the North African state, where many were sheltering before attempting to reach Europe.

The operation is still ongoing, with authorities then moving their focus to operations in and around Tangier. Witnesses have described mass arrests, beatings, racist abuse and forced transfers toward the Algerian border.Sudanese and Chadian detainees were bused south and abandoned near border zones, while people from countries including Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Guinea were deported on flights departing Casablanca. The crackdown comes as the European Union has intensified its cooperation with Morocco as part of its border externalization strategy, which is a key component of the bloc’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum set to take effect in June.
The EU increasingly outsources immigration enforcement to North African nations with poor human rights records, designating over €900 million within the bloc’s Global Europe development instrument to fund stricter migration control, border management and surveillance initiatives across the region. “The EU wants to restrict people’s mobility as far down the route as possible – what officials describe as stopping migration downstream,” Frey Lindsay, a journalist on Statewatch’s Outsourcing Borders project, which tracks how the EU outsources migration control, told Middle East Eye. “It’s about exerting border control without getting your hands dirty, basically.”
Raids and expulsions
Morocco is a key transit country for sub-Saharan Africans en route to Europe. They sail across the Strait of Gibraltar or climb the towering razor wire fence that separates Morocco from Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish enclaves within the kingdom. Over the years, Morocco has increased cooperation with Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, to prevent migrants from departing the North African coast. In 2025, Moroccan authorities thwarted 73,640 irregular migration attempts toward Europe, according to a report from the interior ministry, a slight decline from 2024 – attributed to alternative migration routes.
In recent weeks, Moroccan security forces have stepped up their role as Europe’s de facto border enforcer, carrying out regular raids on makeshift forest camps and key transit points used by people trying to reach Spain. Attacks on migrant camps have long been pervasive, but have escalated since April 14, with operations concentrated in the north of the country. People who are not deported are typically exiled to the south in an effort to disrupt migration routes.
“According to migrants we have been in contact with, they were subjected to various forms of humiliation, insults and mistreatment by authorities,” Chad Boukhari, a journalist and member of Border Resistance, a grassroots collective that supports migrants across the Mediterranean, told MEE. Some were abandoned near the Algerian border without food or water, where they were detained by Algerian forces. “The Algerian army allegedly tortured many of them. Some individuals also found the bodies of other migrants in the desert,” Boukhari added.

“Democrats are laying the groundwork to pack the court the next time they hold power, and they need a narrative to justify it. Every impeachment article, every ethics accusation, every outraged floor speech is a brick in that foundation.”

• What the Democrats’ Push to Impeach Chief Justice Roberts Is About (Margolis)

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) filed an impeachment resolution Thursday against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. I guess we should just add it to the pile of impeachment resolutions Democrats have filed against President Donald Trump and members of his administration, right?

Cohen has represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District for years, but he’s retiring after Tennessee Republicans redrew his seat following a late-April Supreme Court ruling declaring racial gerrymandering unconstitutional. Rather than accept the outcome, Cohen decided to go out with a fire-sale grievance tour, targeting the most consequential figure in American law. In announcing the resolution, Cohen said, “I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that while John Roberts remains Chief Justice, correcting this misconduct and ensuring the Justices and the Court itself comply with their legal obligations will be impossible.” The problem is that his resolution is absurd.
Take Article I, which accuses Roberts of allowing the court to become “a political instrument” through its handling of election and redistricting cases. This is rich coming from a party that spent decades running to the courts to block policies it couldn’t kill through legislation, and to impose policies it couldn’t pass through Congress. It’s funny how when the courts were a rubber stamp for the left, they were oracles of justice. Now that they’re not, they’re corrupt.
Article II claims Roberts “entrenched minority rule” through decisions that have enabled partisan gerrymandering. Cute story. Remind me again which party aggressively gerrymandered blue states for decades? Oh right.
Article III blames Roberts for campaign finance rulings that allegedly “empowered the rich.” For starters, that isn’t even a constitutional argument, but if you can find me the part of the Constitution that says that “the rich” have fewer rights than “the poor,” we can talk.
Article IV targets Trump v. United States and the issue of presidential immunity. Cohen apparently forgot that presidents of both parties have long asserted immunity protections for official actions; Democrats were just the first party to weaponize justice against a former president.
Of course, my favorite is Article VI, which alleges that Roberts failed to recuse himself from cases involving law firms connected to his wife. Democrats have never raised similar concerns about Justice Elena Kagan, who declined to recuse herself from Obamacare cases, despite previously arguing for the law’s constitutionality as Obama’s solicitor general. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley has noted that the majority of Supreme Court decisions are unanimous or near-unanimous (often, Biden’s DEI pick is a lone dissenter), which runs counter to the narrative that the court is a 6-3 ideological machine grinding out partisan rulings on command.
Strangely, the inconvenient facts never make it into the Democrats’ talking points. Here’s the thing: This impeachment resolution has zero chance of passing. So why bother? Because this was never about impeachment or removing Roberts. Democrats are laying the groundwork to pack the court the next time they hold power, and they need a narrative to justify it. Every impeachment article, every ethics accusation, every outraged floor speech is a brick in that foundation. Trust me, I used to be an architect. The left is merely trying to delegitimize the court so that, when the moment comes, the public is already primed to accept packing the court.

Read and weep.

• The Democrat POTUS Possibles for ’28 (Florack)

Think about it. When did the Democrats last field anything resembling a quality presidential candidate, even from the rather myopic view of a Liberal Democrat voter? Let’s look at the history of the thing. (By the way, the barf bags are in the storage on the seat back in front of you.) Hillary Clinton? A genuinely terrible candidate — and that’s before you factor in the steamer trunk of baggage she dragged behind her everywhere she went. Just horrible. By the way, I have no plans whatever to kill myself, in case the subject should come up.

Joe Biden? His campaign strategy consisted of hiding in a basement and hoping America was desperate enough to bite on the pablum he offered up. And yes, they were. He won — though we’re learning more every day about just how dishonestly that win was assembled. Then he got into office, and exactly as I and most others predicted, he delivered an unmitigated disaster that answered every question anyone had left about him and the people hanging onto his coattails. (Autopen, anyone? I mean, who was actually making executive decisions? We still have no real answer for that, and it doesn’t seem likely the Democrats will ever want to find out.)
Kamala Harris? Her own party wanted nothing to do with her. In her entire lifetime, she’s never won a primary vote. By the way, that seems the likely reason why the Democrats didn’t subject her to a primary vote in ’24, but bypassed their own voters to install her, like someone replacing a dead headlight with another dead headlight. She tops the polls, now, sure — but two points there:
1: These are the same pollsters who called her a shoo-in in 2024.You might recall how that worked out, though I’ve begun to wonder if SHE does.
2: That she tops the polls now only suggests how weak the remainder of the field is.
Harris’ entire rationale for running now is staying visible enough to shake down speaking-fee money from people who inexplicably still believe she matters in the slightest. Even she knows she’s got no chance.mThen there’s Gavin Newsom — a man who locked himself out of serious contention using nothing but his own mouth and his ability to slam leftist policy through a one-party legislature. He’s the kind of politician who endangers anyone standing between him and a microphone. But California — that magnificent catastrophe he built — will crush any national ambitions flat. Voters will look at what he did to that state and treat his presidential run like a restraining order.
There’s the towering political vision of Mark Kelly. A man who has masterfully built his entire brand around disliking one specific person. Sure, that razor-sharp platform of “Orange Man Bad” will absolutely carry him through a primary, a general election, and straight into the history books. Who needs ideas when you have feelings?mAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez has graciously stepped into a role that blonde jokes previously held. But really, who needs punch lines when the subject writes them herself? We’ll just leave it at that, shall we? No further elaboration required.
And Pete Buttigieg — ah yes, the man who turned disappearing into an art form. A truly stunning record of achievement: successfully located an exit door at the exact moment his job required him to show up. The fine people of East Palestine, Ohio — Democrats included, bless their hearts — must be simply overwhelmed with gratitude for his dedicated service. Surely they’re already printing the Buttigieg 2028 yard signs as we speak. He’ll get their votes any day now.
JB Pritzker? Why would anyone vote for him? Particularly Democrats. Oh sure. Absolutely inspired choice. Because nothing screams “man of the people” like a billionaire aristocrat. And Illinois as a model for the nation? Please, sign the rest of America up immediately for that glorious experiment in governance. (Chicago! Just… Chicago.) A party that treats “millionaire” like a slur suddenly rallying behind one? Oh, that’ll be a completely seamless pivot, no cognitive dissonance whatsoever.
Josh Shapiro? Brilliant. A party that has spent the better part of a decade cozying up to some rather… let’s say colorful ideological company on the Jewish question, suddenly deciding a Jewish candidate is its standard-bearer? Totally coherent. Makes complete and perfect sense. Nothing to untangle there at all. And the thing is, not a one of them cracks 10% in the polls, currently.
There’s this, too; Has anyone seen any efforts on the part of the Democrats to get their primary act together? After Hillary’s manipulation of that process, there was a fair amount of noise from some quarters that the DNC had to make the Democrat party’s primary system actually democratic. A great concept, but if there’s ever been any action at all toward that goal in all the time since then, I’ve not heard of it. If I haven’t, then it’s a pretty good bet most Democrat voters haven’t, either.
The lack of effort to learn from the mistakes of 2024, given what they’ve showed us with that joke of an election autopsy report, shows us clearly that the Democrats aren’t rebuilding. Add it all up, and they’re just reshuffling the same losing hand and waiting for someone to sell to the Democrat voters that it looks different and better this time.

‘I pray to God that by the end of this, that you think of me as a friend, because if anything ever happened to me, I want you’ — Hunter Biden to Candace Owens

• Candace Owens Interviews Hunter Biden (Tim O’Brien)

Another item that Owens clearly wanted to feature prominently for this interview is what looks like a golden Catholic reliquary vessel, but I’m only going by the visual, and cannot assume she has an actual relic of a saint in that vessel. That’s what reliquary vessels are for – to house relics from Catholic saints. Needless to say, these aren’t typical adornments for a Catholic home. They most often can be found in actual churches or faith-based institutions.

There are many reasons a person would have something like this in their home and for public display. One is they are seriously devout Catholics, and whoever would have such items on display would expect you to stop here. But other reasons could be that the individual is a non-religious collector, or an obsessive-compulsive where nothing is ever enough; or the person could be what is known as a “magpie,” which is someone who collects shiny or impressive items and is known as overly talkative or gossipy.
Owens is a newly christened Catholic, having been baptized in 2024, and so I’ll just leave all of that here. Against this backdrop, literally, Owens interviewed one of the most disgraced members of the Biden White House, namely Hunter Biden, the president’s son and intermediary for so much of what Joe Biden did in his personal life before and during his tenure as president. Stating the obvious, if Owens were a conservative, Biden would never have agreed to allow her to interview him. So why did he do it? We can assume that each had their own reasons, which may include the fact that they both dislike the same people, they know an interview like this will give them more clout, it keeps them in the public conversation, or all of the above.
I’ve long believed that Owens has never taken the time to study up on conservatism and has no ideology that can’t be changed on a dime to suit her insatiable desire for attention. Hunter Biden seems to be equally shallow, having no principles that can’t be compromised if the promise from the other end of a given transaction is a pile of cash or a hit of cocaine. And so, these two users decided to use each other by using microphones, a camera, and Owens’ loyal audience. The leftists who saw the interview were relieved that for starters, Owens made it clear she wouldn’t cast any shade on Joe Biden.

Candace Owens started the Hunter Biden interview off beautifully.

“I will say to the audience right now. I have already made the pledge right when I got on the phone with you— that obviously I’m not going to make you say anything about your father, because that would just be… pic.twitter.com/2dTQnE92MJ
— Kay Su (@KaySu00) May 21, 2026

The first hour of their nearly two-hour interview centered mostly on Biden’s drug use. This gave Owens an opportunity to show her empathetic side, something she has yet to show towards Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk. During this hour, Owens gave Biden the opportunity to set the record straight on that bag of cocaine that was found in the White House situation room. You’ll be relieved to hear that Hunter said it was not his, and Owens appeared to take his word for it.
“Was it (the cocaine) yours?,” Owens said. “No,” Biden said, adding that if it were his, he never would have “forgotten it in a cubby to go into the Situation Room.” In a nod to those Catholic decorations in Owens’ studio, Biden made sure to talk about how hard his life is and was, and that his Catholic faith has sustained him. He did not talk about whether that faith made him a better father to the illegitimate child he had with a stripper, whom he had abandoned until he and the Biden family were shamed into publicly acknowledging the child.
All of that was just a setup to what both seemed to really want to talk about, which is President Donald Trump and the Joos. Biden described Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and murders of innocent Israelis as “wholesale murder of a population in Gaza.” Owens brought up what she described as Trump’s family making money off of his presidency. Yes, she really did that while talking to Hunter “Barisma” Biden. And she did it with a straight face. Using Hunter Biden as a sounding board, she actually tried to make a case that it’s the Trump family that’s corrupt — all with no sense of irony that she was sitting across from the Biden family’s consigliere.
Using that as a jumping-off point, Biden gave his approval of Owens’ backbone “for asking questions” about the public execution of her supposed friend Charlie Kirk. Owens is now notoriously best known for demonizing Kirk’s family, his team, and anyone who might come to their defense against Owens’ own conspiracy theories, mostly centered on Israel. Never mind that the alleged assassin has already confessed to the crime, and is awaiting trial.
In a moment of magnanimity, Owens actually apologized to Biden for things she had said about him over the years. She told him that she felt “terrible” when she commented on his self-imposed scandal surrounding the “Hunter Biden Laptop” controversy. On that topic, Biden is now blaming Israel for the scandal. He told Owens that two Israeli-Americans, Alexander Smirnov and Gal Luft, were at the center of the situation, which itself is centered on tons of indefensible content that Biden has never denied being from him.

Hunter Biden claims his laptop story was "all a hoax" with no criminal activity.

Candace Owens as the terrible "journalist" she is gives zero push back pivots to Trump.

Laptop showed, emails, text messages with foreign governments, meetings with officials with 10% for Joe… pic.twitter.com/bHd9deff18
— J (@JayTC53) May 21, 2026

Still, Owens is sorry she talked badly about Biden and said so, “Genuinely, I am so sorry.” She may want to redirect that apology to Erika Kirk, but I digress. I guess in order to get an apology from Owens, you need to just despise the same people she does. Then the two chatted about how the narrative, as Biden’s own allies concocted at the time, falsely alleged that the scandal was a “Russian disinformation” op.
It’s getting hard to keep track. Who was behind the Hunter Biden laptop? The Russians? Israel? Or, could Hunter himself have had something to do with it? Biden did tell Owens that was him smoking crack in a motel room with hookers, but because that was him as a drug addict, it was not really him. He even had the nerve to say, “That was addiction. That wasn’t corruption.” Well, that makes it all better, doesn’t it?

“It’s not Mexico that needs a trade deal with Europe, it’s the opposite. “

• Mexico Signs Trade Deal with European Union (CTH)

It’s not Mexico that needs a trade deal with Europe, it’s the opposite. For almost two decades Europe has been investing heavily inside Mexico, particularly noted in the auto industry, as they positioned themselves to take advantage of NAFTA and later the USMCA as an entry to the U.S. market. European auto companies spent billions on assembly plants in Mexico, where they could ship EU manufactured component goods to be assembled into NAFTA/USMCA compliant vehicles. As President Trump and USTR Greer begin focusing on eliminating the USMCA trade agreement in favor of two bilateral deals (U.S-Canada and U.S-Mexico), Europe now needs to protect prior investment. The prior Mexico-EU trade agreement has existed since 2000 (NAFTA timeframe). In 2025 they agreed to a revised Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and finalized the terms and conditions yesterday.

MEXICO CITY, May 22 (Reuters) – Mexico and the European Union signed a long-stalled free trade agreement on Friday as they seek to decrease dependence on the U.S. and partially insulate themselves from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The accord, which they reached broad agreement on in 2025 but have delayed signing, expands a Mexico-EU trade accord from 2000, which covered only industrial goods. The new pact adds services, government procurement, digital trade, investment and farm produce. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa are to sign the deal in Mexico City in their first summit in over a decade.
“This agreement is a true geopolitical statement,” Costa said on Friday, shortly after signing the agreement. “With the modernized global agreement, we are better prepared to face the challenges of our time.” […] Mexico’s economy ministry estimates the new agreement could increase Mexican exports to the EU from around $24 billion a year to $36 billion by 2030. The EU exports around $65 billion in goods annually to Mexico. Trade between Mexico and the EU has increased 75% in a decade, dominated by transport equipment, machinery, chemicals, fuels and mining products.
The new deal provides duty-free access for almost all goods including farm products such as Mexican chicken and asparagus and European milk powder, cheese and pork, albeit with some quotas. (read more) I love how Reuters uses the term “transportation equipment” to cloud the actual content, EU vehicle components for auto assembly. Sometimes you just have to snicker at the silliness of it all. In essence, in order for the EU to retain their investment status, they are telling Mexico they will import more chickens, pork, dairy and row crops. All of it subject to “quotas” established as an outcome of analysis about what bureaucrats in Brussels will tell EU farmers they have to accept.
A conversation akin to, ‘we’re going to buy more vegetables in order to keep our auto manufacturing systems in place.’ However, once those EU vehicles like BMW are assembled in Mexico, then what? It’s not like Mexican workers are going to be running to the showrooms to purchase exotic cars. All of these maneuvers are designed around one central strategic intent, keep the auto assembly close to the USA market and then pay Mexican officials through roots and vegetables to negotiate the best bilateral trade agreement with the United States that keeps European investment alive. Europe needs Mexico to think about -and represent- their interests when Mexico is negotiating a bilateral with Trump.

How to kill a highly successful franchise or entire field: go woke. You would think they figured that out by now.

• Disney’s Marvel Comics Faces Mass Layoffs And New Woke Leadership (ZH)

The saga of woke comics is the saga of woke America. Much like video games, comics and superhero movies were ignored by conservative movements as “meaningless kids stuff” until recently, which is part of the reason why those industries were so easily invaded by leftists and used to indoctrinate millions of children and teens a decade ago. Culture is more important than politics. This is obvious. It’s a fact that leftists have understood for generations and one that conservatives have foolishly dismissed. Only in the past few years has there been a shift; at least, the progressive rampage through America’s various media institutions has been stalled and slightly reversed.

But, the most captured platforms are not going to change anytime soon, even in the face of financial decline and mass layoffs. Disney and Marvel have recently announced a shake-up of the comics division, with over a thousand layoffs this year (after moderate layoffs over the past few years), and new executive leadership. Far-left DEI advocate Dan Buckley is on the way out. This change is being presented as a retirement, though some skeptics argue he is being forced out as part of the company’s restructuring.
Buckley replacement is not much better, however. TV Chief Brad Winderbaum is taking over as Marvel President and his track record on Marvel TV series includes some of the biggest woke failures in streaming history – Ms. Marvel (Muslim Pakistani representation), She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (feminist/meta take, which he defends as a strong performer despite critical failure), Ironheart (feminism and BLM propaganda), Echo, Agatha All Along, Wonder Man (prominent LGBT elements). In other words, superhero fans hoping that the company changes will result in a renewed respect for the source materials are probably going to be disappointed. Marvel’s direction is unlikely to improve.
Marvel Comics, a subsidiary of Disney, has been at the forefront of far-left propaganda in content for many years, and their woke concepts are usually ported directly into Disney’s movies and streaming series. Everything from gay and trans X-Men to black Spider-Man, to female gender swaps of popular male characters have become the norm. And, books sales have flatlined in response. Marvel’s market share has plunged from highs of 40%-45% to around 29% today. Direct market US comics make up around 15% of total sales in the medium, while Japanese Manga dominates with 50% of the market. US comics continue to lose ground exactly because no one likes woke superheros.
Only ten years ago the business of superheroes was big. Theater goers could not get enough of the comic book genre. Comic studios from industry titans to indies were scrambling to turn every property they had into a movie deal. Nerd culture went fully mainstream and every kid and suburban wine-mom was geeking out in a way that used to get people beat up in middle school.

Fewer kids and marriages is all men’s fault?

• No Wonder Men Are Opting Out (Bettina Arndt)

A Merlin Strategy poll of young Britons aged 18 to 30 found three times more young women than young men held a negative view of the opposite sex. Only about 50% of women had a positive view of men compared to 72% of men feeling positive about women. For women under 25, it was even starker: only around one-third (35%) reported a positive view of men. This applies particularly to professional and managerial young women of whom just 36% hold a positive view of men, compared with 61% of working-class women.

The contempt for men is hardly surprising – that’s what they have been taught. Mary Harrington, a British journalist and cultural critic who writes on Substack, frequently criticises what she calls the “femosphere” — the online feminist spaces where women bond through shared grievances about men. “The online feminist scene often feels like one long group therapy session for women to compare notes on how awful men are,” she writes, suggesting this makes men the universal scapegoat, where ordinary male behaviour is routinely framed as toxic or oppressive, while women’s collective resentment is rewarded and amplified. “Casual, low-level male-bashing has become the background hum of progressive online culture.”
Not only does this toxic climate encourage women to be wary of men, but growing up in a hate-fuelled online sewer takes a toll on their mental health. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has long been warning that the toxic world of social media would lead to a rise in mental health problems, particularly in girls and young women. “Since the early 2010s, young people across the developed world are becoming more anxious, depressed and lonely. The increases were even greater in young women,” he said.
Recent large-scale surveys (Ipsos 202-–2026 across 31 countries, Gallup 2025) are showing Gen Z women currently report the highest recorded levels of anxiety, persistent sadness, hopelessness and depression of any female generation at the same age. Not much fun for their partners. Last year Psychology Today had a stark warning for men about these women as marriage prospects.The saying ‘happy wife, happy life’ may have some validity, but the lesser-known saying ‘anxious wife, miserable life’ has research-approved validation. … The more neurotic the spouse is, the less happy the relationship — but women’s neuroticism seems to carry more weight in the overall marital happiness equation.
Then there’s the intriguing issue of married women turning off the tap, leaving sex-starved husbands as the norm. For as long as anyone can remember, men were shamed into showing up economically. Society has absolutely nothing to say to women who stop showing up sexually. One obligation was enforced by church, law and community for centuries. The other is now abrogated on the grounds of bodily autonomy.mSo here we have the portrait of the modern woman as marriage prospect: miserable, anxious, politically radicalised, contemptuous of men, often sexually rejecting and trained to see menace in ordinary male behaviour. And yet the puzzled chorus from commentators, economists and policymakers continues: why won’t men commit? Why won’t they work?
The approved explanations are dutifully trotted out. The economic story: men have been displaced by automation and globalisation. The health story: opioids, disability, mental illness. The educational story: men are falling behind women in universities and therefore in the job market. The cultural story, favoured by progressive commentators: toxic masculinity is preventing men from adapting to a modern service economy. All of these contain a grain of truth. But they do not account for what is really going on. The obvious explanation — the one staring out of every data table — is intentionally ignored.
Marriage was the primary incentive for sustained male economic effort. It has always been — Ehrenreich knew it in 1983, and the economists have now confirmed it. There’s an economic research paper, ‘The Declining Labour Market Prospects of Less-Educated Men, which establishes that the prospect of forming and providing for a family constitutes a critical male labour supply incentive, and that the decline of stable marriage directly removes it. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas calculated that declining marriage rates are responsible for roughly half the drop in the hours men work.Remove the marriage and you remove the responsibility. The data have been telling us this for decades.

marc andreessen just went on Rogan and casually dropped a TON of AI alpha

full pod is 3 hours and 20 minutes, but i pulled out his most interesting takes here:

1. AGI is here. he thinks the line was crossed about 3 months ago with the new GPT-5.5, claude 4.6, gemini 3, and grok… pic.twitter.com/IrBAUmxDcA
— Ole Lehmann (@itsolelehmann) May 22, 2026

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2057782776192245840?s=20

My statin thread reached over 460,000 people. Thousands of you asked the same question.

"If cholesterol does not cause heart disease, then what does?"

The answer has been published for years. In the largest risk factor study ever conducted. 27,939 women. 21 years. Published in… pic.twitter.com/KbKId3yLVS
— Mark Kaplan (@markkaplan20) May 23, 2026

Aaron Russo was killed just days after doing this interview in 2007. How did Aaron Russo know all of this information in 2007 ? Because one of the Rockefellers told him. pic.twitter.com/0pipWiSppD
— Andrew Bridgen (@ABridgen) May 22, 2026

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

Debt Rattle May 21 2026

May 212026

May 21, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:03 am Finance Tagged with: Anti-Weaponization Fund, Blanche, COVID, EU, Europe, Iran, Merkel, Sinaloa.Mexico, Ukraine, Yermak 30 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Femme nue couchée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) 1932

• Tense Trump-Netanyahu Call As US Presses Iran To ‘Sign The Document’ (ZH)

• Iran Warns Will Take War ‘Beyond The Region’ If Trump Restarts Attacks (ZH)

• Xi Warns US Against New Iran Strikes, Denounces ‘Law Of The Jungle’ (ZH)

• Acting AG Todd Blanche Takes a More Oppositional Approach to Democrats (CTH)

• Mexico Freezes Sinaloa Cartel Bank Accounts, Collaborates with US Intel (CTH)

• Ukraine Preparing Strikes On Russia From Nato Country Latvia – Moscow (RT)

• Zelensky Aide’s Jailing Was a Warning From Washington – Former Diplomat (RT)

• Michael Caputo First To Apply For $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ (JTN)

• Gutfeld Torches Colbert’s Legacy on the Way Out the Door (Matt Margolis)

• I’m Sorry, but California Is HOW Deep in the Hole? (Stephen Green)

• Nearly Half of French Voters May Support National Rally (RMX)

• EU Faces Backlash For Awarding Merkel With Order of Merit (RMX)

• UK COVID Inquiry’s Endorsement Of Censorship Sets Chilling Precedent (DS)

Elon Musk said five words on Joe Rogan that explain everything wrong with your life right now.

Musk: “Happiness is reality minus expectations.”

Five words.

And it explains why the most comfortable generation in human history can’t stop feeling empty.

Musk: “If you just go try… pic.twitter.com/432YlTz3N1
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) May 20, 2026

CNN data analyst Harry Enten just knocked it out of the park.

He said he wasn’t surprised at all with the Thomas Massie upset because President Trump is the “general” of the Republican Party.

ENTEN: “I wasn’t surprised at all because the bottom line is this; Donald Trump is the… pic.twitter.com/ucJMZpydfe
— Overton (@overton_news) May 20, 2026

Elon Musk was asked how he’d manufacture satellites at scale.

He described building a factory on the moon.

And almost nobody caught what he was laying out.

Musk: “The lunar soil is like 20% silicon. So you can mine the silicon on the moon, refine it, and create the solar cells… pic.twitter.com/lAV4XEAYC2
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) May 19, 2026

"Anthony Weiner's laptop wasn't just some perverts hard drive. It was the life insurance policy that kept the entire Clinton Crime Syndicate untouchable."

"The infamous 'life insurance' folder contains 1000s of files tying straight to Epstein's Island & the global elite." pic.twitter.com/7DeDId9JiL
— conspiracybot (@conspiracyb0t) May 19, 2026

Never once in 30 years seen him sleep on a plane. Always working.

The man who gave his entire life to Donald Trump — finally opened up to the world today. And showed America a hidden side of Trump that most of us never knew existed. Trump’s own pilot. The man who has flown him for 30 years. Who has sat in that cockpit while Trump sat behind him… pic.twitter.com/IaZ5solf0s
— The Husky (@Mr_Husky1) May 20, 2026

Bibi will not start bombing if Trump doesn’t want him to. Control has shifted.That is an achievement.

• Tense Trump-Netanyahu Call As US Presses Iran To ‘Sign The Document’ (ZH)

Iran Issues its Strait Passage Protocol
The following was issued from the Official Account of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority: The Islamic Republic of Iran has defined the boundaries of the Strait of Hormuz management supervision area as follows: “The line connecting Kuh Mobarak in Iran and the south of Fujairah in the UAE in the east of the strait to the line connecting the end of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm al-Qaiwain in the UAE in the west of the strait.” The statement adds: “Frequencies in this range for passing through the Strait of Hormuz require coordination with the Persian Gulf Waterway Management and a permit from this entity.”

Trump: ‘Sign the Document’ or Face War’s Resumption
Trump and Netanyahu had a reported tense phone call related to ongoing Iran talks, and a proposed peace deal on the table. Netanyahu is said to be seeking a greenlight for renewed military action against Tehran, at a moment the Iranians have not compromised on the nuclear issue. Per fresh reporting in Axios: “Trump continues to say he thinks a deal can be reached, but that he’s ready to resume the war if it isn’t”: “The only question is do we go and finish it up or are they gonna be signing a document. Let’s see what happens,” he said on Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy.
Trump also said Netanyahu “will do whatever I want him to do” on Iran, though he also said they had a good relationship. The two leaders have had temporary disagreements on Iran before but have remained closely coordinated throughout the war. Iran has confirmed it’s reviewing an updated proposal, but has not yet shown any signs of flexibility. The same report says of Israel’s position that “Netanyahu is highly skeptical about the negotiations and wants to resume the war to further degrade Iran’s military capabilities and weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure.”
US Marines Board Iran-Flagged Tanker
The Pentagon has announced that US Marines have boarded another Iranian-flagged tanker, this time in the Gulf of Oman. It had been accused of attempting to violate the US naval blockade, after which it was boarded.But, as CENTCOM says, “American forces released the vessel after searching and directing the ship’s crew to alter course.” This as Iran’s IRGC Navy says 26 vessels, including oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels, transited in the prior 24 hours “in coordination” with Iranian authorities (per state news).

Earlier today in the Gulf of Oman, U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded M/T Celestial Sea, an Iranian-flagged commercial oil tanker suspected of attempting to violate the U.S. blockade by transiting toward an Iranian port. American forces released the… pic.twitter.com/1AVT0MudKY
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 20, 2026

Iran Confirms Ongoing Exchange of Messages with US
Some latest from Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: “Exchange of messages between Iranian and American sides continues based on the text of Iran’s 14-point resolution.” And more:
• Iran’s focus is on ending the war and fulfilling Iran’s clear demands
• The presence of the Pakistani Interior Minister is to facilitate the exchange of messages.
• Baqaei: We are exchanging messages with suspicion and good intentions
• Talking about ultimatums and deadlines regarding Iran is ridiculous.
• Iran also says US has to prove its goodwill and stop “piracy” against Iranian ships
Ghalibaf: US Seeking To ‘Start A New War’
Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that Tehran sees signs that the United States is seeking to restart the war and still hopes the Islamic Republic will surrender: “The enemy’s movements, both overt and clandestine, show that despite economic and political pressure, it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new war,” Ghalibaf said in an audio message carried by Iranian media.”Close monitoring of the situation in the United States reinforces the possibility that they still hope for the surrender of the Iranian nation,” he adds. Trump has given Iran ‘days’ – or also till the start of next week to come back to the table; however, on Wednesday he’s actually touting a ‘final’ deal draft is near, despite Iran still not budging on the nuclear issue.
Oil Plunges Further on Trump Comment
Again, possibly just more jawboning, but oil’s Wednesday morning plunge deepened upon Trump touting ‘final stages’ of talks with Iran… all of this as usually looking very premature… TRUMP SAYS US IN ‘FINAL STAGES’ OF TALKS WITH IRAN: POOL REPORT TRUMP SAYS ‘WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS’ W/ IRAN: POOL REPORT TRUMP: DO WE FINISH IRAN UP OR WILL THEY SIGN, LET’S SEE TRUMP: SEEING IN IRAN THAT US IS RESPECTED
Another Likely Premature ‘Final’ Peace Draft Headline, Oil Tumbles
Crude prices tumbled on a regional Al Hadath headline suggesting the “achievement of a final draft” of what will be Iran’s latest peace proposal, though the recent pattern of this has shown little will likely come of it with Washington, amid ongoing apparent zero sum demands from each warring side. Pakistani Army Chief may visit Iran tomorrow to announce achievement of final draft of agreement text. Next round of negotiations will be held in Islamabad after Hajj season: Al Hadath Event Sources: If the Pakistani Army Chief does not head to Iran, the achievement of the final agreement formula may be announced within hours
More per Newsquawk…
MARKET UPDATE] Brent falls in excess of USD 3/bbl, WTI slips below USD 100/bbl, Equities bid and USD hit on reports the Pakistani Army Chief may visit Iran tomorrow to announce achievement of final draft of agreement text Pakistani Army Chief may visit Iran tomorrow to announce achievement of final draft of agreement text; The next round of negotiations will be held in Islamabad after the Hajj season (25th to 30th May), Al Hadath reports Sources say if Pakistani Army Chief does not head to Iran, the achievement of the final agreement formula may be announced within hours. Work is underway in earnest to put the finishing touches on the text of an agreement between Washington and Tehran..
BUT…

Al Arabiya sources: The US has informed Pakistan that it will not offer concessions to Iran on the nuclear demands and the Strait of Hormuz https://t.co/Av0QIGjyvL
— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) May 20, 2026

Weak.

• Iran Warns Will Take War ‘Beyond The Region’ If Trump Restarts Attacks (ZH)

Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, has summed up where things stand: “Since the ceasefire came into effect, both Washington and Tehran appear to be operating under the illusion that time is on their side,” he said. “Each seems to believe that the blockade and counter-blockade in the Strait of Hormuz impose greater costs on the other, while offering a breathing space to regroup for a possible resumption of hostilities,” Vaez told Al Jazeera. On Wednesday Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a fresh warning amid this ongoing standoff, warning that the Middle East war will extend beyond the region if the United States and Israel resume their attacks.

“If the aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will this time spread far beyond the region, and our devastating blows will crush you,” the IRGC say in the statement published to their website Sepah News. The warring sides are no closer to getting back to the negotiating table, after President Trump has given just a few ‘days’ to comply on the nuclear issue, which so far Tehran has not budged on. But in the meantime Iran still sees American guarantees as “insufficient” regarding a renewed war, Al Arabiya reports Wednesday. The Supreme Leader, who is still in hiding and believed to be recovering from serious injuries that resulted from prior airstrikes, has issued a fresh written message to the public:
Mojtaba Khamenei has commemorated the second anniversary of the death of former President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, saying the country is putting up a “unique historical resistance against two global terrorist armies in Israel and the US, the Fars News Agency reports. In another written statement, Khamenei said the war was making the burden on officials heavier than before , adding that he was grateful for the unity of the nation . In the Strait of Hormuz, there’s been a continued trickle of tankers making it through, reportedly after Beijing asked:
Two Chinese tankers laden with oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the US-Israeli conflict with Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from the US president and his deputy. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the war would be over “very quickly” while Vice President JD Vance talked up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities.
https://twitter.com/anasalhajji/status/2056959126287110459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2056959126287110459%7Ctwgr%5Ef50426984434b36495b1b7af8c6e30dc6ee770b3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Firan-warns-will-take-war-beyond-region-if-trump-restarts-attacks
And reports of a South Korean tanker safely traversing at this point: A South Korean oil tanker is currently passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s top diplomat said on Wednesday, in a report from AFP. “At this very moment, our oil tanker is passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul. Ship-tracking site MarineTraffic showed the South Korea-flagged tanker Universal Winner on the eastern side of the Strait of Hormuz near the entrance to the Gulf of Oman, bound for the southeastern South Korean city of Ulsan after departing Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi port.
As a reminder of prior Trump threats this week, and the typically vague timetable, the president on Tuesday renewed warnings that he could imminently resume bombing Iran, declaring the country will face a “big hit” if it refuses to accept US demands for a deal within days.

Netanyahu and Trump held what Israel’s N12 News described as a “lengthy and dramatic” phone call overnight, amid growing speculation over a possible new strike on Iran.
Netanyahu will skip both the opening of the Knesset session and a key vote on dissolving parliament today
— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) May 20, 2026

“Well, I mean, I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters. Trump had the day prior said he was “holding off” on striking Iran on after requests from Gulf Arab states. Then he followed by claiming the attack was moments away from being launched. “We were all set to go… It would have been happening right now.”

Xi going through the obvious motions.

• Xi Warns US Against New Iran Strikes, Denounces ‘Law Of The Jungle’

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a high-stakes summit on Wednesday, just days after wrapping up closely watched talks with Trump, which by all accounts failed to produce any Washington-Beijing breakthroughs. The optics were carefully engineered, and many international outlets observed Putin’s state welcome was no less lavish and opulent than Trump’s own, with the Russian leader entering Great Hall of the People with full military pomp, children waving flags, and the standard marching band – again, strikingly similar to the red-carpet treatment rolled out for Trump last week.

For example, Al Jazeera writes that “We were expecting a more low-key ceremony, but he actually received an identical welcome treatment as Trump last week.” And more: He had the red carpet rolled out for him; he received a 21-gun salute, as well as children waving Russian and Chinese flags, saying, ‘We warmly welcome you.’mThe only difference is who greeted Putin at the airport. With Trump, it was Han Zheng, the vice president, and for Putin, it was Wang Yi, the foreign minister.
President Xi in his opening remarks delivered a sharp critique of the current geopolitical landscape, warning that the world is at risk of regressing into the “law of the jungle” – but hailed the Beijing-Moscow alliance as a crucial stabilizing force against what he later termed “all unilateral bullying” in the international arena, which appeared a passing jab at the United States. The very timing of the Putin summit has widely been viewed as a display of leverage.
Among key moments is that Xi called for “a comprehensive ceasefire” in the Middle East and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He characterized the standoff situation in the Persian Gulf as a “critical juncture between war and peace.” Xi called for the “unimpeded flow” of crude transit through the strait, as it is in “the common interest of the international community.” “My four-point proposal for maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East aims to further build international consensus and contribute to easing tensions, deescalating conflict, and promoting peace,” Xi said on the Iran crisis according to state news outlet Xinhua. Noticeably absent, however, was mention of finding peace in Ukraine. They agreed that it was “necessary to address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.”
As for Iran, Xi also explicitly noted that further hostilities in the Middle East were “inadvisable” and that a “comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency.” Putin during the summit sought to assure Beijing that Moscow remains a “reliable energy supplier” amid global oil supply shocks, noting their bilateral relationship sits at an”unprecedentedly high level.” He even at one point invoked a classical Chinese proverb to describe his relationship with Xi: “Even if we haven’t seen each other for a day, it feels like three autumns have passed.”

