Newsom Archives - The Automatic Earth

25 years ago, 90% of Republicans were proud or extremely proud to be American. 87% of Democrats felt the same way.

25 years later, 92% of Republicans are proud to be Americans. Just 36% of Democrats feel the same way.

It's not an exaggeration to say the left hates America. pic.twitter.com/RHKCB3GGUp
— Thomas Hern (@ThomasMHern) June 16, 2026

PRESIDENT TRUMP: "In 2024, almost 50% of inmates in German prisons were foreign migrants.. In Switzerland, it’s 72%.. When your prisons are filled with so-called asylum-seekers who repaid kindness with crime, it's time to END the failed Open Borders."

pic.twitter.com/2WIoAZw3ye
— FAN TRUMP ARMY (@TRUMP_ARMY_) June 16, 2026

The politicians who turned a blind eye to the Rape of Britain must go to prison pic.twitter.com/JFfHZSwiDc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2026

Holy moly.

It will finish badly… https://t.co/d2YKeUh5Wr
— Brivael Le Pogam (@brivael) June 16, 2026

pic.twitter.com/U2CbkkvZwy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2026

“If [the Iran deal] works out, I’m going to take the credit; if it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming [Vance].”

• Trump And Iran Sign MOU Deal Ahead Of Schedule (ZH)

Trump Signs Iran Deal Remotely Ahead Of Schedule. Confirming earlier speculation, Axios reports that the U.S. and Iran have remotely signed their memorandum of understanding to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, and the agreement is now in effect. The signing – which took place electronically between Trump, Vance and Ghalibaf – reportedly took place at dinner in France alongside President Emmanuel Macron. The signing was supposed to happen in Switzerland on Friday, but a diplomat from a mediating country and a second source familiar told Axios earlier on Wednesday that there had been discussions about signing and implementing it earlier

The diplomatic source said the discussions around accelerating the timetable were intended to open the strait sooner than Friday, as both parties were in agreement on that issue. Another factor may have been the political pressure on the White House to release the text of the MOU, which it sitll hasn’t done officially. The source familiar with the discussions claimed it was Iran that demanded the text not be published until the formal signing, and denied the White House was responding to political pressure. The only “public release” so far consisted of a senior administration official reading the agreement to reporters in a briefing call on Wednesday, after days of confusion about what was in it.
Ahead of the signing, Iran’s foreign ministry said the sides had agreed that the MOU should be signed electronically by both presidents. For Iran, the signing represents a major victory as it now stands to receive billions in unfrozen (and other) funds from the US and Gulf sources. While it’s now just a formality, the meeting between the U.S. and Iranian delegations headed by Vice President Vance and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is still expected to take place as planned on Friday in Switzerland. They are expected to discuss the launching of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
The signing took place after this remarkable press conference earlier in the day in which Trump tried to justify conceding to Iran’s terms: As BBC’s Siavash Ardalan writes, Trump’s responses to the reporters’ questions to justify the agreement with Iran were bizarre and unprecedented in their own way: They asked him how he could allow $300 billion in investment in Iran. He said, “We’ve already inflicted $2 trillion in damage on Iran; $300 billion is nothing in comparison.” They asked why he’s giving Iran tens of billions of dollars. He said, “If we don’t return their own money to them, other countries will be afraid to put their money in our banks, and then the dollar’s position will weaken.”
They asked why the missile issue isn’t in the agreement. He said, “We’ve already destroyed 85% of their missiles anyway; the rest are buried underground, and besides, we sell air defense systems to the countries in the region so they won’t worry about Iran’s missiles.” They asked if he’s not worried that Iran will say, “We’re only producing nuclear energy for civilian purposes.” He said, “You can’t tell everyone else to produce electricity with nuclear power while only Iran can’t.” Finally, he said, “If we continue sanctioning Iran, 91 million Iranians will die of hunger—what’s the point of that, really?” Oh, and he joked that “If [the Iran deal] works out, I’m going to take the credit; if it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming [Vance].”

They should talk until about August 20. As the date approaches, Iran will say they need more time.

• Read The 14-Point US-Iran Draft Deal Set For Friday Signing (ZH)

With US and Iranian officials preparing to formally sign a memorandum of understanding in Switzerland on Friday, the conflict is entering the much-needed diplomatic phase to avert a potentially disastrous energy cliff. The MoU would open a 60-day negotiating window aimed at ending the war, restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and hammering out the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Bloomberg published the text of the 14-point draft MoU, offering the clearest look yet at the proposed trade: de-escalation and sanctions relief for Iran, in exchange for a ceasefire across all fronts, commitments on shipping access, and a broader nuclear deal to be finalized by the end of summer. But Iran’s Tasnim news agency cited an unnamed official earlier today, saying some of the MoU published by Bloomberg is inaccurate. The report did not specify the discrepancies. Bloomberg noted that some of the wording could be different between the English and Persian versions. Below is the text of the 14-point draft MoU:
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent
Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement
Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.
The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, While ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.
The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.
The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.
The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.
Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.
The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council

Based on the text above, the first take of the MoU appears to be front-loaded economic relief for Tehran in exchange for a ceasefire, a nuclear freeze, and commitments to negotiate hard topics, such as the nuclear program, at a later date.
Who Stands To Benefit:
Tehran benefits most directly because it gets economic oxygen, oil waivers, frozen funds, sanctions relief language, and reduced US military pressure in the region. Hezbollah and Iran-aligned actors also benefit if “all fronts, including Lebanon” locks in a ceasefire that constrains Israeli operations. And, of course, the global economy because global shippers benefit if Hormuz reopens and war risk premiums in crude oil collapse. The Gulf states benefit if the conflict ends because energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz will resume. A report on Tuesday said that QatarEnergy was planning to ramp up LNG production in the coming months.
Where is Leverage Lost:
The US loses some coercive leverage once the Hormuz blockade ends, oil waivers are granted, and asset-release mechanisms begin. Israel loses freedom of action if the agreement binds the Lebanon front and limits further strikes. Sanctions and hawks lose leverage because the draft moves quickly toward broad sanctions dismantlement. The urgency behind the MoU and locking in peace talks for 60 days, with a formal signing event at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland on Friday, stems mainly from the world being headed for an energy cliff, as SPRs globally were being drained to offset the loss of Gulf production with the Hormuz chokepoint shuttered. Brent crude futures edged down overnight, trading around $79 a barrel on Wednesday morning.
One of the biggest uncertainties remains the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump stated that the critical waterway will reopen permanently and be toll-free, but the MoU suggests the toll-free arrangement may only last through the 60-day negotiation period. Another major uncertainty is Tehran’s compliance.

Zelensky represents a bunch of deeply corrupt neo-nazis. Trump knows this. For Europeans and US Democrats, Ukraine is a money whitewash vehicle. What is it for Trump?

• Trump Shifting Focus Back To Ukraine: Where Do Peace Talks Stand? (RT)

Where do the talks stand?
After Washington resumed direct contacts with Moscow following years of diplomatic freeze under Joe Biden, Russia, Ukraine and the US held three rounds of talks aimed at reaching a settlement. The negotiations yielded several tangible results, including major prisoner exchanges, the repatriation of fallen soldiers, and the exchange of peace memorandums. However, they failed to secure a peace deal, with key disagreements persisting, particularly over Moscow’s demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donbass.A fourth round of talks, expected in March, was postponed after Washington shifted its focus to the Iran war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has since described the process as being in a “situational pause” pending renewed US engagement.
What settlements have been proposed?
Following the Alaska summit, where Moscow and Washington stressed the need for a lasting settlement rather than the ceasefire sought by Kiev and its European backers, Trump unveiled a 28-point peace roadmap. According to leaked drafts, it called for Ukraine to abandon its NATO ambitions, drop territorial claims, and cap its military at 600,000 personnel. Moscow welcomed the proposal as a potential basis for peace. However, under pressure from the EU and UK, several key provisions were later removed or revised.
The updated 20-point plan reportedly included demilitarized zones, Western security guarantees for Kiev, an 800,000-strong peacetime Ukrainian military, a reconstruction fund for Ukraine, and a path toward EU membership. Russia confirmed receiving the revised proposal but declined to discuss its contents, accusing the Europeans of reshaping the framework and undermining peace efforts.
What are the next steps?
On Tuesday, Trump discussed Ukraine with Zelensky and other leaders during a closed-door G7 session and later held a separate meeting with the Ukrainian leader. While details were not disclosed, Zelensky said afterward that it was important to “coordinate positions.” Meanwhile, Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to resume contacts with Moscow after shifting their focus to the Iran war. Putin aide Yury Ushakov said preparations are under way following Sunday’s call between the Russian and US presidents. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said no dates have been set and that the issue will likely be revisited after Washington signs its memorandum with Tehran.
Europeans split
European countries remain divided between those favoring engagement with Moscow and those seeking to maintain pressure on Russia. Hungary and Slovakia have urged direct dialogue with Moscow and criticized policies they say prolong the conflict. Those seeking to maintain pressure, which includes Poland, the Baltic states and much of the EU leadership, argues that political, economic and military pressure must continue. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated that stance on Monday, calling support for Ukraine a top G7 priority.
France and Germany occupy a middle ground, backing continued aid to Kiev while acknowledging that any lasting settlement will require negotiations with Russia. That approach was tested last week when French, British, and German envoys met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin in Moscow. According to Russia, however, they merely repeated calls for a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine, prompting Moscow to argue that the countries arming Kiev cannot act as neutral mediators.
Trump’s position
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed he could end the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours through direct diplomacy, though he later acknowledged that a settlement would be harder to achieve. Since returning to office, he has criticized both Moscow and Kiev at various times, accusing each side of hindering peace efforts, while consistently arguing that the conflict should be resolved through negotiations rather than prolonged fighting.
https://twitter.com/e3z9b_qI1ytkw/status/2066683484358242763?s=20
After speaking with Putin and Zelensky on Sunday, Trump described both conversations as “very good” and said both leaders were “very open” to peace. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, he also told Putin he was prepared to “influence” Kiev and its European backers toward a settlement. Speaking at the G7, Trump said he would “look” at what could be done regarding Ukraine, while suggesting the conflict was of limited importance to the US, adding that “it has no impact on us other than we sell weapons.”
Zelensky’s demands
Amid mounting battlefield pressure, Zelensky has insisted on securing a temporary ceasefire and continued Western support, while maintaining that Ukraine will not formally recognize Moscow’s sovereignty over territories that joined Russia through referendums. He has also opposed any settlement negotiated directly between Moscow and Washington without Kiev’s participation, insisting that Ukraine’s European backers be included in the process.

“No FISA Without SAVE Act:”

• Trump Calls Out ‘Dumocrat’ Double-Cross,” Keeps Pulte As Acting DNI (ZH)

Just two years after Donald Trump urged Congress to kill Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while on the campaign trail, he’s now livid that Democrats won’t help Republicans pass it. Trump took to Truth Social early Wednesday morning with a lengthy post accusing ‘Dumocrats’ of breaking a bipartisan deal on FISA reauthorization – and announced a series of moves that throw a wrench into Senate plans for both intelligence leadership and surveillance powers.

According to Trump, Republicans played themselves – after agreeing with Democrats to accelerate the removal of Acting DNI William Pulte (by fast-tracking Jay Clayton’s confirmation) in exchange for Democratic support on renewing FISA Section 702 surveillance powers. Now, however Democrats are threatening to vote against FISA anyway.
“The Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal.” As a result, Trump said he is canceling today’s Senate hearing for Jay Clayton as permanent DNI. He will not move Clayton out of his current role as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York until Jamie McDonald (a Sullivan & Cromwell partner and Trump’s former personal lawyer, recently nominated to replace him at SDNY) is confirmed – including clearing the “blue slip” process.

In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as Acting Director of National Intelligence – who Trump picked to replace Tulsi Gabbard after she said in May she was leaving the administration in June to spend time with her husband following his cancer diagnosis. Pulte has been a controversial pick over his lack of intelligence experience – which led to Trump nominating U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton to be the next DNI. nTrump explicitly linked his approval of FISA renewal to passage of the SAVE America Act – his priority legislation requiring photo ID, proof of citizenship for voter registration, and strict limits on mail-in ballots.

“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it. Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap.” The SAVE America Act – which requires Americans to show proof of citizenship to register to vote and a valid ID to cast a ballot, has stalled in the Senate after the House passed the legislation in February.

What amazed me was the scale.

“.. the aim of the attack [..] was to create chaos and overthrow the U.S. government.