Xi Jinping welcomed Putin at Tiananmen Square

The leaders of Russia and China have concluded their talks in Beijing. The two sides signed around 40 bilateral agreements on cooperation in various spheres.

However, the future of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline remains… pic.twitter.com/mnvLmYkwDi
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 20, 2026

Below are some quick highlights based on some emerging reporting Wednesday:

Treaty Extension: The signing of a wave of bilateral agreements across technology, trade, and intellectual property, anchored by the extension of the 25-year-old “China-Russia treaty of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation.”

The Energy Lifeline: Putin countered by assuring Beijing that Moscow remains a “reliable energy supplier” amid global oil supply shocks, noting their bilateral relationship sits at an “unprecedentedly high level.”

The Crude Lifeline: China remains critical in terms of an outside Russian economic lifeline, purchasing nearly 50% of Moscow’s total oil exports as Western sanctions continue to squeeze Russia’s domestic capital.

“.. a fearless cabinet nominee who confronts the corruption and fails is worth buckets more than a weak cabinet member who acquiesces and succeeds.”

• Acting AG Todd Blanche Takes a More Oppositional Approach to Democrats (CTH)

From the outset of Trump term-2, I have been saying the missing element, the fundamental flaw, was the administration not going full wolverine in opposition to the leftists in congress. When dealing with a comprehensively corrupt branch of government, a fearless cabinet nominee who confronts the corruption and fails is worth buckets more than a weak cabinet member who acquiesces and succeeds. We need more direct oppositional confrontation, done from a place of righteous -AND AUTHENTIC- indignation.

That said, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche carries a stronger disposition toward that confrontation than his predecessor. In this exchange Senator Chris Van Hollen, a man of notoriously corrupt disposition, and AAG Blanche battle over the establishment of a $1.776 billion victim’s compensation fund created to compensate people who have been targeted by a weaponized government.

Sheinbaum knows she needs the help.

• Mexico Freezes Sinaloa Cartel Bank Accounts, Collaborates with US Intel (CTH)

It is always a good idea to make note of things, put them into referenceable context, and then later tell the full story from background details that will surprise everyone else. Two significant events have taken place within the last few days against the backdrop of Sinaloa government officials beginning to turn themselves in to U.S. federal authorities. The first event is the Mexican government freezing the bank accounts and financial assets of those who have been named in the U.S. federal indictment. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says the seizures are out of her control, merely a process that takes place, yet the motives for her defensive protestations are more than a little transparent.

MEXICO – On May 18, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit froze the accounts of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, his children, and senior aides. The action followed U.S. federal charges alleging they aided the Sinaloa Cartel through drug trafficking, weapons possession, and accepting multimillion-dollar bribes. Sheinbaum stressed the freeze was a technical, preventive step triggered by U.S. arrest warrants, not a domestic criminal finding.
The freezes come amid heightened U.S.-Mexico tensions over cartel corruption claims that have already strained security cooperation and political trust. Washington has broadened its anti-cartel strategy to target politicians accused of enabling organized crime, while Mexico remains sensitive to perceived foreign interference. Analysts warn the case could further erode institutional trust and complicate cross-border collaboration on security, trade, and migration. (more) The second event happened very quietly.
Mexico – Mexico’s federal government quietly approved a new intelligence-sharing arrangement that will allow multiple U.S. agencies to operate inside a major surveillance complex in Ciudad Juárez, according to a report by Drop Site News, even as President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has publicly pushed back against unauthorized CIA-linked activity in the country following the deaths of two U.S. officials in April. The report states that representatives from the FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection are expected to work from the 18th floor of Chihuahua’s new Centinela Tower in Juárez, a sprawling surveillance and intelligence hub operated by the state’s Secretariat of Public Security.
According to four senior Chihuahua security officials cited by Drop Site, the agencies will focus on intelligence-sharing tied to drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, organized crime and migration enforcement. (more) Last weekend, following the Tucson, Arizona, capture of Gerardo Mérida, a retired Mexican army general who served as public-security secretary in northwestern Sinaloa state, Sinaloa Senator Enrique Inzunza Cazárez, who is also facing drug trafficking and weapon charges, was taken into custody in San Diego by the DEA.
Both Merida and Cazarez were named in the lengthy indictment that included current Sinaloa Governor Rocha Moya, who, if ground reports are accurate, appears to be hiding while protected by the Mexican national guard. According to the New York Post reporting, businessman Enrique Diaz Vega – another name from the indictment – also turned himself into U.S. authorities in Arizona last Friday. That means four of the ten men named are currently in custody, with Governor Rocha Moya hiding out in Mexico.

“Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.”

• Ukraine Preparing Strikes On Russia From Nato Country Latvia – Moscow (RT)

NATO member Latvia has given Ukraine permission to use its territory for potential drone attacks against Russia, Moscow’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said. Ukrainian UAVs have targeted northwestern Russia on numerous occasions in recent weeks, particularly energy facilities in Leningrad Region, although some of the drones eventually crashed in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland. The SVR said in a statement on Tuesday that Ukraine “does not intend to limit itself to using the air corridors provided to the Ukrainians armed by the Baltic states.”

“The plan is to also launch the UAVs from the territory of these countries” against Russia in order “to significantly reduce the time it takes to reach the targets and increase the effectiveness of the terrorist attacks,” the statement read. Ukrainian drone operators have already been deployed to Latvia at the Adazi, Selija, Lielvarde, Daugavpils, and Jekabpils military bases, the agency said. Kiev persuaded Riga to agree to the operation by falsely claiming that it would be impossible to identify the exact launch site of the drones, the SVR said.
The agency expressed bewilderment about the “naivety” of the Latvian authorities, pointing out that modern reconnaissance methods and study of debris means the location from which a UAV was launched can be pinpointed with high accuracy. The SVR warned that “the coordinates of decision-making centers on Latvian territory are well known, and the country’s NATO membership will not protect the accomplices of terrorists from just retribution.” “Ultimately, the ‘caveman-like Russophobia’ of current Latvian leaders proved to be stronger than their capability for critical thinking and their sense of self-preservation,” it added.
The SVR said Ukraine is planning more drone attacks against Russia to demonstrate to its “ideological and financial supporters in Europe” that it is still capable of fighting and inflicting damage on the Russian economy. On Sunday, Moscow and its suburbs came under what appeared to be the largest Ukrainian drone attack in more than a year, in which three people, including an Indian national, were killed and over a dozen wounded. Kiev launched around 600 UAVs towards Russia in a single day, including around 130 at the Russian capital, according to Moscow.
During the raid, NATO jets were scrambled in Latvia after an unidentified drone entered the country’s airspace. Russia retaliated against Ukraine on Monday, carrying out a large-scale missile and UAV strike against military-related targets in the country. Earlier this month, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds was fired after Ukrainian drones hit oil storage facilities in the country. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said that under his leadership the Defense Ministry “failed to deliver on its promise of a safe sky over our country.”
Unlike top officials in Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland, Spruds previously declined to criticize Kiev for the drone incursions, saying they will continue as long as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine remains unresolved, and insisting that Moscow is to blame. Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu warned in April that if the Baltic States and Finland “deliberately provide their airspace” to Ukrainian UAVs, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

“The guy is filthy rich. He has billions of dollars, the same as Zelenskyy, stacked up in his pocket around the globe,” he alleged. “So this was just a show for the public.”

• Zelensky Aide’s Jailing Was a Warning From Washington – Former Diplomat (RT)

The brief detention of a former chief of staff for Vladimir Zelensy last week was a sign of mounting pressure from Kiev’s Western backers, former diplomat and ex-Prosecutor General’s adviser Andrey Telizhenko has told RT. According to him, the development reflects a possible redistribution of political influence inside Ukraine Andrey Yermak, a longtime confidant of Zelensky, was placed in pre-trial detention in connection with a money laundering investigation conducted by Western-backed anti-corruption agencies. He was released on Monday after posting bail set at $3.2 million.

Telizhenko said he never expected Yermak to remain in custody for long, arguing that the case was primarily political in nature. “The guy is filthy rich. He has billions of dollars, the same as Zelenskyy, stacked up in his pocket around the globe,” he alleged. “So this was just a show for the public.” According to the former diplomat, the prosecution reflects efforts by Washington to eliminate Yermak’s political influence and shift and clear the way for other figures, particularly former military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov, whom he described as having close ties to US intelligence agencies.
Although Yermak formally resigned from his post last November amid corruption allegations, Telizhenko argued that his real influence stemmed from his close relationship with Zelensky rather than his official title. On paper the head of the presidential administration is “a pencil pusher job” focused on bureaucratic duties, Telizhenko explained. He also claimed that Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions lack genuine independence and are influenced by competing foreign interests. “The problem is Ukraine is divided between the British, Brussels, Washington, DC – it’s different groups,” Telizhenko told RT, arguing that Western cliques are competing for control over Ukraine’s future.

If it’s awarded, the floodgates may be opened. Try everybody arrested in connection with Jan 6. $1.8 billion is nothing.

• Michael Caputo First To Apply For $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ (JTN)

Michael Caputo, a former official of the first Trump administration, filed the first known claim under the Justice Department’s new $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” Caputo seeks $2.7 million in restitution, according to a letter to the Justice Department that Caputo posted on X. He says he was targeted during “Crossfire Hurricane,” an FBI investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. “The machinery of government was clearly politically weaponized against my family,” Caputo states in the letter. Caputo was spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services during Donald Trump’s first term.

‘When I grow up, I want to be a Democrat.’ Sorry, kid, you can’t be both.”

• Gutfeld Torches Colbert’s Legacy on the Way Out the Door (Matt Margolis)

Stephen Colbert’s final episode airs Thursday night, and Greg Gutfeld had some thoughts. A lot of thoughts. And if you know Gutfeld, you know they were good. Taking over Colbert’s late-night time slot is Byron Allen, whose long-running syndicated show Comics Unleashed features Allen alongside four comedians pulling from their stand-up sets. Gutfeld played a clip from CNN, in which Allen told Michael Smerconish exactly what he’s going for.

“What I’m doing with Comics Unleashed, we don’t talk about politics. We don’t talk about anything that’s topical. We don’t talk about anything. We don’t do anything that’s racist or sexist or anti-Semitic or homophobic. Just be funny and don’t offend. I don’t care who you vote for. I don’t care. I’m here to make people laugh. You’re going to vote who you’re going to vote for no matter what I say. It doesn’t matter. It’s not my business. Do what you do. So I’m here to make you laugh.” Gutfeld appreciated the spirit of it, but wasn’t entirely buying the pitch. “That sounds like someone saying take up boxing, but don’t try to hit anyone,” he said. “Or a hooker saying she just wants to hold hands.”
On the surface, the setup makes sense from a business perspective. Colbert inherited a genuine late-night institution and proceeded to torch it with partisan politics, and that drove away viewers. So, steering clear of politics just makes logistical sense. But Gutfeld pushed back on the “don’t offend” part of Allen’s philosophy. Every joke offends someone, he argued — that’s kind of the point. “It’s not like a child telling her father, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a Democrat.’ Sorry, kid, you can’t be both.”
“See, every joke is going to offend someone. If there’s no risk, why bother?” Gutfeld asked. He even took a shot at roasts, calling them too comfortable because the offensive premise is already baked in. “It’s more fun to roast someone in a non-roast setting,” he said. “It’s why I always share my best zingers during my charity work at St. Jude’s Hospital.”
The deeper critique, though, was aimed squarely at what Colbert represented. Smart audiences know when a comic is playing it safe, and Colbert played it safe for years — just against the right targets. He spent four years ignoring what Gutfeld described as an almost bottomless well of material: “Mr. Magoo’s stumbling around the Oval Office, backed by a wine-soaked babbler,” with a son “filming himself with crack whores, loose bags of cocaine, and dogs biting Secret Service agents.” As Gutfeld noted, “the Bidens were an embarrassment of riches,” and yet, to Colbert and the rest of the left-wing late-night hosts, they were untouchable. “
He did nothing but safe comedy, ridiculing the approved targets his team hated, and then stuck his tongue firmly up the asses of politicians he supported,” Gutfeld said. Which brings it all back to the central irony. Colbert is being celebrated in some corners as a brave, truth-telling comedian willing to take risks. Gutfeld rejected that. “How was he able to last this long and lose millions every year?” he asked. “Because he did what he was told, which makes the idea that he’s leaving the job as some sort of risk-taking comic the biggest joke of all.”
Colbert’s Crutch: Why “Safe” Isn’t Funny pic.twitter.com/224AJbuhlw
— Gutfeld! (@Gutfeldfox) May 20, 2026

How deep is China?

• I’m Sorry, but California Is HOW Deep in the Hole? (Stephen Green)

What do you call a state absolutely flush with cash, with tax revenues booming more than 30% in just three years? If it’s California, you call it “Broke.” Wait, wut?“I once heard that the job of a budget analyst is to find the gray cloud in every silver lining, so unfortunately, along with the silver linings of revenues, we see quite a bit of gray clouds on the horizon,” Rachel Ehlers, deputy legislative analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), told California lawmakers on Tuesday. The silver lining is the revenue boom. The gray clouds are the state’s structural deficit, “both for the coming budget year, ’26-27, as well as forecast for ’27-28, even under the governor’s proposals,” Ehlers added.

“Really, the only way the budget proposal before you is balanced is by relying on reserves,” Ehlers added during an Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearing. “Under the governor’s proposal, both withdrawals from reserves, as well as suspended requirements to put money into reserves, totals $20 billion.” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “plan” to close the deficit — and allow me to reiterate, during a stunning increase in tax revenue — is to raid the state’s rainy day fund. The LAO says the raid includes $1.5 billion worth of suspended deposits, a $5 billion withdrawal, a $7 billion suspended deposit, followed by another $7 billion withdrawal. Even so, that still leaves a $16.9 billion hole in the budget.
If you’re thinking that boom times are when you’re supposed to plug money into the rainy day fund instead of taking it out, you’d never make it in California politics. That’s a compliment, by the way. Imagine you got a $30,000 pay raise but spent so much money that you had to dip deep into your savings, postpone deposits into your IRA, and still had to put $15,000 worth of typical expenses like groceries on the MasterCard. Crazy, right? But in California, it’s the law. Follow me closely here, or you might not believe just how baked-in the madness is.
See, it doesn’t matter how much new revenue the AI boom brings in; Prop 98 — backed by the all-powerful California Teachers Association and passed by gullible voters — forces more money into schools and community colleges when General Fund revenues rise, but doesn’t really allow for lower spending when revenues fall. What if the AI boom proves to be a bubble that goes POP? What if the wealth tax passes in November and more billionaires flee the state? What if the stock market corrects and capital gains taxes crater? In other words, what if the revenue boom turns into a bust? Don’t you worry, gentle reader, because those Prop 98 “education” spending increases are more or less set in stone. Yet while California ranks around 12th place or so for spending-per-pupil, student proficiency is mired in the bottom half of states, and declining.
Medi-Cal — California’s version of Medicaid — also features structural impediments to achieving fiscal sanity. Medi-Cal is what happens when Sacramento builds a permanently expanding entitlement on top of a tax base that fluctuates wildly, depending on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. If California’s education spending is the very definition of Margaret Thatcher’s ratchet effect, Medi-Cal is the never-ending entitlement that blossoms in bad times, and grows only somewhat slower during the booms. California taxpayers put themselves on a treadmill where no matter how hard they run, it turns even faster.

Revolution all over Europe. The old guard is fast on its way out.

• Nearly Half of French Voters May Support National Rally (RMX)

Last Friday, an Ipsos poll conducted for the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, Le Monde, and Cevipof indicated that 45 percent of French voters are now considering voting for the National Rally (RN) in the 2027 elections, meaning the anti-migration party’s candidate is favored to win the presidency. According to Antoine Bristielle, director of the Foundation’s Opinion Observatory, the poll shows that RN “has managed to unite very different electorates around a common foundation, but that its cohesion remains fragile as soon as one moves away from this foundation.”

The Jean-Jaurès Foundation identifies four main profiles of RN voters, which can be grouped into two categories. The “identity-based liberals” include older, politically engaged voters firmly rooted in the right, as well as the “forgotten France,” which represents “a working-class bloc, more economically vulnerable, marked by a strong sense of abandonment and combining demands for social protection with identity radicalism.” However, the other two groups are more recent profiles, demonstrating the RN’s expansion to new voters. The “shifting France,” representing those “less politically engaged and still uncertain,” and the “opportunistic radical right.”
This latter group of voters, seen as “more affluent, more educated, and highly politically engaged,” is, according to the report, “already largely aligned with the RN’s positions” but may have voted for other right-wing parties in the past. Immigration, as expected, is a paramount topic for at least three of the four groups. “There are too many immigrants in France” is confirmed by 97 percent of “forgotten France,” 99 percent of “identity-based liberals,” 43 percent of “shifting France,” and 96 percent of “opportunistic radical right.” As to the statement, “Now, I no longer feel as at home as before,” the percentages of support were 96, 98, 72, and 94, respectively.

Nobody says Old Guard like Merkel does.

• EU Faces Backlash For Awarding Merkel With Order of Merit (RMX)

Yesterday, the European Parliament awarded former German Chancellor Angela Merkel the highest ranking of its new European Order of Merit. Alongside Merkel, Poland’s former president Lech Walesa received the same recognition, as well as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Former European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso praised Merkel’s “tireless commitment to European integration and shared values, to bridging the East-West divide, and to strengthening the stability and cohesion of Europe.”

The EU, Merkel told those gathered, has been a “pioneer” when it comes to the regulation of social media and AI. However, she warned that more needs to be done, claiming that democracy itself is threatened by “lies” spread by the rise of social media. She even claimed that “the basic foundations of the European Enlightenment are in danger” because of it. Others were quick to counter her. Already, before she received the award, conservative and nationalist MEPs had reportedly left the chamber in protest. Merkel is seen as not only the architect of the EU’s open border policy back in 2015, which ultimately allowed in millions of migrants, with far-reaching and violent consequences for France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Austria, to list just a few stories.
She also laid the groundwork for Germany’s exit from nuclear power, which has fueled the country’s economic deterioration in the face of higher energy prices and the challenges of green technologies. However, at stake yesterday was Merkel’s attack on free speech and what many deem normal democratic principles.
Investigative journalist Zara Riffler called out Merkel for her idea of democracy: “Merkel is no longer making any secret of her understanding of ‘democracy.’ She wants tough regulation for social media & AI – she wants to punish ‘lies’ (!) – in other words, a digital world in which there is only the one truth that is approved from above. That is her true face.” Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany’s anti-migration AfD party, referenced the continuous efforts to ban the AfD in the face of its surging popularity among German voters as the real threat to democracy. “The only real danger to democracy comes from those who, with anti-democratic firewalls, seek to thwart a change of power through the voters. So that they can cling to their posts for a little while longer,” she wrote on X.

"Die einzige echte Gefahr für die Demokratie geht von jenen aus, die mit antidemokratischen Brandmauern einen Machtwechsel durch den Wähler zu vereiteln versuchen. Um sich noch etwas länger an ihre Posten klammern zu können." pic.twitter.com/adWNIdwc4q
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) May 19, 2026

Other X accounts were more brutal. “David Gegen Goliath” wrote: “Angela Merkel has been awarded the European Order of Merit by the EU! Merkel was responsible for the refugee crisis – 5 million Muslims immigrated to Germany: 3 million Arab men. 60% without a job. I can’t believe it. They’re rewarding a criminal!” Finnish MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen claimed the European Parliament brought in random people to applaud Merkel, the woman “who destroyed Europe.”

For the first time, I had to leave my EU plenary seat with fellow MEPs.

Then the EU filled our elected seats with random people.

This couldn't happen in any other parliament. pic.twitter.com/xdkI04S75B
— MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen (@SebastianMEP) May 19, 2026
He told press that it is a “disgrace” that the person behind the migrant crisis was being given a prize. Referencing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and the girls being raped by migrants across the continent, the families ruined, Tynkkynen said Merkel should be in court for her “crimes against Europe” not being lauded.

“Dissent is the very essence of science.”

• UK COVID Inquiry’s Endorsement Of Censorship Sets Chilling Precedent (DS)

According to the UK’s Covid Inquiry, whose fourth report was published in April, there was “in principle, nothing unlawful or inappropriate in the government monitoring publicly available social media to identify potential trends in disinformation or misinformation” during the pandemic period. The same report, in declining to criticise the censorious activities of the UK Government during the pandemic, noted that the UK government’s Counter Disinformation Unit was required to ensure that its actions were “lawful, necessary and proportionate”.

On a careful reading of this language, the inquiry stops (just) short of expressly endorsing the full scope and extent of the government’s censorship operation. However, the relevant sections of the inquiry’s report create the distinct, and we can assume deliberate, impression that the CDU’s censorship operation was conducted in accordance with constitutional and democratic principles, and was not only justified but was necessary and proportionate. As someone who was on the receiving end of that censorship operation, with the receipts to evidence the very broad scope of commentary that was judged by the CDU to be wrongful or dangerous, this came as a serious disappointment, albeit not a great surprise.
Some would argue that in a national emergency scenario, some degree of information monitoring and intervention might be justified. The trouble with that argument is that one very quickly then has to grapple with the fact that – as we saw during the pandemic period – it’s precisely in moments of national crisis – moments where critical decisions must be made in complex situations – that contrasting views are most valuable and essential. As Jay Bhattacharya, Acting Director of the US Centres for Disease Control, has put it: “Dissent is the very essence of science.”
In my own case, the offending posts and articles caught by the CDU were typically either opinion pieces or comments quoted in mainstream news articles. They included such outlandish and outrageous statements as, “It would be unforgivable to close schools”, “Let children use playgrounds” and “It is indefensible that children’s lives are still not back to normal when the rest of society is”. Clearly, many would now agree with these viewpoints. However, even if some, or indeed many might not have agreed with those points of view at the time, the fact that they were valid, lawfully-expressed opinions cannot be disputed.
Perhaps the CDU’s hypersensitivity would not have mattered so much if, as according to the Covid Inquiry’s account, all that was happening during that period was “monitoring” of public sentiment by the government. The inquiry’s report notes that the CDU had ‘trusted flagger’ status with all of the major social media platforms, the effect of which was that CDU flags received special attention; but the same report is at pains to record that decisions about removing or suppressing content “remained exclusively a decision for each social media platform”.
Yet a subsequent investigation by the Telegraph revealed that 90% of the posts referred to social media companies by the CDU were taken down. Indeed, evidence given to the inquiry by the former head of the CDU confirmed that when information was flagged by the CDU it “immediately goes to the top of the pile. Whoever it is in whatever company then acts on it. It is the same system they have across government for things like terrorist content.”

First Starship V3 launch later this week! pic.twitter.com/JFX4CrSfnY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2026

ln 1992 Al Gore predicted that within two decades, Florida would lose 60% of its population due to climate change. Today, 34 years later, Florida’s population is 425% higher than it was in 1992. pic.twitter.com/SXwO9bZ5Fb
— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) May 19, 2026

The size of St. Peter’s Basilica pic.twitter.com/frXXNRwJF0
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 19, 2026

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Debt Rattle May 19 2026

May 192026

May 19, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:09 am Finance Tagged with: election fraud, Germenny, Gulf states, Hormuz, immigration, Iran, midterms, nuclear, OpenAI, Russia, Spain 22 Responses »

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)

pic.twitter.com/UJQsfy40hK
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2056410099137073194?s=20

True https://t.co/82gBZNh2Pk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2056111745282785295?s=20

Dear @DAGToddBlanche

Addressing your question as to WHY.

Why did the outgoing @BarackObama administration do what they did to me, President @realDonaldTrump, our country, and many others whose lives were turned upside down?

The short answer is because they could.

The… https://t.co/F7QOMUie85
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) May 18, 2026

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:
A U.S. official tells me the Iranian state media report that the U.S. has agreed to lift oil sanctions while talks are ongoing is false. https://t.co/gOcyBKDAxC
— Megan Cassella (@mmcassella) May 18, 2026

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

Senior U.S. official: "It's time for the Iranians to throw bit of candy out. We need some real, sturdy, and granular conversation [regarding the nuclear program]. If that's not gonna happen, we will have a conversation through bombs, which will be a shame" https://t.co/qTNrY1fgoN
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 18, 2026

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…

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

“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…

”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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.”

“. . . 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.

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.”

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.

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

Elon Musk just described the future of AI in a single sentence.

Musk: “A profit-maximizing demon from hell.”

That’s not a metaphor.

That’s a blueprint.

He wasn’t describing science fiction.

He was describing what happens when the only thing AI is trained to maximize is… pic.twitter.com/aRXKAJUf4o
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) May 18, 2026

The Gigabay is one of the most massive and insanely productive pieces of infrastructure being built on Earth right now

Currently rising at Kennedy Space Center, it makes entire aerospace hangars look tiny in comparison

And it’s all being built for one almost unbelievable goal:… pic.twitter.com/CyCXUR1Hb8
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) May 17, 2026

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2056170982784602538?s=20

The complexity of the human brain and its functions in a neat infographic map

[zoomable version: https://t.co/ADEhDeTkmx] pic.twitter.com/DI0gQaywHu
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/sulekhat95/status/2055986390564061634?s=20

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Debt Rattle May 18 2026

May 182026

May 18, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:45 am Finance Tagged with: Borrell, EU, Iran, plumbing, Sadiq Khan, Texas, Todd Blanche, Trump, uranium, Zelensky 48 Responses »

Carl Frederik Aagaard View to the Amalfi Coast c1860 (woodblock)

• Trump Tells Iran ‘Clock Is Ticking, Move Fast’ After New Peace Proposal (ZH)

• Uranium Transfer, Nuclear Limits: US Issues 5 Peace Ultimatums To Iran (ZH)

• Removing Iran’s Uranium Mostly About ‘PR’ – Trump (RT)

• The Spoiled Prince of Kiev: Zelensky Has Deceived and Ruined His Country (Amar)

• Trump’s Deportation Push Meets Small-Town Plumbing (David Manney)

• Democrats Refuse To Even Talk To the American People Anymore (Derek Hunter)

• Russia Hoax Figures May Want Lawyers Handy After Blanche’s Latest (Clark)

• Todd Blanche Discusses Conspiracy and 2020 Election Investigations (CTH)

• Mercedes Willing to Enter Military Production Sector (CTH)

• Texas Never Surrendered Its Right to Defend Its Borders (Andy Hopper)

• Sadiq Khan: Claims London Devolving Into A Sh*thole Is Just AI Driven (MN)

• EU ‘Not Very Relevant’ On Global Stage – Borrell (RT)

Do you know what happened in the last 24 hours?

1. Late on Thursday night @FBI agents landed at New York Stewart International Airport with Mohammad al Saadi in handcuffs. Al Saadi, the leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi terror group is allegedly responsible for more than 20… pic.twitter.com/4XYPEweThU
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) May 16, 2026

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Iran:

They've been raping, killing and murdering for 47 years. The Western world allowed proxy wars.

We learned a lesson — we should have gone years ago at the head of the snake. pic.twitter.com/wqjJP6egzo
— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 16, 2026

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2055770453558325498?s=20 https://twitter.com/JoshHall2024/status/2055799532324295150?s=20 https://twitter.com/Juliedonuts/status/2055638212572287043?s=20 https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/2055684597103419831?s=20

“Short but Intense… and Costly.”

• Trump Tells Iran ‘Clock Is Ticking, Move Fast’ After New Peace Proposal (ZH)

Update(1410ET): President Trump has warned Iran on Sunday that the “clock is ticking” as Pakistani-mediated talks have not only stalled, but show no signs at all of restarting anytime soon. “They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” he wrote on Truth Social. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” He spoke the same day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who along with Lindsey Graham has been calling for resumption of robust anti-Tehran action to ensure Iran can never go nuclear. Trump’s words have been somewhat of a familiar refrain going back several weeks.

As we detailed below, Iran says it received a counter proposal of ‘5 conditions’ for peace from the White House. In many ways they are directly opposite the 5 conditions Iran sent to the US last week, which Trump had rejected as “garbage”.
But as yet there’s been no indicator that the US side has attached a timeline to its latest demands. Trump is perhaps pushing this new “clock is ticking” as a timeline threat of sorts. But again, there was no specific date included in the fresh warning. Last week Bloomberg Intelligence circulated a report titled, Iran Rejects Trump’s Offer – Return to War Likely. It concluded: “The diplomatic dance continues: the US and Iran exchanged offers yet again. But they remain far apart, shooting maximalist demands at each other. A comprehensive peace deal is unlikely to materialize. We think the US and Iran will likely return to strikes. But we expect an intense exchange of fire to be temporary and reduce to lower-levels of fighting – what we call the new normal in this protracted conflict. ”
More from the Bloomberg Intelligence analysis: “Short but Intense… and Costly. Trump doesn’t want long war. His popularity is taking a hit as its economic impact is being felt. We think Trump will likely revert to a short air and missile strike campaign on Iranian infrastructure, military positions, and energy assets while simultaneously continuing the blockade. Tehran will likely respond with strikes of its own, both on US military assets and America’s regional partners. But we expect this to be a short bombardment, rather than the sustained, high-intensity strike campaign that marked the beginning of the war.
The war has already imposed a heavy economic cost. Oil markets flipped from an expected record surplus to historic supply disruption. Major central banks, facing fresh inflation risks, are turning more hawkish. Consumers now pay more for energy, while their borrowing costs also rise, and the future grows more uncertain. The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the more it will drain the oil stockpiles cushioning governments, companies, and consumers today. Once inventories run thin, prices need to do the hard work: rising high enough to curb demand back in line with available supply.

“..as the seemingly unbridgeable gulf remains, also as Iran is digging in its heels.”

• Uranium Transfer, Nuclear Limits: US Issues 5 Peace Ultimatums To Iran (ZH)

According to a Sunday report from Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, the United States has laid down a firm, take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to Tehran. Both sides are still trying to patiently wait out the Hormuz crisis, hoping to inflict more economic pain on the other until they blink. At the top of the list, the US is demanding a near-total dismantling of Iran’s atomic ambitions, “allowing only one Iranian nuclear facility to remain operational.” The list includes direct rejections in response to Iran’s own five conditions from a week ago, which President Trump said were “unacceptable” and “garbage”.

For example the US is refusing to pay compensation for damage caused during strikes on Iranian territory – a ‘maximalist’ sticking point which Tehran had demanded previously. Washington is also reportedly insists that 400 kilograms of enriched uranium be transferred from Iran to the US, while only one active nuclear facility would remain operational inside the Islamic Republic. Iran for its part has recently vowed to never transfer its nuclear material out of the Islamic Republic, calling the issue a matter of national sovereignty and energy security which it alone has say over. This after even Russia offered to take it.
The newly reported five conditions by the US side further states that the US does not intend to release more than 25% of frozen Iranian assets. Tehran has demanded the dropping of all US sanctions as a key basis for lasting settlement. Here are the five newly proposed Washington conditions, which some pundits have called ‘wishful thinking’:

No war compensation from US
Give up 400kg of Highly Enriched Uranium to US
Iran can only have on nuclear facility to remain active
Not more than 25% of frozen assets to be unfreezed
Halting war on all fronts depends on negotiations

So this leaves a huge distance between the Washington list and Tehran’s list, as the seemingly unbridgeable gulf remains, also as Iran is digging in its heels. As a reminder, the below is the Islamic Republic’s list, which it hasn’t backed down from. It has offered the following as the only basis on which to restart talks:

Ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon
Lifting all sanctions
Releasing frozen Iranian assets
Compensation for war damages and losses
Recognition of Iran’s sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz

US response to #Iran includes zero compensation, not even 25% of frozen assets released, keeping only one #nuclear facility active, handing over 400kg of highly enriched uranium to the US, and ending the war on all fronts dependent on the negotiations. https://t.co/riS7M4fEeF
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) May 17, 2026

While a Pakistani-mediated ceasefire managed to take effect on April 8, subsequent talks in Islamabad completely collapsed, but then President Trump later extended the truce indefinitely, likely to buy time and to figure out “what’s next” – while seeking a complete blockade of Iranian oil exports, and of all vessels entering or exiting Iranian ports. With Washington demanding total disarmament and Iran demanding control over the world’s most critical oil transit choke point, the stage is set for a likely coming renewal of direct clashes, given the zero sum demands of each side now on the table.

The US knows where it is, they got 9 cameras on it. Iran can’t touch it without the US knowing.

• Removing Iran’s Uranium Mostly About ‘PR’ – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has said recovering Iran’s highly enriched uranium is “more for public relations” than anything else, downplaying what remains one of the key sticking points in negotiations aimed at ending the Middle East war. Following the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran last year, Trump claimed the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities and severely limited Tehran’s ability to continue enrichment. However, an estimated 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity – a short technical step from weapons-grade level – is believed to be buried beneath the rubble of bombed nuclear sites.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump suggested removing the material was not urgent because the US maintained round-the-clock surveillance over the facilities, but added he would still “feel better” if the uranium was removed. “We have nine cameras on that site, on those three sites, 24 hours a day. We know exactly what’s happening. Nobody’s even gotten close to it,” he said. “I think it’s more for public relations than it is for anything else. The other thing we could do is bomb it again, just make it absolute. But I just, I would just feel better getting it.”
Trump, who has repeatedly warned he could resume strikes on Iran, also signaled his patience with negotiations is running out. “I am not going to be much more patient. They should make a deal,” he said. While active fighting triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February paused under a fragile ceasefire reached in early April, negotiations on a broader peace deal remain deadlocked over Tehran’s nuclear program. The US and Israel, which accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, are demanding “zero enrichment” and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian soil. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News this week the conflict could not fully end while the material remained in Iran, calling its removal a “terrifically important mission.”
Iran insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, arguing that abandoning enrichment would undermine its sovereignty and technological independence. Tehran has repeatedly rejected demands to dismantle the program or surrender its uranium stockpile – including proposals to store it in Russia – though it has reportedly offered to downblend it to lower civilian-grade levels. However, Iranian parliamentary spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei warned earlier this week that Tehran could enrich uranium to 90% purity – considered weapons-grade – if attacked again.
Despite accusations of pursuing nuclear weapons, US intelligence agencies assessed before the conflict that Tehran was not actively developing a bomb, according to former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has also said the nuclear watchdog found no evidence of a “structured program to manufacture nuclear weapons” in Iran.

Good article.

“Deceived and Ruined His Country ..with Western help..”

“..shows of the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN) are watched by, on average, over 55 million viewers, dwarfing, for instance, Fox News (Carlson’s former employer) with its prime time rating of 3.2 million “

“Indeed, TCN is on such a roll that Carlson is now rumored to be a contender for the presidency, and he has not ruled out a run “

• The Spoiled Prince of Kiev: Zelensky Has Deceived and Ruined His Country (Amar)

Rudyard Kipling, a modern classic of the Western literary canon, was both a champion of British imperialism and too honest not to know its very sordid underpinnings of greed, lies, and sheer selfishness. That’s why the same man who extolled the “white man’s burden” also wrote ‘The Man Who Would Be King,’ a story of two lowlife, ambitious adventurers who manage to swindle their way to becoming kings as well as rich in a remote country on the fringes of the empire, then at its late-nineteenth-century zenith of global primacy. Until, that is, one of them makes the mistake of messing with the wrong woman, who ends up biting him in public. Seeing him bleed, his subjects realize he is a mere mortal and mercilessly dispense with the two imposters.

Ukraine’s ruler – and de facto king (of the old-fashioned, non-constitutional kind) – Vladimir Zelensky is a social climber, too. In his formative years, his native Krivoy Rog was a provincial post-Soviet rustbelt town with a lively gangster scene, a “bandit city” in his own words. Zelensky is also an expert in make-believe by profession, a cynically profane showman of the ‘give-them-whatever-they-want-as-long-as-it-pays’ variety, the cruder and smuttier the better. Indeed, Zelensky even has a sidekick, who, as in Kipling’s dark story, has shared in the scheme of power-grabbing and plunder: Andrey Yermak, his former chief of staff and very intimate friend, making headlines (again) for being so corrupt and sinister that he stands out, even in Kiev.
And now Zelensky, the man who, it seems, would be Ukraine’s president forever, has just been bitten in public by a woman. Judging by the fierce, clearly orchestrated reaction of his media propagandists in Ukraine and the fact that the Western mainstream media are largely pretending not to have noticed, he must be bleeding, too. The woman is his former press secretary Yulia Mendel. And she has been able to draw (metaphorical) blood because Tucker Carlson, American alternative-media heavyweight and conservative dissident from Trumpism, has interviewed her for his show.
That has made it a very public bloodletting indeed. What Mendel has had to say is one thing, her ability to reach breathtaking numbers of Americans and other inhabitants of the West is at least as important and, from Kiev’s point of view, frustrating: Across various platforms, shows of the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN) are watched by, on average, over 55 million viewers, dwarfing, for instance, Fox News (Carlson’s former employer) with its prime time rating of 3.2 million. Recently, the Israeli-US war against Iran has further undermined public confidence in the mainstream media and boosted TCN. “Explosive growth” in the two first months of the war has produced over 1.5 billion “views across social media and podcast platforms.”
Indeed, TCN is on such a roll that Carlson is now rumored to be a contender for the presidency, and he has not ruled out a run. This is the amplifier for Mendel’s harsh memo to the US and the West. It is hard to think of a bigger one. And what a message she had to deliver. Consider a few highlights: Speaking, she underlined, as “an insider,” from her own close experience with Zelensky and the inner circle of his regime, Mendel has told us all that she believes Zelensky personally “stands behind many schemes of money laundering” and that he has always remained an “amazing actor” whose image “on camera” is “very different” from his real self.
For instance, while he is posturing as not merely some democrat but a shining epitome of democracy as well as everything else that is good and beautiful, such as rule of law, freedom of speech, civil society, and national unity, his real view, relentlessly repeated behind closed doors, is, as we learn from Mendel, that “Ukraine is not ready for democracy” and “dictatorship is an order,” too.So much, by the way, for those Zelensky propagandists in Ukraine and the West who habitually smear every critic of his devastating regime as diminishing Ukraine or not trusting ordinary Ukrainians with “agency.” The one really despising his compatriots as too backward to rule themselves and in need of a strong – namely, his – hand, is, it turns out, Vladimir Zelensky.
And as Mendel rightly points out, that also means that he does not symbolize or provide unity; he abuses it. Zelensky’s profound hypocrisy permeates his private life and politics. Mendel reveals, for instance, that he was still going on trips to Crimea – to have fun with friends and drugs – while it was already under Russian control. In December 2019, he privately told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine would never join NATO. While Zelensky’s public poll ratings are steadily declining, the polls produced for internal use are so bad that even some of his fixers privately admit that he is “unelectable.”
With no respect for the truth, Zelensky’s attitude to reality itself seems broken, even deranged. From her own conversations with him, Mendel reports that Ukraine’s leader believes that “it doesn’t matter what is [actually] happening.” Things, he has argued behind closed doors, become real when they are said often enough by enough propagandists or, as she quotes him, by “thousands of talking heads.” Considering this bizarre outlook, it is revealing and revolting but also somehow, sadly consistent that Zelensky, who is Jewish, has literally demanded “Goebbels”-type “propaganda” from his communications team.
Beyond a ruthless and deliberate regime of lying and manipulation, there also is pressure and compulsion. Again, Mendel’s catalogue of Zelensky’s dictatorial strong-arm methods is depressing and plausible: from threats to perfectly illegal “sanctions” imposed via Zelensky’s personal fiat, to lawfare and process-as-punishment to long and open-ended jail terms to sending critics to the frontline as a punishment to very odd lethal accidents – Zelensky and his regime have, as Mendel puts it, “no limits.” Their rule has established a situation that is “inhuman.”
Mendel is believable. Zelensky regime propagandists, in Ukraine and the West, have, unsurprisingly, smeared her as, in effect, a Russian asset, as reproducing “Russian narratives” and, worst sin of them all, sharing Kiev’s very dirty secrets with the West. Because – this seems to be the underlying logic – the West must share hundreds of billions with Zelensky and his ultra-corrupt cronies, but no one has a right to share the truth about them with the West.
In reality, Mendel’s biography proves that she is what she claims to be: an insider who has had enough. She has had an exemplary “national” career and if she had not broken with Zelensky a few years ago, she would still be part of the eager cadre who once caused scandals for physically shoving away journalists to protect her former boss. Even in the interview with Tucker Carlson, Mendel has made a point of carefully distinguishing between what she has seen herself and what she knows from – extremely strong – circumstantial evidence, for instance, that Zelensky has a long-standing cocaine habit.
And yet, by now Mendel – who displays no favor at all to Russia – considers Zelensky an evil and the key obstacle to peace for Ukraine. This peace, she warns, is the only alternative to what she calls being “on the verge of extinction.” She means it quite literally: There are far fewer Ukrainians left in the country than official statistics admit, perhaps 25 million, including 11 million impoverished pensioners. The only way to really support Ukraine, Mendel insists, is to “push for peace.”