• 5 Arrested in Plot to Attack UFC Event at White House (ET)

Five men have been arrested for allegedly plotting to attack the mixed martial arts event that was held at the White House on June 14. The charges include conspiracy to murder. The men were planning to set off explosives at the event and force people there to flee a certain way, according to court documents. Snipers would be positioned to take out high-level targets, including President Donald Trump, according to the charging papers. One of the men, Tycen Proper, 19, told law enforcement that the attack would “jumpstart” a revolution in the United States, according to the FBI. Proper’s mother called the police on June 10. Officers arrived and learned that Proper had met people online and had been planning “recons” and “missions” with them, according to prosecutors.

He had also spent $3,000 on guns, ammunition, ballistic plates, and other items, and planned to leave during the upcoming weekend to meet with the people, his father said. Proper was admitted to a local hospital because of “homicidal ideations,” the FBI said. Proper later spoke to investigators and shared with them images and messages from accounts he was using, including accounts on TikTok and Signal. Proper said that the group with which he was involved believed the United States was headed in the wrong direction, and needed to be “torn down so that it could be rebuilt,” according to the FBI. He said the plan was for people to leave their homes on June 12 or 13 and meet in Fredericksburg, Virginia. They would stage a demonstration near the White House.

Wow, this is crazy! https://t.co/YRmricD21V
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2026

During the demonstration, the group would fly drones laden with explosive devices and set them off in a specific area, forcing the crowd to evacuate in view of waiting snipers, who would shoot people as they fled. Targets included Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va). Through the information Proper provided, law enforcement identified four other men involved with the attack plan, according to officials. One of the men, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, discussed the targets during the attack. “As many and as deadly as we can get,” he allegedly wrote. Another man, Daniel Eskridge, 32, wrote that the plan required five teams of three people each, and that the teams would each consist of a sniper, a drone operator, and a look-out.
The other two men allegedly involved in the plot are Bryan Omar Roa, 24, and Michael Alan Thomas, 32. Roa told the FBI during an interview that he had planned to protest at the UFC event but “his vehicle malfunctioned and he had to return home.” His relatives told law enforcement that he had planned to go to Washington and appeared ready to carry out an act of violence, and he discussed how a person could hypothetically use drones armed with explosives to bomb buildings near the White House, according to charging documents. Thomas told the FBI that he was a planner and adviser for the group, the FBI said. Thomas allegedly said the aim of the attack, and subsequent planned attacks, was to create chaos and overthrow the U.S. government.
“This is still an active, ongoing investigation,” U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. “There are still suspects at large, and we’re going to work it until everyone’s been identified.” Quinn also said that the event on Sunday was “never at risk. Period.” A public defender appointed to represent Alvarez declined to comment. Lawyers representing Proper and Eskridge did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication. It was not clear whether Roa and Thomas had retained legal counsel.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that “thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold.” He added, “I want to thank our great agents and partners, this work remains ongoing and we will continue to update the public as permitted.”

It is sad to look at the potential Democrat candidates.

• How Deep Are the Newsoms In It? THIS Deep. (Stephen Green)

It seems impossible — or just too revolting — to keep up with the financial hanky-panky of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner (gag) Jennifer Siebel Newsom. But thanks to a couple of investigative reporters with stronger stomachs than I have, let’s see if I can’t put everything you need to know into one easily digestible column. I love it when other people do my dirty work for me, so let’s get started. “Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list,” Newsom practically boasted on Monday. “He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us. They have not found a crime — they are simply trying to find one.”

Well, let’s see what Fox Business anchor Liz MacDonald and my old friend and Red State colleague Jen Van Laar have to say about that. MacDonald said Tuesday that the DOJ probe “is about California Democrats’ modern-day machine politics,” which she described as a “feedback loop of Sacramento-corporate lobbyists-governor/wife nonprofit-behested nonprofit donations-lucrative state contracts-Sacramento.” Don’t bother writing all this down — there won’t be a quiz at the end of today’s column. You’re welcome.
“The modern Sacramento machine trades corporate compliance and nonprofit funding/donations for policy access and state business,” MacDonald added, and then explained how that grift (allegedly!) worked for the Newsoms: According to IRS Form 990 disclosures, her nonprofit frequently buys from Siebel Newsom’s for-profit film company—Girls Club Entertainment LLC—writer, producer and director services and the licensing and production rights for her documentaries. Then it sells the docs to the state and public schools.
IRS records show that her nonprofit has paid her Girls Club Entertainment LLC roughly $1.64 million for these production and licensing rights since 2012, which includes a steady annual contracting fee of $150,000 since 2018. TL;DR: Siebel Newsom produced unwatchable propaganda videos for children, for which Democrat-dominated schools then paid her handsomely. Or as MacDonald summed it up, “Over the past decade, Siebel Newsom has collected over $3.7 million in combined personal salary and LLC payouts funded by the nonprofit.”
Then there are behested payments, which MacDonald explained are “a unique mechanism in California politics where an elected official asks a corporation, labor union, or wealthy individual to donate money to a specific charity, nonprofit, or government program.” Unlike campaign donations, there are no caps. As governor, Newsom requested a record $226 million in behested payments in one year. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars went to the California Partners Project,” MacDonald wrote, “a nonprofit founded by his wife.” “Many of the biggest donors were corporate giants (like health insurers and utility companies) actively bidding for lucrative state contracts or fighting state regulations.”
One hand washes the other with filthy lucre, if you’ll allow me to mix metaphors. Which brings us to Jen Van Laar, and her hip-deep-in-the-muck wade through the Newsoms’ finances, going back years. Way back in 2021, Jen asked, “Somebody Paid $3.7 Million Cash for CA Gov Newsom’s Estate – But Who?” But couldn’t come up with any satisfactory answers. That’s because the Newsoms alternately claimed that “the Newsoms’ cash was used to purchase the home but was done through an LLC managed by his first cousin,” or that “Newsoms obtained a loan… to purchase the home because the sale happened so quickly that they didn’t have time to obtain a mortgage.”
Then, California’s First Couple played similar LLC games, buying a second home for $9.1 million in ritzy Marin County. “Based on my examination of 15+ yrs of Newsom’s financial disclosures, tax returns, and real estate transactions,” Jenn explained in March, “they absolutely did not have $9.1M in cash.” Clearly, somebody did. The shenanigans were so egregious that — no matter what TDS nonsense Newsom’s social media team posts on X — the DOJ investigation began under the Biden administration. As I quipped on Instapundit this week, maybe Newsom needs to take a break from social media and lawyer up.
Then there are the real-world effects, the fallout from personal corruption and statewide, one-party rule. On Tuesday, Victor Davis Hanson wondered if California is “reaching critical mass,” thanks to one-party rule creating a “neo-feudal society” that is “hardly democratic.” The most egregious example was the fate of 2014’s Proposition 1, a $7.12 billion water bond “designed to solve the state’s chronic water storage deficit.” Even though Prop 1 is an actual constitutional amendment, including “$2.7 billion specifically designated for new reservoirs,” an alliance of bureaucracies, elected officials, and green activists still managed to block any new reservoir construction.
“Adding insult to injury,” Hanson continued, “Governor Gavin Newsom instead used $250 million from the Proposition 1 fund to blow up four dams on the Klamath River.” Californians voted for more water infrastructure. Newsom’s party blocked them, and Newsom himself had four dams destroyed that had “once provided storage, electrical generation, recreation, and flood control.” Tell me again about Muh Democracy™. All of which is my long-winded way of concluding that, as corrupt as the Newsoms appear to be, they are merely a symptom of the progressive disease killing our once-greatest state.

As long as she’s around, how can you take that party even a little bit serious?

• Kamala’s Anti-Trump Meltdown in Austria a Masterclass in Projection (Margolis)

Kamala Harris took the stage at the Austrian World Summit on Tuesday and delivered the most shameless masterclass in projection I have ever seen. The moderator, Elex Michaelson, asked Harris about the news that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) is now under investigation by the Department of Justice.

It was a loaded question, of course, and, as you might expect, she responded with a classic Kamala word salad. “So I am not surprised that he may be using the Department of Justice to go after a political enemy in the current governor of California,” she said, “and this is why I do believe this, upon many other examples of what is, essentially — you’re gonna ask me questions about the current president, I’m gonna be candid — what is essentially the most callous, corrupt, and incompetent presidential administration America’s ever experienced, and for that reason, I have no question or doubt that we will win the midterms, and it will be a result of people of every background and political association who will contribute to that outcome.”
She claimed that President Donald Trump told everyone he’d weaponize the DOJ against his enemies, and now he’s doing it. It’s an absolute joke that anyone connected with the Biden-Harris administration would even attempt to play that card, because they didn’t just talk about using government power against political opponents. They did it, repeatedly, and boy, did they do it with gusto.
They jailed nonviolent January 6th protesters and denied them due process. They prosecuted pro-life demonstrators for praying outside abortion clinics. The Biden-Harris DOJ targeted Catholic churches. The FBI labeled parents who showed up at school board meetings as domestic terrorists for the crime of caring about their kids’ education. And, of course, the Biden-Harris administration literally sent the FBI to raid the home of President Trump in a blatant scheme to put him in prison so he couldn’t return to the White House.
Sorry, but Kamala Harris has no business accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the Department of Justice, especially while citing the Newsom case, which, as PJ Media previously reported, actually began under the Biden-Harris administration.
While I’m here, we might as well address Kamala’s accusations of incompetence, too. This is the vice president who watched Afghanistan collapse into the hands of the Taliban, abandoned American allies to their fate, and presided over a withdrawal that got 13 U.S. troops killed. That’s before we even get to the border crisis her administration refused to control, the unchecked inflation that gutted American paychecks the administration claimed would be transitory, the bungled response to the East Palestine train derailment, the confused handling of the Chinese spy balloon, the disastrous and ultimately abandoned Gaza pier project, the sluggish response to the Maui wildfires, and the failure to deter Russia from invading Ukraine in the first place. And that’s just a few examples off the top of my head.
And don’t get me started on corruption. Between the Biden Crime Family and the whole cover-up of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, the last thing Kamala should want is for anyone to go there — not that Michaelson would call her out on any of those things.
So when Kamala stands on a stage in Austria and calls the Trump administration the most callous, corrupt, and incompetent in American history, conservatives can be forgiven for laughing. She’s not describing Trump. She’s describing the administration she was a part of for four years.

“.. maqluba (a deal, flipping the rice) or muqlaba (no deal, flipping the peace)..”

• Ease In Our Time (Every)

Yesterday saw the BOJ hike rates to 1%, the highest level since 1995, and the RBA hold at 4.35%, with some chatter of the next move being down, not up, despite inflation running way above 2%. Today it’s the turn of new Fed Chair Warsh who, like the other central banks, has to deal with a geopolitical backdrop which may or may not allow for any monetary policy easing.

There, the text of the 14-point US-Iran MoU has been leaked ahead of its Swiss signing ceremony on Friday: ironically, it says “Ease in our time.” It allows Iran to immediately sell oil again, including the waiver of all banking and transport sanctions (though US legislation may prove an obstacle re: IRGC terror designation). It also includes the private sector $300bn investment fund for Iran, which Reuters claims has already been half committed.
What does this imply? It’s either a giant TACO that markets look past the full implications of to embrace; or a can-kick until the midterms (after which what?); or the Middle Eastern dish maqluba –not muqlaba (‘confrontation’)– layers of rice, veggies, and meat prepared one way up, then flipped when served. In other words, a behind-the-scenes-and-rhetoric normalisation from Iran. Ultimately, the proof of that dish is in the eating, and there are still many points to choke on.
NBC reports Iran has continued to fire multiple drones toward ships in Hormuz since the MoU was agreed, with the US shooting them down. The US Navy underlines the Strait still holds “substantial” risk. Insurers therefore remain wary, and as noted yesterday, maritime traffic is more likely to flood out than back in ahead.
Iran is demanding an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, which Israel states it will not and just struck Hezbollah again, with Iran now threatening to respond if Israel continues. Trump yesterday suggested Syria, with a history of looking at Lebanon as its own, should take care of Hezbollah (which the Lebanese government wants to disarm, but is unable to), not Israel. Given Syrian president Al-Sharaa’s Al Qaeda background and links to Turkey, with its history of looking at Syria as part of the Ottoman Empire, this does not seem the panacea some might hope for.
The MoU text is vague on uranium: it “will be adequately addressed in a final agreement.” Again, is it maqluba (a deal, flipping the rice) or muqlaba (no deal, flipping the peace)? China is warning the next phase of US-Iran talks will be “more difficult,” which is very clear.
The US is also weighing boosting ties with the Palestinian Authority as it seeks to advance its Gaza Board of Peace and an expanded Abraham Accords, while Israeli PM Netanyahu is said to be dropping election campaign posters showing him alongside Trump, as his opponents are all as hawkish as him re: Hezbollah and Iran, if not on the Palestinian issue.
In short, there are so many layers of rice, veggies, and meat here that’s not clear if anyone can flip the dish without spilling the food: and that’s just the Middle East, which is a current pivot point within a larger global negotiation.

RT has a pro- as well as a counter article.

• Nigel Farage’s ‘White Britain’: A Long-Overdue Step (von Hoffmeister)

Nigel Farage’s recent Substack post lays bare the reality of Britain’s “two-tier” system, where native white Britons face systemic disadvantages in policing, housing, employment, and justice while ethnic minorities receive preferential treatment under the guise of “equality.”

This is not an aberration or a policy glitch. It is the predictable outcome of attempting to impose liberal democracy on a multiracial society. Different ethnic groups possess distinct collective interests rooted in both biology and culture. Where those interests diverge, genuine democracy, meaning rule by the people for the common good, becomes impossible. Only one outcome prevails: the slow disenfranchisement of the historical white majority.
Human beings are not blank slates. Evolution and genetic similarity theory demonstrate that people favor their own ethnic group. This is not “racism”; it is kin selection, an adaptive strategy honed over millennia. Studies of in-group preference, crime statistics, voting patterns, and nepotistic networks across the globe confirm it: most non-white groups operate tribally as a matter of course. Middle Eastern clans, African kinship networks, South Asian extended families, East Asian ethnic solidarity, and Latin American mestizo patronage systems all prioritize “our people” first. This is normal human behavior.
Whites are the glaring exception. Through Christianity’s universalism, Enlightenment individualism, and post-World War II indoctrination via education, media, and elite institutions, Europeans have been brainwashed into viewing themselves solely as atomized individuals. “Race doesn’t matter,” “we’re all the same,” and “diversity is our strength” are articles of faith, not empirical observations. Whites extended this universalism outward – abolishing slavery, spreading human rights, and building institutions based on merit and fair play – only to then have it weaponized against them. Other groups never adopted it; they simply exploited white openness. The result is asymmetric competition: cohesive ethnic blocs practice nepotism, bloc voting, and resource extraction, while whites compete as isolated individuals, handicapped by their own self-imposed scruples.
In a heterogeneous society, this cannot produce a fair democracy. Democracy assumes a shared conception of the public interest. When ethnic groups have irreconcilable preferences – on crime and policing, welfare redistribution, immigration, family structure, time horizons, and cultural dominance – majoritarianism becomes ethnic spoils. Non-White groups act for their tribe’s advantage. Whites, crippled by individualism, appeal to abstract principles that no one else honors. Nepotism always defeats naive individualism in the long run. Look at any Western city with significant demographic change: ethnic enclaves, parallel societies, demands for Sharia accommodations, affirmative action, and reparations. The social whole dissolves.
The West invented the highest expressions of universalism: rule of law applied equally, individual rights, and merit-based advancement. These are noble achievements responsible for unparalleled prosperity and innovation. Yet in a world of group differences, they function as unilateral disarmament. Non-whites import their tribal strategies into open societies while whites cling to universal rules that prevent collective self-defense. Elites, often insulated by wealth, celebrate this as ‘moral progress.’ The autochthonous population pays the price: suppressed wages, strained welfare systems, skyrocketing crime in ‘diverse’ areas, cultural displacement, and two-tier justice.
[..] Whites must rediscover their own ethnic consciousness, not out of supremacy but survival and reciprocity. Rejecting universalist suicide does not require hating others; it requires realism. Other groups pursue their interests unapologetically. Only when whites do the same can stable, high-trust arrangements emerge. Farage’s critique of a two-tier Britain is a starting point. The deeper truth is that without halting demographic replacement and rethinking governance along lines of peoplehood, democracy itself becomes a fiction masking tribal conquest.
This is the hard reality many conservative thinkers have warned about for decades. Pretending otherwise accelerates decline.

“The Reform UK leader’s manifesto attacks DEI and immigration, but beneath the outrage lies a thin program built on grievance and biology..”

• Nigel Farage’s ‘White Britain’ is a Fantasy (Graham Hryce)

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, has published a lengthy personal manifesto on his Substack this week. Farage is not noted for making detailed policy pronouncements, and his long-winded writeup provides an interesting insight into Reform’s policy agenda – revealing, as it does, both its intellectual and political shortcomings. Farage’s manifesto is titled “Britain is a two-tier state – against white people” and it was clearly triggered by the recent Henry Nowak and Stephen Ogilvie cases, in which white British citizens were brutally attacked (and in Nowak’s case, killed) by a Sikh and a Sudanese respectively, neither of whom were illegal immigrants. Farage sets out in detail the circumstances surrounding the Nowak case, and his strident criticisms of the police are entirely valid.

Farage’s central contention is that white people in Britain are treated much less fairly than other ethnic groups, and that the mainstream political parties – he calls them “the establishment parties” – are unwilling to acknowledge the fact that “anti-White racism is embedded into the heart of the state” – because they created this state of affairs and are ideologically committed to maintaining it. Farage sees the “ideology of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)” and the Equality Act, passed by Labour in 2010 and subsequently strengthened by the Conservatives, as being the main culprits here, and argues that “every section of the state… has been ideologically compromised” by these “toxic ideologies.” According to Farage, this has created a less harmonious and less fair Britain.
Farage claims that this “two-tier state” has created a “two-tier market” in employment, social housing, education, the military, policing, and healthcare – which discriminates against white people, especially the young. Ominously, according to Farage, the situation can only get worse in the future – because while “White Brits” are a sizable majority at present, they “will become a minority in this country before the end of the century.” Notwithstanding this bleak state of affairs, Farage nevertheless maintains that “there is reason for hope” because Reform “has the will and the ability to ensure that no young White person ever has to grow up feeling ashamed of who they are again.”
How precisely does Reform propose to bring about this miraculous social transformation? Farage sets out a number of specific policy proposals that Reform proposes to implement if the party wins government, including the following:
• abolish the Equality Act and prohibit national and local government bodies from implementing DEI policies;
• prevent foreign nationals from having access to welfare benefits;
• ensure that students receive a “balanced and patriotic education” and compel every school to “fly the Union flag” and prominently display a picture of the King;
• restore pride to Britain’s armed forces.
The flimsiness of these policies is obvious, and even if they were implemented, they would do little or nothing to alleviate the serious and longstanding problems that bedevil contemporary Britain – including a declining economy, the cost-of-living crisis, a ballooning public debt, and rising crime rates. Liberal commentators have long been critical of the Equality Act and illiberal ideologies like DEI – and Farage is correct to condemn them and point out how destructive they are of social cohesion. But, even here, Farage underestimates how difficult it will be to abolish them. Britain is still bound by the EU Human Rights Act and a raft of other EU laws, and the UK Supreme Court will fight tooth and nail to retain the status quo.

And the people pushing these laws know that very well.

They push “safety for kids” only to get -legal- access to -grown-up- you.

• A Social Media Ban for Minors Requires Data From Everyone (ET)

In debating a social media ban for minors, it appears we face a choice between two perceived harms. One is the reported damage that social media is doing to the mental health of children and adolescents. The other is the normalization of mass age verification systems—most likely involving biometrics—that would apply to everyone, not just minors. This carries real risks of privacy invasion, data breaches, and future mission creep.

There is little dispute that many Western countries have experienced a rise in youth mental health problems beginning around 2010–2012 (when Smartphones and social media exploded). Anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide rates among adolescents, particularly girls, have increased dramatically since this period. There is disagreement, however, not over whether these spikes exist, but whether they can be attributed specifically to social media. The lingering effects of the pandemic and lockdowns, and family breakdown are just some of the other factors that could be in play.
Data debates aside, most Canadians with common sense and personal experience using social media for prolonged periods of time would admit that doing so is harmful for their mental health, no matter their age. So, what should we do? Whatever steps we take, resorting to broad government-mandated bans and mass surveillance should not be one of them.
Australia offers the clearest real-world test of such a policy. Since its under-16 social media ban took effect on Dec. 10, 2025, platforms operating in the country, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, and Kick, have been required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent users under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts. Platforms guilty of breaching this new law can reach up to AU$49.5 million.
Australia’s legislation “specifically prohibits platforms from compelling Australians to provide a government-issued ID or use an Australian Government accredited digital ID service to prove their age.” To comply with the law, platforms have implemented widespread use of behavioural analysis, device signals, and facial age estimation scans. By mid-December 2025, platforms had already removed access to approximately 4.7 million suspected under-16 accounts.
But large numbers of teenagers quickly found workarounds. Surveys conducted in early 2026 show that more than 60 percent of under-16s who had accounts before the ban continue to access at least one restricted platform. Common methods include using borrowed phones or parents’ ID, fake age declarations, VPNs, and printed mesh masks to fool facial recognition. Without robust age verification systems, therefore, a meaningful ban doesn’t exist. It might initially remove under 16s, but millions of ineligible minors will find a way to return to these platforms, as has taken place in Australia.
This begs an important question: What is the point of an age verification system that is only half effective? This would create a new set of problems including the loss of privacy rights for everyone, without actually solving the underlying problem the legalization is reportedly designed to fix.= Canada is aware of this conundrum. What would Canada do, then, to both kick minors off the platforms and keep them off the platforms? There is no reason to think that parental oversight or enforcement will be any different here than across the Pacific.
One possibility is social media users must submit verification of identity every time they log in to the platform. The most obvious way to do this would be a government-mediated login system. This would essentially grant government an immense amount of metadata about who logs in to what, how often, etc.
Another possibility would be for social media platforms themselves to monitors users’ data, either by periodically scanning faces and matching it to submitted photo ID, or by evaluating user behaviour (i.e., what content is being accessed and predicting the age of users). This would give an immense amount of data to social media companies that, if retained, could lead to significant privacy violations. Imagine a camera monitoring you every time you use Instagram or Facebook. Think about the fact that biometric technology can already be used to predict age based on wrinkles, skin texture and elasticity, facial proportions, eye shape, hairline, and bone structure. Researchers have even found statistical correlations between typing speed, error patterns, touch pressure, and age.
In this latter possibility, Canadians would be handing highly sensitive biometric data (faces, fingerprints, typing style, etc.) to foreign corporations that are subject to foreign laws (U.S. CLOUD Act, Chinese national intelligence law, etc.). These companies can be compelled by their own governments to hand over your personal and identifiable data. This type of data is also permanent. If it gets hacked, leaked, or demanded by a foreign government, you cannot change it like a password.
Finally, a mandatory social media ban for minors under 16 would significantly restrict their ability to access information about the world. Freedom of expression under the Charter section 2(b) includes not only the right to speak, but also the right to receive information. Canadian courts have recognized this in several cases. Social media platforms have become one of the primary ways many young people receive news, public debates, educational content, and diverse viewpoints.
One doesn’t have to be an absolutist to value freedom and privacy, but the fact of the matter is we have not tried alternative strategies that would minimally impair this fundamental freedom of privacy for everyone, and freedom of speech for minors. Yes, facial recognition is already used voluntarily on some platforms (such as dating apps). And a driver’s licence is often required from gambling sites to ensure compliance with the law. But there is a profound difference between choosing to use one of these sites and being required by law to submit biometric data to participate in modern public discourse. The scale is also vastly different.
We should pursue less invasive strategies instead of choosing between an ineffective ban or a robust and draconian one. Aggressive cultural campaigns against early smartphone use, phone-free schools until at least Grade 9 or 10, and better parental control tools have all shown meaningful results for youth mental health in multiple studies. Stronger platform liability for addictive design specifically aimed at children could also be pursued. At the end of the day, parents are responsible for their children’s social media use with or without a law that requires everyone share their digital data. In other words, even if a robust law existed, parents would still be responsible to ensure their children avoid workarounds.
The instinct to protect children is good, but we cannot protect them by quietly dismantling the privacy and freedom of the entire society. The cure must not be worse than the disease.

5 eyes.

• Canada is Next Up (CTH)

It is not coincidental that we have seen Australia, New Zealand, the U.K, and now Canada trigger online ‘age verification’ laws; simultaneous with a political push inside the USA to maintain FISA (702) legislation. Separating the USA for a moment. The intelligence services of Australia, New Zealand, U.K and Canada make up four of the intelligence services 5-eyes. In essence, the British Commonwealth is the IC commonality. [Yes, there is some validity to the Lyndon LaRouche perspective (Promethean Action PAC)] Additionally, I would also posit a reminder of the international assembly who structured the originating financial sanctions against Russia; again, a commonality.

Focusing on the most recent political creation in Canada, there are three bills currently being rushed through the Canadian House of Parliament, C-34: keep kids safe on social media; C-36: stronger privacy rules, and C-22: modern tools for police. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to find non-govt-approved information about this legislative construct online. Canadian media must remain compliant with approved government narratives in order to maintain their business model. However, putting together some various information found on non-controlled information sources, it is possible to begin discussion of the situation. The two issues that merge with the greatest impact are Bill C-22: The Surveillance Bill, and Bill C-34: The Children’s Safety Bill.