Infrastructure for illegal immigrants. Even if only for a short time..

• Trump’s Deportation Push Meets Small-Town Plumbing (David Manney)

President Donald Trump keeps delivering the border-security promise that helped return him to the White House. However, when the previous occupant of the Oval Office held the door open for millions, it created several problems. One of them is where to put ’em? The DHS wants more detention space because illegal immigrants can’t be processed, held, and quickly removed without beds, staff, transportation, and secure facilities. Transforming empty warehouses into detention centers sounds efficient on paper, especially after years of Biden-era border chaos. Then the plan reaches a small town with a water system, sewer capacity, and residents who still expect the faucet to work when they turn the knob.

One Trump-supporting community is dealing with the fight between enforcement and infrastructure. Social Circle, Ga., now sits in the middle of the fight. The federal government bought a 1 million square foot warehouse for nearly $129 million and plans to convert it into a massive immigration detention center. The proposal could house up to 10,000 detainees and require about 2,500 staff members in a city of roughly 5,000 people. Social Circle Mayor David Keener and City Manager Eric Taylor have made the obvious point that Washington skipped while measuring floor space: detainees drink water, toilets flush, kitchens run, showers drain, and small-town pipes don’t magically triple because federal lawyers say so.
The city has filed a federal lawsuit against the DHS and ICE, arguing the organizations moved ahead without the required environmental, health, and procedural reviews. Taylor previously locked the water meter at the site, and the City Council unanimously backed him. The detention center could house as many as 8,500 immigrants awaiting deportation to their home countries as part of a massive initiative by the administration of President Donald J. Trump. Social Circle is among the numerous cities across the country that have been targeted as detention center sites. At full capacity, the converted warehouse would nearly triple the population of Social Circle, outstripping its water, sewer and emergency services capabilities.
“We understand the reason why the water is off,” said Councilman Tyson Jackson at the Tuesday, March 17 city council meeting. “It’s not a political stunt. It’s just the fact of the matter that we do not have enough water. I just want to come to a vote saying that we are behind you [Taylor] on this, so it’s not Eric making the decision of having the water turned off. We’re looking out for the citizens of Social Circle right now, to make sure we have enough water for them.”
Taylor announced his unilateral decision on Thursday, March 12. He told a crowd of dozens of people at a community meeting—including a number of city and area residents and progressive activists opposed to the detention center plan—that the lock would remain in place until either the city council told him to remove it or a federal court order, in the event that ICE challenges the move, mandated that the lock be removed. As 95.5 WSB reported, their lawsuit brings up some points never considered. According to the lawsuit, DHS plans to convert the warehouse into a detention facility that would hold 10,000 detainees and employ up to 2,500 staff members.
The city says the proposal would strain Social Circle’s infrastructure beyond capacity, threatening the city’s water supply and risking sewage overflows. The lawsuit also accuses the agencies of violating federal laws and creating a nuisance under Georgia law. Social Circle says the planned “mega center” was part of what the lawsuit describes as an ICE director’s goal to operate “like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings.” The lawsuit says the proposed facility’s plan to open in June and house 10,000 detainees would overwhelm the city’s fresh water supply and sewage treatment capabilities, potentially resulting in dry taps and raw sewage spills. By comparison, city leaders say Social Circle has about 5,000 residents.
None of that looks like a Berkeley-style fit over immigration enforcement; it looks like a small Georgia town saying its water and sewer systems already run near capacity, and no serious government should pretend 10,000 detainees plus thousands of staff can arrive without consequences. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate, has reportedly paused parts of the larger warehouse-conversion program while reviewing DHS operations. The Social Circle site already belongs to the federal government, so the dispute now centers on whether Washington can force a project of this size forward before basic infrastructure questions get answered..

“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes speaks exclusively to friendly outlets.”

• Democrats Refuse To Even Talk To the American People Anymore (Derek Hunter)

Of all the problems Democrats have created and unleashed on the country, the unwillingness and inability to speak to anyone who disagrees with them is among the worst. They don’t even try anymore, liberals only engage with each other in an agreement-festival that rivals a row of bobblehead dolls double-sided taped to the dashboard of the family truckster all nodding with each other as they ramble down a bumpy dirt road.

When was the last time you heard a dissenting voice on MS Now? Anyone who dares disagree with the “progressive” narrative on CNN is spoken over, shouted down or cut off for a “correction” from the host or a quick commercial break. The left has gone from terrified of being called out for their lies to operating in a cocoon so that possibility becomes impossible. Joe Biden used to yell about how he wanted to be “the President of all Americans,” but he never gave an interview to Fox News. How can you be the President of everyone when you won’t talk to half the country for four years? He even passed on a softball Super Bowl interview – the biggest audience he’d ever have access to and he declined.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes speaks exclusively to friendly outlets. Even the “spontaneous” questions she takes when “tracked down” in the halls of Congress are more choreographed than a Broadway musical. How do you think it is that she just so happens to be “cornered” by the anti-American, Soror-funded Meidas Touch activist group that pretends to do news? She’s always by herself, always stops, and is more scripted than an Aaron Sorkin movie. How many times have you seen her running away from reporters asking basic questions, but somehow she manages to have time for this one outlet?
They’re likely feeding her the questions, coordinating with staff to get video of her relevant to the news cycle onto the Internet to try to improve her image with people not insane. There’s no other reason the few staffers in the video don’t run interference like they do with others or how they always manage to “find” her in cordoned off areas of the Capitol Building. When Katie Porter, the Democrat domestic abuser running for Governor of California, was asked how she planned to appeal to 40 percent of voters in the state who’d voted for Donald Trump the very concept seemed confusing to her. Why would she need to appeal to them, she could win without them. In other words, “screw those people creatures.”
Porter was confused by the question, then angered by her confusion, she ended the interview. Can you imagine a conservative politician saying people who aren’t in lockstep with them weren’t even worth talking to? Tennessee Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen announced this week that he was not going to seek reelection because the Supreme Court declared districts like his in Memphis, in accordance with the Civil Rights Act, to be illegal because they were gerrymandered based on race. Cohen is white and Jewish, the district he represents is majority black, designed to elect a Democrat, regardless of skin color. Now it’s designed to exist with about three-quarters of a million Americans in it, of all configurations of humans. The district now leans to the right, and Cohen is out.
Steve Cohen has been representing the area at the state and local level since 1982, and for the first time his district is not slanted 70+ percent Democrat, so he quit. He could have tried campaigning, he could have tried making a case to people who, while he may not have been their Member of Congress, he was certainly known by them through the media, but he didn’t. He quit. Cohen quit while insisting “I’m not a quitter.” He’s actually the very definition of the word. More importantly, and more telling, is how he didn’t try. The prospect of having to sell himself and his party’s ideas to people who do not immediately acquiesce to all of it was so daunting of a task that quitting was the more viable option.
College campuses across the country are overrun with leftists who would rather shout down speakers or physically attack people rather than allow them to speak to people who actively choose to hear them. School administrators indulge these little fascists in the hope that they mob doesn’t turn on them, but it always does. College Presidents are now targets of goon squads demanding a policy of Jew hatred and anti-Americanism. And they’ll likely get it.

Todd Blanche appears to be a step up from Pam Bondi.

• Russia Hoax Figures May Want Lawyers Handy After Blanche’s Latest (Clark)

On Sunday morning, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures opposite host Maria Bartiromo. The Acting AG was there to discuss ongoing investigations into the Russia collusion hoax around the 2016 presidential election, as well as election rigging in the 2020 presidential election. He had some very pointed comments, as well as some reasons as to why these investigations are taking as long as they are. First, on the Russia hoax:
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2056018376581939433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2056018376581939433%7Ctwgr%5E7c43db490159fc285b4a5e5f6923f77dd0ae7951%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Fwardclark%2F2026%2F05%2F17%2Fnew-hundreds-of-subpoenas-in-dojs-russia-hoax-crackdown-n2202414

The post reads: “JUST IN: AG Todd Blanche confirms it’s ABOUT TO COME OUT as the DOJ probes the deep state coup against President Trump based on the Russia hoax “We’re finding out some incredibly troubling things, and at some point at the right time, that will be made public, and the American people will see exactly what happened to this administration and President Trump over the past decade!” “The Southern district of Florida has an open criminal investigation. That involves hundreds of subpoenas, it involves hundreds of witnesses, and so, as far as time and one we can expect it, we are working hard and we are working efficiently, but we are going to do it right.”
Here’s that conversation:
Todd Blanche: We’re finding out some incredibly troubling things, and at some point, at the right time, that will be made public, and the American people will see exactly what happened to this administration and President Trump over the past decade.
Maria Bartiromo: Well, I mean, the country was ripped apart. We all know that. Half the country said he colluded with Russia; the other half said no, it didn’t. It ripped the country apart. But you say, when the time is right. When is the time right? When should we expect these charges of conspiracy?
Todd Blanche: Well, I mean, look, as has been publicly reported, the Southern District of Florida has an open criminal investigation. That involves hundreds of subpoenas. It involves hundreds of witnesses. And so, as far as timing, when we can expect it, we are working hard, and we are working efficiently, but we are going to do it right. We are not gonna rush something that isn’t ready. We’re not gonna reach a conclusion before our investigation is over. But I assure you, the American people, that we are completely focused on it.
Maria Bartiromo: OK, well, again, I don’t know… What is not ready? I mean, we’ve been watching this play out for a long time. And viewers and people watching are frustrated, because it just keeps happening. Weaponization keeps happening because it’s not corrected the time before.
Maria Bartiromo makes a good point here. While the GOP didn’t have the upper hand for some of that time, hampering efforts at the federal level, we’ve been waiting for answers on this matter for a decade now. The shouts of “Russia, Russia, Russia” started, it seems, within moments of then-candidate Trump’s famous descent on the golden escalator, and now it’s been ten years. If this investigation doesn’t result in some indictments and trials, then exactly these kinds of tactics will be tried by the Democrats, again and again.
Granted, it’s better to do a thing right than it is to do a thing fast, and possibly carelessly. But some indictments in the weeks leading up to the midterms would do the GOP a lot of good; mind you, these decisions, any possible indictments, shouldn’t be made for political reasons, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cognizant of the possibilities. In another segment, Acting AG Blanche talked about rigging in the 2020 presidential election:

"There's a ton of evidence that the election was rigged," says @DAGToddBlanche on 2020.

"We have multiple investigations going on in Arizona, in Fulton County Georgia, and that's exactly what we're looking at." pic.twitter.com/fIW2dceSkT
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 17, 2026

Here’s how that conversation went:
Todd Blanche: 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 and in Georgia, in Fulton County, Georgia. And that’s exactly what we’re looking at. By the way, this is very difficult because they’re very good, they’re very good at hiding misconduct and hiding what they’re doing. And so that’s why we’re very focused on finding out whether the right people voted, whether they were supposed to vote voted, or if there was one cast per voter. That is what we are doing in multiple states, and I expect…
And again you’ll say to me: ‘How long has it taken? Why is this taking so long?’ The reality of the answer to that is it takes a lot of work to uncover what happened in 2020. A lot of good old-fashioned law enforcement police work, which is what we’re doing. And we have great prosecutors working on it as well. And I expect that, and 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 or results of an investigation, the American people will learn about what was uncovered.”
If there is, this will make Watergate look like a parking ticket. The GOP spent years in the political doghouse after Watergate, and this one, if the DOJ can establish that there was active interference in the conduct of an American presidential election, that could be earth-shattering. Depending on how high the conspiracy goes – and my personal opinion is that it likely goes pretty dang high – this could consign the Democratic Party to the political hinterlands for a decade or more, and they will have had it coming. We do live in interesting times. Stay tuned. This ain’t over; not by a long shot.

“Washington DC is a narcissist’s playground.”

• Todd Blanche Discusses Conspiracy and 2020 Election Investigations (CTH)

Appearing with Maria Bartiromo, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche answers questions about the ongoing conspiracy case against former government officials for targeting Donald Trump as well as investigations into the 2020 election outcome.

In this interview it appears Ms. Bartiromo realizes she needs to convey a sense of frustration on behalf of her viewership who followed the arc of the targeting of Donald Trump for the past nine years, through the Horowitz investigation(s), through the Mueller investigation, through the John Durham investigation and into the Jack Smith investigation, yet none of the preceding investigations ever focused on the real problem: the government officials who conducted the targeting. Corruption and unlawful conduct within Washington DC is a self-protecting enterprise. WATCH:

I can tell you from first-hand experience that one of the primary reasons we have not seen accountability is that most of the people with the authority to do something about it don’t know where to look to find the evidence, and when they do, they don’t know what it means in context.
Washington DC is a system of self-absorbed stakeholders who use isolating silos to preserve their interests. Within the game everything has a political currency, including leverage and information – and everyone wants proprietary credit for their inventory. Washington DC is a narcissist’s playground.

That famed car industry sure went down fast.

• Mercedes Willing to Enter Military Production Sector (CTH)

Mercedes is willing to begin military and weapons production. Historically speaking, this did not work out so well for Europe the last time; however, as with all things German, the expanded backstory is a little more complicated. Due to a combination of terrible political decisions related to the German and EU energy sector, the German industrial economy is contracting rapidly. Germany is the heart of the EU economic engine. At the same time as the German economy is contracting, the economic footprint of China in the EU is growing. The core issue centers around a declining auto sector but extends to all ancillary manufacturing outputs.

By following the WEF’s “Build Back Better” program, Europe as a whole has ended up making itself energy-dependent and vulnerable. The Gulf oil and gas crisis, the looming 25% Trump tariffs on EU cars, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from German NATO bases only add to their growing economic troubles. Around the same time as this economic convergence, Germany began ramping up its commitments, support, and spending for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia. Subsidy outflows rose just as GDP was falling, a clear example of an economic spiral that can easily spin out of control.
German Chancellor Freidrich Merz is trying to deal with the consequences of exceptionally short-sighted and damaging policy, but reversing the trend would require Germany to focus all policy operations inwardly away from Brussels and the demands of the collective European Union. This is now the core issue in German politics driving bold dividing lines between political power structures.nOne of the problems for Germany is the United States presence in the country historically meant they did not need to spend on their national defense. Instead, for decades they spent that money on subsidy programs and expanded German benefits. All was okay until President Trump started to pressure the German government to be self-sufficient. That means Germany had to change government policy.
President Trump has refused to put Tomahawk cruise missiles into U.S/NATO bases within Germany, and Germany has no medium to long-range missile systems. Now, they need to either purchase them or develop their own. At the same time President Trump is drawing down U.S. military troop levels in Germany, and Germany has changed their conscription laws while requiring all fighting age men to register any extended external travel.
SUMMARY: The economy within Germany is shrinking, revenues to the government are less, the energy crisis means German citizens need subsidies, the promised payments to Ukraine are more painful, and at the same time the “coalition of the willing” are more confrontational toward Russia yet they realize they can no longer hide behind America’s apron. A hot mess. Now, before getting to the point of this latest development, remind yourself that China owns a ten percent stake in Mercedes and the vehicles produced by the Chinese auto brand Geely are essentially the outcome of China extracting technology from that stakeholder share. This brand specific datapoint sits on the sidelines of Europe’s shrinking market share of automobiles as the Chinese share of the market grows.

And it never would.

• Texas Never Surrendered Its Right to Defend Its Borders (Andy Hopper)

Texas stands at a rare and narrow window of opportunity. With an America-First administration still in the White House, Texas has a partner in the fight to secure our land from those who seek to invade, infiltrate, and corrupt her. For the first time in years, federal courts are receptive to originalist arguments, clawing back decades of liberal case law.

This is not the time for half-measures, polite requests, or waiting on federal permission slips. It is the moment for Texas to pass legislation that forever enshrines our sovereign right, rooted in the original understanding of the Constitution, to defend our borders and protect our people from hostile invaders. Whether they come waving cartel flags, smuggling death across the Rio Grande, or carrying ideologies that seek to replace Texas law with foreign doctrines, the threat is the same.
Cartels have long considered our border an open highway for crime, fentanyl, and human trafficking. Foreign terrorist organizations have exploited the same gaps that decades of federal policies have left wide open. And because of a half-century of extremely permissive immigration policies that have brought millions from anti-Western Muslim countries, there are now growing enclaves within our state working to impose Sharia law and parallel societies that directly contradict the Texas Constitution and the American way of life.
These are not benign “immigration” issues. They are invasions that undermine our security, our culture, our rule of law, and our constitutional republic. Texans who have followed the fight against political Islam and groups pushing for enclaves that reject American law understand exactly what is at stake. The Tenth Amendment was written precisely so states would not be forced to stand idle while their people and their way of life are undermined from within.
The Republic of Texas would never have tolerated this, and she never agreed to surrender the tools needed to stop it. From 1836 to 1845, Texas stood as a fully sovereign nation forged in blood. For nine years, we fought Mexico for our independence. We maintained our own army and navy. We controlled our own borders. We decided who could enter, who could settle, and who had to leave. The Republic’s 1836 Constitution and early laws reflected this reality: land grants went to settlers who swore loyalty to Texas; citizenship could be earned after six months’ residence and an oath. Border defense was not some abstract federal concern; it was daily survival against a hostile neighbor that refused to accept our independence.
Mexican forces hammered that lesson home with shocking regularity in 1842 alone. In March, General Rafael Vásquez marched 700 troops into San Antonio, raised the Mexican flag, and declared Mexican law in effect. Just six months later, General Adrián Woll struck again, capturing the city a second time and seizing the courthouse while the district court was in session. Among the prisoners marched to Mexico was Samuel A. Maverick, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. These were not pinprick raids. San Antonio was occupied twice in one year. Every Texan understood that controlling who crossed the Rio Grande was a matter of life and death.
When statehood was on the table in 1845, Texans knew exactly what type of Union they were joining. The Joint Resolution of Annexation, passed by Congress on March 1, 1845, and approved by the Texas Convention on July 4, is crystal clear. Texas entered the Union “on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever.” We kept our public lands. We kept responsibility for our public debt. We retained the right to divide into as many as five states later if we chose. The United States agreed to settle boundary disputes with Mexico and to assume responsibility for external military threats. That was the deal: federal help against invading armies, not federal monopoly over who walks across our soil or settles in our communities.

Blame AI?

• Sadiq Khan: Claims London Devolving Into A Sh*thole Is Just AI Driven (MN)

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed that the decline of the city is a myth and that it’s all just lies being spread by MAGA supporters, Russia, and China through AI-generated content. In a fresh escalation of his war on inconvenient truths, Khan pointed to a surge in online posts highlighting anti-immigration realities, claiming foreign actors and Trump backers are behind it. He insists the dystopian image of lawless streets and cultural erosion is purely fabricated. “You’ve got state actors,” Khan said, pointing to supposed evidence of Russian and Chinese involvement (there is none) alongside Make America Great Again backers in the US. He warned that “decent people” might start believing these narratives of a dangerous city with no law and order.

Our city is on the front line in the fight against a new kind of disinformation.

Fake AI-generated content has become a profitable industry – created abroad and used to fuel tensions here.

I’m calling on X, Meta, YouTube and TikTok to at least clearly label this content. pic.twitter.com/oJw8hbwHqT
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) May 15, 2026

“Secondly, we’ve seen individuals and companies trying to monetise and make profit from division,” Khan further claimed.

Doesn’t allow replies so no one can point out all the real examples of how dangerous and horrible London has become. https://t.co/RJlDgAjJZ4
— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) May 16, 2026

He appears to be referring to joke AI videos being circulated showing London strewn with rubbish and rats. Of course these videos are fake, everyone realises that. However, they’re being made as a response to the fact that London is strewn with rubbish and rats, public services are woefully underfunded, and mass migration is causing further social breakdown and an explosion in crime. Instead of taking responsibility and attempting to fix the problems, Khan is continuing his gaslighting campaign to dismiss London’s very real problems as foreign propaganda or American disinformation.
In April, Khan began a push for a government-backed social media “disinformation” unit, demanding Big Tech and the state crack down on criticism of his record, claiming an “outrage economy” is eroding trust. He told the Cambridge Disinformation Summit that platforms must do better—or regulators like Ofcom should hit them hard. Khan positioned London as the “canary in the coal mine” for global fights against online dissent. Critics note he often disables replies on his posts, shutting down Londoners who could share firsthand experiences.
While Khan obsesses over algorithms and foreign bots, official figures from his own tenure paint a grim picture. As highlighted in our April report on his disinformation unit push, Metropolitan Police data since Khan took office in 2016 shows:
Knife crime: +27%
Robbery: +57%
Theft from the person: +37%
Shoplifting: +109%
Sexual offences: +64%
Violence against the person: Significant rises in multiple categories. Recent reminders underscore the pattern: Every hour in London, a rape is reported. Every 34 minutes, knife crime. Every 4.5 minutes, a phone theft. Every 1.8 minutes, a theft overall. There has been a broad collapse in everyday safety, theft epidemics and gang violence is plaguing the city. In addition to completely ignoring reality and pretending London is a utopia, Khan is calling for more state tools to police speech, label AI content, and tweak algorithms against “poison and division.” Civil liberties voices like Big Brother Watch have warned this risks political exploitation—labeling criticism of crime, migration, and multiculturalism as “disinformation” to protect the narrative.
https://twitter.com/BigBrotherWatch/status/2042640497529790947?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2042640497529790947%7Ctwgr%5E44e606ad57c7e929d1dc01360acd8ea9a8123557%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmodernity.news%2F2026%2F05%2F16%2Fmayor-sadiq-khan-claims-london-devolving-into-a-shthole-is-just-ai-driven-rage-bait%2F
Instead of addressing root causes—open borders policies flooding the city with incompatible elements, straining resources, and importing crime—Khan prefers to shoot the messenger. nThe mayor’s record speaks louder than any conspiracy: a capital where shoplifting exploded over 100%, knives dominate headlines, and public trust erodes daily. Blaming MAGA, Putin, or Xi won’t fix failing multiculturalism or restore law and order. Londoners deserve accountability, not gaslighting and speech police. Britain’s elites continue importing problems then censoring the massive backlash.

“The bloc must drop its unanimity principle and forge a new core group for decision making, Josep Borrell has said..”

• EU ‘Not Very Relevant’ On Global Stage – Borrell (RT)

Sloppy decision-making and an inability to agree on key issues have rendered the EU effectively irrelevant on the global stage, the bloc’s former foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has argued. The former top diplomat made the remarks in an interview with Belgian broadcaster RTBF on Friday, somewhat echoing the stance of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The top official, who has been in power since 2019, has repeatedly urged the bloc to remove individual member states’ veto powers and move to qualified majority voting on foreign policy and defense issues. The bloc’s decision-making process has become inadequate in its ability to react to the ever-shifting global situation, Borrell has said, arguing the EU “was not designed for the world in which we live today” in the first place.

“The decision-making rules are not compatible with the acceleration of history. We continue to want to decide unanimously on events that are happening too fast and are very important, and we almost never reach an agreement,” he said, adding that the current system makes the bloc “not very relevant to international politics.” Unlike von der Leyen with her majority voting approach, Borrell called for the creation of a new core group within the bloc to advance the EU’s positions on the global stage. “We need to build a union within the union. A union within the union means that with 27 members, even with unanimity, we won’t go any further. We’re held back. With 27, we won’t accomplish much. So we need to find another core group. Not the 27,” he said.
The former top diplomat, however, did not outline the exact criteria for the potential members of said group, stating it should be composed of the “few who truly want to move forward with political, economic, and military integration” and those “who want to go further, faster.” Last week, the idea to abandon the EU’s unanimity principle was backed by Berlin, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul arguing that a switch to a qualified majority voting would “make the EU capable of acting in areas where it currently has to remain at a standstill.” The initiative has already been backed by at least 12 EU member states, according to Wadephul.

Norway, a country with just over 5 million people, manages the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund — worth nearly $2 trillion. This translates to around $340,000 for every citizen, making it one of the richest countries per capita.

The fund was built from oil revenues, but… pic.twitter.com/agPuKMrlBG
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 17, 2026

Free the political prisoners in Britain! https://t.co/y8CoxKjE6a
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2026

The thousands of British people imprisoned merely for social media posts or speaking their mind need to be released!

No more prison island!! https://t.co/SFVMC7xZEx
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2026

That cartoon of someone going from slightly left of center to somehow right wing describes the average American https://t.co/BN4q2cHPN9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2026

This was carved from a single block of marble by a 23 year old in 1622.

Bernini turned stone into flesh…

The sculpture is called the Abduction of Proserpina, and it depicts the moment described in Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the goddess Proserpina was gathering flowers in a… pic.twitter.com/R4VLKUOhPW
— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) May 16, 2026

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

Debt Rattle May 16 2026

May 162026

May 16, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:54 am Finance Tagged with: China, Cuba, green deal, Gutfeld, Iran, Newsom, Putin, Texas oil, Thucydides Trap, Trump, unacceptable 47 Responses »

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Women of Amphissa 1887

• Making China Dependent on Texas Oil (Scott Pinsker)

• President Trump China Trip Photographs Now Available for Review (CTH)

• Very First Line Of Iran’s Latest Proposal ‘Unacceptable,’ Trump Says (ZH)

• Vladimir Putin Travels to China May 20th (CTH)

• Waging War on the Time Clock (Robert Spencer)

• CIA Head Ratcliffe Spotted In Cuba As Trump Refocuses Crosshairs (ZH)

• CIA Director John Ratcliffe Travels to Cuba IN Hemispheric Security Push (CTH)

• Cuba Falling: There’s a Lot Going On Right Now (Sarah Anderson)

• Resource Scramble (James Howard Kunstler)

• The Party of Anti-Trump Has a Self-Inflicted 2026 Problem (David Manney)

• Is Gavin Newsom Planning to Rig the California Primaries? (Margolis)

• Greg Gutfeld Destroys Whoopi Goldberg (Matt Margolis)

• Europe’s Green Deal Is Unraveling (Moutii)

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2054739480712548502?s=20

True https://t.co/acao7hRmrq
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2026

https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/2055058213796540470?s=20

Obama knew Trump was innocent so he called a meeting in the situation room on December 9th, 2016, ordered the intelligence community to write a new ICA and fabricate the evidence to frame Trump.

5 CIA analyst would be the lead drafter of the new ICA, in coordination with the FBI… pic.twitter.com/2keGLPWnj8
— The SCIF (@TheSCIF) May 15, 2026

https://twitter.com/DavidJHarrisJr/status/2054971186920960053?s=20 https://twitter.com/UnmaskTheSys/status/2055042264318066797?s=20

China’s the biggest importer of oil. The US is the biggest producer.

• Making China Dependent on Texas Oil (Scott Pinsker)

Is there a decent-sized chance that America and China will go to war in the next few decades? You betcha! Chinese President Xi Jinping called it the “Thucydides Trap,” and it’s certainly a plausible scenario: When two rival powers have opposing interests and ambitions, you’re just one diplomatic breakdown away from a military conflict. And China knows it. In a perfect world, China would be 100% independent of the U.S., so if and/or when that day comes, the ChiComs have a free hand to give Uncle Sam the middle finger. But over the next few decades, is there a much bigger chance that a war will break out somewhere in the Middle East? You betcha!

And if you’re China, a country that consumes 90% of Iran’s oil exports — and 90% of all China’s oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz (with at least 54% of its oil coming from Middle East nations) — that’s a disastrous vulnerability. You’re just one “Holy War” away from economic Armageddon. China is an oil-dependent state. Over 70% of its oil consumption comes from foreign countries. By a yuuuge margin, it’s the world’s #1 oil importer; China needs fossil fuels to survive. (Fun fact: 58% of China’s power still comes from coal.) In February of 2026, the BBC ran the idiotic story, “As Trump Retreats From Climate Goals, China Is Becoming a Green Superpower.”
The BBC celebrated China’s “investments” in green technology — but if you read beyond the headline and got about 30 paragraphs into the story, a startling reality emerges: China didn’t invest in green energy to use it! Instead, China intended to sell it to the West, taking advantage of “clean energy subsidies” and environmental regulations in Europe and America. But now that President Donald Trump has canceled these subsidies, China is actually LOSING money: Beijing has focused on three key industries: electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels. Already, China makes more solar panels than the rest of the world combined.
[…] Oversupply has also become a domestic challenge. Solar manufacturers have been cutting prices to stay competitive, while investing to keep up with the latest tech and rising raw material costs. The result: the country’s top solar panel makers predicted they would lose up to 38.4 billion yuan ($5.5bn; £4bn) for 2025, Nikkei reported last month. Six provinces reportedly cancelled 143 wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of 10.67 GW in the second half of last year. [emphasis added]
This is why there’s no “green solution” to China’s energy demands: It’s either fossil fuels or economic collapse. This is a vulnerability that President Trump knows well, because he took full advantage of it in his first term. From CNBC (Feb. 9, 2018): “How Soaring U.S. Oil Exports to China Are Transforming the Global Oil Game. U.S. oil shipments to China have surged, creating trade between the world’s two biggest powers that until 2016 just did not exist, and helping Washington in its effort to reduce the nation’s huge trade deficit with China.
[…] Data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows U.S. crude shipments to China went from nothing before 2016 to a record 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, worth almost $1 billion. Additionally, half a million tonnes of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth almost $300 million, headed to China from the U.S. in January. The U.S. supplies will help reduce China’s huge trade surplus with the U.S. and may help to counter allegations from President Donald Trump that Beijing is trading unfairly. But, alas, it’s also a vulnerability that President Joe Biden badly bungled.
[..] From Bloomberg (Dec. 26, 2024): “US Oil Exports to China Dwindle as Demand Wanes, Buying Shifts. “US crude exports to China plunged by almost half this year as shifts in the nation’s economy weighed on demand and it bought more barrels from other countries including Russia and Iran. Exports of US oil to China plunged to 81.9 million barrels over the course of the year, down 46% from 150.6 million barrels last year, according to data from Kpler. That knocked China down to the sixth-largest buyer of US crude, from second last year. “Now that Trump is back, so are U.S.-to-China oil exports. It’s one of the concessions he won from his recent summit with Xi Jinping.”
Bloomberg (May 15, 2026): “:Trump Says China’s Xi Likes the Idea of Buying More Oil from US “President Donald Trump said his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping likes the idea of buying more US oil, as the leaders meet in Beijing. Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News, after a White House official on Thursday said China was interested in purchasing more US crude to reduce its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz. The crucial waterway has been effectively closed since the Iran war began in late February, bottling up roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows, driving up prices.”
Here’s Donald Trump in his own words:

.@POTUS: "One thing I think that we're going to make a deal on, they've agreed they want to buy oil from the United States. They're going to go to Texas. We're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas, and to Louisiana, and to Alaska… that's a big thing." pic.twitter.com/BnQPNq0VGy
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 15, 2026

It was largely overlooked by the media, but it’s a geopolitical bombshell: Right before our eyes, President Trump just “reoriented” flipped America’s entire China strategy!The summit wasn’t really about Taiwan, Iran, or Thucydides theories; those were just the surface-level optics. Instead, it was all about oil, power, and leverage. And now, Trump is about to pull off the unthinkable: He’s making China dependent on American oil. In 2016, America produced 8,852 thousand barrels of crude oil a day. By 2020, it was 11,336. In 2025, it was 13,586 — and the number is rising each year. Our rate of growth is exceeding our domestic consumption capacity… and all that oil’s gotta go somewhere.
Therein lies our opportunity: Just as OPEC used oil to manipulate foreign governments, America can now use oil exports to keep a lid on China.It’s a win-win deal for all parties. Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska are a helluva lot more stable than Iran and/or the Middle East — which means, China’s economy will be less vulnerable to geopolitical tensions. (Plus, importing billions of barrels of American oil will get Trump off Xi’s back about the trade deficit, which could lower tariffs on Chinese exports. That’d be great news for Chinese companies.) From China’s perspective, the U.S. is now the most attractive option.
And it’s a remarkable victory for America: President Trump has weaponized the economic instability of the Middle East (that he largely caused!) to strongarm China into dependency on U.S. oil. Not only will American companies seize the windfall, but we now have unprecedented leverage over the ChiComs. If they get too big for their britches, we can simply turn off China’s lights. In the 1800s, Britain and France defeated China in the Opium Wars, getting the Chinese hooked on Opium. (Which wasn’t very nice: Opium is highly addictive.) But for industries of scale, oil is far more addictive than opium: China literally can’t function without it. Donald Trump already took Venezuelan oil offline. Iran is kaput. Russia is saddled with sanctions. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, and other Middle East nations can no longer safely access the Strait of Hormuz.
Yet America’s oil output keeps growing — as does China’s energy demands.

“Chairman Xi ended up having to shake his hand. Because Donald J Trump.”

• President Trump China Trip Photographs Now Available for Review (CTH)

White House official photographer Daniel Torok just announced that all of the Beijing trip photographs have been uploaded to the White House Flickr Account. I was hoping Torok captured this moment, and indeed he did.

China blacklisted him, sanctioned him, blocked him, and then Chairman Xi ended up having to shake his hand. Because Donald J Trump.
https://twitter.com/dto_rok/status/2055424658984378438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2055424658984378438%7Ctwgr%5Ecaea5f30e1406d5e5d5222889f67828e9f107d9f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2026%2F05%2F15%2Fpresident-trump-china-trip-photographs-now-available-for-review%2F

“..they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,”

Iran will end up without any nukes.

• Very First Line Of Iran’s Latest Proposal ‘Unacceptable,’ Trump Says (ZH)

Tehran and Washington are truly not just back to square one, but it’s as if no rounds of dialogue – direct or indirect – have even taken place. It’s more like being back at square zero – and the US President has just acknowledged it. President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday while departing Beijing that even the very first first sentence of Iran’s latest proposal was “unacceptable” and blamed the Iranians for backtracking on the nuclear issue. The first sentence was an “unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,” he said, stressing that he remains unsatisfied with the “level of guarantee from them.”

Trump’s remarks center on his allegation that Iran agreed to give up its “nuclear dust” but then quickly “then they took it back” – but then stated his view that Tehran will eventually agree to it anyway. “I looked at it, and I don’t like the first sentence. I just throw it away,” Trump said. He once again in the comments called for Iran to completely abandon any nuclear capability, insisting there can be “no nuclear of any form.” He described: “You’ve got to get all the fuel out and no more production. You have to get everything.” Trump has said China’s President Xi Jinping is in full agreement that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon:
According to Trump, Iranian representatives acknowledged only the United States and possibly China possess the specialized equipment necessary to remove radioactive debris from the damaged sites. “They said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S.,” Trump said. “They said you were right. It is a complete obliteration.” The president has said the nuclear material is now “entombed” under ground after nuclear sites were “obliterated” – from bombing operations last June and this latest round of US-Israeli attacks in February through March and early April. Also this week while in China Trump told Fox News in an interview that he did not underestimate the situation in Iran, despite the constantly shifting and expanding timeline and stated goals within the early weeks of Operation Epic Fury.
TRUMP TO FOX: DIDN’T UNDERESTIMATE ANYTHING ON IRAN
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the topic of uranium enrichment “is currently not on the agenda of discussions or negotiations,” but will be addressed in later stages, as cited in Tasnim. On China and whether President Xi agreed to commit to pressuring the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said Friday “we don’t need favors” but that “we may have to do a little cleanup work.” “We had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you’d call it, but we have a blockade that’s so effective, that’s why we did the ceasefire,” he said, after suggesting that the conflict with Iran could continue.

I have to admit, I’m not sure what Sundance means…

• Vladimir Putin Travels to China May 20th (CTH)

The noticing of things continues….

RUSSIA – “Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in Beijing for a one-day visit on May 20, just days after the conclusion of President Xi Jinping’s landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Sources told the South China Morning Post the visit was part of Moscow’s routine dealings with Beijing, with little expectation that there would be an elaborate parade or welcome. It will be the first time that China has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month outside a multilateral setting, a reflection of Beijing’s efforts to manage ties with both and position itself as a pivotal power amid an increasingly fractured world order. (read more)
No parades.
All business.
More coincidences.
The noticing continues….