Bill C-22 requires that all information transmission providers, every telecom and internet company, retain metadata on all Canadian users for up to one year. This is electronic metadata which we all know encompasses a lot more than just content. Signal app, NordVPN, Windscribe, DuckDuckGo, Apple, and Meta have all formally opposed it. Signal app has threatened to leave Canada entirely rather than comply. This is a government mandated metadata storage library on all electronic communication and activity by Canadian users. Then there’s Bill C-34: The Children’s Safety Bill, as noted by Lucy Hargreaves, a bill that ‘Applies to Everyone’, not just kids.
“The government’s social media ban for under-16s is genuinely popular, with 75% of Canadians supporting it in polling. The problem is what it requires in practice. To stop anyone under 16 from creating an account, platforms need to know how old everyone is. There is no way to identify who is under 16 without identifying everyone who isn’t. This means every Canadian adult would need to submit government ID or a face scan to a third-party verification company before posting a photo, using cloud storage, or playing an online game. The bill also creates a new Digital Safety Commission with sweeping powers to set the rules, decide which platforms must comply, and approve or deny exemptions — with almost no criteria written into the law itself.”
“Australia introduced the same social media ban in December 2025. Six months later, the eSafety Commissioner told Parliament she was “not really keen” on it from the start and called it a “blunt force approach” drafted too quickly. 70% of young Australians reported the ban had little effect on their social media use. It didn’t reduce cyberbullying. What it did produce was a surge in VPN use… pushing young people to darker, less-monitored platforms.
The UK implemented age verification under its Online Safety Act in mid-2025. Within one month, VPN downloads hit over two million — the highest ever recorded — and monthly downloads stayed above one million for a year as users raced to bypass the requirement. The EU considered its own version of mandatory message scanning (dubbed “Chat Control”) and its own Parliament voted it down in March 2026, with the EU’s legal service concluding that indiscriminate scanning of private communications is incompatible with fundamental rights.
The government’s core justification for C-22 is that Canada is the “only Five Eyes country” without a lawful access framework. But the United States has no federal mandatory metadata retention law. The EU’s highest court has struck down blanket retention twice as incompatible with human rights. When the Public Safety Minister claimed Canada’s provisions would be “in line with U.S. counterparts,” he was forced to walk back the statement within hours.”
Think about what all the critics (correctly) point out as the bigger issue behind the “age id” social media stuff. What is the unspoken goal of Australia, New Zealand, the U.K and Canada? Ultimately control. Govt online surveillance, correct? Some form of legal, legislated, govt authorized data surveillance that permits law enforcement to have actionable mechanisms, right? If that is indeed the goal, then in the USA we overlay FISA (702). NZ, AU, UK and CA get digital IDs. The USA gets 702. It’s the same basic premise; the same govt motive; the same underpinning reasoning. Just different and nuanced approaches.

One more admirer. Part of this story is that the US economy erupted since 2008, while Europe just about stood still. Today, the US looks like paradise to Europeans (no, not the food).

• The World Is Re-Discovering America In the World Cup — and Loving It (Moran)

About 250 years ago, America cast a spell on Europe and the rest of the world. That magic compelled 15-18 million people to uproot themselves and escape war, poverty, crop failures, and political instability to start all over again in the new nation between 1800 and 1900. More than 15 million immigrants arrived in the first 15 years of the 20th century, mostly from Eastern Europe and Russia. Funny how America’s critics gloss over that astonishing fact. Whenever they bother to mention it, they point to the industrial revolution, which created an insatiable demand for labor, as capitalism “enslaved” these unsuspecting workers.

Still, people kept coming. As bad as the left believes America is, people of all races, all religions, and from every nation ignored the portrayal of the United States as a racist, sexist country of white supremacists and came anyway. This is something America’s most vicious critics can’t get around. The people of the world voted with their feet, and while many of us may not like it, the promise America holds for a better life is irresistible. For the next month, more than 1.7 million foreigners will come to America to watch a soccer tournament. It hardly matters why they’re coming. They come with their preconceived notions about the U.S being a horrible place. Their own governments tell them so. American leftists amplify that message.
But once these soccer fans get here, an amazing transformation happens to many of them. They fall in love with the U.S. Perhaps they have relatives who left the old country to come here and have heard about America all their lives. Whatever their preconceptions about the U.S., nothing prepared them for how completely different it is from what they’ve been told or what they imagined. PJ Media editor Chris Queen wrote about this phenomenon last week, chronicling a German tourist’s travels through the South. Many other visitors in the U.S. for soccer find themselves delighted with what they’ve found.
New York Post: “Bright red fire trucks. Walmart’s cathedral of abundance. The miracle of free refills.” These are just a few of the American wonders World Cup tourists are encountering during their travels through the heartland — and they can’t seem to get enough of them. Visitors from all over the world are documenting their journeys across the United States on social media, much to the delight of every American who doesn’t think patriotism is a dirty word.“A place like this could ONLY exist in America and I LOVE it,” posted Sean from Scotland as he toured a Texas Buc-ees in abject astonishment.
“The vibes are insane!” exclaimed Freddy from Germany while road-tripping through Louisiana to New Orleans. Elsa from Sweden is demanding of X, “Why did no one tell me ranch sauce is like crack?” It seems that Gen X and Y had no idea of the “real” America. “One thing I love about the European World Cup tourists right now is that they’re not just being dropped off in the middle of Los Angeles or New York City or some overhyped metropolitan hub that most Americans like myself don’t even like,” X user @realmikolson observed. “They’re being dropped right in the middle of the heart of middle America.”
Fox News: “Olson said international tourists driving nine hours across Texas and experiencing Auburn University fraternity houses are witnessing “overwhelming American kindness.” “A lot of the locals in these areas have no idea who these people are or why they’re even there,” he said, adding that there’s been very little World Cup news or marketing, particularly in small towns.
Nevertheless, he’s heard of instances of restaurant owners driving World Cup fans to games because they can’t find an Uber. A deli owner gave British tourists free lunch “just because they came all this way,” he said. Some Alabama firefighters reportedly gave foreign visitors a tour of their fire department and free merchandise. Of course, there are many Americans who wish the foreigners would just go home and leave us alone. But there are enough Americans still imbued with small-town values and principles that make coming to America an incredibly rich and rewarding experience.

Blocking GPS would have a paralyzing effect.

• Russia’s New Warning Shot From Space (Martin Armstrong)

For years, politicians have been obsessed with tanks, artillery, missiles, and troop counts while the real battlefield has quietly moved into space. The latest reports suggesting that Russian satellites may be capable of disrupting GPS signals on a continental scale should be sending shockwaves through military circles. If these findings prove accurate, then we are looking at a capability that extends far beyond simply making a driver’s navigation system malfunction. GPS is embedded in aviation, shipping, banking, telecommunications, emergency services, power grids, financial transactions, military operations, and virtually every aspect of modern infrastructure.

According to researchers, dozens of GPS interference events detected across Europe since 2019 may have originated from Russia’s EKS satellite constellation. These satellites were originally designed as part of Russia’s missile early-warning system, but testing suggests they may also possess the ability to transmit powerful signals capable of disrupting GPS reception across vast regions. The significance is not whether a disruption lasts a few seconds or a few minutes. The significance is proving the concept works. Once a nation demonstrates it can interfere with navigation systems from orbit, the entire strategic equation changes.
What many fail to appreciate is how dependent modern warfare has become on satellite navigation. Precision-guided weapons rely on GPS. Drones rely on GPS. Aircraft, ships, logistics networks, battlefield communications, and intelligence systems all depend on accurate positioning data. Remove that capability and armies suddenly find themselves operating under conditions that resemble an entirely different century. During the Ukraine conflict, both sides have aggressively pursued electronic warfare, jamming systems, and signal disruption technologies. What appears to be emerging now is the possibility of extending those capabilities far beyond localized battlefields and into continental-scale operations.
Financial markets depend on precise timing synchronization. Cellular networks require timing signals to coordinate traffic. Shipping companies use satellite navigation to move trillions of dollars worth of goods annually. Airlines depend on navigation systems to safely manage thousands of flights every day. Even modern agriculture relies heavily on GPS-guided equipment. The public views GPS as a convenience. Governments and corporations know it has become a critical piece of economic infrastructure.
This development also highlights something I have warned about repeatedly. The next major conflict will not resemble the wars of the twentieth century. Future wars will target infrastructure before populations even realize an attack has occurred. A cyberattack can disable communications. A satellite disruption can interfere with transportation networks. Financial systems can be disrupted electronically. Power grids can be targeted remotely. The battlefield increasingly consists of networks, satellites, data centers, and communications systems rather than simply soldiers crossing borders.
The timing is noteworthy. We are entering the most dangerous phase of the geopolitical cycle. The 2026 Panic Cycle year has already begun exposing vulnerabilities across the global system. Relations between Russia and NATO remain strained. The United States and China are engaged in a rapidly escalating technological competition. Military spending is rising globally. Governments everywhere are preparing for contingencies that most citizens never consider. Space is no longer a peaceful frontier. It has become a strategic domain where the major powers are competing for dominance.
What should concern policymakers is not merely that Russia may possess this capability. The real question is how many nations are developing similar systems. The United States, China, Russia, and other powers have invested heavily in electronic warfare, anti-satellite technology, cyberwarfare, and space-based military assets. Every major power understands that controlling information, communications, and navigation systems may prove more decisive than controlling territory itself.

BREAKING: SpaceX has overtaken Microsoft and Amazon to become the fourth biggest company in the world. pic.twitter.com/dNs4Dxjran
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) June 16, 2026

BREAKING: The US DOJ just declared Elon Musk's AI data center a national security asset and blocked an environmental lawsuit against it.

The NAACP filed a lawsuit against xAI in April 2026 under the Clean Air Act, alleging the company is operating dozens of gas turbines without… pic.twitter.com/Y7LyzrF7qm
— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) June 16, 2026

ELON MUSK ON AI:

“AI IS LIKE A GENIUS CHILD.

YOU WANT IT TO GROW UP WITH A LOVE OF TRUTH AND A LOVE OF HUMANITY.”

“I DO WORRY ABOUT AI, BECAUSE WE ARE CREATING AN INTELLIGENCE THAT COULD ULTIMATELY BE FAR MORE INTELLIGENT THAN ANY HUMAN — AND EVEN MORE INTELLIGENT THAN THE SUM… pic.twitter.com/UKSIE4XDRt
— Vivek Sen (@Vivek4real_) June 16, 2026

Elon Musk on why he slept on the floor of the Tesla factory for 3 years.
In Poland, they don't get this.

“I lived in the Fremont factory and the one in Nevada for three years straight. That was my primary residence. I'm not joking. Seriously. I slept on the couch, and at one… https://t.co/W1kf9zbORC pic.twitter.com/IXAY18nWan
— Manisha Mishra (@manishamishra24) June 16, 2026

This censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone. https://t.co/aZKpGDdPmX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2026

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Debt Rattle June 17 2026

Jun 172026

June 17, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:48 am Finance Tagged with: Ana Navarro, Durov, Ghalibaf, Grenell, Hormuz, Jay Clayton, Michelle Obama, Musk, Newsom, Putin, remigration, Robert De Niro, Scott Jennings, Zelensky 37 Responses »

Edward Hopper Chair Car 1965

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is nuts https://t.co/yawRDP2kht
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Special missions envoy Richard Grenell called Newsom’s bluff:

It started under Biden.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 Eyes Countries.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crazy, crazier, Whoopi.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is WILD!

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

But the number undersells the story.

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

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

Debt Rattle May 29 2026

May 292026

May 29, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:59 am Finance Tagged with: AI, Anti-Weaponization Fund, Bessent, cipher, Cuba, DOJ, E. Jean Carroll, Iran, Larry Fink, Marco Rubio, Newsom, Oman, Trump 34 Responses »

Andy Warhol Judy Garland 1978

• Oil Tumbles On Deal ‘Breakthrough’ As US-Iran Reportedly Reach MOU (ZH)

• Bessent Warns Oman On Hormuz Toll Scheme (ZH)

• DOJ is Not Investigating Trump Accuser, E. Jean Carroll (CTH)

• DOJ Digs Into E. Jean Carroll’s Possible Perjury (Athena Thorne)

• US DOJ Launches Criminal Investigation Into Trump Accuser E Jean Carroll (BBC)

• Why E. Jean Carroll Is Now the Subject of a DOJ Investigation (Matt Vespa)

• Who Was Really Behind E. Jean Carroll’s Bogus Allegations vs Trump (Margolis)

• The Imminent Democrat Party Civil War (Eric Florack)

• Cuba Falling: Desperate Times Call for Desperately Attacking Rubio (Anderson)

• Newsom Vows 100% Tax on Trump ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ Payouts (AmG)

• Judge Clears Trump’s Voter Citizenship Checks And Mail-in Voting (JTN)

• Larry Fink Demands Access to Americans’ Savings, Pension Funds to Bankroll AI (ZH)

• The Medieval Secrets Being Revealed By AI (BBC)

President Trump delivers one of the most heartfelt moments ever to take place in the White House Cabinet Room when he thanked outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard for her service.

The entire room ERUPTED into applause as Trump took nearly two minutes to praise her work.

TRUMP: “Before… pic.twitter.com/yQwvGRn8Sj
— Overton (@overton_news) May 27, 2026

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2059678446926573899?s=20

Trump is asked about the uranium, and he brings up Barack HUSSEIN Obama and the Iran Deal, again.

Trump is spoon-feeding it to us. He is hammering home the point that Obama knowingly paved the way for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Trump is preparing the public for TREASON! https://t.co/mXz7Nf4ltN
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) May 27, 2026

Trump may have just pulled off the most important geopolitical move of the 21st century.

Most people still haven’t realized what’s happening in the Middle East.

This changes everything. pic.twitter.com/e3piXpaAoh
— Mike Steger (@stegerMG) May 27, 2026

At some point Trump will get tired of dancing the Persian Polka.

• Oil Tumbles On Deal ‘Breakthrough’ As US-Iran Reportedly Reach MOU (ZH)

Oil Tumbles on Reported MOU Breakthrough Per Barak Ravid: “U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, but President Trump has yet to give it his final approval,” two US officials have told Axios. This could be the hugest diplomatic breakthrough yet, after weeks of stalled talks, but it awaits President Trump’s. “U.S. officials said the deal terms were mostly agreed as of Tuesday, but both sides still needed to get approval from senior leadership,” Axios notes by way of caveat. According to some emerging details from the report:

The U.S. officials claimed the Iranians later came back and said they had the necessary approvals and were prepared to sign. Iran has not confirmed that. The U.S. negotiators briefed Trump on the details of the final deal and he asked to take a few days to think about it. “The president relayed to the mediators that he wants a couple of days to think about it,” a U.S. official said. Key question: is Iran’s high enriched nuclear material part of the MOU? This could put it in jeopardy. Oil tumbles on the headline…
Uranium Transfer to China?
According to Saudi state-funded Al Hadath, Pakistan will present to the US the “transfer of Iranian uranium to Beijing under international supervision.” The report seems unlikely, given it is also worded in such a way as to suggest the scheme originates with Pakistan, as a desperate attempt to keep stalled talks alive. Tehran has never indicated it would contemplate sending its enriched uranium stockpile abroad, even to a ‘friendly’ nation.
Iranian Launch on Kuwait
The government of Kuwait on Thursday has made clear it retains all rights to take measures to preserve its security, following a overnight Iranian missile strike. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry further condemned the fresh missile and drone attacks on its territory as a serious escalation and “blatant violation of sovereignty and security.” The Iranian launch, which Tehran says targeted a US base in Kuwait, came in response to US bombardment of an Iranian drone base near the southern city of Bandar Abbas which occurred just prior.
In a new statement, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirms that “At 10:17 p.m. ET on May 27, Iran launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait that was successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces.” “This egregious ceasefire violation by the Iranian regime occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz,” the US military statement continued. “All drones were successfully intercepted by U.S. forces which also prevented a sixth drone launch from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas,” it added. “U.S. Central Command and regional partners remain vigilant and measured as we continue to defend our forces and interests from unjustified Iranian aggression.”
Additionally, the Gulf statement strongly condemned the fresh Iranian attack, with the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi, denouncing it as follows: “The secretary-general pointed out that the continuation of these treacherous attacks is a flagrant violation of the principles of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the principles of good neighborliness.” The GCC statement added: “His excellency affirmed the GCC countries’ full support for the state of Kuwait in all measures it takes to preserve its security and stability, and the safety of its citizens and residents,”
A separate statement from Saudi-led Gulf allies further condemned the act of ‘terrorism’ – per Al Aljazeera: The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have condemned a missile attack on a US airbase in Kuwait with only the UAE expressly naming Iran as responsible for the ‘terrorist’ attacks . In statements shared on social media, the foreign ministries of the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia said they consider the attack a flagrant violation of Kuwait‘s sovereignty, and expressed their countries’ full solidarity with Kuwait and support for all measures it takes to preserve its sovereignty, security and stability.
Two US-Iran Clashes Incidents This Week
This marks the second live-fire attack flare-up this week, after earlier Wednesday Iran fired drones on American and other foreign commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. “American F/A-18, F-16 and F-35 jet fighters shot down the drones, then the F/A-18s hit the ground-control unit before it could launch a fifth drone, one of the officials said,” The Wall Street Journal summarizes of that first incident. State TV released video of the ballistic missile launch targeting a US base in Kuwait:
https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/2059917542458576993
It seems that Iran is asserting some red lines through single, sporadic attacks, when it perceives a US military violation of its sovereignty. WSJ cites the following: The spokesman for the National Security Commission in Iran’s parliament said Trump’s unwillingness to acknowledge that the U.S. and Tehran were still at war was a sign of his weak negotiating position. “Diplomats should not let go of the enemy’s weak point and should impose maximum demands on them,” the spokesman said.
Currently, negotiations are still primarily stuck on the nuclear issue. President Trump has vowed not to let off sanctions pressure until Tehran agrees to dismantle its nuclear program by handing over highly enriched uranium to be transferred off its territory. Iranian officials say this simply will not happen, and that it would be tantamount to handing over the country’s sovereignty. Tehran has insisted the nuclear file must be dealt with after the war is over, and later on down the line.

Reports Mojtaba Khamenei Did Not Approve Deal – i24 @AmichaiStein1 https://t.co/cUVMLI3YDy pic.twitter.com/K1PiYumQLU
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) May 28, 2026

“No, the strait’s got to be opened to everybody, it’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation..”

• Bessent Warns Oman On Hormuz Toll Scheme (ZH)

On an official level at least, Oman remains a close strategic partner and key ally of the United States in the Middle East; however, that relationship has been severely strained this month amid apparent Iranian-Omani cooperation regarding a potential toll system for the Strait of Hormuz. This of course flies in the face of the US posture in the region. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the latest top Trump admin official to chastize Oman: “The United States Government will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said on X Thursday.

“Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved – directly or indirectly – in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized,” Bessent continued. “All nations should reject outright any efforts by Iran to disrupt the free flow of commerce. Tehran’s days of terrorizing the region and the world are over. Starting a week ago, official ‘discussions’ between Oman and Iran were widely reported: Iran and Oman have discussed setting up a toll system to charge vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, despite President Trump’s condemnation of charging fees to pass through the waterway.
“Iran and Oman must mobilize all their resources both to provide security services and to manage navigation in the most appropriate manner,” Iranian Ambassador to France Mohammad Amin-Nejad on Wednesday told Bloomberg News, which first reported the talks. Given the country’s geography, in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, it is likely to play a key role in any final agreement or outcome, in terms of opening Hormuz back up to international maritime transit. Bessent is continuing the pressure campaign soon on the heels of President Trump in somewhat shocking and surprise remarks saying that Oman could come under American military attack if it doesn’t cooperate.
Trump said in the Oval and in front of cameras that the US would “blow up” Oman if it doesn’t “behave”. The serious threat was issued in response to a reporter’s question on whether the US would accept a short-term deal that involved Iran and Oman jointly controlling the Strait of Hormuz. “No, the strait’s got to be opened to everybody, it’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting. “Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that they’ll be fine,” the president then emphasized.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei sought to explain earlier this week: “There is no toll. We need to pay attention to the words we use. We’re not after money. Iran and Oman need to create protocols for the safe passage of ships, and this will be based on international laws.” But then came the catch: “It’s only natural that the services we provide, like navigation and the preservation of the ecosystem of the Strait, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will have costs. These should not be considered tolls. Iran and Oman are being responsible in our efforts and I hope we will reach a conclusion soon,” the spokesman said.

I was gathering all these stories, it looked good, everybody jumped on the story, and then Sundance says: none of it is true because “Media Source Changes Story “ You be the judge.

• DOJ is Not Investigating Trump Accuser, E. Jean Carroll (CTH)

CBS has rewritten their storyline as they now claim their “source” has reversed position. Originally, CBS claimed the U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois was investigating the mentally unstable E. Jean Carroll, the woman who falsely accused President Trump of rape sometime approximately 30 or 40-years ago, she’s not sure. Now CBS is reporting their source changed the story and the DOJ investigation is actually into the American Future Republic PAC, which is a non-profit run by Reid Hoffman, the man who funded the fraudulent political lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll. A substantive difference in narrative.

[..] Via CBS: On Wednesday evening, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News that the investigation was focused on whether Carroll had committed perjury during a deposition in connection with her civil lawsuits against Mr. Trump in which she alleged he had sexually abused and defamed her. On Thursday, however, that source followed up and said Carroll is not the target of the investigation, which is focused on funding that Hoffman’s nonprofit, American Future Republic, provided to help cover some of her legal team’s expenses.
[.. ] Carroll accused Mr. Trump of sexually abusing her in a New York City department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and she published an account of the encounter in New York Magazine in 2019. Mr. Trump subsequently denied assaulting her and said Carroll wasn’ t his type. In 2019, Carroll sued Mr. Trump for defamation, but the case stalled in court. She then filed a second defamation lawsuit in 2022, adding a claim of rape under New York‘s Adult Survivors Act.
Carroll sued Mr. Trump in two civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse and defamation. In 2023, a jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation for comments he made in 2022. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages. The New York Adult Survivors Act was written by NY legislature specifically to create a legal mechanism for E Jean Carroll to file the lawsuit.
The Adult Survivors Act (ASA) is a New York State law that created a one-year window, from November 24, 2022, to November 24, 2023, allowing adult survivors of sexual assault to file civil lawsuits even if the statute of limitations had expired. {source} The entire purpose of the ASA was to give Ms. Carroll a window to file the lawsuit against President Trump. Her lawsuit was the only one filed during the one-year window. That’s Lawfare in action.

For the same reason Mamdani can only be eleccted in New York, this is the only case vs Trump that he lost.

A script straight out of Law and Order.

• DOJ Digs Into E. Jean Carroll’s Possible Perjury (Athena Thorne)

After Donald Trump’s first term as president, during the egregious collective regime of “President” Joe Biden, the left’s legal brigades launched an unprecedented lawfare attack on their political target. In New York City, the prevailing tactic was to attack on the civil side. The reason for this was that the standard of proof is so much lower in a civil trial that victory was assured in a town with judges and juries as leftist as NYC’s.