“Only Losers, Ingrates, and Fools are able to make a case against America!”

• Waging War on the Time Clock (Robert Spencer)

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump wrote: “When the Fake News says that the Iranian enemy is doing well, Militarily, against us, it’s virtual TREASON in that it is such a false, and even preposterous, statement. They are aiding and abetting the enemy! All it does is give Iran false hope when none should exist. These are American cowards that are rooting against our Country. Iran had 159 ships in their Navy — Every single ship is now resting at the bottom of the sea. They have no Navy, their Air Force is gone, all Technology is gone, their “leaders” are no longer with us, and the Country is an Economic Disaster. Only Losers, Ingrates, and Fools are able to make a case against America!” President DONALD J. TRUMP

The Islamic Republic of Iran is indeed nurturing hope, but it doesn’t appear to be based on the establishment media’s cheerleading for anyone, no matter how vicious or evil, who opposes Trump. Ali Khezrian, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Majles, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s legislative body, on Friday expressed the confidence that the United States would soon be driven out of the Middle East altogether. Far-fetched? Undoubtedly. Unlikely? Absolutely. So is Khezrian just assuming a Baghdad Bob-like pose of braggadocio in the face of disaster? Possibly. Or he could be watching the election cycle in the United States.
Khezrian was so confident that events would turn in the Islamic Republic’s favor that he warned that the leaders of the Islamic regime would take revenge on the United Arab Emirates once the U.S. was gone and the crisis was over. “In the past week,” Khezrian declared, “the Emiratis have learned many lessons. However, compared to what they are yet to learn, the lessons they were taught so far are like preschool versus academic studies.”
Warming to his theme, Khezrian blamed the Emiratis for supposedly wishing to “escalate the tension in the region, in cahoots with the Zionists.” Of course! Who else could be behind it? He added: “They know that when the Islamic Republic of Iran emerges from this war, and the Americans are driven out of the region, [Iran] will put them through hell. Iran will not just let go of the UAE, and they know it.” All right. But what was that bit about the Americans being “driven out of the region”? Nothing seems much less likely at this point, but at the same time, it must be acknowledged that the Americans could well stop attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran before the threat that it poses is fully neutralized.

We’ll hear and see a lot about Cuba. I think it might take all summer. The US will be kind. Here’s 3 different takes.

• CIA Head Ratcliffe Spotted In Cuba As Trump Refocuses Crosshairs (ZH)

We noted on Thursday that, once President Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded, the Trump team’s next focus would likely shift back toward Cuba. That pivot now appears underway. Aboard Air Force One early Friday, while returning stateside, Trump told reporters that “Cuba needs our help,” signaling the Caribbean island nation is moving higher on the administration’s agenda.

A new AP report offers more insight into how the Trump administration is shifting attention back toward Cuba: CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana on Thursday, reopening a channel for political dialogue between the two countries.

Havana, Cuba pic.twitter.com/7S7TtJPyf5
— CIA (@CIA) May 14, 2026

Ratcliffe and top U.S. officials, some of whose faces were blurred in images released by the CIA on X, held high-level talks with Cuba’s Interior Minister, the head of Cuban intelligence, and Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raulito Rodríguez Castro. Havana’s communist government released a statement noting that the meeting “took place Thursday, May 14, against a backdrop of complex bilateral relations.” AP noted that Cuban officials presented a report to Ratcliffe and his team, claiming to demonstrate that the communist-run island poses no threat to U.S. national security. Consequently, Havana maintains there are no legitimate grounds for its continued inclusion on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
However… As per The Washington Times, “Cuba’s intelligence apparatus is training foreign nationals to wage war against the West.” Thursday’s meeting comes after a report that Cuba’s power grid collapsed further into blackout conditions, as Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy warned that the island is completely out of fuel for diesel generators. This comes as Trump’s fuel blockade remains in effect. Let’s not forget that the Trump team is prepared to provide $100 million in direct humanitarian assistance if Havana moves forward with political reforms after decades of nation-killing communism.
Trump Says Cuba Is Seeking Help: ‘We Are Going To Talk’
Trump and his team appear to be refocusing their efforts on the Western Hemisphere, with more news on Cuba likely to come next week.

They could have waited till Trump was back. But no.

• CIA Director John Ratcliffe Travels to Cuba In Hemispheric Security Push (CTH)

In a remarkable development, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Cuba on Thursday to meet with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro. Also present at the meeting was Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services. In late April of this year, a few State Department officials visited Havana and held talks with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro about a potential diplomatic deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also previously spoken directly to Mr. Rodríguez Castro who appears to be acting as somewhat of a bridge between the Cuban government and various Trump administration officials.

VIA CUBAN GOVT Press Release – “Based on the request presented by the U.S. government that a delegation headed by the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, be received in Havana, the Directorate of the Revolution approved the realization of this visit and the meeting with its counterpart from the Ministry of the Interior. The meeting took place on Thursday, May 14, in a context characterized by the complexity of bilateral relations, in order to contribute to the political dialogue between the two nations, as part of the efforts to face the current scenario.
The evidence provided by the Cuban side and the exchanges held with the United States delegation made it possible to demonstrate categorically that Cuba does not constitute a threat to the national security of the United States, nor are there any legitimate reasons for including it in the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism. During the meeting, it was possible to verify the consistency and congruence in the historical position of our country with the actions of the Cuban government and its competent authorities, in the confrontation and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
“Once again it was evident that the island does not harbor, support, finance or allow terrorist or extremist organizations; nor are there any military or foreign intelligence bases on its territory, and it has never supported any hostile activity against the United States nor will it allow Cuba to act against another nation. The interest of both sides in developing bilateral cooperation between law enforcement and enforcement agencies was also evident, based on the security of both nations, regional and international.” According to CBS News – “CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana, Cuba, on Thursday for a rare meeting with senior Cuban officials, an agency official told CBS News, using the visit to deliver a message that the U.S. was prepared to expand economic and security engagement with Cuba if Havana “makes fundamental changes.”
The meeting came as Cuba is contending with a massive power failure to its national energy grid amid U.S. sanctions that have caused an oil and gas shortage crisis to the island nation. Ratcliffe told Cuban leaders the administration was offering “a genuine opportunity for collaboration” and a chance to stabilize Cuba’s struggling economy, while cautioning that the opportunity would not remain open indefinitely and the administration would enforce “red lines” if necessary, the official said.
The meeting in Havana follows a series of public comments from President Trump that talks with Cuba were imminent. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump said “Cuba is asking for help,” and indicated talks would begin “at the right time.” Cuban officials publicly confirmed Thursday’s meeting, characterizing it as part of efforts to maintain political dialogue despite what Havana called “complex bilateral relations.” {source}

In detail.

• Cuba Falling: There’s a Lot Going On Right Now (Sarah Anderson)

The situation in Cuba may be at or near a breaking point. Many experts — real ones whom I trust and learn from regularly, not just whoever the MSM could dig up — are calling today the “beginning of the end” of the regime that has been in power for 67 years. On Thursday, the country’s energy minister, Vicente de la O Levy, said on state media, “We have absolutely no fuel and absolutely no diesel. We have no reserves.” Of course, he went on to blame the U.S. “blockade,” which prevents other countries from sending oil to Cuba via secondary tariffs, but we all know that’s not the real problem.

Even when the regime was receiving super cheap oil from Venezuela or Mexico, it was selling most of it to foreign countries and using what was left to keep its own interests up and running. The Cuban people were still dealing with blackouts. And the lack of oil wasn’t the only issue. The infrastructure there is crumbling, and the regime refuses to fix or maintain it.
Major Protests Break Out as Regime Cuts Communication Lines
Blackouts in many neighborhoods are now reaching 22 hours a day, which has set off a new wave of protests this week. People are losing their fear of the regime — they can no longer live like this — and they’re begging the United States to end it. There have been some photos and videos posted on social media, and advocates for a free Cuba, like Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), are asking people who can to spread the word about the protests. Why? The regime has now reportedly cut off all lines of communication in the country, including phone and internet service. They do not want the outside world to see what’s really going on.
https://twitter.com/RepCarlos/status/2054906947174793730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2054906947174793730%7Ctwgr%5E8792571983550d66a1ee10390f84fee645d9cbe0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F14%2Fcuba-falling-whats-all-this-talk-about-100-million-n4952867
With that in mind, I’ll share a few videos from Wednesday night. Most of the captions are in Spanish, but they all basically say the same thing, explaining that people are in the streets protesting. While people are losing their fear and taking to the streets, they’re still not safe from the regime. The human rights organization Prison Defenders released its monthly report on the number of political prisoners in Cuba, and in April 2026, it hit a record high of 1,260 detained. To make matters worse, 14 are minors, 142 are women, 449 have serious medical conditions, and 51 have untreated severe mental health issues.
https://twitter.com/ArturoMcfields/status/2054987233543782633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2054987233543782633%7Ctwgr%5E8d92fe2ad96552e758318b0e3e77de87ca07ec4d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F14%2Fcuba-falling-whats-all-this-talk-about-100-million-n4952867
Rubio’s Most Recent Statements
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently on travel with President Donald Trump to China, but he sat down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on the way there, and one topic they discussed is what’s going on in Cuba. He didn’t say anything particularly new. He’s been saying all along that Cuba has no economy and the current people in charge aren’t competent enough to fix that. “There is no economy in Cuba,” he said. “To the extent there’s any wealth in Cuba… forget about it doesn’t go to the people. It doesn’t even go to the government. The wealth is controlled by a private company owned by military generals. They take all the money. They’re sitting on billions of dollars, okay?
This is a country where people are literally now eating garbage from the streets, but they have a company that controls all of the moneymaking there that’s sitting on $15-16 billion.” Of course, he’s talking about GAESA, which he sanctioned heavily last week. Then he spoke about Cuba’s potential: The one thing Cuba would enjoy is an enormous expatriate community, Cuban Americans that would go back and invest. But I think there would be interest globally. Look, they have significant mineral deposits in Cuba — some of the rare earth minerals, some of the best in the world.
They have, obviously, an incredible opportunity with tourism, with agriculture – very rich farmland. So Cuba should not be a poor country. Its people should not be starving. Its people should be prosperous. And what’s most interesting is you see Cubans everywhere in the world – in the United States, but you see them in Europe, you see them in Panama. Cubans leave Cuba, they go to other countries, and they become successful. The only place in the world where Cubans can’t seem to prosper and succeed is in Cuba.
What’s All This About $100 Million in Aid? While in Italy last week, Rubio spoke about how the United States has tried to give the Cuban people $100 million in aid, but the regime wouldn’t allow it. Of course, it wouldn’t go directly to the regime — the Cuban people would never see it if it did — but it would be handled through Catholic charities as we’ve done previously with smaller amounts.
Rubio also talked about that on Hannity:

SECRETARY RUBIO: We’ve offered to distribute $100 million of humanitarian aid to the Cuban people through the church, but the Cuban regime has denied it. pic.twitter.com/GzF8IWCru4
— Department of State (@StateDept) May 14, 2026

“Trump has done so much damage to libtardery that the Democrats will need a decade of uninterrupted power to undo it, which they’re not going to get.” —Matt Forney on X:

• Resource Scramble (James Howard Kunstler)

If you learned anything from this week’s extravaganza in Beijing, it is that Donald Trump is aggressively re-aligning world relations so that the USA does not end up one of the losers in the global resource scramble that lurks darkly behind all current events. China does not intend to be an eventual loser, either, though it has lost a lot of traction lately. The Eurolands are certainly the main losers, embracing loserdom as the old and sick long for death. India and some of the BRICs countries, are looking a little loser-ish just now.

The primary resource all nations scramble for is oil. Without lavish supplies of oil, you can’t have an advanced techno-industrial economy and, as the feckless Eurolanders learned the hard way, there really isn’t an adequate substitute for oil. The flow of oil depends on economically producible reserves of oil country-by-country, but also on geographic advantage, as we are learning just now in the Hormuz crisis.
Also, turns out, the peak oil story is still real, despite fifteen years of shale oil miracles. The Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia are probably past peak. American shale oil is in the peaking zone, too — the Permian Basin in Texas is running short of sweet spots. The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (AMWR) is open for leasing, but it is expensive to drill and produce in the harsh arctic region and the US Geological Survey estimates recoverable reserves there between 7.7 – 10 billion barrels — America consumes roughly 7.5 billion barrels-a-year, so. . . .
There’s Canada, of course, and its tar sands, but the Great White North these days leans rather hostilely towards its neighbor to the south (us). Otherwise, North America is pretty fully explored oil-wise. There can’t be a whole lot of hidden, un-tapped “elephant” fields out there. On the plus side, America enjoys its geographic advantage, comfortably cushioned between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, far from the madding crowd of Eurasia. We have lately trumpeted our supposed acquisition of Venezuela, but projected production of US companies there looking ahead several years would be under a million barrels-a-day while the US uses 20.5-million barrels a day. As for Venezuela’s jungle-bound oil sands, well, for now, fuggeddabowdit.
Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources puts its commercially recoverable oil resources (with current technology and prices) at around 80-billion barrels, which is a lot, and leaves Russia in a theoretically favorable place for the short term, anyway. China uses about 17-million barrels-a-day and imports about 70-percent of that. Its imports of Iranian oil are substantial but obscured in official statistics due to the evasion of US sanctions. The Hormuz blockade has put a hurt on China.
Here’s how the global resource scramble translates into geopolitical behavior: As has been evident for some time, US interests are increasingly alienated from Euroland’s interests, and better aligned with Russia’s interests. Europe is demonstrably insane these days, roiling with loose talk as it whirls around the drain. Russia, under V. Putin, looks more like the adult in the room. Even Russia’s military operation in Ukraine looks rational if you consider how the EU and the CIA started the damn thing in the first place circa 2014 for the very purpose of provoking Russia.
Mr. Trump has yearned to normalize relations with Russia since he stepped on-stage in 2016, to the great consternation of America’s neocons, CIA shadow-meisters, and the born-again communists running the Democratic Party (who seem to resent Russia ditching Marxism-Leninism thirty-five years ago). This week, the US and China have mutually proposed becoming “partners” rather than rivals on the world scene. We will surely remain mutually wary, but apparently things have changed.
Most urgently, China would like its oil imports from the Persian Gulf restored, and the obvious way to make that happen would be for them to lean on Iran to stop screwing around and come to terms with the US — give up the enriched uranium and stop laying jihad on everybody near and far. We’ll know soon enough if China will do that for us, and we have some goodies promised for them, Nvidia chips, soybeans, and more.

“Money doesn’t solve every political problem, but broke parties don’t scare many people.”

• The Party of Anti-Trump Has a Self-Inflicted 2026 Problem (David Manney)

There’s an old rule in politics: when your opponent starts breaking furniture in his own house, don’t grab a hammer and help him. President Donald Trump may not need much help heading into the 2026 midterms because Democrats keep creating problems they don’t have to create, then acting shocked when the floor gives way. Democrats should have a built-in advantage; the party out of power usually performs well in midterms, and Republicans carry the weight of governing. Yet Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin faces donor frustration, as the AP reports, plus fundraising worries, debt, and private complaints from party figures who expected a sharper rebound after Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential race.

The handwringing comes despite the Democratic Party’s undeniable success in the vast majority of elections under Martin’s leadership, which coincides with Republican President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Democrats over the last year have dominated races for governor and special elections for state legislative and congressional seats. They’ve also won campaigns for state supreme court, county executive and even county sheriff. Less than six months before the 2026 midterm elections, however, the concern over Martin’s leadership is, at best, an unwanted distraction for a party desperate to break the Republican Party’s grip on power in Washington.
And, at worst, the conflict will make it harder for Democrats to win in November, while undermining faith in the DNC as it coordinates the party’s next presidential nomination process. Martin declined to comment for this article. He has sought to avoid media interviews over the last week, preferring to keep his head down while focusing on improving the DNC’s financial health and scouting potential sites for the presidential convention in 2028. The DNC has roughly $22 million in cash on hand and over $18 million in debt, and, as ABC News reports, the Republican National Committee has reported far more cash and no debt.
With six months until the high-stakes midterm elections, the Democratic Party is struggling to raise money and keep up with its GOP counterparts, leading to frustrations among some donors with Democratic National Committee leadership and its chair Ken Martin. At the end of March, the Republican National Committee outraised the DNC $21.2 million to $11.4 million, according to new reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The RNC reported having nearly eight times more cash on hand — $116 million to the DNC’s $13.8 million. In addition, the DNC is a little over $18 million in debt, according to FEC filings.
Democrats, though, are performing better than they did in 2018 at this point in the cycle when the party had raised $7 million and had little more than $9 million cash on hand. The party had just under $6 million in debt at that time, too. Money doesn’t solve every political problem, but broke parties don’t scare many people. Democrats spent years treating “anything but Trump” as a full-service platform. When that strategy didn’t beat him for good, they kept adding darker labels and louder warnings. The strategy now looks tired; voters still hear plenty about Trump’s alleged threats to democracy, but they hear far less about what Democrats would do on prices, the border, energy, crime, or the basic daily costs eating family budgets.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) remains the top House Democratic voice, and he’s still pushing hard to win back the speaker’s gavel. His path grew harder after Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down a Democratic-backed congressional map in a 4-3 ruling on May 8, 2026. The map could’ve helped Democrats gain as many as four Republican-held U.S. House seats, but the court correctly ruled that lawmakers failed to follow the proper legal process when they rushed the measure onto the ballot. The map loss hurt because Democrats had counted on redistricting as part of their comeback plan. Jeffries can still talk about intensity, turnout, and candidate quality, but a blocked map removes one of the easier paths back to power.
The setback also exposes the larger problem: Democrats keep accusing Republicans of rigging maps while chasing their map advantage wherever they can find it. Voters may not follow every legal filing, but they can smell hypocrisy when it walks past them wearing cologne. The Texas redistricting fight also deserves cleaner language than the usual Trump-blame reflex. Biden’s Justice Department sued Texas in December 2021 over congressional and state House redistricting plans. Trump didn’t invent that fight by waving a Sharpie over Austin. His Justice Department later withdrew from the Biden-era case in March 2025. The full timeline doesn’t fit the “Trump dictator” routine, so it often gets flattened into something more useful for campaign emails.
Democrats still have real chances in 2026 because midterms punish presidents. Republican mistakes will happen, voters will get restless, and no serious person should pretend the GOP can coast. Yet Democrats keep making Trump’s job easier by offering anger as a meal and calling it dinner. Ken Martin has a money problem, Jeffries has a map problem, and Harris left Democrats with a morale problem. The party’s loudest voices still sound more interested in another Trump impeachment fantasy than a serious governing pitch. Trump’s best midterm strategy may be patience; let Democrats explain why their debts, blocked maps, stale message, and leadership fights prove they’re ready for Congress again.
Let Hakeem Jeffries keep selling the same anti-Trump act while the DNC passes the hat and donors check the exits. A party can survive defeat, but it has a much harder time surviving when defeat teaches it nothing.
Again.

Only if he finds a way. Who do they have? Buttigieg, Kamala and this pretty boy? Against Trump and Rubioi? Only thing they can do is impeach..

• Is Gavin Newsom Planning to Rig the California Primaries? (Margolis)

Just yesterday, I wrote about how Democrats were using Republican redistricting efforts as an excuse to finally “take the gloves off” and “crush their souls” — as if they hadn’t spent the last several decades perfecting the art of dirty politics in their quest for permanent power. And, of course, California was quick to prove my point. Gavin Newsom casually revealed that he has a “break-the-glass” contingency plan to ensure at least one Democrat advances to the general election in California’s June gubernatorial primary.

California’s “jungle primary” system, where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to November, was specifically engineered to freeze Republicans out of competitive general elections. It worked beautifully — for Democrats — for years. Now, with too many Democratic candidates splitting the vote, there’s a real chance the system could backfire and lock out Democrats instead. And suddenly, the will of the voters isn’t quite so sacred. Newsom was candid about where his priorities lie. “I do not see that scenario taking place,” he said, dismissing the possibility of a Democratic shutout.
Now, in fairness, he’s probably right, but anything is possible. And that’s the problem. Leaving it up to voters isn’t something Democrats are particularly fond of, and Newsom admitted to behind-the-scenes efforts to “rally people” and pointed vaguely to others who “have a deep understanding of what it would look like if Democrats were locked out.” Right… just “rallying voters”? Does that sound like a “contingency plan” to you? Democrats could potentially get locked out of the general election, and all Newsom is going to do about it is send out a few mailers and give a few speeches. Sure. Remember, this is the same party that was trying to compel lower-tier Democrat candidates to drop out several weeks ago to help consolidate Democrat support.
Seriously: None of the things he mentioned as part of the “break-the-glass” contingency plan are anything but garden-variety campaigning strategies these days. The Democratic Governors Association has been mailing pieces highlighting Republican candidate Steve Hilton as a fierce conservative. By amplifying Hilton’s conservative credentials among GOP voters, the DGA is trying to help him consolidate Republican support in the primary. A stronger Hilton draws votes away from the other major Republican candidate, Chad Bianco. If Bianco can’t claw his way into the top two, Democrats get exactly the outcome they’re engineering.
And, of course, they’re using “opposition research” as a get-out-the-vote operation for a Republican they’d rather face — or use as a spoiler. That kind of thing has been going on for years. So, color me concerned that when Newsom starts talking about contingency plans, he’s got something else in mind to rig the primary to ensure at least one Democrat advances to the general election. Democrats have always fought dirty. The only thing that’s changed is they’re not even pretending otherwise anymore. But trust me: Newsom knows that his legacy is on the line in this election, and he isn’t relying on standard campaign strategies to ensure the primary goes his way.

“Not that anyone was watching it ..”

• Greg Gutfeld Destroys Whoopi Goldberg (Matt Margolis)

Not that anyone was watching it, but Whoopi Goldberg had a meltdown on The View this week, and Greg Gutfeld made sure she didn’t get away with it. Whoopi went on this rambling tangent about how nobody is running the country. She torched Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, and basically every official in the Trump administration. “I have no faith in the people who are running anything,” she said. “I don’t believe in anybody who is running this country right now.”

Of course, none of them were asking for Whoopi’s endorsement or vote of confidence. Not that that mattered. But, of course, she wasn’t done. She went full theater-of-the-absurd and accused Trump of neutering the entire United States of America. “We have been de-balled as a nation, I feel,” Whoopi said on air. Oh, that’s what she feels, huh? Seriously, who actually watches The View for political analysis? It was bizarre and bore no resemblance to reality. And Greg Gutfeld destroyed her on The Five.
“Whoopi accuses Trump of castrating America,” Gutfeld said Thursday. “Sorry, Whoopi. Guys, stop getting erections around you years before Trump got into office. Do not blame him for your dateless weekends. Ouch. Of course, the whole premise of Whoopi’s complaint collapsed the moment anyone applied even a minimal standard of scrutiny. Gutfeld pointed right at it. “Who is she comparing Trump to?” he said. “Emily went over all of his achievements. But you have to look at how world leaders react to him. You think, No one’s in charge of the United States. Trump’s in charge of the U.S., and it looks like whenever he’s around world leaders, he’s in charge of them, too. They treat him like a rock star.”
That’s the part that Whoopi and The View panel keep deliberately ignoring. While they’re clutching their pearls over every little thing Trump does (or doesn’t do), Trump is commanding rooms full of foreign heads of state. These are not people who fawn over weakness. They respond to strength, and the world has noticed it. There’s a huge difference between Trump and Joe Biden, who exuded weakness and was routinely seen as a joke. And he saved his sharpest line for the end. “The only people being de-balled in this country are the children of liberals who trans them for virtue points at the wine club.”

Greg Gutfeld just took Whoopi Goldberg to the woodshed over her claim that President Trump “de-balled” America.

An absolute THRASHING.

GUTFELD: “Whoopi accuses Trump of castrating America.”

“Sorry, Whoopi….”

“Guys stopped getting erections around you years before Trump got… pic.twitter.com/9OL0ljR5rI
— Overton (@overton_news) May 14, 2026

Ouch. But earned. But back to Whoopi’s rant. How exactly does she justify claiming Trump has neutered the entire United States of America? Think about this for a second. Trump is actually doing something about Iran — something multiple administrations promised and never delivered. For decades, presidents made tough speeches and then flinched. Trump actually did something. And how about his tariff strategy? After years of other countries taking advantage of the United States, Trump fought back, and it’s working. He’s gotten trade deals that are fair for the United States as a result.
Whatever metric Whoopi is using to make her critique of the Trump administration isn’t based in reality. America is not weaker. America is back at the head of the table, and the people sitting around it know it.

A lot of plans and promises were made, without checking if they could be delivered. Europe sentenced itself. It still does.

• Europe’s Green Deal Is Unraveling (Moutii)

Over the past decade, Europe has played a leading role in shaping global climate policy, highlighted by the launch of the European Green Deal in 2019 — Ursula von der Leyen described it as a “man on the moon moment.” The initiative aims to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 while fostering innovation and strengthening its industrial base. Yet several years later, the results are deeply disappointing. Instead of meeting its goals, the Green Deal is increasingly associated with higher energy costs, weakened competitiveness, and growing political backlash. It has deepened divisions within the EU, strained global relations, and increased pressure on households and businesses — raising serious doubts about its feasibility and long-term economic impact.

How Green Ideology Undermines Europe’s Economy
Europe’s economic stagnation points to a deeper structural problem in its energy and climate strategy — one closely tied to the direction set by the European Green Deal. Since its launch, competitiveness has eroded sharply, with soaring energy costs at its core. Electricity prices in Europe are now two to three times higher than in the United States and China, with taxes accounting for nearly a quarter of the total cost.
These outcomes largely stem from policy choices. The EU’s binding targets — net zero by 2050 and a 55-percent emissions reduction by 2030 — have constrained energy supply, despite Europe accounting for only six percent of global emissions. At the same time, phasing out nuclear, restricting gas, and relying on intermittent renewables have weakened energy security and increased price volatility. For industry — where energy can account for up to 30 percent of total production costs — this, combined with carbon pricing, has become a critical constraint, driving firms to scale back, relocate, or shut down, accelerating deindustrialization across the continent.
The automotive industry clearly illustrates these pressures: representing over seven percent of EU GDP and nearly 14 million jobs, the sector is under pressure from the 2035 ban on combustion engines, forcing a rapid shift to electric vehicles despite unresolved technological challenges and market constraints. As Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius warned, the policy risks driving the sector “full speed into a wall.” The consequences for the sector are already visible: declining production, mounting restructuring, and significant job losses — 86,000 jobs since 2020, with up to 350,000 more at risk by 2035 — while tightening regulations are set to reduce profits by seven to eight percent by 2030, pushing the sector toward losses and eroding Europe’s automotive leadership.
Agriculture has also become one of the Green Deal’s clearest casualties. Stricter rules on emissions, land use, pesticides, and fertilizers are raising costs and increasing yield volatility, hitting small farmers hardest and accelerating consolidation among large agribusinesses. Targets such as cutting pesticide use by 50 percent and expanding organic farming risk significant declines in output, threatening both rural livelihoods and food security. Rather than enabling farmers to innovate and improve productivity, these policies are constraining production — fueling widespread protests and weakening both competitiveness and sustainability.
Taken together, these pressures are not isolated — they reflect a broader economic burden. The European Commission estimates that the transition will require at least €260 billion in additional investment each year, with total costs reaching up to 12 percent of EU GDP — a burden that is increasingly difficult for the European economy to sustain.

Hmm https://t.co/71r7Fs8wfo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2026

SpaceX may only be doing $15-$16B in annual revenue today, while aiming for a $2T IPO, and most people will look at that and say, “That valuation makes no sense… it's overvalued.”

But to me, this company is still SIGNIFICANTLY undervalued.

SpaceX owns the launch system.
It… pic.twitter.com/JVyNik8YUw
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) May 14, 2026

AOC will look at this and unironically declare that Elon is one of the stupidest people alive and not an engineer pic.twitter.com/KbLp8COMPQ
— Arthur MacWaters (@ArthurMacwaters) May 14, 2026

Edward Snowden is reportedly closing in on a full presidential pardon and hero’s welcome back to America facilitated by DNI Tulsi Gabbard in exchange for testifying in federal grand jury proceedings and criminal cases against James Comey John Brennan and James Clapper for… pic.twitter.com/3v48KHqeyu
— America Pulse News (@AmericaPulseNew) May 14, 2026

Demis Hassabis: "In the near future, one person who knows AI will outperform an entire startup team"

I've watched hundreds of AI talks, this 60-minute Cambridge lecture is the one I wish I had seen a year ago

this is the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, CEO of Google DeepMind… https://t.co/17czRYRq23 pic.twitter.com/Gl2ty5H5qk
— Anatoli Kopadze (@AnatoliKopadze) May 14, 2026

https://twitter.com/ScaryEurope/status/2054895741185978569?s=20

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Debt Rattle May 12 2026

May 122026

May 12, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:03 am Finance Tagged with: AOC, ceasefire, Durov, GOP, Iran, Khameini, midterms, Putin, TDS, Trump, WWIII, Zelensky 53 Responses »

Henri Matisse The Dessert – Harmony in Red 1908

• Trump to Iran: Time’s Up (Robert Spencer)

• Trump: Iran Ceasefire ‘On Life Support’ (JTN)

• Trump Mulls Military Action As Ceasefire On “Life Support” (ZH)

• Dear Mr. President: Just Finish the Mullahs Already (Stephen Green)

• Khamenei Orders Iran’s Army To ‘Continue Decisive Operations’ (Cradle)

• Confused About Iran? Here’s What U.S. Victory Looks Like. (Victoria Taft)

• EU Prepares For ‘Potential’ Talks With Putin As US Slowly Reduces Troops (ZH)

• Putin’s Failure as a World Leader has Cleared the Path to WW III (PCR)

• The Earth Moves Just a Bit (James Howard Kunstler)

• Durov Slams French Hypocrisy Over X Crackdown (RT)

• Um… Did the GOP Just Win the Midterms? (Stephen Green)

• Zelensky Touts That 20 Countries Seek Ukraine Drone Deals (ZH)

• White House Identifies Treatment Course for TDS Sufferers (CTH)

• Trump Floats Making Venezuela The 51st State (ZH)

• “You Just Can’t Earn a Billion Dollars”: AOC (Turley)

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2053517163177169095?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2053838729467371690?s=20

We have the evidence and the documents that prove Obama and his administration, including Hillary Clinton and our own intelligence community committed treason and ran a coup on President Trump to steal the 2016 election.

1. Hillary Clinton greenlights the plan to tie Trump to… pic.twitter.com/fncRuQdWyW
— The SCIF (@TheSCIF) May 10, 2026

https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2053635138765062154?s=20

Trump just reposted this. pic.twitter.com/j9loQ1e1ql
— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) May 11, 2026

Barack Hussein Obama wiretapping Trump Tower during the 2016 election was a million times worse than anything Nixon did during Watergate. It is time to arrest the Renegade. pic.twitter.com/qefWDZAxlW
— I Love America News (@ILA_NewsX) May 9, 2026

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2053546881050169600?s=20

Bankrupting the insurance Cartels. Something has to be done. pic.twitter.com/fDvVgcQpNw
— Johnny Midnight ⚡️ (@its_The_Dr) May 11, 2026

I’m a big fan of Marco Rubio now—this is easily the best Catholic political speech I’ve heard from someone

video: CIT pic.twitter.com/hI0E0Y0taP
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) May 10, 2026

This is simply unreal. What happened in Germany? Has the left virus completely eaten their minds?

How on earth is it possible to not be willing to defend one's country and family? pic.twitter.com/wPedD5gNvy
— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) May 10, 2026

“I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

• Trump to Iran: Time’s Up (Robert Spencer)

“Iran,” said President Donald Trump in a Truth Social post early on Sunday afternoon, “has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years (DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!),” and there is no doubt that his assessment is true, particularly in regard to the present on-and-off negotiations. Now, however, Trump has issued an ominous warning that the surviving leaders of the Islamic Republic would be wise to take seriously, which doesn’t at all mean that they will do so.

The leaders of the Islamic Republic, whoever they may be, have been playing a delaying game with Trump with the peace talks, and that’s essentially all that those talks were or ever could be. This is clear from the very fact that Iran is an Islamic republic that strives to adhere to Islamic principles and laws in all of its dealings. Islamic law allows for a truce between a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one only under two circumstances: if the non-Muslim force is about to convert to Islam, which is obviously not in play here (although it could be sooner than anyone expects), and if the Muslim force is losing the war, and needs time to gather strength to fight again more effectively.
There is no scenario in Islamic law in which a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one sign a treaty for a lasting peace, lay down their arms, and coexist. The assumption among Western policymakers that the Islamic Republic of Iran would do such a thing under any circumstances is based on those policymakers’ willful ignorance regarding Islamic law, and fond assumption that everyone in the world thinks just the way they do. Trump went on in his Truth Social post to skewer a pair of his predecessors for showering the Islamic Republic with American largesse in pursuit of exactly that chimerical peaceful coexistence:
“…and then finally hit “pay dirt” when Barack Hussein Obama became President. He was not only good to them, he was great, actually going to their side, jettisoning Israel, and all other Allies, and giving Iran a major and very powerful new lease on life. Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and 1.7 Billion Dollars in green cash, flown into Tehran, was handed to them on a silver platter. Every Bank in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland was emptied out — It was so much money that when it arrived, the Iranian Thugs had no idea what to do with it. They had never seen money like this, and never will again. It was taken off the plane in suitcases and satchels, and the Iranians couldn’t believe their luck. They finally found the greatest SUCKER of them all, in the form of a weak and stupid American President. He was a disaster as our “Leader,” but not as bad as Sleepy Joe Biden!”
Trump was right about Obama giving the Islamic Republic a “very powerful new lease on life.” Without the financial boost that Obama gave to the mullahs, they likely would not have survived the nationwide protests that swept Iran several times since Obama’s billions arrived. Those protests were ruthlessly suppressed, and the money for that suppression came from the United States. Adding insult to injury for the long-suffering people of Iran, Old Joe Biden sent them $10 billion. All this cash has kept the bloodthirsty Islamic regime alive. Trump continued:
“For 47 years the Iranians have been “tapping” us along, keeping us waiting, killing our people with their roadside bombs, destroying protests, and recently wiping out 42,000 innocent, unarmed protestors, and laughing at our now GREAT AGAIN Country. They will be laughing no longer! President DONALD J. TRUMP” Just over two hours after posting this, Trump added: “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
What Trump will do now is anybody’s guess, but one thing is certain: the Islamic Republic will keep on behaving belligerently and aggressively toward the United States and Israel as long as it continues to exist. It cannot end its hostility to either country without ceasing to be an Islamic republic. It hates the U.S. because free society and representative government is the foremost competitor to the Sharia-based society that it wishes to export, and it hates Israel because the Qur’an designates the Jews as the “most vehement in hostility” to the Muslims (5:82).
And as long as Iran is losing, it will continue to delay. Trump is correct to call them out. Now is the time to act.

“I didn’t even waste my time reading all of it. It’s on life support..”

• Trump: Iran Ceasefire ‘On Life Support’ (JTN)

President Donald Trump on Monday stated that the ceasefire with Iran was “on life support” amid a growing diplomatic deadline between Tehran and Washington and the exchange of live rounds across the Persian Gulf. It’s unbelievably weak. After reading that garbage they sent over? I didn’t even waste my time reading all of it. It’s on life support,” he told reporters. “I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘sir, your loved one has approximately 1% chance of living.'”

Trump’s remarks came from the Oval Office during an unrelated event. He also lamented the difficulties of dealing with Iran, saying they agreed to commitments and then backed out. He rejected the Iranian peace proposal over the weekend, calling it “totally unacceptable.” Earlier this month, Iran and the United Arab Emirates exchanged fire across the Persian Gulf, despite the ceasefire, with Iran launching missiles toward UAE territory and striking at least one industrial oil facility.

Iran act like they’re winning.

“Everything we proposed in the text was reasonable and generous.” However, US officials continue to insist on their “unreasonable demands,” Baghaei stressed. He described that Iran’s demands for the war to stop, for the US to lift its blockade, and the release Iran’s frozen assets, remain legitimate..”

• Trump Mulls Military Action As Ceasefire On “Life Support” (ZH)

President Trump is meeting with his national security team Monday to discuss the way forward in the Iran war, including possibly resuming military action, after negotiations with the countrydeadlocked on Sunday, three U.S. officials told Axios. U.S. officials say Trump wants a deal to end the war, but Iran’s rejection of many of his demands and refusal to make meaningful concessions on its nuclear program puts the military option back on the table. This sent oil prices back to the highs of the day…

President Trump also told Fox, that he sees a 1% chance of an Iran deal materializing and succeeding, as even the ceasefire is one of “the weakest, on life support”: President Donald Trump called out the “piece of garbage” peace proposal from Iran on Monday from the Oval Office, saying only “stupid people” in Iran are questioning his resolve in guaranteeing Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The latest Iranian proposal reneged on a past vow to give up enriched uranium. None of this bodes well for the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz opening up anytime soon. Oil prices have reflected general pessimism at the start of this week.
Trump Might Fully Restart Project Freedom
Fox News is reporting that President Trump is considering renewing Project Freedom, pushing oil up. According to the developing story: President Donald Trump has stated in an interview with Fox News that he is considering renewing Project Freedom, a military operation originally launched to secure the passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. This operation, involving significant U.S. naval assets, had been paused amid diplomatic efforts with Iran. The initial pause was influenced by diplomatic progress mediated by Pakistan, although recent developments suggest a potential escalation.
However, the reality is that the de facto US naval blockade has remained in place. The Iranians last week fired on US warships which were escorting foreign vessels through the strait. Since then there’s been an uneasy calm amid stalled negotiations. There’s really no movement on either side. Trump indicated in the fresh comments that all of this could be part of a larger operation, and strangely a bit of a contradictory stance: he said of Iran’s “hardline leaders” that “they are going to fold” and that “I will deal with them until they make a deal”. Of course, the very label of ‘hardline’ would suggest the opposite.
The same Fox correspondent was told by Trump that forcibly retrieving Iran’s ‘nuclear dust’ is still on the table: It is clear there remains a huge gap between the positions of Washington and Tehran, after the past days saw proposal and counterproposal submitted via Pakistan, with the White House issuing its final response over the weekend, as President Trump called it ‘unacceptable’.
According to new Monday words from Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, “Everything we proposed in the text was reasonable and generous.” However, US officials continue to insist on their “unreasonable demands,” Baghaei stressed. He described that Iran’s demands for the war to stop, for the US to lift its blockade, and the release Iran’s frozen assets, remain legitimate. Further, Tehran is demanding safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, along with establishing security in the region and in Lebanon.
Senior Iranian military official Mohsen Rezaee to Tasnim: There Is No Clear Prospect for a Political Agreement With the United States n”Unfortunately, the US continues to insist on its one-sided view,” Baghaei added of the “reasonable, generous offer” built around Iran’s national interests. Iran has strongly suggested that the US is actually too influenced by driving Israeli interests, not American priorities. But per WSJ, Washington’s focus remains on the nuclear issue, which Iran considers a non-starter in negotiations: “The president on Sunday said a multipage response that Iran sent to the U.S. proposal to end the war, which didn’t include commitments about Tehran’s nuclear program, was unacceptable,” the publication writes.

Do the mullahs still have any say? Or is it now really the IRGC?

• Dear Mr. President: Just Finish the Mullahs Already (Stephen Green)

“When you set out to take Vienna,” Napoleon advised, “take Vienna.” When President Donald Trump initiated the current round of hostilities in the 47-year-old Iran War on February 28, observers had no way to tell whether Trump had merely ordered U.S. forces to inflict more heavy damage to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, or if he was determined to force regime change.

Lately, it looks like neither. As PJ Media’s own Robert Spencer noted on Sunday, “There is no scenario in Islamic law in which a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one sign a treaty for a lasting peace, lay down their arms, and coexist.” There comes a point where even Trump’s so-much-winning art-of-the-deal negotiating tactics come up against this hard reality, and it looks increasingly like that’s where we are.
Look, I love the idea of Trump doing to Tehran what he did to Caracas back in January, and removing the problem leader, then making peace with the much more pliable survivors. But it’s clear by now that either no such people exist in the Islamic Republic, or the government is too fractured or leaderless to comply. Either way, the fiery-but-mostly-peaceful ceasefire may have run its course. The man himself said on Sunday that the regime “will be laughing no longer!” at the U.S., but that’s not the way it looks to those of us watching from the outside.
This exchange between my Red State colleague Bonchie and another X user explains where I arrived over the weekend: In the interest of fairness, let’s look at the flip side, because there’s also the global picture that Oil Price analyst Irina Slav reported on this weekend. The short version is that China is hurt more by the growing oil crisis than the U.S. is. If temporarily higher gas prices are the price of ending the Islamic Republic and hurting the CCP, too, then I’d think of them as a worthwhile investment.
Then again, midterm voters are likely less sanguine about gas prices than I am, and political considerations are real. Or as another X user put it, “We either prove we can open the straits now or deal with it being closed in October.” It may well be that Trump is simply running out the clock on Tehran’s finances and oil storage issues that could go critical as soon as this week. If that’s the ploy, and it works, then please forgive my itchy trigger finger. But the more I think about what desperate actions the regime might take in either one of those circumstances, the more convinced I become that waiting them out could prove to be a huge mistake.
There are two clocks ticking. One on the Islamic Republic, the other on America’s patience with the war’s economic fallout. It’s always looked like Tehran’s clock will run out first, but after 10 weeks, the time might have come to force a decision instead. Did Trump set out to take out the regime? He’s been typically coy about his actual endgame, but whatever the goal was on February 28, maybe now Trump needs to finish the job.

Khameini jr. “orders”? Who listens?

• Khamenei Orders Iran’s Army To ‘Continue Decisive Operations’ (Cradle)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered the country’s forces to continue military operations against the US and Israel, according to a report by Iranian public broadcaster IRIB released Sunday. The order came during a meeting between Khamenei and Major General Ali Abdollahi, the commander of the Iranian army’s Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters. “During this meeting, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, His Eminence Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, while expressing appreciation for the brave and valiant fighters and the country’s powerful armed forces, issued new directives and guidance for continuing operations and confronting enemies decisively,” the report said.

Abdollahi also “presented a report on the readiness of the armed forces” during the meeting, IRIB added. The report comes after two months of speculation and unverified media claims about the Supreme Leader’s status. Western news outlets like The Guardian and The Times had claimed earlier in the war that Khamenei was in a coma following the US-Israeli strikes that assassinated his father. Reports also claimed that he fled to Russia. Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol in the office of Iran’s supreme leader, recently stated that Khamenei was healing from minor injuries he sustained and “is now in complete health.”

“Thank God, he is in good health. 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,” the Iranian official stated. The IRIB report came a day after CNN cited US intelligence as saying that Khamenei “is playing a critical role in shaping war strategy alongside senior Iranian officials.” It also comes days after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he met with the supreme leader. “What struck me most during this meeting was the vision and the humble and sincere approach of the supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution,” he said.
Tehran has sent out its response to a new US proposal for a ceasefire via Pakistan, according to state media. The US has maintained an illegal blockade of Iranian ports since the ceasefire began. Washington violated the truce days ago by bombing Iran’s coast and attacking two vessels. Iranian forces targeted two US military vessels in response. The next day, skirmishes broke out between Iranian and US forces in the Strait of Hormuz. Spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, Ebrahim Rezaei, said on Sunday that Tehran will strike US military bases and vessels in response to any new violations from Washington – stressing that “restraint has come to an end.”

“..maximum victory for the U.S. would look like, in addition to the other tiers of victory. “Regime change … empowering the Iranian people and giving us an Iran that could be a friend in the future..”

• Confused About Iran? Here’s What U.S. Victory Looks Like. (Victoria Taft)

The Trump Administration is the most transparent in the history of the country, but keeping up with the torturous talks with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is getting harder all the time. It started off clearly enough, but since this Iran campaign went into negotiation mode with the leftover leaders of the IRGC, it’s been as if we’re “looking through a glass, darkly,” as Paul put it in 1 Corinthians. From claims of kamikazi dolphins, to on-and-off-again negotiations, claims of full air superiority, use of autonomous ships, to the question of whether we can call it a “war,” there’s been confusion about what is going on in the Iran conflict and the subsequent talks. Some of this confusion is on purpose, no doubt, to confound the IRGC leftovers, but people like me who try to keep up are, well, frustrated.

The Iranian leftover leaders are conducting what is obviously a stall strategy, of course, and President Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend that he knows what they’re doing, “DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!” he wrote. I asked a subject matter expert, Edmund Fitton-Brown — a former UK ambassador to Yemen and former UN negotiator with Al Qaeda and the Taliban — to explain if those talks can get us to something we can call “victory.” The Iran conflict is something I tackle on Tuesdays in my Adult in the Room Podcast livestream, and I asked the senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies to explain things to me.
In the interview, Fitton-Brown explained that “[Trump] is really serious about peace, but you don’t get peace with people who want to kill you.” However, there are three tiers of achievable “peace,” and they are “minimum victory, medium victory, and … maximum victory.” You can see the entire exchange at 22:20 of this video below, but here’s a distilled version of his theory. “Minimum is the straightforward moves, open [Hormuz], no Iranian toll, complete reassertion of… the law of the sea and freedom of navigation,” he told me. “[W]e need the Iranians to acknowledge that they can’t enrich uranium in the future,” he said. “Those are the minimum conditions.”
The Hormuz takeover, though not completely unexpected, gave the Iranians another leverage point they didn’t have before. Fitton-Brown said he’d negotiate for more, of course. “Medium conditions for success would be to get the Iranians to agree that they will not resume their procurement and manufacture of ballistic missiles so that so that we don’t have this constant threat to Israel that has destabilized the Middle East,” and that sounds even better. He continued, “Iranians would acknowledge that they have to reign in their proxies. They can’t just keep waging war on their neighbors using the Houthis, the Hezballah, Iraqi militias and Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
Minimum plus Medium equals a better deal. Here’s what he says maximum victory for the U.S. would look like, in addition to the other tiers of victory. “Regime change … empowering the Iranian people and giving us an Iran that could be a friend in the future,” he told me. He says they’ve been anything but that in the past 47 years. “We have allowed the Iranians for 47 years to chant death to America. And that should never have been allowed. Right from the start, we should have said to them, you know, if you say that, then you cannot be allowed to have a kind of civilized relationship with us,” he stated. He’d keep sanctions going until “they realized there was a real cost to [saying] it.” The IRGC gets a vote, too. Now the Iranian nuke czar says Trump’s number one goal, the Islamist’s nuclear program, will not be part of any negotiations.

Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told a parliamentary security committee session that nuclear technology will not be part of any negotiations and that enrichment is off the table entirely. Reported by committee spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei. pic.twitter.com/bEAVOmNTBD
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 11, 2026

Fitton-Brown says, “The lesson is to take people at their word.”
Maybe it’s time to bring back the B-2s.
Watch my interview below.

Europe has a long way to fall.

• EU Prepares For ‘Potential’ Talks With Putin As US Slowly Reduces Troops (ZH)

A recent report in Financial Times indicates the European Union is preparing for “potential” future talks with Russia and President Vladimir Putin at a moment of extreme doubts over both US military commitments and Russia’s intentions in Ukraine. Putin himself during his V-Day speech Saturday hinted for the first time that the conflict may be ‘coming to an end’: “I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters of the Russia-Ukraine war, Europe s deadliest conflict since World War II.

The Russian leader, however, added he would be willing to meet Zelensky only after the terms of a peace agreement had already been settled. The Kremlin had rejected US President Donald Trump’s August 2025 offer to hold a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump. “This should be the final point, not the negotiations themselves,” Putin said after the Victory Day, which marks Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 in World War II. Also on Saturday, António Costa, the president of the European Council, said to a press conference the EU will only talk to Putin at the “right moment”. Costa ultimately sees “potential” for direct EU engagement with Putin.
“We need in the right moment to have talks with Russia to address our common issues with security,” the EU president had said. “We don’t want to disturb the initiative led by President Trump,” said Costa at a ‘Europe Day’ celebration in Brussels. He also spoke of preparations aimed at being “ready to do what we need to do” regarding Europe’s security. And separately an EU official said: “There will be a moment when the EU will need to speak to Russia because it’s an existential issue for Europe. Now it’s not the time.”= President Trump has recently blasted NATO as a “paper tiger” (though it wasn’t the first time) and has said the US is withdrawing 5,000 American troops from Germany.
In response, European governments have accelerated discussions on deeper EU military coordination, including joint defense initiatives which bypass US protection. Currently, the three-day Ukraine ceasefire announced and backed by President Trump appears to have held throughout the weekend, as no drone attacks have been registered on Moscow or other parts of the country. Trump had presented this as a window and opportunity to achieve a more permanent truce, and Putin is without doubt seizing on the initiative, but surely wants a final settlement in line with Kremlin aims in Ukraine.

In 1999, Putin took over a desperate, despondent, bankrupt country from Yeltsin. Life expectancy among men was in their 50s. Ask them now how they feel about Putin. Not as a failure, I guarantee you.

• Putin’s Failure as a World Leader has Cleared the Path to WW III (PCR)

Igor Girkin regrets that Putin’s pusillanimous behavior has humiliated Russia before the world.

“We — as an entire country — have been humiliated before the whole world by our astonishing inability not only to defend our status as a Great Power (something that had remained unquestioned for Russia for centuries), but even to uphold ordinary national interests. We allow ‘neutral’ states to seize our ships and cargo without the slightest response; we supply (at a discount) oil, gas, and other essential resources to states openly producing missiles and drones that rain down daily on Russian soldiers and civilians; we are ‘passionately friendly’ with neighbors openly laying claim to Russian territory; and in the end, amid triumphant shouting, endless boasting, and equally endless lies from state media, we are unable to defeat an enemy that 10 years ago was pitiful both militarily and socioeconomically — but which we ourselves allowed to grow stronger through our own insane (downright idiotic) actions and inaction.
“And there is much more besides…“We tolerate these idiots in power in the hope that they will ‘come to their senses’ and finally (if only out of self-preservation) defend Russia from external enemies — but the further things go, the more these idiots behave like cowards, while continuing to profit shamelessly from the difficult and unsuccessful war they themselves are losing. “So why should anyone respect us as a country? Who would genuinely ally themselves with obvious losers?”
In 2007 when Russian President Putin spoke at the Munich Security Conference it looked as if the fear of the American Zionist neoconservatives had been realized that a country sufficiently strong to stand as a barrier to Washington’s hegemony had appeared on the scene. Putin declared that Russia did not accept Washington’s unilateralism. Not long after he drove the American trained and equipped Georgian Army out of South Ossetia. Next he threw down the gauntlet with his unequivocal statement that “Russia will never again fight a war on its own territory.” Putin presented Russia to the world as a barrier to US imperialism and looting of the world.
The Israeli-American Zionist neoconservatives decided to fight back. They saw Russia’s weakness in Putin’s desire for peace and good relations. The Zionists correctly read this weakness as an opportunity to seize Ukraine, which Washington had already broken out of Russia and created as an independent state when the Soviet Union collapsed politically. The American Zionists reasoned correctly that Putin would regard Russia’s intervention against their coup as a propaganda advantage for Washington to portray Russia as a revanchist state bent on recovering the Soviet empire and then adding all of Europe. As Putin’s goal was mutual trust and beneficial business relationships, he stood aside, not understanding that the Zionist intent was to use Ukraine in a proxy war against Russia in the expectation of destabilizing Russia.
The American Zionists are achieving their goal. Increasingly, Russians are expressing discontent with Putin’s prevention of the Russian military from winning the conflict initiated by Washington. More and more Russians are speaking out strongly. Drones and missiles supplied by Washington and NATO now hit deep into Russia. They hit Russian energy production facilities, reducing the energy flow. They hit Russian energy export facilities, reducing the ability to export energy. They hit civilian residential housing killing Russian civilians. EU countries of zero military potential seize Russian oil tankers on the high seas. The humiliations go on and on, and Putin accepts them to the disgrace of Russia.

“Operation Epic Fury was the loud one. Operation Economic Fury is the quiet one. . . . While the carriers were on television, Treasury was doing the actual demolition.” —Jesús Enrique Rosas on X

• The Earth Moves Just a Bit (James Howard Kunstler)

Expect a consequential week. The Persian Gulf remains closed and colossal oil slicks leak out of Kharg Island while Iran blusters and stomps its feet. No one can even try to buy its oil anymore, not even China. The sanctions are too onerous. Iran’s wells must be shut in now. Imagine how the production chiefs out in the oil fields are howling at their insane IRGC overseers. Iran has no economy left operating. Iran’s domestic security force, the Basij (Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz’afin, or “Mobilization of the Oppressed”) is strangling anyone who expresses discontent in the streets, not a good look for a regime that can’t survive without the pretense of popular support.

Late Sunday, the US President rejected Tehran’s latest conditions for peace out of hand. They are trying to jerk the whole world around, even while they whirl around the drain. Despite what you read in The New York Times — Iran’s US-based chief cheerleader — it is probably a matter of days now before capitulation. The ball is in America’s court this morning, a real hanging lob shot. The return is apt to be hard. Of course, whatever official utterances come out of Iran, you must discount by about 99.9-percent. For now, there is nothing but the morning fog of suspense.
But strange doings are a’foot elsewhere. You might have noticed that the UK’s labor government got drubbed in local elections, losing nearly 1,500 council seats, a humiliating repudiation. It’s a matter of days before PM Keir Starmer will have to hang it up. His possible replacements are utterly unknown to Americans — Angela Rayner, a former Deputy PM, Energy Secretary Ed Milliband, Health Sec’y Wes Streeting — and any of them is just a place-holder for the election’s main winner Nigel Farage of the Reform Party, which exists wholly outside the age-old British political transect of Labour / Tories.
The Labour Party, you see, is lately as loathsome in the altogether to British voters as its current avatar, Sir Keir (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB), whose latest act was to extend social welfare benefits to the additional wives of poly-marital Muslims. Way to go! Why not just travel the island empire from town-to-town and slap every indigenous Briton in the face? And the Tories (putative Conservatives), well, just fuggeddabowdem. Sir Keir’s Tory predecessor as PM, Rishi Sunak, screwed the pooch for his party into the next twenty years allowing net Third World migration to hit record highs while the kingdom crumbled.
The way it works over there, Sir Keir or whoever takes over from him, asks King Charles to dissolve Parliament, and you get a sudden national election short of Parliament’s regular five-year term. And so, sometime in the months ahead, Nigel Farage will become Prime Minister and things will change-up bigly in Britain. Mr. Farage will have to contend, among other things, with Donald Trump’s dismantling of whatever was left of Britain’s stealth neo-colonial command of global finance through the British banking system.
he question really is: can Farage arrest his country’s sickening slide into becoming an Islamic caliphate, with all the Third World bells and whistles? Can he possibly even start shipping the most recent arrivals back to where they came from? Can he do what Mr. Trump is attempting in the USA and turn the UK back to an economy based on the actual production of goods rather than financial finaglery?

“France is illegally harvesting its citizens’ data, while accusing social media platforms of doing the same, the entrepreneur has alleged ..”

• Durov Slams French Hypocrisy Over X Crackdown (RT)

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov has accused France of hypocrisy after prosecutors expanded a criminal investigation into Elon Musk’s X. Durov said French authorities were violating citizens’ privacy while accusing the social media platform of similar conduct. The entrepreneur made the remarks on Sunday, just days after the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that it would seek new charges against X over alleged illegal sexual deepfakes made by the platform’s Grok AI, as well as unlawful data extraction and other crimes.

“The French government is accusing X of the very things the French government itself is doing,” Durov tweeted. The French government is panicking. They know a major political shift in 2027 will expose their misdeeds – so they’re trying to silence free speech platforms under whatever pretext they think they can get away with.He called on the international community to back X against what he called the French state’s “immoral assault” on the social media app.
French investigators initially launched their investigation of X and Grok in January, alleging that the platforms’ algorithms were biased and accusing the company of illegal data gathering and of possessing and spreading sexualized deepfakes created by its AI, including images involving minors. The tech mogul has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the legal action as a “political attack.” Last month, the US Department of Justice reportedly denied a request from French prosecutors to cooperate in the investigation. US President Donald Trump’s administration has long been critical of what it has called attacks on free speech and political opposition in the EU and UK.
Durov’s Telegram has also faced legal troubles in France. The entrepreneur was arrested at a Paris airport in 2024 and indicted on a dozen charges after French prosecutors accused him of being complicit in crimes committed using his social media platform. Durov has since been allowed to leave France, despite the ongoing investigation. The entrepreneur has repeatedly called the arrest absurd and condemned crackdowns on social media networks as a concerted attack on free speech.

“You ask for miracles, Theo? I give you the Virginia Democrats.” —Hans Gruber, possibly

• Um… Did the GOP Just Win the Midterms? (Stephen Green)

You probably know that I’m not exactly up on the GOP’s chances of holding the House in November, but there’s a glimmer of light ahead, thanks in no small part to overreach by Virginia Democrats — and Republicans finally wising up. Over the weekend, Roger Kimball looked at the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision and declared that “the decision will net Republicans some 8-12 additional House seats in the midterms. In other words, Republicans will not only hold the House; they will also expand their majority.”

Reporting for the (extremely) left-wing Mother Jones, Ari Berman called the decision “devastating” for Democrats, but also noted that “the only silver lining for those harmed may be that the ruling came be too late to have a major impact on the 2026 midterm elections.” “Candidate filing deadlines have passed in most Southern states; primary elections have been held already in North Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi; and Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia have mailed ballots for upcoming May primaries.” That’s six deep-red states out of play for 2026 redistricting, so it isn’t that Roger’s numbers are wrong, but they might be premature. Don’t get me wrong — I pray he’s right.
So for the moment, the GOP’s odds remain too long for comfort. Democrats are comfortably ahead on the 2026 generic congressional ballot, typically the best indicator of what happens on election day. The RealClearPolitics average has them up by 5.6 points. Overcoming a number like that requires the kind of enthusiasm that, frankly, much of the Trump electorate just doesn’t enjoy right now. The Iran War — while totally necessary, they were about to get nukes — has gas prices uncomfortably close to Biden-era highs. Food prices, particularly beef, remain stubbornly high. And the GOP Congress refuses to do a damn thing about election integrity. I’m looking at you, Sen. John Thune.
That last one is a real problem, for reasons both practical (election integrity, duh) and political (Trump voters need this win). We sent the GOP to Congress to undo the damage done to our election system, and they have yet to deliver. You had one job. But sometimes — as we learned from watching Hans Gruber make the FBI sing to his tune in Die Hard — knowing the other guy’s procedure is a yuge part of winning. Which brings us to Virginia, Indiana, and the GOP’s improved chances come November.
By now, you know what happened in Virginia. State Democrats — led by non-former CIA spook Gov. Abigail Spanberger — did what they’re now basically compelled to do, and broke every law on their way to gerrymandering the GOP into oblivion. Then the state Supreme Court knocked them down and declared the illegal referendum void. And Another Thing: Please note that the Virginia Supreme Court did not say that Democrats can’t gerrymander the GOP into oblivion. It just said you actually have to follow the law of the land to do it. At the next court-approved opportunity, you can be sure they’ll get it done.
In Indiana, GOP voters took one look at the new rules and voted out every RINO they could in the state’s primary election last week. Most of the Republican state senators who blocked Indiana’s congressional redraw got hammered by Trump-backed challengers, and Gov. Mike Braun is pushing again for redistricting. If successful, that could net the Republicans one or two more seats. Altogether, in states where it isn’t already too late, and including states like Florida that have already redistricted, Republicans could redraw themselves between 11 and 14 seats before the midterms. Is that enough to overcome the generic congressional ballot deficit? There’s just no way to know this far out, although if Sen. Thune would stop posturing on X long enough to pass the Save Act, I’d bet next month’s car payment that the GOP holds the House.
Grrrr.
Looking ahead, however, 2028 looks really good.

Ukraine is all about money, Russia is not.

• Zelensky Touts That 20 Countries Seek Ukraine Drone Deals (ZH)

Ukraine is emerging as a global drone export powerhouse, coming fresh off vast experience gained in over four years of war with Russia – or at least that’s the image Kiev is seeking to present to the world. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that nearly 20 countries are pursuing drone agreements with Ukraine, with four deals already finalized. Agreements already confirmed include deals with Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, alongside long-term security partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates which were inked in late March as Zelensky personally toured the Gulf, even amid the ongoing Iran war, according to Reuters.

Zelensky has been offering Ukraine’s services and drone supplies to Gulf countries as a cheaper, effective alternative to dwindling and costly American-supplied anti-air defenses. “Nearly 20 countries are currently involved at various stages: 4 agreements have already been signed, and the first contracts under these agreements are now being prepared,” Zelensky has newly proclaimed on X. “Ukraine has already started to receive the necessary volume of fuel thanks to the agreements,” Zelensky also stated. Interestingly, he’s also of late been pitching being a supplier of battlefield robots, as we’ve detailed before.
Starting in April, Zelensky had hailed that Ukrainian personnel were able to help partners build effective air defenses using interceptor drones to combat Iranian Shaheds. Low-cost interceptor drones deployed by Ukraine are among the most effective ways to combat the inexpensive $20,000 Shaheds, as a war of attrition makes little economic sense when interceptor missiles cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Ukraine has had four years to develop low-cost one-way attack drones and interceptors during its war with Russia. Now, this technology is clearly being exported across multiple theaters in Eurasia. Zelensky did not identify the countries or the exact interceptor drones used in his comments at the time, but it is possible that Octopus-100 autonomous interceptor drones were deployed. The past couple months have seen Zelensky touring around proclaiming Ukraine’s ability to fill defense tech sector gaps for allied countries:

Zelensky:

If Ukraine, Türkiye, Norway, and the UK were EU members, you would have the strongest army in the world.

It would become the strongest alliance in the world.

Together, these countries and the EU have smart engineers, the best technologies, the best drones,… pic.twitter.com/xFRe5nVz5Z
— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 21, 2026

He said Ukraine had deployed hundreds of experts to the Gulf area, and, in return, has received weapons to protect its energy assets as well as financial support. After the Trump White House began signaling a significant drawdown in direct military aid to Ukraine and to Europe more broadly, the Zelensky administration began launching more creative means to ensure ongoing funding for the war with Russia. Support from EU countries, however, doesn’t look to have wavered.

Growacet.

• White House Identifies Treatment Course for TDS Sufferers (CTH)

The White House has identified a treatment course for those suffering from acute cases of TDS. In many cases the issue can be treated by moderate changes in behavior or lifestyle:

For more severe or intense cases of TDS, like the Carlson strain, the prescription below is also an option.

Inviting outrage.

• Trump Floats Making Venezuela The 51st State (ZH)

First Canada, then Greenland… and now Venezuela?

President Donald Trump said Monday he is seriously considering annexing the South American nation as the 51st U.S. state, citing the country’s vast oil reserves and what he described as strong local support for his leadership. In a telephone interview with Fox News anchor John Roberts, Trump mused that he is weighing the move for a nation that holds an estimated $40 trillion in oil resources. “Venezuela loves Trump,” the president told the reporter.
The suggestion comes months after U.S. forces conducted a military operation in Venezuela in January that resulted in the capture of longtime President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple was extradited to the U.S. to face narco-terrorism and weapons charges, effectively ending more than a decade of socialist rule that had transformed one of Latin America’s richest economies into an economic disaster marked by hyperinflation, mass emigration and the breakdown of public services.
Rather than installing opposition figure María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, as the new leader, the Trump administration supported the installation of Delcy Rodríguez—Maduro’s former vice president—as interim president. Trump has described the arrangement as “spectacular” and predicted a rapid economic turnaround. Rodríguez’s government has moved swiftly on economic reforms. Within weeks of taking power, it enacted legislation opening the oil sector to privatization, dismantling core elements of the Chavista model that had dominated for more than two decades.
Meanwhile, commercial activity has accelerated thanks to Chevron, which signed two agreements expanding its participation in a joint venture with state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA in the Orinoco Oil Belt, Reuters reported at the time. Venezuelan oil output is already rising.
PDVSA reported production of 1.095 million barrels a day last month, up 75,000 barrels a day from February, with Oil Minister Paula Henao setting a target of 1.3 million barrels a day by year-end. Trump administration officials have been candid about the financial stakes. A White House spokesman called the first $500 million portion of an approximately $2 billion oil-supply agreement a “historic energy deal,” CBS News reported at the time. Trump has said the U.S. would rebuild Venezuela “in a very profitable way,” adding, “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil.”

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) came up with the best reason to tax billionaires: They do not actually exist…”

• “You Just Can’t Earn a Billion Dollars”: AOC (Turley)

This week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) came up with the best reason to tax billionaires: They do not actually exist. On a podcast, Ocasio-Cortez declared with all the certainty of a freshman in a Smith College political science course that the notion of a self-made billionaire is simply a fantasy, because “you just can’t earn” a billion dollars. It is only the latest in a series of socialist fables that are being dressed up as economic facts. The difference is that this fable, if told often enough, could become true. In suggesting that true billionaires are a capitalist myth, Ocasio-Cortez is suggesting that people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos really did not earn their wealth and, therefore, it is really not their money.

“There’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned. You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that. You can get market power, you can break rules, you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth, but you can’t earn that.” In other words, you can only make a billion dollars through theft and exploitation rather than actual entrepreneurial enterprise. This statement comes as support builds for the California billionaires’ tax which, even before it has a chance to pass in November, has already cost the state trillions due to an exodus of these billionaires.
In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I discuss common myths spread by the left to fuel economic factionalism. One common myth is that the “wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes.” In truth, the top ten percent of taxpayers pay the vast majority of taxes in the U.S. In the book, I also dispel the claim that most millionaires inherited their wealth or came from privileged backgrounds. These myths are designed to make redistribution schemes more palatable. And Democrats are ramping up the “eat-the-rich” rhetoric ahead of the midterms in pushing both millionaire and billionaire taxes. Democrats from Washington to Virginia are pushing millionaire taxes, and the mere conversation has already set off a stampede of high-earning taxpayers to red states like Texas and Florida, which have no state income tax.
It was also evident in this week’s California gubernatorial debate. Candidate Katie Porter (D) said she opposes the billionaire’s tax because it would not go far enough. Porter then pressed the only billionaire in the group, Tom Steyer, who has been moving to the far left to grab voters in the wake of the departure of former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) as a candidate. Steyer said that he supports the billionaire tax but would want to go even further.Steyer has spent a fortune of his own money on this race, apparently to convince Democratic primary voters that he is some kind of red billionaire in the mold of a George Soros or Neville Roy Singham. Good luck with that — after spending roughly $150 million of his own money, Steyer is still languishing between 12 and 18 percent support.
Of course, Steyer was not asked if he believes that real billionaires such as himself exist. Yet he has already apologized for making considerable money on private prisons, including those used to hold undocumented immigrants. Ironically, in finance, a “unicorn” is a company worth more than $1 billion dollars, a term coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee to capture the rare and almost magical status of such enterprises Conversely, Ocasio-Cortez’s unicorn myth is part of a general denial of economic realities that has taken hold on the left. The cost of these policies is borne by workers, who are being left to eat soundbites.
Democrats have sold voters on raising minimum wages as high as $30 per hour, even though such policies cost thousands of jobs. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg bragged about blocking a merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, claiming that it would create cheaper flights and better jobs. Spirit has now been forced to close its doors, causing the loss of thousands of flights and jobs. A rising generation of voters is eagerly devouring soundbites and promises of the “warmth of collectivism” from figures like New York’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani. From promises of free buses to state-run grocery stores, voters are buying the same threadbare socialist schtick.
That was on display this week as socialist Seattle mayor Katie Wilson laughed when asked about the millionaires fleeing the city over rising taxes and crime. She delighted the crowd by mocking the departing millionaires with two words: “Like, bye!” The last laugh, however, rests with those fleeing a city facing a projected deficit of $114 million. As Wilson faces major cuts in the city budget, she gleefully mocks those whose tax dollars the city will desperately need to close this gap if it is to maintain public services.
Ironically, Wilson and other Democrats are quickly making their myth a reality. Soon, there will be no billionaire unicorns roaming the land. Even millionaires may become scarce, as these wealthy citizens move to less hostile states with less delusional leaders. The solution to this exodus is equally predictable. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who has campaigned for a billionaire tax in his state while representing Silicon Valley, has also joined with socialist Bernie Sanders to push for a national billionaire’s tax — an effort to guarantee that there is no place to hide. This is the same approach that tanked the French economy under François Mitterrand after the wealthy fled that nation.
These are not, however, a time for economics or history. It is the time of fables. Ocasio-Cortez has thrived in the land of socialist unicorns. She can even attend the ultra-rich Met Gala wearing an expensive “Eat-the-Rich” gown. Like her dress, it is fashionable to deny that billionaires created their wealth. It is your money for the taking. The result is that billionaires and even millionaires in states like New York may go the way of unicorns, fanciful creatures that once thrived in a land of jobs and growth.

U.S. Senator John Kennedy is now publicly demanding that Barack Hussein Obama return $120 million that he allegedly earned through ownership related to “Obamacare.”

“He allocated money under his own laws using taxpayer-generated prestige,” Kennedy said, calling it “an abuse of… pic.twitter.com/E0TYsFUEpq
— JOSH DUNLAP (@JDunlap1974) May 11, 2026

https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2053414597722300913?s=20

ONE DAY BEFORE the hantavirus fear campaign began…WHO pandemic treaty talks COLLAPSED prompting Tedros to warn the next pandemic was "a matter ⁠of when, not if."

Then suddenly… ONE DAY LATER… the cruise ship hantavirus media frenzy exploded.

Don't fall for the Bill… https://t.co/GvEJfdqn1K pic.twitter.com/4dpZTGcmwd
— Nicolas Hulscher, MPH (@NicHulscher) May 10, 2026

Hantavirus – cruise ship – and false narratives galore!

My scientific and medical opinion as a scientist who did research on Hantavirus is that an inquiry into Dr Bix is warranted
Please share massively – accurate info –

1. First and foremost we studied Hantavirus in my lab for… https://t.co/wWbNY53lWi pic.twitter.com/3fwpnCXsQM
— Martin Zizi (@MartinZ_uncut) May 11, 2026

https://twitter.com/ChildrensHD/status/2053612044860199013?s=20

The Department of War celebrates the launch of https://t.co/odnX2WDaGO as a major milestone in government transparency. In just 12 hours, the site has received 340 MILLION hits from Americans and truth seekers worldwide seeking unfiltered UAP information.

This overwhelming…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) May 9, 2026

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

Debt Rattle May 11 2026

May 112026

May 11, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:07 am Finance Tagged with: Carney, Dan Bongino, Iran, Mother’s day, Obama, peace proposal, Russia, Soros, Trump, World War II 49 Responses »

Willem de Kooning Door to the River 1960

• Trump Says Iran Response “Totally Unacceptable” (ZH)

• President Trump Rejects Latest Offer from Iranian Representatives (CTH)

• Trump: Only Way To Secure Border Is Vote Republican (Sharyl Attkisson)

• Iran Responds To US Peace Proposal (ZH)

• Trump Ignored CIA Warnings on Iran (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Bombshell Evidence About the 2020 Election Is Coming (Matt Margolis)

• The CIA, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John Brennan (CTH)

• Dan Bongino Offers Chilling Warning to Barack Obama (Margolis)

• Trump Celebrates Jobs Report for Mother’s Day (Catherine Salgado)

• Mark Carney Celebrates “Europe Day” In Toronto with Obama and Alex Soros (CTH)

• Democrats Keep Betting Gazillions on Bad Ideas (David Manney)

• Too Many Democrats Are a Special Kind of Stupid (Derek Hunter)

• Europe is Russia’s Principal Adversary – Trenin (RT)

• West Rewriting World War II History – Moscow (RT)

• The Digital Revolution Will Destroy Humanity (Paul Craig Roberts)

https://twitter.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2053320258744729765?s=20 https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2053122234068115961?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2053482025584038202?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2053257268087677123?s=20

Obama just had his worst week in years.

His handpicked British puppet Keir Starmer got buried in UK local elections. The Virginia Supreme Court tossed his rigged 10-1 gerrymander. And the Callais ruling killed race-based map-rigging nationwide.@BarbaraMBoyd lays it all out. pic.twitter.com/zjk9CL5GKS
— Promethean Action (@PrometheanActn) May 9, 2026

Jonathan Turley reveals how Hillary Clinton directly targeted Elon Musk, urging the EU to weaponize their censorship apparatus of the Digital Services Act to force censorship on X and American citizens after Musk bought Twitter to restore free speech.

After Elon Musk purchased… pic.twitter.com/rqknhEVHQR
— Bridgett Fertig (@LightOnLiberty) May 10, 2026

Sidney Powell blows the lid off of the stolen 2020 election. "There is so much evidence!"

From Dominion switching votes, to foreign connections going all the way back to Smartmatic. These judges and DAs never even looked at any evidence, they were compromised from the start.… pic.twitter.com/P6a1rzbHa5
— The SCIF (@TheSCIF) May 10, 2026

https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2053156858693591061?s=20

LA is worth saving. Vote Spencer Pratt. pic.twitter.com/GpQpnfsuJe
— Charles Curran (@charliebcurran) May 5, 2026

We had to take the time, and to go through the motions, to get to this point.

• Trump Says Iran Response “Totally Unacceptable” (ZH)

President Trump has just issued a statement on his TruthSocial feed rejecting ‘unacceptable’ Iranian proposal for ending war.

Iran offered to transfer some of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a third country, but rejected the idea of dismantling its nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported. Iran disputed the report, according to Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim. And with the fragile ceasefire still holding for now, the odds of a peace deal by the end of May have plummeted.

Iran: We’ll Immediately Strike French & British if they Approach Strait
Iran has newly warned of “a decisive and immediate response” to any deployment of European military vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and has further declared that the Islamic Republic alone controls security in the strategic waterway. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi issued the warning Sunday in a post on X after France and Britain announced plans to deploy warships to the region. “Whether in times of war or peace, only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait and will not allow any country to interfere in such matters,” he said.

Gharibabadi said France plans to deploy its flagship aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, while Britain plans to send a warship to the area under the stated goal of protecting freedom of navigation. Already these Western allied assets are moving through the Suez Canal as of days ago. “Any deployment and stationing of extra-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz, under the pretext of protecting shipping, is nothing but an escalation of the crisis, the militarization of a vital waterway, and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region,” he stated.
https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/2053401460491116840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2053401460491116840%7Ctwgr%5Ece6cb09f58d70198dbd5467eac3f1706918b834b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Firan-responds-us-peace-proposal-ayatollah-meets-top-general-discuss-readiness
But France and Britain have previously sought to clarify that their warships will remain largely in a background support role when compared to the US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman region. Their ships would only directly join Persian Gulf operations only once the war ended, according to reports.
Trump: Iran is Playing Games With the United States
New Sunday Truth Social statement soon on the heels of Tehran submitting its response to the US peace proposal, via Pakistan: Trump said Iran had been “playing games with the United States, and the rest of the world, for 47 years,” adding that it had been “laughing at our new GREAT AGAIN country,” but stressed that “they will be laughing no longer!”

They had to say they refuse to hand over all the nuke material.

• President Trump Rejects Latest Offer from Iranian Representatives (CTH)

Delivering a message from his Truth Social account, earlier today President Trump rejected the latest proposal from Iran to settle the current embargo, sanctions and conflict.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called “Representatives.”
I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also appeared on U.S. media today with a lengthy broadcast interview on CBS 60-Minutes. The primary topic of the interview is the Iran conflict and Netanyahu’s perspective on what Americans should expect from this engagement. Interestingly, one of the fatal flaws in the Tucker Carlson theory of Israel leading the conflict, is the position of the Arabs in the Middle East as it relates to the U.S. military confrontation with Iran. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Egypt all strongly support the U.S-led military effort to eliminate the threat Iran represents. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) does not want the U.S. to ease up on Iran.

“Their leaders are gone,” was among the first things Trump said about Iran..”

“.. we produce much more oil and gas than Russia and Saudi Arabia put together.”

• Trump: Only Way To Secure Border Is Vote Republican (Sharyl Attkisson)

Iran is obviously at the top of the list when it comes to the immediate topics President Trump is handling. He came to this recent Full Measure interview straight from the Situation Room., with whom the U.S. has been at war since Feb. 28. “The first set, the A team is gone, the B team is gone, and part of the C team is gone. It’s very interesting because, you know, they make a deal, and then they break it, then they make a deal, they break it. It’s a difficult group. But from a military standpoint, I mean, if we left, if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild.” When asked, amid a fragile ceasefire, whether it’s accurate to say the combat operations are “over and done,” he replied, “No, I didn’t say that.”