The tactic was effective. In 2024, N.Y. Attorney General Letitia “Big Tish” James and Judge Arthur Engoron hit pay dirt with a nearly half-a-billion-dollar judgment against Trump for allegedly committing some sort of real estate fraud. A year later, an appeals court tossed the absurd monetary penalty but upheld the fraud finding, including a three-year ban on Trump family members from leading businesses in the state and other major inconveniences to the business powerhouse clan. Trump has turned to New York State’s highest court to overturn the remainder of the flimsy case.
Then there was the E. Jean Carroll rape fantasy (in my opinion — don’t sue me!) involving Trump. In 2019, Carroll released a memoir for some reason, even though I can’t say I’d ever heard of her before then. In it, she accused Trump of unleashing his unbridled lust on her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in either 1995 or 1996. Recall that at that time, Trump was a hugely popular celebrity tycoon in NYC, so it’s conceivable that a grasping nobody might fixate on him — especially an admitted rape fantasist like Carroll.
To publicize her otherwise completely unnoteworthy book, Carroll repeated her Trump fantasy claim in an excerpt in New York magazine. Trump said it never happened and that Carroll was a liar. She sued him for defamation, a suit that got a huge boost a couple years later when the state and a major donor stepped in to push validation of her underlying rape and assault claims. Recall that New York State deliberately suspended the statute of limitations for one year via New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which was conveniently active from Nov. 24, 2022, to Nov. 24, 2023. Carroll filed her suit within minutes of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D, natch) signing the Act into law. Why, it’s almost as if the whole thing was choreographed!
Recall also that LinkedIn co-founder and Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman pumped $7 million into the legal venture via his American Future Republic nonprofit, which gave the payola to Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, for fees and expenses. When the weaponized prosecution dust had settled, Trump had been found liable for unwanted kissing and digital violation but not rape, and for defamation, for calling Carroll a liar. Judgments against him totaled $83.3 million, because that’s a totally realistic assessment of how much money Carroll would have made, had Trump not defamed her.
Trump is now forced to appeal an otherwise mundane harassment case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to get a fair hearing. But meanwhile, there is a spicy new development. CNN is reporting (much to its chagrin, no doubt) that the DOJ is investigating whether Carroll lied under oath — perjured herself — during her quest to take down Orange Man Bad:The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against the president – one alleging he sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when in 2019 he repeatedly denied the assault, said she wasn’t his type and claimed she made it up to boost sales of a book. Prosecutors’ theory hinges on a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, 82, that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit, though it was later revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses. The crux of the case looks like this:
Senior leaders at the Justice Department referred the investigation to federal prosecutors in Chicago, according to two sources familiar with the matter. While Carroll’s deposition took place in New York, one of the individuals who helped cover some of Carroll’s legal fees, Hoffman, has a nonprofit based in Chicago. Hoffman’s support of the case caught Trump’s attorneys off guard when it came to light on the eve of trial. In a 2022 videotaped deposition, Carroll told then-Trump attorney Alina Habba that no one else was paying for her legal fees. But two weeks before the trial Carroll’s attorneys informed the judge and Trump’s lawyers that they secured funding from Hoffman’s nonprofit.
[..] Anyone with eyes can see that the entire sorry episode should be flushed down the toilet, into the fetid sewer with the husks of other discredited lawfare attacks against Trump, where it belongs.If the Justice Department can prove that Carroll lied under oath — in addition to her lying that Trump raped her, when a New York jury found that he did not — then she is not a credible witness, and her false testimony against a historically great figure collapses.
Not to mention, Carroll herself could be in some trouble. Although there is no minimum required sentence, federal perjury conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1621 carries up to five years in federal prison and/or a fine — typically up to $250,000 for individuals, but that could also be twice the gain/loss involved. Wouldn’t it be great if the DOJ could try the case somewhere as rigged to the right as NYC is to the left? How funny would it be if Carroll were stuck in the federal slammer for five years and owed $166.6 million?
I know, I know. That’s an absurd fantasy — even more absurd than imagining a billionaire playboy who could have any woman he wanted forced himself upon a flaky columnist in a department store dressing room.

Paid-for lawfare. Reid Hoffman.

• US DOJ Launches Criminal Investigation Into Trump Accuser E Jean Carroll (BBC)

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into writer E Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, has reported. The investigation is looking into whether Carroll committed perjury in connection with civil cases she brought against Trump, the news outlet quotes sources as saying. Carroll, a former magazine columnist, accused Trump of sexual assault and defamation, and successfully sued him in two cases. Both judgements were upheld on appeal, but Trump has since asked the Supreme Court to overturn the first of them. He has denied the accusations. The BBC has contacted the DOJ and Carroll’s lawyer for comment.

In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault. He was also found liable for defamation for comments he made the previous year in a post on Truth Social. In that post, he denied Carroll’s claim that she had been attacked by him in the mid-1990s in a New York department store dressing room. A second lawsuit in 2024 found Trump again liable for defamation in connection with comments he made about Carroll in 2019, in which he accused her of making up the claims against him to sell a book. bTrump has appealed to the US Supreme Court to overturn the first judgement, for which he was ordered to pay $5m (£3.7m) to Carroll. He has also vowed to do the same with the other case, in which Carroll was awarded $83m.
The new criminal case is looking into whether Carroll lied when she said in a 2022 deposition that she received no outside funding for her civil lawsuit against Trump, a source told CBS. It was revealed in legal papers first filed by Trump’s lawyers in 2023 that the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, had helped to pay for some of Carroll’s legal fees and expenses. The issue was brought up during the case’s appeal, and the court found that Carroll had “plausibly represented” in her deposition “that she had forgotten about the limited outside funding counsel obtained”.
The “additional discovery… showed that Ms Carroll simply was not involved in the matter of who was or was not funding her litigation costs,” the US Court of Appeals for the Second District continued in a 2024 ruling. The new investigation is being led by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, one source told CBS. CNN, which first reported the story, reported that while Carroll’s deposition took place in New York, one of the individuals who helped cover some of Carroll’s legal fees, Hoffman, has a non-profit organisation based in Chicago.Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, who personally represented Trump in the appeal cases against Carroll, is recused from the case, a source told CBS.

This may take the Supreme Court. New York as a whole is ferociously anti-Trump.

• Why E. Jean Carroll Is Now the Subject of a DOJ Investigation (Matt Vespa)

E. Jean Carroll is reportedly waiting for her money: President Trump owes her tens of millions in a civil suit he lost years ago, but he has appealed the verdict. He’s asking the Supreme Court to weigh in, his last stand, so to speak. However, Ms. Carroll, who’s never played with a full deck, has some trouble of her own on the horizon: a Justice Department investigation regarding a 2022 deposition. Apparently, she might have perjured herself (via CNN):
E Jean Carroll being investigated for crimes, as likely are entities or charities tied to Reid Hoffmann given that the investigation is being run out of Chicago.

Hoffmann funded Carroll’s Lawfare suit against President Trump.

So I’ll say something similar to what I just said… pic.twitter.com/dK88wjG1HL
— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) May 28, 2026

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against the president – one alleging he sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when in 2019 he repeatedly denied the assault, said she wasn’t his type and claimed she made it up to boost sales of a book.
Prosecutors’ theory hinges on a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, 82, that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit, though it was later revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses. Carroll’s team declined to comment for this story. Attempts to reach Hoffman on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Well, that’s quite a shocking development. This woman is one who said “rape was sexy,” which she mentioned during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. She also said that she couldn’t wait to go on a shopping spree with her civil suit money back in 2024. She’s obsessed with the president and probably the person who most clearly exemplifies what it means to be Trump-deranged.

Rachel Maddow asks E. Jean Carroll what she's going to do with "Trump's money" to help "women's rights."

Carroll says she and Maddow will "go shopping, get completely new wardrobes, new shoes…Rachel, what do you want, penthouse?"

Her lawyer nervously says "that's a joke": pic.twitter.com/5LAx5xU5Uy
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) January 30, 2024

“Carroll, by then a certified celebrity of the anti-Trump resistance, attended a party at writer Molly Jong-Fast’s Manhattan home, a gathering the New York Times described as “Resistance Twitter come to life.”

• Who Was Really Behind E. Jean Carroll’s Bogus Allegations vs Trump (Margolis)

E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegations against President Donald Trump were never credible, and now she’s under investigation by the Department of Justice for perjury. Now, Byron York is digging into the case and has uncovered what could be the most elaborate political setup in history.

Trust me, the picture coming into focus is damning. Carroll has claimed, without any evidence, that Trump raped her sometime in 1995 or 1996. She can’t remember which year. Nothing about her allegations makes any sense. Are we supposed to believe that she simply stayed quiet about it through Trump’s rise to fame and politics, through his 2016 presidential run, and through the wave of #MeToo accusations that dominated the news cycle? Carroll said nothing about it for decades, and her stated reasons range from concern over her elderly Republican mother’s health to worries that speaking out might actually help Trump win key states.
Right. Sure. It wasn’t until 2019 that she came forward with her bizarre allegations. But she didn’t tell the police, she didn’t go to an elected official, or even to a journalist. She chose to disclose it in a book. Why? Because no other option would generate royalties. And Carroll had a history of grifting, too. Before the book even dropped, she was charging admission for her “Most Hideous Men in NYC Walking Tour,” a 90-minute #MeToo landmark stroll through Manhattan. The tour started at the Bergdorf Goodman entrance on 58th Street, which just so happens to be exactly where she claims she first encountered Trump the day of the alleged assault. She had been leading paying groups past that spot before she’d told the world what had supposedly happened there.
Now here’s where the origins of these allegations get genuinely interesting. Carroll, by then a certified celebrity of the anti-Trump resistance, attended a party at writer Molly Jong-Fast’s Manhattan home, a gathering the New York Times described as “Resistance Twitter come to life.” The guest list included George Conway, who apparently advised Carroll to sue Trump for defamation. The case got a critical boost when the New York legislature passed the Adult Survivors Act in 2022, which allowed sexual assault claims to be filed regardless of expired statutes of limitations. Carroll had helped advocate for the bill. The Act went into effect on November 24, 2022, and within hours, Carroll filed a second suit, this time adding a rape allegation in addition to defamation.
As PJ Media previously reported, tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, a virulently anti-Trump donor, bankrolled the whole operation. Yet Carroll testified under oath in October 2022 that no one was paying her legal fees, calling it “a contingency case.” It wasn’t until shortly before the trial that her own attorney wrote to Trump’s legal team admitting that Carroll had “recollected additional information” while preparing for testimony. Trump’s lawyers noted that the “belated disclosure” raised “significant concerns” about Carroll’s “bias and motive.”
Hoffman has some skeletons in his closet, too. In 2018, he had to apologize for funding a group that secretly mimicked Russian disinformation tactics to help a Democrat win an Alabama Senate seat.York’s reporting suggests that a criminal probe is now zeroing in on exactly these origins: the anti-Trump resistance party, the politically motivated lawyers, the billionaire backer, the conveniently timed legislation. What conservatives have been saying for years is now getting the scrutiny it deserves.

Fetterman.

• The Imminent Democrat Party Civil War (Eric Florack)

As I said yesterday about all of this: The Democrat party didn’t embrace Platner — it surrendered to him. He’s the last man standing in an organization that has spent years torching its own bench. And Sanders and Warren? Their loyalty isn’t principled — it’s a cold actuarial calculation. They know exactly what Platner is. They’ve run the numbers. Back him and watch the party bleed. Pull him and watch it hemorrhage. These people know that Platner is a suicide pill. They’re just haggling over the dosage. In the end, he’ll go down in flames. The question is, will sanity affect the Democrats after November? I doubt it.

Now, let’s be completely fair about this. Platner has apologized. He’d like you to know he’s evolved. He was going through a hard time. He was young. He was a different person — presumably briefly possessed by a demon who hated women, loved Hamas, and held strong opinions about gratuities, but that demon has since departed, leaving behind the real Graham Platner: the oyster-farming, Bernie-endorsed, $1.5-million-raising Graham Platner, who continues running on many of the same ideas as the demon he’s now trying to distance himself from. Growth! Mmmmph. Well, at least he’s fine-tuned his dance routine.
John Fetterman, meanwhile — a man who served as mayor of Braddock, Pa., nearly died of a stroke, came back to finish his Senate race, and votes with Democrats the overwhelming majority of the time — his own party has treated him like someone who showed up to Thanksgiving in a MAGA hat. His sin? Supporting Israel. Taking border security seriously. Refusing to perform the politically correct emotions on cue. The contrast I’m showing you here doesn’t need spin. It doesn’t need interpretation. It just needs a clear eye. It also needs someone to admit what they see. The Democratic Party leadership of 2026, meanwhile, will make enthusiastic, well-funded, celebrity-endorsed room for a candidate who blamed rape victims, praised terrorists, wore Nazi imagery, and aired his theories about Black people and tipping on Reddit.
But it has spent years signaling — loudly, consistently, personally — that a senator who occasionally wanders off the ideological reservation represents a source of genuine institutional shame. That his stroke is affecting his judgement. Must be because he doesn’t agree with the leadership. Let’s be real, here. This isn’t a party that temporarily lost its way. This is a party that examined its options and chose. Sanders and Warren didn’t miss the Platner stories. They read them, weighed them, and concluded: still our guy. That conclusion tells you more about the modern Democratic left than a thousand position papers ever could.
Maureen Galindo wanted to put Zionists in a castration camp. Voters rejected her Tuesday. The party leadership said nothing. Graham Platner praised Hamas, blamed rape victims, and tattooed a Nazi symbol on his body. He’s the Democratic Senate nominee — with the full-throated backing of progressive royalty and establishment leadership alike. After decades of the left calling anyone to the right of Fidel Castro a Nazi, isn’t it a bit more than passing strange that the Democrat leadership is fully embracing people whose only apparent problem with the guy wearing the funny mustache is that he didn’t finish the job? John Fetterman, meanwhile, bought a hoodie and changed his mind on a couple of issues. Guess which one they are embarrassed by and can’t forgive.
I have little doubt that, once the rank-and-file Democrat voters get hold of all of this, they will take to the voting booths on June 9 and dispatch this Platner creature, just as Texas voters dispatched Gallindo to the category of also-rans. But does the gap between the rank-and-file Democrat voters and the Democrat party leadership — the Democrat establishment, in other words — say anything about the party’s future, at least in the short term? Does it mark a gap between what the Democrat leadership and the voters want? Does it suggest, as I did in the headline of this piece, an upcoming civil war in the Democrat party?
Granted, some might consider calling Sanders and Warren “party leaders” a bit of a stretch. That’s understandable. But then, where are the Democrat leaders denouncing this nonsense? Where is Chuck Schumer? Where is Hakeem Jeffries? Clearly, neither one is offended enough to speak publicly on the subject. Will enough Democrat voters be annoyed enough to stand up against all this? Just as importantly, where does that leave the independent voters, watching all of this from the sidelines? You know — the people who went long for Trump and his coattails in ’24?
Thought of the Day: The people who fought and died in WWII were fighting real Nazis to give you the freedom to call everyone who isn’t a Democrat a Nazi. Meanwhile, the Democrats are warmly supporting people who spout Nazi rhetoric. Make sense to you?