“I said, they are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they’re done. We could go in for two more weeks and do every single target. We have certain targets that we wanted to, and we’ve done probably 70% of them, but we have other targets that we could conceivably hit. But even if we didn’t do that, you know, that would just be final touches. But even if we didn’t do that, it would take them many years to rebuild.” President Trump also called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) a “paper tiger” after the alliance – funded with more U.S. money than any other country– failed to answer Trump’s call for assistance with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 25% of the world’s oil supply passes.
You know, the interesting thing is many of those NATO countries use – we don’t use – the strait. We don’t need it,” Trump said. “In fact, boats are coming up to Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska and filling up with oil. We don’t need the strait. We were trying to keep it open “to help Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE, others,” the president continued. We don’t need it. …We’re now producing more oil and gas than Russia and Saudi Arabia put together. Think of that, Sharyl. If you take everything that Russia does, everything that Saudi Arabia puts out, we produce much more oil and gas than Russia and Saudi Arabia put together. And by the end of this year, that number will probably double.”
Full Measure also asked about the NFL’s move to place more games on expensive pay channels. The Justice Department is investigating the practice. “It’s so tough,” Trump replied. “You got people that love football. They don’t make enough money to go and pay this. … And they could be killing the golden goose. I mean, they have that stupid kickoff thing that you can’t watch. It’s unwatchable. I hate the games where they, you know, they have the new phony kickoff.”
On vaccine safety, Trump said: “I believe in vaccines,” But “if you look at Denmark and other countries, you have 12, 14, I think 17. And we have like 82 [CDC-recommended doses for American children]. But I look at these beautiful little babies, and they get a vax. I mean, so like a big glass of stuff pumped into their bodies. And I think it’s a very negative thing to do … I would love to see much smaller shots, like four visits to the doctor, and I think you would have a much better result with the autism.” On illegal immigration and America’s record-low homicide rate, Full Measure asked the president, “As straightforward as securing the border seemed to be once you got into office, it almost implies that another president could reverse it as quickly … Is there any way to protect against that in the future?” “Yeah. Vote Republican. It’s very simple,” he replied.

Don’t pay attention to a thing they say. They’re only stalling. They will not ever voluntarily accept Trump’s conditions. You got to coax thwm.

• Iran Responds To US Peace Proposal (ZH)

After days of waiting, Iran has submitted its response to the latest US peace proposal to mediator Pakistan, despite the recent flare-up in renewed exchanges of fire in the contested Strait of Hormuz this past week. “Iran has submitted its response to the latest US proposal to end 10 weeks of war, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Sunday, without providing any further details,” Bloomberg confirms in a fresh headline. “Tehran hasn’t yet given any public indication it would accept President Donald Trump’s plan that stipulates Iran permits passage through the Strait of Hormuz and Washington ends its blockade on Iranian ports in the next month.”

IRAN REPLY TO US PROPOSAL INCLUDES ENDING WAR ON ALL FRONTS: TV
This comes as Qatar’s PM has warned Iran that using the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure card, to choke the global economy, “would only lead to deepening the crisis” – and amid reports there could still be sporadic attacks on Gulf countries like the UAE. According to more of the limited details: Sources in both camps have told Reuters the latest peace efforts are aimed at a temporary memorandum of understanding to halt the war and allow traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while they discuss a fuller deal, which would have to address intractable disputes such as Iran’s nuclear program.
The latest from Iran’s president:

President Trump told Fox News days ago, “They want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal.” He had said if this happens “it’ll be over quickly” and oil prices will plummet.
IRGC Fresh Warning on US Bases
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned any attack on Iranian oil tankers and commercial ships will be met with assaults on US bases and “enemy ships” in the region, Al Jazeera reports. “Warning! Any aggression against the oil tankers and commercial vessels of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with a heavy attack on one of the American centers in the region and the enemy’s ships,” the IRGC Navy said in the statement.
https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/2053441168071934410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2053441168071934410%7Ctwgr%5Eb7d1d419b13f4661b2523236de8066bb1d640d28%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Firan-responds-us-peace-proposal-ayatollah-meets-top-general-discuss-readiness
Tehran is accusing the US side of severely violating the ceasefire earlier this week, by firing on and disabling two Iranian-flagged tankers trying to reach Iranian ports. State media reviewed of these hostile incidents: In a statement, the spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the “aggressive, terrorist and marauding US military” had targeted an Iranian oil tanker sailing from Iran’s coastal waters near Jask toward the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the strategic waterway near the UAE port of Fujairah.
The spokesman also said civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik and Qeshm Island came under aerial attacks carried out “with the cooperation of some regional countries.” The IRGC further said it will respond “powerfully and without the slightest hesitation” to any aggression or attack. Indeed there are reports that during the past week’s skirmishes Iran fired on three US warships seeking to exit waters of Iran’s coast.

Bibi told Trump: “I’m going to nuke Tehran”. Did he drag him into a war?

Trump says Iran was two weeks away from having nukes, and would have used them on Israel. Is he wrong?

• Trump Ignored CIA Warnings on Iran (Paul Craig Roberts)

The US has been dragged into war by Israel despite CIA assessments that Tehran was not building a bomb “The narrative and agenda spun by a foreign government – Israel — won the argument and forced us into this war.” — Former Chief of US Counterintelligence Joe Kent. Washington joined Israel’s war against Iran despite intelligence assessments that the Islamic Republic was not developing nuclear weapons, US former counterterrorism chief, Joe Kent, revealed. Kent, who resigned in protest as head of the US National Counterterrorism Center in March, revealed that Israel dragged Washington into another never-ending conflict that does not serve American interests.

Kent said the entire US intelligence community, including the CIA, had agreed before the escalation that Tehran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon. He added that US Intel agencies also warned Trump that Iran would target American bases across the Middle East and shut down the Strait of Hormuz if attacked by Israel or the US. As Trump gets his intelligence information from Netanyahu, we might as well save money by shutting down the 17 or so US intelligence agencies. Let’s see, the US is at war with Russia and Iran. Will China be next or will it be Cuba or Denmark?

Drumroll getting closser.

• Bombshell Evidence About the 2020 Election Is Coming (Matt Margolis)

Something big is on the horizon — and the people saying so aren’t fringe voices on a podcast. They’re senior Trump administration officials. Monica Crowley, the U.S. government’s chief of protocol, dropped a significant claim on Wednesday: hard evidence that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election is coming, and it’s coming soon. “He did win in a landslide, and we will soon be able to give evidence about that,” Crowley said. Now, she didn’t lay out a timeline or spell out exactly what the evidence would look like, but the message was clear.

According to the Washington Times, she offered no further details on the nature of what’s being prepared. That ambiguity will inevitably give critics ammunition, of course. But here’s the thing, Crowley’s remarks didn’t just come out of nowhere. Her claims track almost perfectly with what FBI Director Kash Patel told Maria Bartiromo last month. As PJ Media previously reported, Patel appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo and announced that arrests are coming over the coordinated effort to rig the 2020 election. “We are going to be making arrests, and it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon,” Patel said.
Two senior officials. Same message. Same urgency. That’s not a coincidence. Their argument — and they’re not alone in making it — is that a coordinated effort to undermine the 2020 election results led to Joe Biden being declared the winner. You’ve heard all the liberal arguments that no fraud was actually found, and courts confirmed the election was entirely above board, but that’s simply not true. Every legal challenge filed after the 2020 contest was rejected, not for lack of evidence, but for lack of standing. So, there’s a lot we still don’t know about the 2020 election — a lot that Democrats would rather not see the light of day.
Meanwhile, the legal machinery is already in motion. A federal grand jury in Florida is actively examining issues related to the 2020 election. The Department of Justice has also just brought in former U.S. attorney and Trump ally Joe diGenova to work alongside prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida. Then there’s Georgia — a state Biden only barely “won” in 2020. Back in January, federal agents executed a search warrant in Fulton County and walked out with ballots and other materials from the 2020 general election.You better believe Democrats are sweating over this.
The establishment media will dismiss all of this as election denialism, but the fact is that the 2020 election was never properly investigated. Instead, we were told to trust the results of the “most secure election in history,” and if you dared to question the results, you were mocked, censored, or demonetized. But a reckoning is coming. There are now search warrants, grand jury subpoenas, and federal prosecutors involved. The truth will come out. Whatever Crowley and Patel are sitting on, the clock is ticking. And if the evidence is as significant as they’re suggesting, the political fallout will be unlike anything this country has seen in a very long time.

I’m sorry I have to cut this off (too long), but do try to click the link and read the whole thing. It’s a treasure trove by Sundance of what the indictmemts will be based on.

• The CIA, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John Brennan (CTH)

In 2008 Joe Biden was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with oversight jurisdiction of the U.S State Dept., and by extension all foreign policy nominations etc.In 2008 John Brennan was working for the Obama campaign when someone from his outside government group, The Analysis Corporation, “hacked” into the state dept database to access the passport files and State Dept records of Barack Obama. John O. Brennan, Obama’s then top terrorism and intelligence adviser, was the owner of The Analysis Corp. The company was cited in March 2008 for penetrating the files of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and John McCain in the State Department’s passport office.

At the time of the breach, John Brennan was working as an unpaid adviser to the Obama campaign. After the breach was revealed by the Washington Times, Brennan stated: “This individual’s actions were taken without the knowledge or direction of anyone at The Analysis Corp. and are wholly inconsistent with our professional and ethical standards,” Brennan’s company said in a statement sent to reporters after the passport breach was made public. (link) The Washington Times Reported – Passport application data includes such details as date and place of birth, e-mail address, mailing address, Social Security number, former names and travel plans. Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. He lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, from age six to 10.
Computer-monitoring equipment detected the activities by the three employees on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14, triggering alarms in each case, Mr. McCormack said. Mr. McCormack said the officials accessed Mr. Obama’s records “without a need to do so.” “In each case, we immediately contacted our contractors, their employer, and two were fired and one was disciplined,” he said. (link) But it is important to remember EXACTLY what Brennan’s background was before the State Department breach. Brennan spent 25 years working for the CIA prior to the security breach: Mr. Brennan spent most of his C.I.A. career as an analyst, but during the 1990s served a tour as the chief of the station in Saudi Arabia.
From 1999 to early 2001, he was chief of staff to George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, as the position was then called. At the end of his CIA. service, in 2004 and 2005, Mr. Brennan set up what is now the counterterrorism center. Yet, people would have us believe, after 25 years within the CIA, and after being the Chief of Staff to the Director, and after being the person who set up the counter terrorism center, and after being the CIA approved contractor for the State dept., well, John Brennan just didn’t know that someone from his firm was penetrating the passport files within the State Dept. on three occasions in Jan and Feb 2008 to look at information of the candidate who he was specifically working for. That was their story, and they stuck to it in 2008.
After the initial inquiry, federal investigators maintained that the target of the illegal activity was Senator Barack Obama’s passport file. It does not take a stretch to come to the conclusion this was for the sole purpose of cleansing records of information that would jeopardize Obama’s candidacy. As many people speculated at the time, the breach of the passport records of the other candidates was merely to create confusion. Brennan was, at the time, an unpaid advisor working with Obama’s campaign. Passport files include an applicant’s name, gender, social security number, date and place of birth, and passport number. Additional information may include birth certificates, naturalization certificates, or oaths of allegiance for U.S. born persons who adopted the citizenship of a foreign country as minors.
It is important to remember the oversight agency that would be investigating the breach – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee oversees the State Department. At the time Senator Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the breach would be investigated. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Obama and personally apologized for the breach. “I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file,” Rice told reporters. She phoned Clinton and McCain and offered similar apologies. Following the breach, State Department managers met with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, whose committee has oversight over the Foreign Service and the passport office. (link)
And, well, what do you know… Biden became the VP pick of Obama. State Department employee, Lieutenant Quarles Harris, Jr. who had the passport access, apparently was the guy who penetrated the database and scrubbed the records. Harris was killed – April 18th, 2008. Yes, Lieutenant Harris decided to cooperate with the FBI who were investigating the break-in. Soon after his cooperation became a matter of record, his body was discovered in his parked car; he had been shot twice in the head, likely a “suicide”.
Last point. In mid-February 2010, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs alerted WH reporters that certain questions about Obama’s job with Business International Corporation (BIC) would not be subject to discussion. BIC was well known in Washington DC to be a front company for the CIA; hence, many speculated the State Department passport records were scrubbed to erase any potential mention of Obama’s CIA activities and his personal information. You decide.Here’s the thing, and I do mean this with great seriousness:
If you take a close look at it, you realize that seemingly every function of the USAID as an institution came from the CIA. In essence, USAID was the operational cover for the CIA. The CIA seemingly created the mechanics of USAID for CIA purposes. Now, once you look at USAID as an outreach arm of the CIA, then suddenly everything USAID partnered with can realistically be looked at -at the very least questioned- as a CIA operation working with joint partners for CIA intentions.
This agency relationship means everything.

“I’m gonna tell you, because what Barack Obama, former president, said the other day on, was it Colbert’s show? No, no, no. We’re not… No, no. Sorry. No, we’re not, we’re not doing that,” Bongino said.

• Dan Bongino Offers Chilling Warning to Barack Obama (Margolis)

I still can’t believe that Barack Obama had the audacity to lecture Americans during his recent interview with Stephen Colbert about presidents misusing the Justice Department. “The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.” As I’ve pointed out before, the only president who arguably weaponized his Justice Department more than Barack Obama was Joe Biden. Barack Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, literally called himself Obama’s wingman. And, of course, Merrick Garland tried to put President Donald Trump in prison.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “And documents declassified last year revealed he was present for key meetings that led to critical steps in the opening of the Russia Hoax investigation against President Trump.” Jackson added that “President Trump has restored integrity to the Department of Justice that Obama and Biden broke.” Of course, Colbert never challenged the insinuation that Trump is the one weaponizing the Justice Department. But Dan Bongino was just as furious about Obama’s comments as I was — and the warning he fired back should make Obama very nervous.
The former FBI Deputy Director fired back hard on his radio show. The warning he delivered wasn’t vague, and it wasn’t polite. “I’m gonna tell you, because what Barack Obama, former president, said the other day on, was it Colbert’s show? No, no, no. We’re not… No, no. Sorry. No, we’re not, we’re not doing that,” Bongino said. “You know, I know things too, Mr. President, and so do you. Not pretending I was at your level. You were the president. I was just the deputy director of the FBI, but it’s not a small thing, and I’m not letting you get away with this. No chance.”

WHOA!

Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino minces no words – President Barack Obama in on his radar:

"What was with the tweet – the shock to my core? well, in case you missed it, some of you may have, I'm gonna tell ya. Because what Barack Obama said the other day, was it… pic.twitter.com/98gDbClvI3
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) May 8, 2026

That is not the language of a talk show host venting into a microphone. That’s a man with institutional knowledge, speaking directly to a former president who apparently understands exactly what’s being left unsaid. Bongino stopped short of specifying what information he was sitting on, which is precisely what makes the warning so striking. As the former FBI deputy director, he doesn’t deal in rumors. He’s had access to files, briefings, intelligence, and the kind of details that never make it onto cable news until someone decides the time is right.
What was Bongino talking about? Rumors on social media suggest it involves the Russian collusion hoax, surveillance, and unmasking, with details that might soon surface. His message to Obama is a clear warning: don’t push this. I think Obama wants to play the role of the elder statesman riding back into town to defend democratic norms. What he’s getting instead is a reminder that he left skeletons behind when he left office, and based on what Bongino said, those skeletons won’t be secret forever.

“Confident job creators invest in new employees. That is exactly and undeniably what’s happening now thanks to the massive tax cuts and deregulation of [President Trump]..”

• Trump Celebrates Jobs Report for Mother’s Day (Catherine Salgado)

In a rather amusing social media post, President Donald Trump issued a Mother’s Day message that focused on the new positive jobs report.The expected job growth for April 2026 was +65,000. But the actual growth was 115,000 added, an important win for the Trump administration. “Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all, especially to the 115 THOUSAND AMERICANS who found jobs in the month of April alone!” Trump celebrated excitedly in a May 8 Truth Social post going into the holiday weekend.

The president smugly boasted, “As usual, over 90 percent of Bloomberg Economists (nearly all of whom have a ‘Terminal’ case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME!) underestimated the strength of the Trump Economy. Despite the best efforts of Jerome ‘Too Late and Won’t Leave’ Powell, and the America Hating Democrat Party, more Americans are working today than ever before.” He ended exuberantly, “Happy Mother’s Day and, know that, we are MAKING AMERICA WEALTHY AND SAFE AGAIN!”
My own personal comment is that it would be wonderful if America got back to a point where fathers were doing so well financially that more mothers could afford to stay home as my mom did with their kids, which is very beneficial for the children. And of course, we hope the jobs reports will be even better in the future — I still know people who are struggling to find work. But certainly the latest report is very hopeful. But certainly many mothers across the country will rejoice at greater economic strength and a more hopeful financial prospect for themselves and their families. The jobs report was so great that even CNN — otherwise known as the Crazy Nutcase Network — was being complimentary of the success:

CNN: "The jobs report surpassing the expectation this morning."

"This was a big beat for the job market… The U.S. economy adding 115,000 jobs in April — that's almost twice as much as the consensus from economists." pic.twitter.com/N63339pXkF
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 8, 2026

The Kobeissi Letter, which provides capital markets commentary, stated, “The unemployment rate was 4.3%, in-line with expectations of 4.3%. The US economy has now added +300,000 jobs in 2 months. Another stronger than expected jobs report despite the Iran War.”

.@Sonderling47 on the strong April jobs report: "Two months in a row now where the labor market has beaten expectations…it shows that the investments in America are paying off, it shows employers are hiring, and it shows that American workers are getting these opportunities." pic.twitter.com/u0BynAjQe7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 8, 2026

Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration, attributed the surge in job growth to smaller businesses rather than megacorporations. “Confident job creators invest in new employees. That is exactly and undeniably what’s happening now thanks to the massive tax cuts and deregulation of [President Trump],” she said. Don’t fall for Democrat doomsday propaganda. The job market isn’t disastrous as the screaming leftists want you to think.

The anti-Trump crowd.

• Mark Carney Celebrates “Europe Day” In Toronto with Obama and Alex Soros (CTH)

Be of good cheer. As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Barack Obama, Alex Soros, and a mix of global figures and intelligence operatives in Toronto, the number of people who grasp the true purpose of this gathering is far greater than the attendees might imagine. The gathering, officially dubbed a “think tank” meeting, was closed to the media. Barack Obama gave the keynote address, and the assembly of political leftists took place as the U.S. and Canada remain at odds over differing worldviews and an economic dispute surrounding the USMCA trade agreement.

That said, the global audience of pragmatic ‘noticers’ understand that following Prime Minister Carney’s recent remarks in Europe and Canada about the next era of globalism being strengthened by the joint efforts of the British Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, U.K) and Europe, while putting the travels of Obama into context with his continued meetings at Number 10 Downing Street, the content of the ‘think tank’ assembly is transparent.mAll of the figures are aligned in common interest to strategize ways to defeat their indefatigable nemesis known as Donald J Trump.

It is both the policy of economic nationalism and the outcomes of seismic shifts in geopolitical alignment that cause the brain trust of leftists to assemble with urgency. There is a myriad of Trump victories recently that have begun to destroy their precious systems of control. President Trump is using the combined power of the U.S. Treasury, U.S. Military and U.S. Economy as a wrecking ball against one-hundred years of Euro-centric control operations. Heck, even the recently paused tariffs against EU automobiles is connected to the larger objective of ending the never-ending Marshal Plan. And, then there’s that little reference point of King Charles failed recent tour, against the backdrop of Starmer’s electoral collapse.
I doubt very much the arrival of Pete Buttigieg and Elissa Slotkin (CIA) will offset the leftist defeats in the redistricting effort. But, well, sure, I guess assembling to try and organize internal operations against Godzilla Trump may benefit from Soros and his Bazooka Joe glasses. In the economic competition, Canada faces the biggest vulnerability, as its entire system of investment, banking, and production relies heavily on maintaining trade preferences that benefit from the $30 trillion U.S. economy. Prime Minister Carney’s control measures are ultimately futile attempts to counter Trump’s insistent and justified reciprocity stance. This push for control stems from a place of fear.
Canada and the EU are trying to use China as a counterbalance and shield against Trump’s direct hits to their interests. However, along with all of those who can see the big picture behind the leftist assembly, Big Panda (Beijing) and Big Grizzly (Russia) well understand what is happening. Remember, all varieties of bears are omnivorous, and while Pandas may be cute the Kamchatka is very underrated. Thankfully, a God in control of all things doesn’t give us a President we need, He anoints a President He needs. The audience disliked Moses immensely, and the same can be said for David; however, each served His purpose.
Like I said at the beginning, be of good cheer. Prime Minister Carney may have blocked and controlled visibility on the assembly by restricting media access, but given what is very visible and viral on social media, a Great Awakening is very evident.
Canada and Europe are united in our values of pluralism, the rule of law, and democracy. On Europe Day, we’re building on that foundation to forge new strategic partnerships, deepen our trade, and stand steadfast with Ukraine.

In a more uncertain world, Canada and Europe are…
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) May 9, 2026

I’m not for using “The Democrats” in this way. Too big a pool. But I do think in general “The Democrats” think Trump is hurting and the midterms are in the bag.

Problem is, they think that because they see and read only their own media, who tell them what they want to hear.

And then I see that a full 100% of MAGA voters will vote that way for the midterms again, and I think: you will be surprised.

• Democrats Keep Betting Gazillions on Bad Ideas (David Manney)

Democrats keep treating politics like the busted education system, but with a bigger checkbook; spend more, hire more consultants, fund more ads, build more machinery, and then comes the important part. Act shocked when voters still ask whether anyone brought better ideas.Our favorite former first lady and failed presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, had a ginormous financial machine behind her. Her Grace Von Pantsuit, along with allied groups, raised and spent over $1 billion. President Donald Trump spent far less and whupped her, winning the White House.

Our favorite orator, Cackles, she of the salad shooter black belt, repeated the expensive lesson eight years later. The party raised nearly $2 billion and spent roughly $1.5 billion in a short race. History repeated itself once again when President Trump whooped her, too. Money bought ads, staff, consultants, celebrity help, staging, and noise. But it didn’t buy a message that could survive contact with voters worried about prices, the border, crime, war, and, most importantly, basic competence. Virginia then added a new chapter: Democrats and allied groups poured a ginormous amount of money into a redistricting referendum meant to reshape the state’s congressional map before the 2026 midterms.
Virginians for Fair Elections (snort!), a Democratic-aligned group, raised nearly $64 million by early April, including major help from House Majority Forward, a group aligned with House Democratic leaders. Leading the push was Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and the lightbringer herself, former President Barack Hussein Obama. I think that would be called the DNC’s east coast varsity squad. Voters narrowly approved the plan, but alas, it was not to be. Set to the sounds of liberal hearts breaking, the Virginia Supreme Court struck it down after finding the process violated state law.
The ruling left Democrats with a costly pile of ash where their money used to be, and a midterm advantage up in smoke. To Temu Obama, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and Democrats nationally, Virginia was to offset Republican redistricting gains elsewhere. Instead, the court reminded them that clever process games still have rules. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, moved to defend the referendum, but the legal problem remained. Democrats spent a gazillion dollars trying to change the board, then watched judges tell them they were playing under a fabricated set of rules. What’s the definition of insanity? Repeatedly trying the same thing and expecting a different result.
That spotlights the pattern that keeps repeating, where the modern Democratic Party believes money replaces persuasion. When voters don’t buy the product, Democrats change the packaging, raise more cash, and then blame the market. Heaven forbid they buy and use a mirror. That same mindset runs through education, where taxpayers keep feeding an overpriced system that teacher union muscle shapes, while too many students — it’s for the children, you know — leave school unable to perform the basics: read, write, or compete as young people in the world’s leading superpower should.
President Trump exposes the weakness, because he doesn’t play by the timid rules Democrats have learned to expect from Republicans. He pushes back, fights, and forces arguments into the open. The left spent years building systems where money, credentials, institutions, and legal pressure could smother resistance before voters had any room to breathe. Trump stands there anyway, and asks a rough but fair question: What do you have to lose by walking away from the people who keep failing upward? That question once directly targeted black voters, and it still carries force. Moderates should hear it now.
People leaving California, New York, Illinois, and other blue strongholds have already voted with moving trucks. People fled taxes, disorder, school failures, housing costs, and one-party arrogance. How much worse would life get if they finally voted against the politics they already left behind? If it pleases them, Democrats can spend another gazillion dollars by hiring shinier consultants, booking friendlier entertainers, bankrolling more lawsuits, and dressing bad ideas in better lighting. Voters still know when groceries cost too much, streets feel less safe, schools fail their kids, and leaders talk down to them. Money buys a campaign, but it can’t buy character, courage, or a party worth following.

Are you now, or have you ever been, to a restaurant that served matzo ball soup?

• Too Many Democrats Are a Special Kind of Stupid (Derek Hunter)

Poor Democrats, learning the hard way (and very late in life) that actions have consequences and you can’t always get what you want…no matter how loudly you scream about it or demand it. The modern left has morphed into a never-ending drum circle of hatred and contempt for their fellow human beings who do not wish to be assimilated into the progressive collective of blind obedience. Democrats are learning a lesson they should have learned after losing the Civil War: people don’t want to be slaves. But Democrats have never learned that lesson; they view people as groups they own the votes of and can manipulate in order to achieve their political goals. It has worked for a very long time, but it’s working less and less now.

Part of the reason for their “coalition” fracture is that their policies are catching up to them. You can only promise to make things better for so long before people realize they’ve been getting steadily worse because of you, even Democrat voters. A bigger reason, however, is just how insane the party has gotten. Even stupid people will eventually realize you’re spitting in their faces while lecturing them about the rain. Many voters are reaching that point. How can anyone take seriously a party with a pundit like Harry Sisson, who, after the Virginia Supreme Court beat the dreams of Democrats creating new House seats like it was their redheaded stepchild, tweeted, “If Virginia can’t have their maps, then other blue states need to step up. Eliminate all of the Republican seats like they’re doing to us.”
Yes, genius, burn tens of millions more dollars trying to redraw deeper blue districts in New England, as the place where your control is absolute had gerrymandered everything decades ago. The only reason Republicans still have states they could gerrymander, and Democrats don’t, is because the GOP has been stupidly playing nice. No longer. Democrats brought this on themselves. I know they like to pretend “Texas started this!” But you have to have been denied oxygen in the birth canal to be that stupid. New England exists. New York’s redistricting exists; what California has been doing exists. Honestly, it’s about damn time Republicans stopped taking punches to the face and asking if the Democrats’ knuckles are OK and started hitting back.
They can no longer segregate people into congressional districts, and they’re acting like it’s a return to Jim Crow. They know that’s not true; they were the creators of Jim Crow and know exactly what it was like then…and they want it back. More Black Members of Congress represent majority-white districts than don’t, but Democrats still insist the country is racist and merit will lead to a “lack of representation.” Sorry, but you don’t need to be represented by someone who looks like you; it’s much more important that you be represented by someone who thinks as you do. Democrats have been working diligently for decades to make sure that doesn’t happen. And they’re losing.
But identity politics will not die easily; too much of the infrastructure of the left-wing industrial complex is built on it. Democrat U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed — who famously fretted that people in my old neighborhood in Dearborn were very upset that the Ayatollah had been killed (instead of killing people) — is playing the “I’m Muslim” and “Jews are bad” cards in his campaign against candidates running on the “I’m a woman!” platform. Weird how liberal women can’t tell you what a woman is in any other aspect of life except where it benefits them, isn’t it?
El-Sayed’s campaign is so desperate to mine that little bit of gold from the Democratic Party’s hatred of Jews and Israel that he put out a press release condemning alleged “dark money” for being spent through an ad-buying agency that apparently contracted with AIPAC – the American pro-Israel group – at some point. His press release read, in part, “The Center for Democratic Priorities bought the airtime via Waterfront Strategies, an agency that AIPAC-affiliated Super PACs, such as United Democracy Project, have worked with in the past.” Are you now, or have you ever been, to a restaurant that served matzo ball soup?
While it’s important to remember just how broken these people are, you have to keep in mind that their leadership is not stupid; they’re evil. They know what they’re doing and why: it benefits them. The voters who go along with it, even after everything we’ve seen and Democrats themselves have shown, are the special kind of stupid who need to be grateful breathing is a reflex, as they would forget how to do it otherwise and suffocate on the streets.
Wise up already.

” He defined Russia’s vision of victory as the vanquishing of neo-Nazi elements within Ukraine, as well as “those forces in Europe, primarily among the elites, that have built Russia into a bogeyman again.”

• Europe is Russia’s Principal Adversary – Trenin (RT)

Europe has become Russia’s “principal adversary” for the first time since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the president of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), Dmitry Trenin, has told Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi. In the latest episode of Going Underground, the renowned international affairs expert said that “today, Russia is at war again, and this is not simply a war between Russia and Ukraine” but rather a proxy war against Moscow that is being waged by the West.

According to Trenin, while the US under President Donald Trump has increasingly distanced itself from the Ukraine conflict, European involvement has become progressively more prominent of late. He told Rattansi that elites in European capitals are using a perceived Russian threat in an apparent effort to consolidate the “crumbling” European Union and to “relaunch their economies through militarization.”“They’re trying, above all, to keep themselves in power” by pushing alarmist narratives regarding Russia, he added.
Trenin went on to describe Ukrainians as a “part of the bigger Russian nation” that is being “misguided” and “used by the West in [its]… very long war against Russia,” which dates as far back as the 16th century. The international affairs expert expressed confidence that Russia would eventually accomplish its goals in the conflict, though it would take a long time. He defined Russia’s vision of victory as the vanquishing of neo-Nazi elements within Ukraine, as well as “those forces in Europe, primarily among the elites, that have built Russia into a bogeyman again.”
Commenting on Trump’s attempts at mediation, Trenin claimed that the US president is “essentially powerless to insist on something that is of central importance to ending this conflict,” and so his role is rather limited in defining its course. According to the RIAC president, Trump has apparently been unable to get EU warmongers and the Ukrainian leadership to act on the understanding reached by him and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last August.

The West shows no respect. It needs an enemy to keep its arms industry going.

• West Rewriting World War II History – Moscow (RT)

The West is busy rewriting the history of World War II, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated ahead of the 81st anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Russian officials have repeatedly accused the US and EU member states of distorting historical truth and belittling the crucial role of the Soviet Union, which lost an estimated 27 million people in what is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War.

Speaking on Thursday, Zakharova said that defending historical memory is a fundamental priority for Russia. This is all the more important in light of revanchist tendencies in the West, according to the spokeswoman. She pointed out that the 51 nations that voted against the UN resolution on “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” late last year were mostly representatives of the “collective West.”
Zakharova accused EU bureaucrats of waging “historical aggression.” She cited resolutions by the European Parliament, as well as organizations affiliated with the Council of Europe, which “promote the rewriting of history,” with the Soviet Union “being ascribed responsibility nearly equal to that of [Nazi] Germany” for the start of World War II. The official also noted that “in some countries, the war on monuments and memorials in honor of fighters against Nazism is gaining momentum.” She singled out Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as prime examples of this unsettling trend, citing the demolitions of Soviet war memorials there in recent years.

PCR fears quantum computers.

• The Digital Revolution Will Destroy Humanity (Paul Craig Roberts)

For some years I have been pointing out that the digital revolution, like nuclear weapons and laboratory manufacture of deadly pathogens that governments or terrorists can release, is a disastrous development for humanity. It is true that the digital revolution has benefits such as instant messaging, video conferences, real time access to news of events in foreign lands, real time access to entertainment and to live performances decades ago. The digital revolution has provided greater mpg and performance from internal combustion engines. And the list goes on.

But the benefits have a cost. Perhaps the highest cost is the total control the digital revolution gives governments or whatever the ruling entity is over people. The threat goes beyond the Chinese social control system in which your rights or privileges are determined by your behavior. The digital revolution allows government to prevent the emergence of truth by substituting for truth official narratives. We witnessed the beginning of this with the orchestrated “Covid pandemic.” By controlling the data base of artificial intelligence, governments can produce the “truths” that serve their agendas.
The interconnectiveness of information is more advanced than people realize. For example, the US State Department just announced that the passport of any parent behind in child payments of $2,500 has a cancelled passport. How does the Passport Office of the State Department know who in 50 states is behind in child support payments? President Trump is trying to create with an executive order a US passport with digital facial recognition without which a citizen cannot have a bank account, vote, or have a driving license, or, for that matter, do anything.
Digital currency is the greatest threat, perhaps, to human autonomy. Digital currency, unlike fiat paper currency or gold and silver coins, cannot be locked in a safe or buried on your grounds. It exists electronically only, and you can be denied access to it if you displease the ruling authority. This neutralizes all opposition from the people. A multi-billionaire suddenly finds that he cannot pay his electric bill. The young, who have no awareness or assets, may regard these threats as meaningless compared to the pleasure of scrolling the Internet. But sooner or later they will encounter another high cost of the digital revolution: the total absence of security of private information.
During the analogue days no such threat existed. To steal someone’s information you had to invade the space where the information was and copy it, or you had to climb a telephone pole that served that building or residence and attach, with court authority, a wire to the telephone of the residence or business. The Internet was developed as an open system. Thus, it is devoid of security. Currently encrypted passwords and secondary authentication serve to protect information. Nevertheless breeches are widespread and involve the largest companies and government data banks. The breech of AT&T’s security has left most American’s Social Security numbers available on the Internet.
According to a recent report, 100 million Mac users are at risk because hackers have succeeded in hijacking Apple’s “verified apps” to bypass Apple’s security. Hackers have succeeded in stealing “developer keys,” which provide a “digital passport” the allows hackers to disguise malware as Apple-approved apps. So you download the “approved” app, and the hackers have your computer. Apple, of course, will develop a response, but those affected before the corporation can act are in for a lot of money and frustrating wasted time. Such threats are innumerable. Perhaps the greatest is the advent of Quantum Computing.
Quantum computers can break encrypted passwords. Quantum computers use quantum mechanics to process information at higher speed that can be used to quickly overcome encryption. Once the Quantum Computers are available, the digital world belongs to hackers. So why give hackers this weapon? Where is the government doing government’s job? Where is the integrity of the corporations developing rule by hackers? No one seems to care. Hackers anticipating the quantum computers are currently downloading all encrypted information now, storing it awaiting the arrival of quantum computers, at which time the hackers intend to take over your assets and your life. Isn’t it so great that you can scroll the Internet?

https://twitter.com/UPMHPM/status/2053131593204617432?s=20 https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2053142283537596843?s=20

Dr. Pierre Kory exposes a massive media anomaly. He reveals over 100,000 articles were published globally about Hantavirus in days.

He confirms this massive coordination is entirely unnatural.

Why is a minor outbreak suddenly consuming the global media cycle? pic.twitter.com/lYhf6t5vx2
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) May 10, 2026

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2053468443073020101?s=20

Why does Mary look younger than Jesus in Michelangelo's Pietà?

The answer is one of the most beautiful in art history…

Mary is holding the body of her 33 year old son, but she looks 20. Critics noticed it the moment the sculpture was unveiled in 1499. The mother of a man who… pic.twitter.com/RcDQqB0tyF
— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) May 10, 2026

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Debt Rattle May 9 2026

May 092026

May 9, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:30 am Finance Tagged with: CIA, Iran, NATO, New York Times, Trump, Tucker Carlson, Ukraine, US blockade, Virginia, Von der Leyen, Zelensky 17 Responses »

Albert Bierstadt Storm in the Mountains c1870

• ‘Sporadic Clashes’ In Strait Of Hormuz As US Disables Two Iran Vessels (ZH)

• CIA Believes Iran Can Withstand US Blockade For At Least 3-4 Months (TASS)

• Trump Mediates 3-Day Ceasefire Between Ukraine and Russia On Victory Day (CTH)

• Did Zelensky’s Cronies Scam The Europeans? (RT)

• How Zelensky’s Inner Circle Sought Influence In The US (RT)

• After Every Weapon the Left Used Against Trump, He’s Still Here (Florack)

• There’s Something About Mary… (CTH)

• Marco Rubio Issues a Major Blow to Cuba’s Military Empire (Anderson)

• After Phone Call with Von der Leyen, Trump Delays EU Tariffs (CTH)

• California Death Trip (James Howard Kunstler)

• Virginia Supreme Court Overturns Redistricting Referendum (JTN)

• Former NATO Chief Warns Bloc on Verge of ‘Disintegration’ (JTN)

• The NY Times Interviews Tucker Carlson, and It Gets Worse From There (Spencer)

• Trump Touts Release of UFO files: ‘Have Fun and Enjoy’ (JTN)

• Fetterman: Dems Can’t ‘Simply Be The Opposite’ of ‘Whatever Trump Says’ (JTN)

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052395510774788365?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2052687070187962714?s=20

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says he and Donald Trump have the legal authority to go after anyone who broke the law, that includes Democrats who conspired against Trump and Conservatives

Barack Obama recently said "The White House shouldn't be able to direct the attorney… pic.twitter.com/vyP3ZWAC6v
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) May 7, 2026

Victor Davis Hanson just delivered a devastating breakdown explaining Democrats’ desperate strategy to hold power.

Democrat policies are so unpopular they no longer believe they can win voters — so they’re now trying to radically change the system of governance instead.

HANSON:… pic.twitter.com/udkNxX5lfg
— Overton (@overton_news) May 8, 2026

https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2052439232673882171?s=20 https://twitter.com/GOP_is_Gutless/status/2052510392279036256?s=20 https://twitter.com/BoLoudon/status/2052580352045044210?s=20

Obama was a CIA asset put in place to destroy the US.

Occidental College records — SEALED
Columbia College records — SEALED
Columbia Thesis paper — SEALED
Harvard College records — SEALED
Selective Service Registration — SEALED
Medical records — SEALED
Illinois State… pic.twitter.com/5vKxrEhxTC
— conspiracybot (@conspiracyb0t) May 7, 2026

The ceasefire survives to live another day.

• ‘Sporadic Clashes’ In Strait Of Hormuz As US Disables Two Iran Vessels (ZH)

Iran’s Fars reports late morning (US time): Sporadic clashes between Iranian Armed Forces and US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Amid the fog of war, nothing in the way of details initially emerged. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has condemned US “aggression and adventurism” but has also confirmed that Tehran is still reviewing the US proposal and is still going to respond soon. Al Jazeera cites state media on emerging deaths from the Iranian side: Mohammad Radmehr, governor of Minab County in southern Iran, says he has received word that rescuers have found the body of one of five sailors reported missing after a US attack on an Iranian vessel overnight in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Radmehr as saying that search teams are continuing efforts to find the four remaining missing sailors. Earlier, as we reported, Radmehr said 10 sailors were also injured during the naval confrontation. The Wall Street Journal has details (based on CENTCOM press release) after two Iranian-flagged tankers came under US attack for attempting to breach the US blockade: U.S. military forces carried out airstrikes on Friday, hitting and disabling two empty Iranian-flagged oil tankers attempting to circumvent the American naval blockade against Iranian ports, according to U.S. Central Command
The vessels struck were very large crude carriers attempting to return to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman, the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, according to a statement from Centcom. A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighter from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush fired precision munitions into their smokestacks, disabling the tankers, Centcom said. It marks third time the US has attacked commercial vessels for trying to break through to Iranian ports, following a Wednesday incident which saw a US Navy jet destroy rudder of an Iranian tanker under similar circumstances.

Well, well, WaPo.

“According to the Washington Post, these findings have already been communicated to the US administration..”

• CIA Believes Iran Can Withstand US Blockade For At Least 3-4 Months (TASS)

Analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) believe that Iran will be able to withstand the US naval blockade for at least three to four months before it begins to suffer any serious economic difficulties, The Washington Post reported, citing sources. According to the newspaper, these findings have already been communicated to the US administration. “A confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers this week concludes that Iran can survive the US naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing more severe economic hardship, four people familiar with the document said,” the article states. The newspaper points out that this finding “appears to raise new questions about President Donald Trump’s optimism on ending the war.”

“If fighting stops, the money supply shrinks. For Zelenskyy this is a big problem.”

• Trump Mediates 3-Day Ceasefire Between Ukraine and Russia On Victory Day (CTH)

May 9, celebrated as Victory Day, is one of the most significant and heartfelt holidays in Russia, symbolizing resilience, unity, and remembrance. This day honors the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. It is a time when the nation collectively reflects on its history, pays tribute to those who sacrificed their lives, and celebrates the enduring spirit of its people. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have noticed the same EU/Ukraine chatter that we drew attention to a few days ago, and Moscow has stopped public attendance from tomorrow’s Victory Day celebration in Red Square. The Russian govt told people to stay away from Moscow central and watch the event on livestream. Other precautions have been similarly announced.

Emboldened by European allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began yesterday by ridiculing a ceasefire offer by Russian intermediaries. As Ukraine was a former part of the United Soviet Socialist Republic (until 1991), Putin views both Ukraine and Russia as celebrating the same Victory Day remembrance; a united victory over Nazism. Zelenskyy, born in 1978, rejects that commonality. However, after President Trump stepped into the discussion, a 3-day ceasefire was brokered.
[Via Truth Social] – “I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine. The Celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II. This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country. This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War. Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP
Due to the psychology of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in combination with his co-dependent enablers in Europe and the U.K., I would caution everyone to review Ukraine’s participation in the ceasefire tenuously. Zelenskyy, leading a non-NATO member state, gains NATO’s protection because France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. see Russia as a major threat to Europe. If the conflict stops, Zelenskyy has to start paying for his own nation’s government operations again. Currently all of his state and municipal govt expenses are subsidized by Europe and the USA. If fighting stops there will be a movement to stop giving Ukraine subsidies.
Zelenskyy’s government officials have become very wealthy from the money they are able to skim from U.S, U.K and EU support. The taxpayer laundry operation is very lucrative, and Ukraine is well known for its institutional corruption systems. If fighting stops, the money supply shrinks. For Zelenskyy this is a big problem.

Zelensky et al pump part of the dough back to where it came from. Where it funds campaigns for Democrats and various European parties.

“The EU is pumping money into a company that’s secretly run by one of the most corrupt members of Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle..”

• Did Zelensky’s Cronies Scam The Europeans? (RT)

With €90 billion in EU funding set to flow into Ukraine, the case of ‘game changer’ weapons manufacturer Fire Point offers a glimpse into the black hole that swallows Western money and enriches Vladimir Zelensky’s cronies. nDanish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen was elated when he announced last September that Fire Point – a Ukrainian film casting agency that pivoted to making drones and missiles post-2022 – would set up a rocket fuel plant on Danish soil. b “This is helping Ukraine in its fight for security, its own independence and, no less importantly, its ability to live in peace,” he declared, adding that Fire Point would receive a share of a €1.4 billion ($1.64 billion) Danish fund earmarked for the Ukrainian weapons industry.

Fire Point’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. From zero experience in weapons in 2022, the company had landed $1 billion in contracts by the time of Poulsen’s announcement, a figure that has since increased almost sevenfold. Fire Point’s FP-1 and FP-2 kamikaze drones are Ukraine’s most widely-used attack UAVs, the company received more than half of the Ukrainian Defense Procurement Agency’s annual spend this year, and its flagship product, the FP-5 ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile, has been hailed by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky as “by far the most successful missile in Ukraine’s arsenal.”
Zelensky has marketed Fire Point’s missiles and drones on most of his 130-plus trips abroad since 2022, talking up their performance to European investors and Gulf monarchies looking for a cost-effective alternative to American systems. As it turns out, there’s a reason for his enthusiasm: Zelensky has a personal stake in Fire Point’s success.
Timur Mindich’s get-rich schemes According to surveillance tapes published by Ukrainskaya Pravda in late April, Fire Point is secretly owned by Timur Mindich, a business magnate and associate of Zelensky known as ‘Zelensky’s wallet’. Mindich fled to Israel last November, moments before he was due to be raided by anti-corruption investigators for his alleged role in a $100 million embezzlement scheme at Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator.In the recordings, Mindich confirms that he is running Fire Point and tasks Defense Minister Rustem Umerov (who resigned last year over corruption allegations) with handing contracts to the company and lobbying for its interests abroad. Mindich and Umerov also discuss a potential deal with Arab inventors, which would see each Fire Point shareholder cash out around $300 million.
Allegations of corruption at Fire Point are nothing new. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has been probing the company for links to Mindich since last August, and has examined whether the company inflated the cost of its products and lied about the number of drones supplied to the Defense Ministry. After a government audit found that Fire Point overcharged the ministry by almost €15 million in a no-bid contract for FP-1 drones, and with the tapes confirming collusion between Umerov and Mindich, the ministry’s internal anti-corruption watchdog called on Wednesday for the company’s nationalization and warned that Fire Point may lose its military contracts once Mindich’s involvement is proven in court.
How badly did the Europeans get scammed? Back in September, Poulsen brushed off mounting allegations of graft against Fire Point. “We have no reason to believe that there is a problem,” he said, adding that any business “established in Denmark must comply with Danish rules.” But Denmark is not the only European country pumping money into Mindich’s operation. While the specific figures are classified, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported that Western countries have contributed “significant” sums of money to the company.
Last May, Germany signed a €5 billion deal to pay for “long-range weapons” produced within Ukraine. Signed after a visit by Zelensky to Berlin, the weapons in question are likely Flamingo cruise missiles. In October, the Netherlands’ then-defense minister, Ruben Brekelmans, announced a €90 million aid package for the production of attack drones within Ukraine, on top of an earlier €200 million round of funding for Ukrainian-made missiles and interceptors. Given that the majority of these domestically built weapons are manufactured by Fire Point, the bulk of this funding likely went to Mindich’s company. Norway and Ukraine signed a €1.3 billion deal for Ukrainian-made missiles in April, while Italy is reportedly exploring a similar arrangement. In the private sector, Fire Point has signed cooperation agreements with Spanish defense giant Sener and Germany’s Diehl Defense – both deals signed after meetings between Zelensky and executives from Sener and Diehl.

“Leaked transcripts have exposed how top Ukrainian officials are trading influence for billions and plotting to escape to the US”

• How Zelensky’s Inner Circle Sought Influence In The US (RT)

Ukraine’s most popular format for political content recently seems to be reading aloud invective-laden transcripts of Vladimir Zelensky’s closest political allies scheming about stealing in Russian. The ‘Mindich tapes’ could have serious ramifications for the government, as they purport to implicate Zelensky in unabashed corruption. The root of the escalating graft scandal lies in an investigation that Western-backed Ukrainian law enforcement agencies conducted into Timur Mindich – a business associate of Zelensky, known as his ‘bagman’ or ‘wallet’ in Kiev – who is now a fugitive and is fighting an extradition request from his hideout in Israel.

Investigators from the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) wiretapped Mindich’s luxury apartment in Kiev – reportedly between April and July 2025, when Zelensky tried to take control of the agency and triggered a wave of mass protest and rebukes from his Western backers. Some of the Mindich tapes served as evidence in their case exposing a $100 million extortion scheme, allegedly masterminded by Zelensky’s bagman, at Ukrainian state-owned atomic energy company Energoatom, and which led to Mindich running to Israel. Since mid-April, the Ukrainian public has been showered with what are purportedly parts of the records, though none have been officially released by the authorities.
Are the Mindich tapes authentic and who released them?
Ukrainian political commentators broadly assume that they are. Zelensky’s office has not claimed that they are fabricated, and there are notable intersections between releases by different sources. The ongoing wave of publications was launched on April 23 by former SAPO prosecutor Stanislav Bronevitsky. Ukrainskaya Pravda journalist Mikhail Tkach was behind a major disclosure on April 28 – which RT reviewed in detail previously – with another installment coming on May 1. Opposition lawmakers Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Aleksey Goncharenko have produced multiple Mindich tape videos – the latter reading them to an empty parliament chamber.
Why are the Mindich tapes being leaked?
The motives behind the disclosures remain unclear. Did the investigators leak them to overcome pressure that Zelensky reportedly subjects them to behind closed doors? Did Mindich and other suspects shoot a proverbial cannon across the bow as a warning to Zelensky that they won’t sink alone? There are some caveats, however. People in the transcript talk informally and omit context. For instance, they refer to acquaintances by their personal names or nicknames. ‘Vova’, often mentioned in the tapes, is believed to be Zelensky himself. Consequently, identification of mentioned individuals falls on the media.
What’s the bottom line?
The transcripts suggest that Zelensky’s inner circle sees indefinite war as a corporate opportunity and exerts improper influence over the government to maximize their profits, counting on their patron to protect them.
What are the most scandalous claims?
Arguably the most salacious of the latest leaks involves Mindich and Zelensky’s then-defense minister – presently the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council – Rustem Umerov discussing what they believe to be US President Donald Trump’s relations with glamorous women, while debating potential candidates to be Ukrainian ambassador in the US.“You know who would be great? Svetka. Trump would go crazy about her,” Umerov said. He and Mindich agreed that the “curly” bombshell would make “everyone there chase her.”
This is apparently a reference to former Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk, appointed by her disgraced predecessor and alleged romantic partner, German Galushchenko, who like him, was forced to resign after Mindich was charged with siphoning off $100 million from state energy producer Energoatom. Grinchuk was also deputy energy minister under Galushchenko.Mindich and Umerov debated the pros and cons of several officials who could represent Kiev’s interests in Washington, DC but agreed that Grinchuk had the best chances to get regular face time with “the old man.”
What were Mindich and Umerov plotting?
Mindich and his group were apparently seeking political and financial leverage. For instance, they wanted their man overseeing the nationalized Sense Bank, a potential source of business credit. Umerov, who was facing resignation at the time of the recording, was highly interested in receiving a special diplomatic appointment that would allow him free travel abroad. He was eyeing privileges similar to those enjoyed by ‘Vitya’ – apparently Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Freedom to fly to the US and back would help Umerov – whose family lives in Miami – protect Mindich’s interests, he told the businessman. A conversation between Mindich and Sergey Shefir, a business partner of Zelensky who served as presidential adviser from 2019-2024, offers a glimpse of the cutthroat nature of Ukrainian politics. Apparently, Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, sabotaged a planned appointment of Evgeny Korniychuk as ambassador to Germany over suspicions that the career diplomat served as an anonymous source for a Politico article in which he was criticized. Is Mindich a power broker or a businessman?
Both. Many of the conversations were about the arms industry and Zelensky’s often-touted ‘miracle arms maker’ Fire Point, which the leaked records prove Mindich ran, with Umerov steering defense contacts his way. One person called by his full name in the tapes is a major figure in the US – Google executive Eric Schmidt, known to be tight with the Pentagon and an influential voice on national security policy, including the arming of Ukraine.
Umerov pitched the US billionaire to Mindich as a possible business partner to whom a majority stake in Fire Point could be offered. Schmidt, according to Umerov, has the connections that Fire Point would require to access the lucrative American weapons market and “enter [Silicon] Valley.” Mindich doubted whether US competitors could become partners: “For Americans, we are the f**king worst firm that can break [their plans]. They need to either buy us out or f**k us up. F**king us up is cheaper.”
Do the tapes prove criminality?
Not obviously, but something shady was implied in the discussion of what Mindich and Umerov called Project 23. It may be a weapons manufacturing offshoot. Umerov reminded Mindich that somebody had given instructions not to get German arms giant Rheinmetall involved. The two then discussed discrete funding options for “23” and how the same unnamed person may not agree to the proposal because he is skittish with his significant sums in cash. “He gets money from everywhere. Three from here and five from there. And he has no expenses,” Mindich explained. “He pays what to his driver – $300?”
Umerov gleefully continued: “From the state budget.” MP Zheleznyak, who highlighted this exchange, has argued that Project 23 is what the Mindich group called their ‘obshchak’. The criminal slang term refers to a money pot that all members of a gang are obliged to donate to and which is tapped for their common interests or in case of an emergency. Safekeeping the funds is obviously a role of high responsibility and high risk for any criminal organization. Some media outlets nicknamed Mindich ‘Zelensky’s wallet’ for allegedly playing that role.

“.. Labour will be unable to get a dog catcher elected. I predict the same thing will be happening to the Democrats here in the ‘States, in this year’s midterm.”

• After Every Weapon the Left Used Against Trump, He’s Still Here (Florack)

Brennan handpicked the CIA analysts to compile the ICA and involved only the ODNI, CIA, FBI and NSA, excluding 13 of the then-17 intelligence agencies. He sidelined the National Intelligence Council and forced the inclusion of the discredited Steele dossier despite objections of the authors and senior CIA Russia experts, so as to push a false narrative that Russia secured Trump’s 2016 victory. “This was Obama, Comey, Clapper and Brennan deciding ‘We’re going to screw Trump,’” said Ratcliffe in an exclusive interview. Yeah, I know — big shock. But that was just the beginning.

What followed was the most sustained, coordinated legal and political assault ever launched against a sitting — and former — president in American history. It fits the pattern of the last decade. In short: They threw everything they had at the man. Every weapon within reach. Every arrow in the quiver. And every time, they eventually came up empty-handed and revealing all their desperation and their corruption. Trust me when I tell you, the people have noticed all of this. A Manhattan DA dusted off a years-old bookkeeping dispute that federal prosecutors had previously declined to pursue, repackaged it as a felony, and put a former president on trial. Built on the testimony of a convicted liar, the case ended in a conviction on 34 counts.
Critics called it lawfare. Many legal scholars called it a stretch. The people noticed. Then came the classified documents case in Florida, where a special counsel charged Trump with mishandling materials at Mar-a-Lago — a case ultimately dismissed after the judge found serious prosecutorial overreach. The people noticed. Then came the Georgia case, a sprawling RICO indictment that collapsed under the weight of its own scandal when the DA’s romantic relationship with her hand-picked lead prosecutor came to light. It stalled, stumbled, and became a symbol of the very overreach it embodied — and has since been contradicted by federal investigations.
And then came the federal election obstruction case in D.C., where yet another special counsel attempted to criminalize Trump’s challenges to the 2020 results. After his 2024 victory, it was dropped. The people had noticed and spoke louder than any blue-city grand jury. They also noticed when an investigation into Georgia’s election system revealed that Trump probably had, in fact, won the 2020 election. No small point, though the legacy press has been avoiding it. The people noticed that, too. In New York, the attorney general secured a staggering $450 million civil fraud judgment over property valuations. No victim came forward, no bank claimed a loss. It was later reduced, then overturned on appeal. The people noticed.
A separate civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll produced an $83 million defamation verdict. The pattern was unmistakable: Trump’s enemies wielded the legal system in blue jurisdictions as a political battering ram, and everyone watching knew it. Including the judge overseeing the appeal, who tossed the whole thing out. The people noticed. And when all of that failed, they tried to kill him. Several times. The people saw that, too. And so, we see his voters still support him, and his attackers still can’t fathom why. Or at least, they won’t admit to that understanding. They tried the courts. They tried the ballot. They tried the bullet. He’s still here — and still commanding the loyalty of the voters who put him back in office.
As an aside, the people also watched as the Democrats blew through some $64 million on their illegal Virginia gerrymandering attempt. I suggest that all of that, as it has accumulated, will play large in mid-terms come November. How do I know? Look what happened in the UK this week.The British people have been watching the actions of the Starmer government and have in turn handed Labour a historic loss of some 650 seats. Starmer himself is headed for a No Confidence vote, and Labour will be unable to get a dog catcher elected. I predict the same thing will be happening to the Democrats here in the ‘States, in this year’s midterm.
Thought of the day: If the president could have stopped 9/11 from happening, do you believe he should have done so? Of course you do. So do I. So, can you explain why you have such a problem with the president stopping Iran from obtaining nukes?

A one woman wrecking crew.

• There’s Something About Mary… (CTH)

I have been asked to recap some of my research into cited formats of what I believe to be criminal conduct, with specific statutes against them. This is a recap of one key player who mysteriously seems to avoid scrutiny. If there is one corrupt DC player who has escaped scrutiny for her corrupt endeavors, it would be Mary McCord. More than any other Lawfare operative within Main Justice, Mary McCord sits at the center of every table in the manufacturing of cases against Donald Trump. {GO DEEP} Mary McCord’s husband is Sheldon Snook. At a critical moment he was also the right hand to the legal counsel of Chief Justice John Roberts.

When the Carter Page FISA application was originally assembled by the FBI and DOJ, there was initial hesitancy from within the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) about submitting the application, because it did not have enough citations in evidence (the infamous ‘Woods File’). That’s why the Steele Dossier ultimately became important. It was the Steele Dossier that provided the push, the legal cover needed for the DOJ-NSD to submit the application for a Title-1 surveillance warrant against the campaign of Donald J. Trump. When the application was finally assembled for submission to the FISA court, the head of the DOJ-NSD was John Carlin. Carlin quit working for the DOJ-NSD in late September 2016 just before the final application was submitted (October 21,2016). John Carlin was replaced by Deputy Asst. Attorney General, Mary McCord.
When the FISA application was finally submitted (approved by Sally Yates and James Comey), it was Mary McCord who did the actual process of filing the application and gaining the Title-1 surveillance warrant. A few months later, February 2017, with Donald Trump now in office as President, it was Mary McCord who went with Deputy AG Sally Yates to the White House to confront White House legal counsel Don McGahn over the Michael Flynn interview with FBI agents. The surveillance of Flynn’s calls was presumably done under the auspices and legal authority of the FISA application Mary McCord previously was in charge of submitting.
At the time the Carter Page application was filed (October 21, 2016), Mary McCord’s chief legal counsel inside the office was a DOJ-NSD lawyer named Michael Atkinson. In his role as the legal counsel for the DOJ-NSD, it was Atkinson’s job to review and audit all FISA applications submitted from inside the DOJ. Essentially, Atkinson was the DOJ internal compliance officer in charge of making sure all FISA applications were correctly assembled and documented.
When the anonymous CIA whistleblower complaint was filed against President Trump for the issues of the Ukraine call with President Zelensky, the Intelligence Community Inspector General had to change the rules for the complaint to allow an anonymous submission. Prior to this change, all intelligence whistleblowers had to put their name on the complaint. It was this 2019 IGIC who changed the rules. Who was the Intelligence Community Inspector General? Michael Atkinson.

When ICIG Michael Atkinson turned over the newly authorized anonymous whistleblower complaint to the joint House Intelligence and Judiciary Committee (Schiff and Nadler chairs), who did Michael Atkinson give the complaint to? Mary McCord. Yes, after she left main justice, Mary McCord took the job of working for Chairman Jerry Nadler and Chairman Adam Schiff as the chief legal advisor inside the investigation that led to the construction of articles of impeachment. As a consequence, Mary McCord received the newly permitted anonymous whistleblower complaint from her old office colleague Michael Atkinson.

During his investigation of the Carter Page application, Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered an intentional lie inside the Carter Page FISA application (directly related to the ‘Woods File’), which his team eventually tracked to FBI counterintelligence division lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith. Eventually Clinesmith was criminally charged with fabricating evidence (changed wording on an email) in order to intentionally falsify the underlying evidence in the FISA submission. When John Durham took the Clinesmith indictment to court, the judge in the case was James Boasberg.

In addition to being a DC criminal judge, James Boasberg is also a FISA court judge who signed-off on one of the renewals for the FISA application that was submitted using fraudulent evidence fabricated by Kevin Clinesmith. In essence, now the presiding judge over the FISA court, Boasberg was the FISC judge who was tricked by Clinesmith, and now the criminal court judge in charge of determining Clinesmith’s legal outcome. Judge Boasberg eventually sentenced Clinesmith to 6 months probation.
As an outcome of continued FISA application fraud and wrongdoing by the FBI, in their exploitation of searches of the NSA database, Presiding FISC Judge James Boasberg appointed an amici curiae advisor to the court who would monitor the DOJ-NSD submissions and ongoing FBI activities.Who did James Boasberg select as a FISA court amicus? Mary McCord.
Mary McCord submitted the original false FISA application to the court using the demonstrably false Dossier. Mary McCord participated in the framing of Michael Flynn. Mary McCord worked with ICIG Michael Atkinson to create a fraudulent whistleblower complaint against President Trump; and Mary McCord used that manipulated complaint to assemble articles of impeachment on behalf of the joint House Intel and Judiciary Committee. Mary McCord then took up a defensive position inside the FISA court to protect the DOJ and FBI from sunlight upon all the aforementioned corrupt activity.
You can clearly see how Mary McCord would be a person of interest if anyone was going to start digging into corruption internally within the FBI, DOJ or DOJ-NSD.
What happened next….

Marco’s playground. He’ll respect it, it’s where his family is from.

• Marco Rubio Issues a Major Blow to Cuba’s Military Empire (Anderson)

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio aren’t playing around with Cuba anymore, and things are escalating by the day.

Last week, I reported that “signed a new executive order that builds on his January national emergency declaration that Cuba is an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to the United States due its ties to adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran and terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. This EO allows the United States to expand current sanctions and add new restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.” As I said on Friday, it basically allows Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent plenty of leeway to maximize pressure on the crumbling regime and the Castro family.
Well, Rubio isn’t wasting time. On Thursday, May 7, he announced via the State Department that he’s cutting right to the gut of the regime with sanctions on Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), GAESA’s director Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and Moa Nickel SA (MNSA), a state-owned mining company.
“These sanctions are part of the Trump Administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and hold accountable the regime and those who provide it material or financial support,” Rubio said. “Just 90 miles from the American homeland, the Cuban regime has brought the island to ruin and auctioned off the island as a platform for foreign intelligence, military and terror operations. Additional designations can be expected in the following days and weeks.”
So what exactly do these sanctions do? They freeze any of these entities’ assets in the United States and prohibit any people or companies in the U.S. from doing business with them. However — and this is big — they also threaten foreign people, companies, and financial institutions that do business with GAESA by promising to cut them off from the U.S. banking system and freezing their U.S.-based assets. In case you’re unfamiliar, GAESA functions as a sort of state within a state. Rubio calls it the “Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise” that “is the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system.”
Raúl Castro created it back in the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba stopped receiving handouts. The goal was to give the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) a hard-currency revenue stream through tourism, imports, retail, and other dollar-generating businesses. Castro’s late son-in-law, Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, ran it for decades, expanding it into what it is today. Lastres is the current executive director, and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro aka “El Cangrejo” or “The Crab” (and Raúl’s grandson) is informally involved, essentially guarding his family’s interests. He’s the one with whom Rubio has supposedly been talking behind the scenes, but whether that’s true or not has never been confirmed.
Here’s more on GAESA from Rubio’s announcement:
Controlling an estimated 40% or more of the island’s economy, GAESA is involved in various sectors of the Cuban economy and is designed to generate income not for the Cuban people, but only for the benefit of its corrupt elites. While the Cuban people suffer from hunger, disease and chronic under-investment in critical infrastructure such as its power grid, much of the proceeds of GAESA’s activities are funneled away to hidden overseas bank accounts. According to recent public estimates, GAESA’s revenues are likely more than three times the state’s budget, and GAESA likely controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets.
The Trump administration is squeezing the regime harder than any U.S. president ever has, and it looks like it’s only going to go harder in the weeks to come. Make no mistake, the Cuban regime will fall soon. Trump and Rubio are seeing to it.

“Until Independence Day..”

• After Phone Call with Von der Leyen, Trump Delays EU Tariffs (CTH)

There is a certain irony in the timing all things considered. President Trump has given the EU until July 4, 2026, to fulfill the trade agreement previously negotiated (ie. the Turnberry Agreement) or 25% tariffs on EU automobiles will be triggered.

(Via Truth Social) – “I had a great call with The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. We discussed many topics, including that we are completely united that Iran can never have a Nuclear Weapon. We agreed that a regime that kills its own people cannot control a bomb that can kill millions. I’ve been waiting patiently for the EU to fulfill their side of the Historic Trade Deal we agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, the largest Trade Deal, ever! A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO! I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels. Thank you for your attention to this matter.” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recently spoke directly about what was creating this problem. His interview and explanation in detail is below (MUST WATCH):

“History records no pity for parties that choose purity over competence, vengeance over vision, pathology over pragmatism. The long night is not coming. It is here. . . . ” —LHGrey on X

• California Death Trip (James Howard Kunstler)

The Pacific Palisades fire ignited on January 7, 2025, in the very last days of the “Joe Biden” fake presidency. 6,837 total buildings destroyed plus about 1,000 damaged. The Altadena fire across town in Eaton Canyon was arguably worse: 9,418 buildings destroyed. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was in Ghana at the time to attend the inauguration of president John Dramani Mahama, part of a small U.S. presidential delegation sent by the “Biden” administration.

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Brian Williams, overseer of the Police and Fire Departments, was on administrative leave at the time due to an alleged bomb threat against City Hall that he reportedly made in September / October 2024. The FBI raided his house that December, and in 2025 he copped a plea deal (guilty) to making threats involving fire and explosives. So, he was out of action during the fires.
There you have the rectified essence of how the Democratic Party operates in America’s biggest state. Is it not astonishing that Karen Bass is running for reelection? How could she possibly be forgiven? A large number of people employed in the movie business got burned out of their homes in the fires, and then city and state regulatory nonsense prevented them from rebuilding — on top of insurance company hocus-pocus that left families financially wrecked. Is it a surprise that the city’s flagship industry is dying now (film production down 32-percent on a five-year average)? What is LA without Hollywood?
And yet the show-biz celebs are still coming out to pimp for Democratic Party politicians. This is the kind of thing that forces you to conclude that an epic madness burns as hotly through the minds of Californians as the fires that ripped through the canyons in 2025. I know from personal experience as a college theater major that actors can be exceptionally stupid, but that can’t wholly account for what we’re seeing.
Wednesday’s primary debates had these villains on florid display. Because LA’s ranked-choice mayoral primary race styles itself “non-partisan,” candidate Spencer Pratt (a registered Republican) was on-hand for the debate. When the subject of LA’s cataclysmic homelessness came up, drug addicts living (if you can call it that) in wretched, filthy encampments all over the public space of the city, Mayor Bass bragged that she’d significantly reduced the problem, which is obviously and mendaciously untrue. LA City Council member Nithya Raman, who labels herself “progressive,” bragged on putting the homeless into shelters (i.e., motel rooms at $100-K per person per year.)
Spencer Pratt attempted to inject a little reality into the discussion about putting the homeless into homes: “No matter how many beds you give these people, they are on super meth, they are on fentanyl. The DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] statistic says 93-percent of this is a drug addiction problem. These people do not want a bed — they want fentanyl or super meth.” Pratt is currently running third in the polls. In ranked-choice voting, the top two winners in the primary will face off in the November election. Currently Bass is polling in the lead and Nithya Raman is running second. If the numbers stay that way, the winner in November could finish Los Angeles off. Blade Runner, here we come.
But there’s still a chance that Spencer Pratt might place well in the June 2 primary just as Golden Tempo shot from dead last to win the Kentucky Derby last week. The seductions of the Marxist race hustle have worn a little thin, even for Angelenos. Karen Bass looks increasingly ridiculous grinning about her abject failures, which Mr. Pratt lays out relentlessly in plain talk. His reality-testing seems to be getting some minds right, gaining real traction. Nithya Raman has the charisma of a mung bean.
The gubernatorial debate was equally edifying, especially the spectacle of Democratic Candidates Katie Porter’s and billionaire Tom Steyer’s rousing lack of self-awareness. Ms. Porter, renowned for dumping a pot of steaming mashed potatoes over her ex-husband’s head, and for her crotchety way with the (friendly) news media and her own staff, made the astounding statement that “the public servants we have are focused on doing their job, which is not cooperating with the federal immigration authorities.” That’s their job? Hmmmm. Mr. Steyer went further and said he would arrest ICE agents going about their business. You think . . .? (I would think that a Governor Steyer would find himself arrested by the feds for attempting such a stunt.)
The governor’s race is also a rank-choice contest. So, Republican Steve Hilton was on-hand to break the reality-optional spell that shrouded the stage like a poisonous miasma. After several Democrats made a show of deploring the grotesque homeless druggie encampments from Nob Hill to MacArthur Park, Mr. Hilton said “[They] talk as if we’re in some parallel universe where Democrats haven’t been running the state for the last sixteen years.” He shares the lead in the polls in the large field at 18-percent with Xavier Becerra, who was “Joe Biden’s” Secretary of Health and Human Services, meaning, he presided over the vaxx mandates and lockdowns of the Covid operation.

“Dealing Stinging Blow To Democrats”

Redistricting, gerrymandering. Everybody’s favorite new hobby…

• Virginia Supreme Court Overturns Redistricting Referendum (JTN)

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the state’s redistricting referendum was unconstitutional and struck down the redraw of the state’s House maps. “We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia,” they wrote. “This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.” The decision is a considerable blow to House Democrats, who had hoped to balance out the redistricting efforts of several Republican-leaning states to improve their odds in the November midterms.

The referendum saw voters narrowly back a plan to temporarily redraw the congressional maps in a manner that would have heavily favored Democrats. While the state currently has six Democrats and five Republicans in the House, the proposed redraw would have likely sent ten Democrats and one Republican to Washington.
With Virginia’s redraw struck down, Republicans appear poised to secure a net gain in partisan-leaning seats through redistricting. Texas, Florida, and Tennessee have already redrawn the maps, while Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina are either expected to do so or exploring their own redraws. The wave of redistricting pushes follows the Supreme Court striking down race-based congressional districts and narrowing its interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

“..we must stand on our own feet and be able to defend our continent ourselves.”

• Former NATO Chief Warns Bloc on Verge of ‘Disintegration’ (JTN)

Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen this week warned that the alliance was on the verge of collapse and urged European members to form an internal security bloc to prepare for the eventual collapse of the transatlantic military bloc. His remarks come amid increasingly prominent comments from Trump administration officials expressing their disappointment with NATO amid frustrations over European allies declining to assist with the Iran war.

“What we are witnessing right now is the disintegration of NATO, and that is dangerous,” Rasmussen told WELT. “President Trump has raised so many doubts about his commitment to Article 5 and to the defense of Europe that there can be only one conclusion for Europeans: we must stand on our own feet and be able to defend our continent ourselves.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly clashed with NATO members, not merely over Iran, but over Ukraine and Washington’s generally more reserved approach to the eastern European conflict than that of its predecessor. The Ukraine war is in its fifth year and shows no signs of an imminent end. The conflict has raised concerns in Europe over their future security situation should Russia triumph.

“Every person has a soul. That’s the Christian view, and not just the Christian view, it’s the Islamic view, too. And it’s my view.”

• The NY Times Interviews Tucker Carlson, and It Gets Worse From There (Spencer)

The fact that the New York Times would interview Tucker Carlson in the first place is an indication of how much the former Fox host has gone off the rails. The Times only interviews people who support its far-left worldview, including its endless vilification of Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza, and Carlson was ready with the goods. In his interview, which was published Saturday, Carlson adopts the pose of a moral philosopher to attack the Jewish state, and Judaism as well, from a new angle:

I think what we’re seeing is evil. Are you allowed to kill people who’ve committed no crime? No. Super simple. You’re not allowed to do that. Under no moral standard is that allowable. All of a sudden it’s allowable in Gaza, and our leaders are like, Yeah, it’s totally fine. It’s not fine. It’s repugnant to the Christian understanding of the world and the human soul. Every person has a soul. That’s the Christian view, and not just the Christian view, it’s the Islamic view, too. And it’s my view.
So you see, his implication here is that while Christians and Muslims believe that everyone has a soul, those wicked Jews do not, and so they don’t hesitate to kill people who have committed no crime in Gaza. Virtually every aspect of this statement is false, and since Carlson still wields massive influence, all the falsehoods must be exposed.
Carlson includes a kernel of truth in his lies and deflections, and that makes them all the more insidious. Like Christianity, Islam does indeed teach that “every person has a soul.” But the Qur’an also teaches that non-Muslims are “like cattle, no, they are worse.” (7:179) It says that non-Muslims are “the most vile of created beings” (98:6), and calls them “the worst of animals” (8:55).
These aren’t mere words, either. The Qur’an also states: “Muhammad is the apostle of Allah. Those who follow him are ruthless to unbelievers, merciful to one another.” (48:29) Ruthless in what way? The Qur’an tells Muslims to “kill them wherever you find them” (2:191, 4:89, 4:91) and, just in case that wasn’t clear enough, adds “kill the idolators wherever you find them” (9:5). This includes pretty much everyone, for in the Qur’anic view, virtually every non-Muslim is an idolater.
Tucker Carlson is speaking as if Christians and Muslims share a moral high ground over Judaism. Yet it is the Qur’an, and not Judaism, that teaches what Carlson is claiming. There is an idea within Jewish tradition that Jews and non-Jews have different souls, based on the special responsibilities Jews have before God, but this does not involve or lead to the idea that, because of this difference, non-Jews can be killed without scruple or hesitation.
A genuine authority on Judaism, Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin, says that “Jewish law and tradition are thoroughly opposed to the murder of innocent non-Jews,” and provides several references from Jewish sources to establish the principle that “the Murder of Non-Jews is Murder”: “Entziklopedia Talmudit, Vol. 5, cols. 355-358, s.v. Goy; Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, Torat Hamelekh, Samaria, 2000, pp. 17-27; Rabbi M. M. Kasher, Torah Sheleimah, Vol. 17, pp. 77-78, paragraphs 263-264; Rabbi J. D. Eisenstien, Otzar Yisrael, Vol. 10, New York, 1913, pp. 12-14, s.v.Retzihah.”
Tucker Carlson, however, is far better known than Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin, and knows that millions of people will believe him, thinking that he is giving them the real truth as opposed to what the sinister and shadowy elites want them to believe. Yet what he is actually doing is demonizing Israel, Judaism, and Jews as a whole on false pretenses, while ignoring the reality of Islamic jihad, and presenting a portrait of Islam that is as rosy and unrealistic as his portrayal of Judaism is hateful and inaccurate.
Carlson also takes for granted the idea that Israeli and American authorities are aware that innocent people are being killed in Gaza, and have no problem with that. In reality, Israel took immense care to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and was successful in doing so, but it has been the victim of a massive and highly effective propaganda campaign.
In his statements about human souls, Tucker Carlson appears to be basing his statements on antisemitic blood libels that claim that Jews secretly teach that non-Jews are subhuman and can and should be killed. There is a religion that teaches such a thing, but it is not Judaism. It is the religion that Tucker claims teaches, along with Christianity and opposed (in his view) to Judaism, that “every person has a soul.”

He takes it all very seriously.

• Trump Touts Release of UFO files: ‘Have Fun and Enjoy’ (JTN)

President Donald Trump on Friday touted his administration’s release of the first batch of files related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and urged readers to draw their own conclusions from the data. The existence of aliens and the government’s knowledge of extraterrestrial life have been the subject of speculation for decades, with many conspiracy theories asserting that the government has hidden the evidence permeating popular culture.

“As for my promise to you, the Department of War has released the first tranche of the UFO/UAP files to the Public for their review and study,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “In an effort for Complete and Maximum Transparency, it was my Honor to direct my Administration to identify and provide Government files related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, and Unidentified Flying Objects.’ “Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!” he added.

“After a series of votes and statements putting him at odds with his fellow Democrats over the past year, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., says that he has “no plans to leave” the party.”

• Fetterman: Dems Can’t ‘Simply Be The Opposite’ of ‘Whatever Trump Says’ (JTN)

After a series of votes and statements putting him at odds with his fellow Democrats over the past year, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., says that he has “no plans to leave” the party. “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,” Fetterman wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published on Thursday. “Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” The op-ed written by Fetterman titled, “I haven’t changed. Here’s what has,” details his career in elected office and voting record regarding a number of issues over the past year that have garnered pushback from fellow Democrats.