“He also pointed out that Rubio wasn’t born in Cuba, which is rich coming from a guy who was born in Mexico. “

• Cuba Falling: Desperate Times Call for Desperately Attacking Rubio (Anderson)

You know they’re in desperate times when the Cuban regime starts sending its mouthy representatives to do interviews on Fox News of all places, hoping to reshape the narrative. The country’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez — and arguably the regime’s slickest mouthpiece — did just that earlier this week, and he went straight after his favorite punching bag: our dear Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Fun fact: Crooked and communist Latin American leaders love to hate on Rubio because he knows what they’re up to and he’s built a career on not being afraid to call them out. For example, last fall, Nicolás Maduro kept making public pleas to Donald Trump to ignore the secretary and listen to reason — that Rubio would put blood on his hands. Old Bruno’s been saying the same types of things for years, and he used this interview to pile on his previous rhetoric. He especially loves to point out that Rubio going after Cuba is some sort of “personal vendetta,” and I suppose, in a way, it is. But he doesn’t do it just because his parents and grandparents came from there. He does it on behalf the millions of Cubans who were driven away by or falsely imprisoned by or died at the hands of the regime.
Anyway, the Fox News interview was more of the same. Rodríguez accused Rubio of telling lie after lie, saying, “He continuously intends to deceive the public opinion in the U.S., the U.S. Congress, and the international community.” He also pointed out that Rubio wasn’t born in Cuba, which is rich coming from a guy who was born in Mexico.

Ironic, coming from regime stooge, Bruno Rodriguez, who was born in Mexico — not Cuba.
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) May 26, 2026

Rodríguez also complained about the recent charges brought against Raúl Castro (for his role in the murders of three Americans and one United States permanent resident in the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown of 1996), doing his best Claudia Sheinbaum impression, and asking: why do it after 30 years? Of course, Rubio is undeterred by any of this propagandistic chatter. During Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, the president asked the secretary to say a few words on Cuba. He didn’t say anything particularly new, just that we want what’s best for the Cuban people and that having a failed state so close to our shores is a threat to our national security. Agreed.

.@SecRubio: "We want something good for the Cuban people…Having a failed state 90 miles from our shores is a threat to the national security of the United States." pic.twitter.com/hUz8crMN3g
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 27, 2026

Rubio mentioned that “we’ll be talking to them. We’re working on it.” But Politico tells a different story. In an article published on Wednesday, it claims the “Pentagon puts building blocks in place for Cuba invasion.” The Pentagon has spent months positioning the troops and weapons needed for the U.S. to launch a military attack on Cuba — all it needs is a final go-ahead from Donald Trump The president has floated an invasion of the island after economic and political pressure failed to topple the Communist government. But the Navy’s built-up presence in the region — the largest in the world outside the Middle East — would allow the U.S. to act immediately.
These strategically placed assets set the table for military action, from a capture of Havana’s leadership much like the seizure of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to a series of precision strikes. And they open the possibility that the U.S. throws itself into the third international conflict of the Trump administration. While some of Politico’s information comes from anonymous sources, some of it is verifiable, such as the fact that the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the Caribbean and advanced American drones and surveillance aircraft have been circling the island nation for months.
Trump has been purposely vague about what will happen, when it will happen, how it will happen, and whether there will be military involvement or not. All we know is that he plans to make it happen — the fall of 67 years of “incompetent communism” as Rubio calls it — and he’s floated the idea of it happening after we’ve finished up in Iran. Whenever that might be… So, Politico doesn’t really know much more than anyone else right now. All I know is that the Cuban people can’t wait much longer. Their living situation has become increasingly critical in recent days. Infrastructure is crumbling, making power outages worse. And many of the people want the U.S. to intervene. This brave man stood on the rooftop of a building this week and waved a United States flag without a care about any trouble it could stir up with his commie overlords.

What punishment does he want for Liz Cheney?

• Newsom Vows 100% Tax on Trump ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ Payouts (AmG)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that his administration will seek to impose a 100 percent tax on any California residents who receive money from President Donald Trump’s newly created $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Speaking to reporters, Newsom denounced the fund as a “slush fund” and pledged to block Californians from financially benefiting from it. “Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100 percent of those proceeds,” Newsom said during a press conference. “He pardoned all of those folks that were beating up cops and absolved them, providing them 1.776 billion dollars,” Newsom said. “So not only do you get a pardon, you get rewarded. That’s why this is needed.”

The fund was established as part of Trump’s settlement with the Department of Justice stemming from his lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. Trump has described the program as restitution for Americans harmed by what he called politically motivated government actions during the Biden administration. Last week, Trump defended the fund as compensation for people “badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration.” Democrats in several blue states are now attempting to block recipients from keeping any payouts tied to the program.
In New York, Democratic Assemblyman Alex Bores introduced legislation that would similarly impose a 100 percent tax on recipients of the fund. State Sen. Mike Gianaris said Democrats in Albany are pushing to advance the measure before the legislative session ends next week. “There’s widespread, bipartisan agreement that this is baldfaced corruption at its worst and if we have the ability in New York to combat it by ensuring that none of this money benefits anyone in our state’s borders, I’d expect there’d be widespread support for that idea,” Gianaris said. Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey are also drafting similar legislation. State Sen. Andrew Zwicker called the proposal “a brilliant counter move to Trump’s corruption.”

IOW: back to normal.

• Judge Clears Trump Voter Citizenship Checks And Mail-in Voting Crackdown (JTN)

A federal judge on Thursday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to implement his executive order tightening mail-in voting, slapping down Democrats’ arguments for now that federal efforts to police voter rolls with citizenship checks was illegal. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointed jurist, ruled that Democrats failed to show they have standing at present to challenge the order or have suffered any harm that would warrant a preliminary injunction.

“Given that the Executive Order does not command Plaintiffs to do anything, and that no agency has yet acted pursuant to the Order in a way that could harm Plaintiffs, they have not suffered any harm at present,” the judge wrote.Nichols rejected several of the Democrats’ arguments that Trump’s executive order could disenfranchise millions of voters, including that creating state-by-state citizenship lists to check voter rolls would somehow be harmful, even if they were inaccurate.
“It remains speculative whether the State Citizenship Lists, if and when they are initially compiled, will contain inaccuracies,” he wrote. “Even if they contain initial inaccuracies, the Executive Order requires the adoption of procedures that will allow individuals to access and, if necessary, update or correct their information in the Lists.” The judge also rejected the notion that the federal government sending information to the states about voters would somehow violate voters’ privacy.
“Plaintiffs fail to demonstrate that such action—that is, the sharing of name, age, and residence information between and among government agencies, if already known to the federal government—would cause a harm sufficient to establish Article III standing,” he ruled.

AI requires ALL energy, and ALL money.

• Larry Fink Demands Access to Americans’ Savings, Pension Funds to Bankroll AI (ZH)

Current Sith overlord and aspirational emperor of the galaxy, just a few false flags and manufactured crises away from assuming the throne, Larry Fink, recently appeared at something billed as “National Skilled Trades Day,” hosted by Texas State Technical College in Waco to recruit the electricians he needs to complete the destruction of his AI Death Star. Via Houston Chronicle:

“With data centers booming across Texas and population growth continuing steadily, BlackRock is committing $30 million to train more than 12,000 Texas workers for electrical careers.…Formally announced Wednesday [May 6], National Skilled Trades Day, at an event hosted by Texas State Technical College in Waco. It comes as the state has assumed a central role in the nationwide race to construct data centers to support the growth of artificial intelligence and other data-heavy industries. “The scale of growth underway in Texas demands a workforce ready to build it,” said Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, in a news release announcing the grants.
The state “sits at the center of America’s infrastructure and energy buildout,” noted BlackRock. Texas’ data center load could more than double by 2028, according to a January report from Bloom Energy, which would give the state about 30% of the United States data center market. The state could become the world’s largest data center market by 2030, according to a February report from JLL, which cited “plentiful land and energy” as a factor fueling Texas’s growth potential. Even before the surge in data center construction began, however, the state was facing a shortage of electricians and electrical workers driven by population growth and rising power demands.
The $30 million in funding for workforce training in Texas is part of the broader $100 million Future Builders initiative BlackRock announced in March, which aims to prepare 50,000 Americans for careers in various skilled trades. The nationwide initiative points to a growing demand for HVAC technicians, plumbers, and ironworkers as well as electricians, across the U.S.” In a portion of his comments, Fink, in need of “trillions” of dollars in capital for AI infrastructure by his own estimation, casually demanded that American workers, per a scheme he pitched as “growing with the United States,” have their pension and 401(k) funds redirected into AI investments.
If you don’t give him all of your retirement money to build his Panoptican Death Machine, Fink explains, Chinese communist robots will rape your daughter… or something. And wouldn’t you rather have your daughter raped, metaphorically, by Larry Fink?nThat’s the patriotic thing. “If we could get more and more Americans to think about growing with the United States, we will have far than enough money to invest in this [AI] infrastructure….The need for electrons is growing every day… If we’re going to be the leader in technology, which we are, if we’re going to be the leader in AI, which we presently are, it’s just going to require trillions of dollars of investments. And if we don’t invest in it, China will be the global leader in this….
To me this is not ‘whether,’ this is a must…. It translates into a more dynamic economy. We need the United States economy to grow at over 2%, we need the U.S. economy to grow at 3%, especially with the growing deficits the federal government has. And so, this money… is going to be coming from the private sector, from savings accounts, from pension accounts, from insurance companies and on and on and on. The whole world is in need of improving infrastructure.”

Blackrock CEO Larry Fink to American workers: Give us your pensions to invest in AI or else the Chinese will win pic.twitter.com/MchXFpRwjE
— Ben Bartee (@BenBartee) May 28, 2026

(Whatever PR firm trained Bill Gates to perform the same effeminate gesticulations and vocal intonations as Bill Gates in order to convey non-threateningness to retarded liberals who view any portrayal of masculinity as inherently toxic apparently also trained Larry Fink.)

Larry Fink: Helpful, altruistic, non-sociopathic nerd

"You wouldn't hit a man with glasses" pic.twitter.com/SCfbsyqQYG
— Armageddon Prose (@ArmageddonProse) May 28, 2026

Smarter than a man.

• The Medieval Secrets Being Revealed By AI (BBC)

Historic messages and documents obscured by incomprehensible ciphers can be found in libraries and archives all over the world. Artificial intelligence is helping historians crack open these mysterious texts. Deep in the archives of the Vatican library, a mysterious hand-written book, scrawled with strange symbols, had lain unread for more than 400 years. Its cryptic pages apparently concealed secret remedies “for affections of the human body”, according to some text scratched inside the cover. Such healing practices were kept under wraps at the time since they could attract suspicion or even accusations of witchcraft.

Known as the Borg cipher, the 408-page-long manuscript is mostly incomprehensible – coded using 34 obscure symbols with a few Roman letters and a front page written in Arabic. There was no known key to reveal what was encrypted. Some of the pages are also damaged due to their age, making the code even more challenging to read. But with the help of machine learning – a form of artificial intelligence – researchers were able to unravel the code. They discovered the text was filled with thousands of bizarre treatments such as drinking several glasses of high-quality red wine or fermenting a nutmeg in some dough to combat dysentery.
“It is like detective work where every symbol, pattern, and partial solution may bring us closer to someone’s secrets and to a lost historical world,” says Beáta Megyesi, a professor in computational linguistics at Stockholm University in Sweden, who was part of the team who decoded the text. Even with the help of AI, the process of unlocking the cipher key was painstaking. Now Megyesi and her colleagues are leading efforts to harness the power of AI to crack historic ciphers, potentially unlocking a wealth of coded information from the past that has previously been uncrackable. According to some estimates, around 1% of the material in archives and libraries around the world is fully or partially encrypted. Some of the earliest known ciphers date back to Ancient Greece and Rome.