Fetterman wrote that his focus in office remains on “working together to find wins and deliver for my constituents” and says, although he was elected as a Democrat, he’s “proud to serve all Pennsylvanians. “It has become increasingly lonely to serve in that way, but I firmly believe it’s what is needed,” Fetterman wrote. “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.”
Throughout recent appearances, Fetterman has claimed that his party has “TDS,” a shortened reference to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democrat from Philadelphia who also serves as a vice chair for the Democratic National Committee, called Fetterman “a mess” in a social media post in late April after Fetterman suggested his party had TDS for opposing the Trump administration’s renovation plans for a White House ballroom.
Kenyatta isn’t the only party official to take issue with Fetterman over some stances. In March 2025, Cumberland County Democratic Party Chairman Matt Roan called for Fetterman to resign from office after he supported some of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Earlier this week, the Monroe County Democratic Party called Fetterman a “traitor” and for him to be voted out of office after he didn’t rule out voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a cabinet position. The areas Fetterman specifically highlighted in the op-ed that have garnered the most headlines included immigration policy, government shutdowns, and supporting Israel.
While defending his record on immigration, he highlighted his support for the Laken Riley Act as the lead Democrat, his vote for a bipartisan immigration reform bill in 2024, and his co-sponsorship of legislation to stop the flow of fentanyl. Fetterman said that he “took no pleasure” in voting against his party amid government shutdowns, but believes that “the demand to keep the lights on weighed more heavily than partisan games.” With regard to Israel and the war in Gaza, Fetterman said that he “appreciates” that the Trump administration “acted on the threat Iran and its proxies pose.”
“These once-common views have become increasingly toxic in the Democratic Party, a result of catering to the fringe and agitated parts of our base,” Fetterman wrote. “My values have not changed, and I have always turned to those kinds of ideals that defined being a Democrat,” he continued. “I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor and even pro-rib-eye over bio slop.”Fetterman also underscored his work to deliver federal funding for transportation projects in the state, and a series of bipartisan bills, including one that would allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to use their benefits to buy hot rotisserie chicken, another that intends to protect the mental health of kids, and lastly legislation that helps keep Americans in their homes.
Chatter over the past few months about Fetterman’s commitment to the Democratic Party has increased amid declining poll numbers within the party and a recent Politico article highlighting a Republican effort to get him to switch parties. Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman told the Center Square in April that he wouldn’t rule out the party supporting Fetterman’s bid in 2028 if he switched parties. Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick have also addressed the chatter in interviews this week.
“I don’t know what Senator Fetterman’s going to do. I know that Pennsylvanians voted for a Democrat to represent them in the U.S. Senate,” Shapiro said to CNN this week. “So, I think he needs to honor that and continue with his service with Pennsylvania and get back to what he was elected to do and reflect the will of the people.” McCormick told NBC10 Philadelphia this week that he has not talked to Fetterman about switching parties, but that he “would welcome him.” “I’ve never talked to him about changing parties, honestly,” McCormick told NBC10’s Lauren Mayk. “I feel blessed to have him as my colleague, we’ve developed a real relationship of trust.”

Only when you drive the Cybertruck do you realize how incredible it is: a bulletproof tank that moves like a million dollar sports car!

Reason for the angular shape is that the thick, ultra-hard stainless steel body panels cannot be stamped like the thin, feeble, paper-strength… https://t.co/mc4YRbe4J4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2026

DR. DAVID MARTIN: "The WHO is a criminal racketeering organization founded by EUGENICISTS — running a VACCINE PROFIT MACHINE since 1953."

Not healthcare.
Biological racketeering.
Decades of engineered harm for power and profit.

They’re coming for us again. Will you be ready? pic.twitter.com/RFymj4da3E
— Valerie Anne Smith (@ValerieAnne1970) May 7, 2026

https://twitter.com/NicHulscher/status/2051828632658522283?s=20 https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2052415721766830209?s=20

In 458 BC, Rome was on the brink of collapse.

An invading army had trapped the Roman consul and his legion in a mountain pass. Panic spread through the city. The Senate did the only thing they could think of:

They sent messengers to find a 60-year-old farmer plowing his field.… pic.twitter.com/qcQkkCBlqI
— Ancient History Hub (@AncientHistorry) May 7, 2026

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Debt Rattle May 3 2026

May 032026

May 3, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:09 am Finance Tagged with: Bill Maher, Cuba.Merz, Gavin Newsom, Georgia, Hormuz, Iran, redistricting, salesman, Scott Jennings, South Carolina, Supreme Court, Trump, Zelensky 24 Responses »

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)

That thing the doomers and panicans tell us isn't happening, happened again. https://t.co/IfJTIKnsKa
— unseen1 (@unseen1_unseen) May 1, 2026

https://twitter.com/triffic_stuff_/status/2050239340664512879?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2050161519254548669?s=20

That is literally their plan https://t.co/VoJsQvzgtB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2, 2026

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.

“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.

America has Iran by the ying-yang. pic.twitter.com/HbrId4LfHB
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) May 1, 2026

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.

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.
Currently: a joy to see MTG at @RonPaulInstitut telling @RonPaul he was right about all the wars & “MAGA is dead” #IranWar‌ pic.twitter.com/6j95yO4jDO
— Brad Hoff (@BradRHoff) April 25, 2026
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!

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

Bill Maher just brought up some of Gavin Newsom’s biggest failures right to his face — including California’s DISASTROUS high-speed rail project, to which Maher said:

“I say this as a friend, you got to let that train go!”

Newsom wasn’t expecting it and he was CRUSHED the… pic.twitter.com/WrlOEDlfwv
— Overton (@overton_news) May 2, 2026

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:

You can see the pain in his eyes right after Maher drop-kicked him with that train comment. pic.twitter.com/yn65HzYhfQ
— Overton (@overton_news) May 2, 2026

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.

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.

“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.

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.

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2050293964247335318?s=20

Ex-Tesla President just revealed Elon’s decision that changed everything…

Elon looked at their struggling online sales and asked one question:

"How many clicks does it take to buy a Domino's pizza?"

They pulled it up. 10 taps.

Tesla was at 64 clicks to buy a $120,000 car.… pic.twitter.com/t4M46QaEr7
— Shruti (@heyshrutimishra) May 1, 2026

https://twitter.com/JoshHall2024/status/2050381377254613239?s=20

The trend keeps going https://t.co/S95v1GEexA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2, 2026

Eric Schmidt (ex-Google CEO): “if you really want to make money, it’s actually easy. found an agentic AI company.”

spoiler: the supply of builders is tiny. the demand is enormous.

this guy is literally giving away the exact 2026 playbook to build and sell AI automations to make… https://t.co/Swj12PMfWk pic.twitter.com/hNojfCZiHl
— Avid (@Av1dlive) May 2, 2026

You can move a chicken's body in any direction and its head stays perfectly locked in place.

Evolution spent millions of years engineering that neck.

Camera companies spend millions of dollars trying to match it.

The chicken is still more advanced!pic.twitter.com/WRPf8c2euv https://t.co/YAE8aFqvD7
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 2, 2026

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

Debt Rattle May 1 2026

May 012026

May 1, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:05 am Finance Tagged with: Anthropic, Banksy, hypersonics, Iran, Merz, Mexico, Mojtaba Khamenei, Putin, reset, Sinaloa, Steinbaum, Trump 25 Responses »

William-Adolphe Bouguereau Whisperings of Love 1889

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Senator John Kennedy just annihilated the Fauci Crew…

“They’re in a lot of trouble. One indicted…and two unindicted co-conspirators who will be indicted”

The WALLS are closing in.
The cover-up is NOW OVER.

ARREST THEM ALL pic.twitter.com/YL6NTHPyZq
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) April 29, 2026

White House Bombshell: Fauci Facing 'Death By Firing Squad' For Killing Millions During COVID

Dr. Anthony Fauci is headed for a firing squad – and the blood of millions will finally be washed off his hands with his own.

The gears of justice are already turning, says a White… pic.twitter.com/st6K6a4cb1
— TPV Sean (@tpvsean) April 29, 2026

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

THREE independent estimates yield 470,000–840,000 U.S. mRNA deaths — more than WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Iraq COMBINED.

CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS are warranted. https://t.co/lg5MUPdQSN pic.twitter.com/tAG1nKvPCY
— Nicolas Hulscher, MPH (@NicHulscher) April 29, 2026

https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2049536035789373513?s=20

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Johnson sounds off on COVID “injection” COVER-UP

Our reporter caught up with @SenRonJohnson after a hearing and he didn’t hold back.

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

Johnson says internal… pic.twitter.com/fVAofTtCRv
— LindellTV (@RealLindellTV) April 30, 2026

The most vaccinated place in the world is in Ireland.

It's a place called Waterford.

They had the highest vaccination rate in the world.

Then they suffered the highest Covid rate in Ireland.

And then they had the highest excess deaths.

The local health authority got an award… pic.twitter.com/d7BhjvN2qe
— Liz Gunn (@LizGunnNZ) April 30, 2026

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

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

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

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

Khamenei says Iran will closely guard and protect its nuclear and missile capabilities, a clear and direct rejection of President Trump’s demand to hand over enriched uranium as the basis for a deal. Iranians will cling to the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities “as their national capital and will guard them like water, land and air borders,” Khamenei said.
“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei continued. “We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it – except at the bottom of its waters.” He also vowed Iran’s forces will “secure the Persian Gulf region and dismantle the hostile enemy’s exploitation of this waterway.”
US Teases Hypersonic Missiles, CENTCOM to Brief Trump
As we detailed Wednesday night, United States Central Command has requested deployment of the Army’s long-delayed hypersonic Dark Eagle to the Middle East for potential use against Iran, seeking a longer-range capability to strike ballistic missile launchers deep inside the country, Bloomberg first reported. If approved, the move would mark the first deployment of the hypersonic system, which remains behind schedule and has not been declared fully operational, even as Russia and China have already long ago fielded their own versions.
The Pentagon has claimed time and again of late that it has local air superiority, meaning that in some parts of Iran its aircraft can operate without facing much of a threat. And yet dozens of MQ-9 aircraft, plus several crewed fighters, have been downed, showing that other parts of Iran’s airspace remain dangerous.The Bloomberg report hit just as Axios rehashed an earlier report, according to which President Trump will receive a briefing on new plans for potential military action in Iran on Thursday from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper. The briefing signals that “Trump is seriously considering resuming major combat operations either to try to break the logjam in negotiations or to deliver a final blow before ending the war.”
Meanwhile the Iranian side has been claiming dozens of its vessels have breached the US naval blockade, which the Pentagon has been denying. Others say that while some ships have traversed the strait, they have not actually fully crossed the blockade.
Fifty two Iranian vessels have crossed a US-imposed blockade of Iranian waters within a 72-hour period…
https://t.co/mZrwK5qijI
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) April 29, 2026

Iran has three governments, maybe 4:

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

So who are you going to talk to?

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

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

The report comes well after President Trump and the White House have at various times alleged Tehran governance is ‘fractured’ and the state is even ‘collapsing’ – which seems exaggerated if not flatly false. Those more independent-minded analysts outside the mainstream suggest the opposite is the case – that it’s Washington which can’t stick to any of its red lines and keeps moving the goal posts on negotiations. After all Trump did keep unilaterally extending the ceasefire, and the US has not resumed the bombings even though Trump clearly threatened to (even with ‘firm’ timelines) as the Iranians sat back
“At the heart of the dispute, which has played out in parliament and state media, is a push by Iran’s most hardline politicians to oppose the Islamic republic negotiating with the US over its nuclear program,” FT writes. “Their primary target is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the veteran parliamentary speaker who led talks to US vice-president JD Vance in Pakistan earlier this month. Politicians linked to Paydari, an influential ultra-hardline faction, suggested that negotiators have not fully followed directives set by the new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” the publication continues.
As for definitions, there’s also the problem of the West imposing broad brush labels of ‘hardline’ and ‘moderate’ from afar, based fundamentally on speculation and we might say, circular logic. After all, any Iranian official who is against pursuing more negotiations – while understandably coming to the conclusion that Washington can’t be trusted (after it bombed Iran twice during talks) – gets automatically labelled ‘hardliner’ by the MSM, and this also carries all kinds of implications overlapping with radical Islam.
But yes, there are clearly holdouts pushing for Tehran not to engage at all, to completely shutter communications, which would likely mean certain return to war: “Negotiations are now pure damage and nobody should go for negotiations,” Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of parliament close to the Paydari who accompanied Iran’s negotiating team to Pakistan, told local media. And another key section from the report is in the following:
He [Nabavian] criticized inclusion of Iran’s nuclear programme in talks as a “strategic mistake” and implied this is not what the top leader sought. Another hardline politician, Ali Khezrian, claimed to state television that the supreme leader opposed continuing the talks.Officials “should know that at this sensitive time their obligation is to thoroughly obey and carry out the guidelines of the supreme leader,” Nabavian said.
On Monday, 261 out of 290 MPs issued a statement supporting Ghalibaf and the other negotiators. However, prominent members of Paydari were absent from the list of signatories. The longer the Hormzu standoff goes, and the more the anti-Tehran rhetoric flows out of the White House and from Trump on Truth Social, the more likely the Paydari faction and others are to influence broader numbers of Iranian leaders and sectors of the public.

“The Strategy to Freeze Iran’s Economy”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BREAKING: In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court rules that racial gerrymandering, which has been used to create majority black congressional districts for decades, is unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion for the majority. pic.twitter.com/AtPjtfo4cR
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 29, 2026

Less enthusiastic were Democrats who have benefited from such racist rigging of our system. Former President Barack Obama, for instance, whined, “Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities…The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who drew up one of the most outrageous and blatantly biased gerrymandered maps in the country, actually had the chutzpah to complain also, and added in an insult to the governor of Florida over a congressional map there likely to favor Republicans more. “The same day MAGA gutted the Voting Rights Act, Trump’s pipsqueak DeSantis rushed through rigged maps. No debate. No public input. They’re scared of VOTERS. This November: FAFO,” he hysterically threatened. Because only Democrats are allowed to redraw districts, apparently.

Here’s why Democrats are so mad:

What today’s SCOTUS ruling on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana could mean in terms of House seats across the South.

This was a massively important and consequential Court ruling. pic.twitter.com/HXvcwT08Fi
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) April 29, 2026

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

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

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

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

Amodei and Anthropic have openly opposed the direction President Trump is now taking on artificial intelligence. Amodei has been one of the most vocal critics of the administration’s decision to allow controlled exports of AI chips, even going so far as to compare a recent White House–approved sale of AI processors to “selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.” That’s not a nuanced policy critique. It’s an attempt to frame the president’s approach as reckless and dangerous—and to box policymakers into adopting the very restrictions that benefit his company while discouraging competitors and new entrants.
This is happening because Anthropic has built itself into something more than a technology company. It has become a political actor, deeply embedded in the regulatory mindset of the previous administration. The company has staffed its ranks with a significant number of former Biden officials who helped design and defend the very AI policies that President Trump is now unwinding and is going in “big” to support candidates who have called the President’s policies “bigoted.” The worldview that shaped those policies — and helped put the United States at risk of falling behind in the AI race — didn’t disappear when those officials left government. It followed them into the private sector.
That helps explain why Anthropic has been so consistently aligned against Trump’s AI agenda. This isn’t just about technical disagreements over governance frameworks or export categories. It’s about a fundamentally different view of how America should compete. On one side is a strategy rooted in market interference and government restriction. On the other is a strategy rooted in scale, competition, and global engagement while protecting America’s national security interests.
Anthropic has clearly chosen a side and used its position to argue for failed policies, including the export restrictions pushed during the Biden years that attempted to wall China off from American technology. Those policies didn’t slow China down. They sped it up.
Cut off from U.S. chips, Chinese firms invested heavily in domestic alternatives, built parallel supply chains, and moved closer to technological independence. The United States has seen this before. During the race to develop 5G technology, Washington similarly tried to restrict access, only to see Huawei step in, lock in global market share, and export its standards to much of the world. The risk now is repeating that mistake on a far larger scale with artificial intelligence.
President Trump’s approach reflects a different understanding of how global competition works. Rather than retreating from the market, the administration is staying engaged and allowing controlled exports of less advanced chips while keeping the most cutting-edge technology protected. The goal is not to give competitors like China an advantage, but to ensure they remain tied to American platforms, standards, and supply chains. In effect, it flips the script on a strategy China has used for years with rare earth minerals — building dependence that translates into long-term leverage.
That’s precisely the approach Anthropic has historically questioned and why its sudden effort to make peace with the White House should be viewed with skepticism. This isn’t just a disagreement over policy details. It’s a broader effort to shape the regulatory environment itself. As White House AI czar David Sacks has argued, Anthropic has been engaged in a form of regulatory capture by pushing frameworks that raise barriers to entry, allow it to dictate terms to suppliers, and concentrate power among a small number of well-connected firms. The more complex and restrictive the system becomes, the more it advantages companies already embedded in Washington.
[..[ AI will shape the next century of economic and geopolitical power. The United States cannot afford to fall behind because it listened to the loudest voices urging it to slow down. And it should be especially wary of taking advice from companies that have spent years opposing the very strategy now keeping America in the lead. Let’s give the Trump administration room to cook — blending technological advantage, national security protection, and American global market domination. Anthropic may want a reset. But Washington should remember exactly where the company has stood — and why.

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

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

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

If you face reality and stop pretending, you then look at the facts with cold pragmatism: • The Robert Mueller investigation used 40 FBI agents, issued 2,800 subpoenas, executed 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 secret orders for communication records, used 50 pen registers and interviewed 500 witnesses, all to prove there was a Trump-Russia conspiracy afoot. All of it was complete nonsense. That is the reality of the thing.
On day #1, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino should have terminated (or suspended pending criminal investigation) any and all of those FBI agents and support personnel with extreme prejudice and then held a press conference to make the announcement. Delivering mysterious statements about the scale and scope of the institutional problem, pouring fuel on innuendo, proclaiming vague possibilities, while hiding behind some opaque ‘trust me bro‘ reasoning for a currently mysterious inability to explain exactly what the heck he is talking about, is unadulterated dramatic ‘clickbait’ prose intended to feed an audience willing to be deceived.

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

• Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)

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

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

President Vladimir Putin is in no hurry to ceasefire in Ukraine, and the U.S. military operation in Iran is not against his interests. On April 12, 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quietly extended the sanction relief for Russia, permitting oil/gas sales loaded on vessels by 4/17/26 for transit and sale through 5/16/26. This permits Russia to push oil to Asia, specifically China, India and ASEAN countries where it is needed, while simultaneously the UAE and Saudi Arabia increase oil pumping avoiding the issues with the Strait of Hormuz.
This is happening while the U.S. is providing large oil and LNG supply increases to South/Central America, Europe and Japan to offset any global shortages. Russia supplies China, India and Southeast Asia; the U.S. supplies Europe and Japan; the UAE supplies India and Australia; while Saudi Arabia supplies Africa and Europe. Global markets stable, Iran then faces operation financial fury led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. So, we can reasonably see the general tone of the conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Well, after this press briefing, President Trump sent the following message on Truth Social.

During the press briefing President Trump noted, yet again, his profound disappointment with Europe, the U.K and NATO allies. Trump delivered praise for King Charles as a statesman but separated the political policy aspects of the U.K from his impression of the monarch. These remarks about drawing down U.S. troop levels in Germany comes against the backdrop of German Chancellor Fredrich Merz being highly critical of President Trump’s intention to incapacitate Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. Chancellor Merz is looking for any distraction he can come up with to avoid the issue of a severely contracting German economy.
Most Americans do not fully appreciate how the German national identity is defined by their industrial economy. The traditional people of Germany have a self-image that is -in large measure- the result of their economic condition. Everything centers around industriousness. Weaken that a little bit and the hardcore German people get visibly angered.mCommissar and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is also not happy. “In just 60 days of conflict, our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over €27 billion, without a single molecule of additional energy,” she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.”
For all reasonable intents and purposes President Trump has withdrawn support for Ukraine. At the same time President Trump has openly been questioning NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte about the seemingly irrelevant purpose of the alliance. Now, we might think this is just some transitional matters that have been visited before in various peaks and valleys of the geopolitical relationship. However, that is not the case this time. How do we know this time it is something far more significant? Well, the EU is debating dropping their climate goals.
BRUSSELS — Energy companies will be able to break the EU’s pollution limits and get away with it, under measures being considered by the European Commission ahead of a gathering of EU leaders in June.
The EU executive is considering a “zero-penalty” option that would allow national authorities not to fine companies that break strict rules governing methane emissions scheduled to come into force next year, according to two people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions. (

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

How far into Mexico would they go?

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

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

Rocha Moya is the current governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which the Department of Justice calls the “geographic epicenter of the global narcotics trade.” He’s also a member of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and current president Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena Party. Others charged include the mayor of Culiacan, a sitting senator, and the deputy attorney general for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office. The men indicted allegedly took millions in bribes, gave the cartel protection from prosecution, leaked intel on law-enforcement ops, and provided state resources, like police cars and radios.
One of them, Juan Valenzuela Millan (or “Juanito”), a former high-level Culiacán Municipal Police commander, was also charged with the kidnappings of a DEA source and the source’s relative that resulted in their deaths, allegedly after they were handed over to the cartel.They all face life sentences with a mandatory minimum of 40 years, except for Mr. “Juanito,” who faces a mandatory life sentence.
“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll. The support of corrupt foreign officials for deadly trafficking of drugs must end. Let these charges send a clear message to all officials around the globe who work with narco-traffickers: no matter your title or position, we are committed to bringing you to justice.”
Rocha Moya responded with a statement of his own on X (translated from Spanish): “I categorically and absolutely reject the accusations made against me by the Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office, as they lack any truth or foundation whatsoever. And this will be demonstrated, with full force, at the appropriate time. This attack is not solely against my person; but against the movement of the Fourth Transformation, its emblematic leaderships, and the Mexican women and men who represent that cause.
It is part of a perverse strategy to violate the constitutional order, specifically the national sovereignty advocated by Article 40 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, which our movement defends as an invariable and non-negotiable principle. To the people of Sinaloa, I say that, with the courage and dignity that characterize us, we will demonstrate the lack of foundation for this slander.” Big Nicolás Maduro vibes there, and we all know how that ended. All of this comes after last week the U.S. Treasury “sanctioned 23 individuals and entities that comprise a sophisticated synthetic opioid procurement network with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel,” and the State Department imposed “visa restrictions on 75 individuals who are family members or close personal or business associates of persons linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.”
This appears to be the first time the DOJ has indicted a sitting Mexican governor. The Mexican Foreign Ministry confirmed that U.S. officials have requested the extradition of the individuals indicted to the United States, but that there is enough evidence. It added, “However, as is standard procedure in these cases, the Attorney General’s Office will determine whether there is sufficient evidence under Mexican law and the viability of the requests for provisional arrest for extradition.”

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

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

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

The DOJ (SDNY) has indicted Mexican Governor Ruben Rocha Moya along with nine current and former Mexican officials for participating “in a corrupt and violent drug trafficking conspiracy with the Cartel to import massive amounts of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States.
“The defendants have played a variety of essential roles for the Cartel: among other things, the defendants have allegedly shielded Cartel leaders from investigation, arrest, and prosecution; caused sensitive law enforcement and military information to be provided to members of the Cartel and allied drug traffickers to assist the Cartel’s criminal activities; directed members of state and local law enforcement agencies, such as the Sinaloa State Police, the Investigative Police for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office, and the Culiacan Municipal Police, to protect drug loads stored in and transiting through Mexico to the United States; and allowed brutal drug-related violence to be committed by members of the Cartel without consequence. In exchange, the defendants have collectively received millions of dollars in drug money from the Cartel.”
VIA LBR on Twitter: – […] This move represents a direct and aggressive escalation by Washington against the highest levels of the Mexican state apparatus. The indictments detail a systemic entanglement between regional Morena governance and cartel operations, effectively labeling the Sinaloa state leadership a criminal enterprise under U.S. law.
This legal assault by the DOJ decapitates the political leadership of one of Mexico’s most strategically sensitive states at a moment of extreme national fragility. By targeting a sitting governor, the U.S. is signaling a total collapse of bilateral trust and an end to the era of diplomatic shielding for Mexican officials. The move is designed to force a confrontation within the Sheinbaum administration, leaving Mexico City with zero room to maneuver between its domestic political alliances and the threat of total diplomatic isolation. The fallout will be immediate and chaotic.
Beyond the legal proceedings, these indictments serve as a precursor to broader sanctions and a likely reclassification of Mexican security cooperation. For the Mexican government, the era of managed stability in Sinaloa is over; Sheinbaum is now facing a direct challenge to state legitimacy and a physical security vacuum that will likely trigger a violent internal restructuring of cartel hierarchies and government control.”

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

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

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

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

The US has a significant military presence in Germany, with more than 36,000 active duty troops assigned to bases across the country as of last December. Merz made no mention of Trump’s comments during a visit to German soldiers in northern Germany on Thursday, although he went out of his way to stress the importance of the Nato defensive alliance and “transatlantic solidarity”. Earlier this week, however, he told university students that “the Americans clearly have no strategy” and he could not see “what strategic exit” they were going to choose.”The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” he said.
He added that the “entire nation” was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership. Trump responded the following day with a post to Truth Social, where he said Merz thought it was “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” and “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” “No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” the post read. He picked up the same theme on Thursday, suggesting Merz should focus more on “fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat”.
Germany, along with the UK and France, was part of a 2015 deal with Iran to limit its nuclear operations, although Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018.When asked about Trump’s initial post in a press conference on Wednesday, Merz said the “personal relationship between the American president and myself remains just as good as before”. He has not yet responded to Trump’s suggestion that he could reduce US troops in Germany. The US military deployment in Germany is by far its biggest in Europe, with about 12,000 troops in Italy and a further 10,000 in the UK. Many are stationed at the big Ramstein air base outside the southwestern German city of Kaiserslautern. And while Trump has proposed US troop reductions in Germany before, they have so far not come into effect.
In 2020, a proposal to move 12,000 US troops from Germany either to other Nato countries in Europe or back to the US, was blocked by Congress and then reversed by President Joe Biden.At the time, Trump had accused Germany of being “delinquent” because its military spending was well below Nato’s target of 2% of economic output (GDP). But that has changed dramatically under the Merz government: Germany is projected to spend €105.8bn (£91bn) in 2027 – with total defence expenditure next year set to reach 3.1% of GDP.Merz said after talks with Trump in Washington in March that Trump had assured him the US would maintain its military presence in Germany, adding that he had not expected anything else.
However, while Merz has this week complained of the economic consequences for Europe of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has been angered by the response of Nato allies in Europe to the war in Iran.Over the past two months, the US president has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the 32-member Nato alliance, calling it a “paper tiger” and a “one-way street”.Earlier in April, a leaked internal Pentagon email detailed potential measures for the US to punish allies it believed had failed to support its campaign in Iran, including a suggestion that the US could seek to suspend Spain from Nato over its stance. A Nato official told the BBC that the alliance’s founding treaty “does not foresee any provision for suspension of Nato membership, or expulsion”.

Let Europe pay.

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

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

At the same time, Hurst noted that the Pentagon will soon begin using the $400 million military aid package for Ukraine previously approved by Congress. “They [the funds] were released very recently. And again, we got these funds, I believe, in March. And it takes time for funds to flow through the Department, but it’s going to get put to work very shortly. We’re going to work with the EUCOM commander to make sure we use these funds in the most appropriate way possible,” he said.
US Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky) wrote in an article published on April 29 by The Washington Post that the US Department of War is delaying the transfer of the $400 million military aid package previously approved by Congress. According to McConnell, the Department has also ignored related requests from the relevant Senate committees. He added that Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby bears responsibility for the delay in resolving issues related to the disbursement of the aid.

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

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

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

The mayor announced Tuesday that he’s pushing back the deadline for his first executive budget — originally due Friday — to at least May 12. Standing alongside City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Mamdani framed the delay as a reasonable response to uncertainty in Albany. In other words, he’s waiting to find out if Albany will bail him out over his $5.4 billion budget gap. “This adjustment reflects a very simple reality,” Menin said. “New York state has not finalized its budget, and until they do so, we do not have the necessary clarity to responsibly complete the city’s budget.” If they’re expecting a bailout, I wouldn’t count on it.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s spokesperson fired back with a statement that was, by Albany standards, refreshingly blunt. “The mayor and City Council need to work together, identify savings, and close the remaining gap.” Here’s what makes the optics especially rich. Just weeks ago, Mamdani posted a video bragging about how he was taxing the rich and how it was going to be a huge boon for the city. The message was clear: Tax the rich, fund the city, problem solved. Now he’s warning that without state intervention, he may have to raise property taxes on regular New Yorkers to close the shortfall.
Mamdani and Menin are pushing Hochul to scale back the state’s Pass-Through Entity Tax Credit, arguing that it functions as a loophole for the ultra-wealthy. “More than 95% of PTET credits go to those making more than $1 million a year,” Mamdani said. “More than 80% go to those making more than $5 million a year.” He estimates adjusting PTET could bring in around $1 billion in revenue — which still leaves roughly $4 billion-plus of the problem unsolved. Menin, hedging carefully, wants any PTET change to be temporary rather than permanent. Even she seems to sense this isn’t a long-term strategy.
Mamdani is also dusting off the familiar grievance that New York City sends more money to the state than it gets back — a claim some Albany lawmakers dispute. It’s a convenient argument when you need someone else to bail you out. This is socialism. Nothing is surprising about this. Conservatives have been saying this is what New York City was destined for if it elected Mamdani. We didn’t have a crystal ball; we just had common sense and history on our side. Now, Mamdani is learning in real time what every socialist eventually discovers. There’s always a bill, and eventually you run out of millionaires to hand it to.

‘stochastic terrorism’

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

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

The understanding was that repeating a lunatic’s motivations could inspire copycats. Back then, society hoped to prevent more tragedy. Today’s Democrat establishment hopes to inspire it. So brazen have they become that, less than 24 hours after Cole Allen tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell read the slander from his manifesto to his intended victim’s face. Trump called her out, saying, “Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people.” He was right, but no matter: Management at CBS still went on to air those poisonous words on its Sunday show, 60 Minutes. Because everyone at that vile network is in on it.
So is every single newscaster, elected or appointed official, celebrity, and every other leftist with a sheen of authority or influence and a platform who repeats the litany of leftist accusations. But then, Democrats are the morally challenged segment of society, dating back to their slaveholder roots (now manifested as fighting to keep their cheap labor through trafficking poor people into the country to work for near-slave wages). Once they hid behind the “liberal” label, but that has morphed into what plainly animates them today: hate, perversion, and political violence. Cheering on an assassin, either explicitly or implicitly, is A-OK with them.
Democrats are also all about plausible deniability. Just ask Joe Biden’s grifty brother, Jim. This is why this sort of mass projection of violence in the hopes of triggering a nut with good aim is such a perfect fit for them. It’s called “stochastic terrorism.” Perhaps, in the case of the relentless attack on Donald Trump, we can more accurately call it “stochastic assassination.” Policy research agency RAND explained the concept in a 2024 report called “From words to actions”:
The role of the media in radicalisation and terrorism has been a topic of discussion in recent years. Citizens are increasingly at risk to be exposed to extremist ideas through social media and communication apps, which can lead to a normalisation of hatred towards certain individuals, groups or institutions and an increased acceptance of violence. A term that is gaining popularity in the media and popular scientific literature in the context of recent incidents of extremist violence in which the media may have played a role is ‘stochastic terrorism’.
This term refers to hostile, derogatory and/or dehumanising language by influential individuals towards a political, social, ethnic or religious group or individual. Through interaction on social media and traditional media, this language may lead to a climate of fear, which in turn increases the likelihood of someone turning to violence, even if the initial message does not explicitly call for it. Due to the implicit nature of these expressions, individuals responsible for (reinforcing) inflammatory discourse cannot straightforwardly be prosecuted, if at all. However, there is currently no legal definition or even a unified understanding of this somewhat elusive concept.
My colleague VodkaPundit explained how the left is leveling the tactic against the president: “…there’s no conspiracy required to produce a left-wing assassin like Tyler James Robinson or Ryan Routh. They just amp up the rhetorical pressure, 24/7/365, until somebody pops.”

How do you install that in secret?

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

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

Since it appeared on Wednesday, crowds have gradually increased in size. Contractors were seen erecting safety barriers around the work on Thursday afternoon. Westminster City Council, which is responsible for the area, said: “We’re excited to see Banksy’s latest sculpture in Westminster, making a striking addition to the city’s vibrant public art scene. “While we have taken initial steps to protect the statue, at this time it will remain accessible for the public to view and enjoy.”
James Peak, creator of the BBC podcast series The Banksy Story, said: “Here, you’ve got a brilliant comment on a bumptious, chest puffed out man in power with the flag completely obscuring his vision, which is why he is about to fall off the plinth. “It is a wonderfully framed moment in time that you never really get with a statue.” He added Banksy had “pulled off another fantastic coup…the positioning is absolutely knockout”. “I don’t know how he’s managed to do it.
“How has he got a low-loader to there with all the security and put up a massive resin statue?”On the statue’s location, he added: “We’ve got to face up to the fact that Britain has an imperialistic history full of takeovers and part of that is the sort of extreme nationalism that Banksy absolutely abhors.” “Every (Banksy) piece is a campaign.”

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

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

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

Within three months of the vaccines being rolled out, in March 2021, red flags were fluttering out of the weekly data dumps from doctors and patients reporting health problems after the shots, according to internal emails and meeting notes provided by the Department of Health and Human Services to Sen. Ron Johnson’s Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. But when the FDA’s senior medical officer, Dr. Ana Szarfman, whose job was to monitor the vaccine data for warning signs, repeatedly raised the alarm throughout 2021, she was ignored, and emails show her colleagues tried to stop her from using a newer, more accurate statistical methodology to investigate the data.
On Sept. 9, 2021, Biden announced his vaccine mandates, with an implied threat to the roughly 80 million Americans who had not taken the COVID jab and whom he accused of prolonging the pandemic and putting everyone at risk, even though the vaccine did not stop transmission of the disease. “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said. “And your refusal has cost all of us.” On Sept. 16, Dr. Peter Marks, a staunch supporter of the COVID-19 vaccines who at the time led the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told another senior FDA official in an email that Szarfman (who has since retired) “has been asked to cease and desist, because the strategy that she is using could create erroneous conflicts that feed in to anti-vaccination rhetoric.” Marks also complained that Szarfman’s work has “become a major distraction.”
The documents uncovered by Johnson’s investigation staff point to the same alarming secrecy and efforts to avoid accountability that landed Fauci’s adviser, Morens, in trouble. The secrecy included instructions from FDA officials to discuss findings in person rather than over email and stopping or limiting the distribution of the weekly vaccine safety reports with the alleged intent of avoiding FOIA requests. On March 26, 2021, Szarfman shared with colleagues her analysis of COVID-19 vaccine adverse events using the superior, newer “data mining” methodology that had found more than 20 statistically significant “safety signals” or potential red flags associated with the COVID-19 vaccines that were not previously detected by FDA’s current methodology, “including sudden cardiac death, Bell’s palsy and pulmonary infarction.”
Her analysis was conducted with Dr. William DuMouchel, then the chief statistician at Oracle and the inventor of the data-mining algorithm. However, “rather than warn the public or hold distribution of the vaccines for further investigation, records appear to indicate that Biden health officials ignored the statistically significant safety signals uncovered through the new methodology and were more concerned about Dr. Szarfman’s efforts rather than her troubling findings,” the interim report found. In April 2021, after Szarfman emailed colleagues with another data-mining analysis that apparently underscored the limitations of the FDA’s current system, one senior FDA official wrote to his colleagues, “[b]efore we potentially reach out to Ana, we should meet internally — many considerations not suited to email …”
Szarfman continued to bring her reports to colleagues, but they were ignored. In August 2021, about a month before Szarfman was directed to “cease and desist,” Dr. David Menschik, a senior FDA colleague of Marks, told a CDC official that the FDA planned to limit distribution of its weekly vaccine data-mining reports, which used to be sent around the FDA and CDC, citing “data-security reasons.” But emails among CDC officials uncovered by Johnson’s investigators point to a potentially more nefarious reason for the FDA’s decision to stop distributing its data-mining reports.
In a November 2022 email, one CDC official noted, “I think that because of the FOIAs [Freedom of Information Act requests] we may have asked FDA to stop sending these weekly data-mining outputs.” According to Johnson’s staff report, “in the months and weeks leading up to the FDA’s decision to discontinue its distribution of the weekly data-mining reports, there were several public requests made to CDC and FDA for that information. “On May 9, 2022, about two months before the FDA stopped sending CDC its weekly data-mining reports, Children’s Health Defense sent a FOIA request to CDC for the [vaccine] data-mining analyses.
“On June 23, 2022, 19 days before FDA sent its final weekly data mining report, Sen. Johnson wrote to then-CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky requesting the same information. “Then, on June 30, 2022, 12 days before FDA’s last distribution, the Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to FDA for the [vaccine] data-mining records. “In light of these public and congressional requests, the timing of the FDA’s decision to end the distribution of its weekly data-mining reports seems particularly suspect. “The notion that Biden health officials took steps to limit the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine safety data in order to avoid more internal review or public scrutiny, it is completely unacceptable.”
Democrats on the subcommittee, like Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), were at pains to point out during the hearing that COVID-19 itself caused serious injury and death, calling as their witness a 41-year-old woman, Maria Young, who was hospitalized for two months and almost died in the months before the vaccines were developed. Of the 8 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, multiple large studies suggest there has been no increase in long-term mortality among vaccinated people. However, the damage was done by the COVID cover-up and lies. They have driven widespread distrust of vaccination, including tried-and-true lifesaving vaccines.

Today, OpenAI’s lawyers, led by William Savitt, spent hours on aggressive cross-examination – hitting Elon with unfair yes/no traps and trying to paint him as jealous, regretful, and a bully

Every trap failed

Elon fired back and stood firm:

He called himself “a fool” for… https://t.co/MPYIhlZFIj
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) April 30, 2026

Elon Musk sat across from Joe Rogan and quietly pronounced the American financial system terminal.

Not struggling. Not fixable. Not in need of reform.

Terminal.

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

Seven words that should keep every American awake tonight.

The… pic.twitter.com/5Q5fp4uRdl
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) April 30, 2026

Former CIA Dir. John Brennan isn't just a TRAITOR, he's also guilty of issuing passports for not one, but two of the hijackers from 9/11 and responsible for allowing them into the United States, causing a terrorist attack.

The country must be cleansed of scumbag traitors. pic.twitter.com/XU7d9IrVyd
— The SCIF (@TheSCIF) April 30, 2026

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

Telepathic control of a prosthetic robotic arm.

Think it. Neuralink does it.

No buttons, no tricks, no workarounds.

Brain signals go straight to movement.

Wrap your head around that.@neuralink https://t.co/dmVtf2O5Jl pic.twitter.com/3X7dHxGSdR
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 30, 2026

Dan Bongino;
Someone left the Russia Gate documents for us to find.
100 page document explained it all and it was worse than even I could have expected.
They all knew it was bullshit.
I cannot believe this happened in the United States. pic.twitter.com/I3b2eadYju
— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) April 29, 2026

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

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