The Borg cipher is thought to be around 400 years old and contains a mixture of strange cipher symbols and some Latin script on its 408 pages
(Credit: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)

Together, coded historic documents conceal diplomatic intelligence, the rituals of secret societies, medical knowledge, love affairs or everyday details that people wanted to keep secret. This is information currently missing from historical narratives. In some cases, decoding these documents has the potential to rewrite what we know about a famous individual or an entire period of history. (One recent cipher to do this were a collection of coded letters that were found to have been written by Mary Queen of Scots during her long imprisonment in England. They revealed her involvement in plots to regain her throne and her tense relationship with her son, James VI of Scotland and future King James I of England.)
Historic ciphers can be relatively simple: the Borg cipher, for example, uses a substitution cipher, meaning that each symbol was swapped with a single Roman letter to hide what was written. Others, however, can be difficult to unravel. In some cases, nothing is known about the original language the uncoded text was written in. Extra, meaningless symbols can also be inserted as a decoy to throw off anyone hoping to snoop on the text. In other cases, several signs can be used to represent the same letter.
This can mean a huge amount of work – often involving trial and error – to decode even a small amount of text. It took Cecile Pierrot, a cryptologist at the French National Institute for Computer Science Research (INRIA) in Nancy, France, and her colleagues six months to gradually unravel the key to a 500-year-old letter from Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, that had been written using 120 different cipher symbols across three pages. (The decrypted letter revealed Charles V – one of the most powerful men of his time – undone by fear of a plot to kill him. The king was terrified that an Italian mercenary warlord serving the French king, Francis I, was about to assassinate him.)

JOHN CLAUSER, 2022 PHYSICS NOBEL PRIZE WINNER:

"I can very confidently assert, there is no climate emergency.
As much as it may upset many people, my message is the planet is NOT in peril.

Atmospheric CO2 and methane have negligible effect on the climate.
The policies… pic.twitter.com/WsNaoeCByg
— Robin Monotti (@robinmonotti) May 27, 2026

Joe Rogan tells billionaire Marc Andreessen why Socialism is the ultimate scam that only benefits poor lazy people:

ROGAN: “It’s never worked ever.”

ANDREESSEN: “If I work twice as hard as you why should we both get an equal slice?”

ROGAN: “The beautiful thing about America is… pic.twitter.com/DzVENuXkPh
— Joe Rogan Recaps (@JoeRoganRecaps) May 27, 2026

Wow https://t.co/T6FlivYIiQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 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 April 25 2026

Apr 252026

April 25, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:07 am Finance Tagged with: Canada, Carney, Europe, FAFO, globalism, Lutnick, Newsom, SPLC.Greer, Trump, USMCA. 29 Responses »

Christopher Makos Andy Warhol piloting John Denver’s bi-plane 1977

• US Sending Witkoff, Kushner To Pakistan As Iran Balks At Talks (ZH)

• Trump Weighs Consequences For NATO Allies On ‘Naughty’ List (Politico)

• Europe Bets On Newsom To Reverse Trump’s America – And Save Its Own Model (Kolbe)

• Europe’s Hormuz Mission And The Illusion Of Geopolitical Power (Kolbe)

• What CBS News’ Dinner to Honor Trump Means for the Future of News (Rivera)

• Canada Pushes Closer to the FAFO Threshold (CTH)

• In President Trump’s Mind There’s Not Going To Be a USMCA (CTH)

• Globalism is a Series of Dependencies (CTH)

• House Panel Orders SPLC to Turn Over Communications With Biden’s DOJ (ET)

• I’m Part of America’s ‘Most Stressed’ Generation (Reagan Wilbanks)

• UAE To Move 50% Of Government Services To AI By 2028 (ZH)

• Google Deepens Anthropic Bet With Up To $40 Billion Investment (ZH)

• China’s DeepSeek Debuts Flagship AI Model As Compute Race Intensifies (ZH)

• Bruce Springsteen’s Land of Hope and Dreams No Longer Welcomes All (Perrotta)

https://twitter.com/XFreeze/status/2047383798472437951?s=20 https://twitter.com/BowTiedTrance/status/2046995211595792477?s=20

"The more effective Trump's approach becomes, the more DESPERATE his opponents get!" pic.twitter.com/zUYmtEXLrR
— Bridgett Fertig (@LightOnLiberty) April 23, 2026

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2047475540693840189?s=20

Trump hands Iran the noose to hang themselves. And they do.

• US Sending Witkoff, Kushner To Pakistan As Iran Balks At Talks (ZH)

Confirming earlier speculation, CNN reported that President Trump is sending tdswo envoys for talks with Iran in Pakistan, even as Tehran sounded a more pessimistic tone on the prospects of further negotiations. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to participate in talks this weekend with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Yet according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported earlier, no talks are slated to take place between the two parties during the foreign minister’s trip. Vice President JD Vance, the lead negotiator for the US, isn’t currently expected to join the delegation, CNN said. According to the latest from the White House Press Secretary on Vance:

Vice President JD Vance will be on “standby” and is “willing to dispatch to Pakistan” for Iran talks if negotiations progress in a way that the White House determines is a “necessary use of his time,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says. Araghchi earlier said he was headed to Pakistan, but poured cold water on speculation that the US and Iran were close to a second round of negotiations to end the eight-week war, posting on social media that the purpose of his travel is to “closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments.”
Officials in Pakistan familiar with the matter said they expected a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran, while declining to say when the negotiations would happen or at what level. Oil fell by as much as 3.3% to trade near $93 a barrel on the latest sign that the elusive peace talks between the US and Iran may materialize after all, even if there are no assurances of a favorable outcome. Traders had been closely tracking the movements of both delegations for signals on whether negotiations would come to pass and offer some relief as the strait remains largely shut.
Iran FM Will Not Meet American Side in Pakistan; Tehran Denies Ghalibaaf Rumors …but he will travel to Islamabad, and is expected there by Friday evening, amid what’s being described as a multi-nation diplomatic tour to shore up support for Tehran, and to set the conditions for potential next round of negotiations with Washington.
“The date for the launch of the second round of US-Iranian negotiations has not yet been determined,” a Pakistani source told Al Hadath. In Islamabad all that’s expected is that FM Araghchi and his small team will engage with Pakistani mediators, and nothing more. There’s been no comment on all of this from the White House, which says Trump has “all the time in the world” regarding the Iran war and Hormuz standoff. Meanwhile Tehran has once again vehemently rejected as false the new Friday reports that Iran Parliament Speaker Ghalibaaf has been replaced as lead negotiator.

Embarking on timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow.

Purpose of my visits is to closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments.

Our neighbors are our priority.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 24, 2026

More Speculation on Ghalibaf Resigning Negotiations Team
Tehran on Thursday rejected widespread reports that Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf as resigned from leadership of Iran’s negotiating team. But these reports have persisted into Friday, with Saudi-funded, London-based Iran International ‘newly’ reporting: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, head of Iran’s negotiating team with the United States, has stepped down amid internal disagreements, Iran International has learned. According to information obtained by Iran International, Ghalibaf was reprimanded for attempting to include the nuclear issue in talks with Washington and was forced to resign.
Hardline figure Saeed Jalili could replace him, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is also seeking to take over the negotiations. And yet the fact remains that no talks are as yet scheduled, with regional media now saying Iran FM Araghchi is about to tour different countries, including Oman and even will make a stop in Russia – and that this may include Islamabad. If so, reports say it could just be part of a preparatory phase to engage Washington directly again. Latest via AJ: “No Iran-US talks to take place during FM Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Pakistan, only bilateral engagement,” citing senior Iranian source.
Hegseth Presser: Mine-Laying, Nuclear Sticking Point
A key line from the Pentagon chief on Friday morning: “All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways, or instead they can watch the regime’s fragile economic state collapse under the unrelenting pressure of American power, a blockade as long as it takes, whatever President Trump decides,” Hegseth said. He added that with the blockade continuing, “the clock is not on their side.” On this, Hegseth reiterated, “President Trump said it again yesterday. We have all the time in the world, and we’re not anxious for a deal.” And yet, he actually again made comparison to America’s forever wars in the region:
Still, Hegseth opened his remarks to reporters decrying what he called the “endless wars of the past that dragged on for years and for decades,” and he sought to draw distinctions between the conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, the defense secretary argued that Operation Epic Fury has delivered a “decisive military result” in weeks, with a focus on the mission of keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. T
he defense secretary said the mission is continuing into a new phase, and Iran now has the opportunity to make a peace deal. “Iran has an important choice, a chance to make a deal. A good deal. A wise deal,” he said.nHe further referenced yesterday’s reports that Iran is still engaged in mine-laying activity in the Strait of Hormuz, and warned: “If Iran is putting mines in the water, or otherwise threatening American commercial shipping or American forces, we will shoot to destroy. No hesitation,” he said.nInadvertent admission of the leveling power of asymmetric warfare & geographic advantage: “Any one with a speedboat and a gun…”
Hegseth:

The vessels that the Iranians seized in recent days, a couple of them, they're not American or Israeli ships. They're just random ships.

They drove their little speedboats up to and shot at those ships with AK-47s.

Anyone with a speedboat, a gun, and the wrong… pic.twitter.com/BGQM97vUeQ
— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 24, 2026

Trump wants to throw Spain out. Apparently that’s not easy.

• Trump Weighs Consequences For NATO Allies On ‘Naughty’ List (Politico)

The effort is the latest sign President Donald Trump plans to make good on his threats against members not deemed “model allies.” The White House has developed something akin to a “naughty and nice” list of NATO countries, as the Trump administration looks for ways to punish allies who refused to back the Iran war.nThe effort, which officials worked on ahead of NATO head Mark Rutte’s visit to Washington this month, includes an overview of members’ contributions to the alliance and places them into tiers, according to three European diplomats and a U.S. defense official familiar with the plan.

It’s the latest sign that President Donald Trump plans to make good on his threats against allies who don’t adhere to his wishes. And it’s another pressure point on the increasingly frayed alliance, which has been battered by Trump’s attacks — from his push to annex Greenland to his warning of a complete withdrawal from the pact. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth floated the broad idea in December. “Model allies that step up, like Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltics and others, will receive our special favor,” he said. “Allies that still fail to do their part for collective defense will face consequences.”
One of the diplomats said the list appeared to reflect that concept. “The White House has a naughty and nice paper so I guess the thinking is similar,” the person said. The administration is keeping any details quiet as it plans options, according to the people. And officials have provided little clarity on what the favors or consequences might be. “They don’t seem to have very concrete ideas…when it comes to punishing bad allies,” said another European official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues. “Moving troops is one option, but it mainly punishes the U.S. doesn’t it?”
The White House made its frustration with allies clear. “While the United States has always been there for our so-called allies, countries we protect with thousands of troops have not been there for us throughout Operation Epic Fury,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, referring to the Pentagon’s name for the operation. “President Trump has made his thoughts on this unfair dynamic clear, and as he said, the United States will remember.”

Europe hardly knows Newsom. It wants anyone who can stop Trump.

• Europe Bets On Newsom To Reverse Trump’s America (Kolbe)

America remains a country of high social mobility and upward opportunity—something we no longer see on today’s European continent. It may sound kitschy to many Europeans, yet its vibrant economic centers, high geographic mobility, and the flexibility of its people still create the conditions for this unique phenomenon. Admittedly, the narrative of the “land of unlimited opportunity” may sound exaggerated today—something akin to self-promotion. Yet at its core, it still holds true. Can one still make something of oneself there? Donald Trump’s deregulation program, combined with tax cuts for businesses as well as small and medium incomes, has in any case helped to revive this promise of upward mobility.

Trump’s policies go hand in hand with the elimination of fiscal privileges and subsidies. His goal: the systematic dismantling of the fiscally secured and media-backed strongholds of power of a socialist apparatus that reflects the spirit of European regulatory policy. Put simply, under Trump, American nationalism and a rejection of ideological engineering have returned to the political agenda. With intense competition and market-driven policies at home, alongside a trade and tariff strategy reminiscent of presidents like Alexander Hamilton and William McKinley, this forms a clear countermodel to his predecessors. They had significantly advanced the European model of climate socialism as a tool of power consolidation.
For the record: it was President Barack Obama who, in 2009, identified carbon dioxide as a lever of power, integrated European regulatory frameworks, and began systematically undermining the traditional American values of individual liberty, mobility, free markets, and minimal government. The public outrage over Trump’s reversal in key questions of political power architecture stems largely from the fact that too many had grown comfortable in a world of subsidies, NGOs, and public sector employment. European climate socialists now pin their hopes on California Governor Gavin Newsom. In two and a half years, he is expected to enter the White House and initiate a return to the status quo ante.
In Berlin, Brussels, Paris, and London, they are likely already counting the days until a possible political shift in Washington. Trump has fallen out of favor with Europeans because his agenda of prioritizing American national interests mercilessly exposes the ideological contradictions and intellectual weakness of European socialism. Whether in foreign policy—where the U.S. asserts itself forcefully toward countries like Venezuela or Iran—or in its confrontation with the climate lobby and the left-wing NGO complex, Trump’s policies reflect the will of many Americans to finally address the consequences of globalist policies and draw the logical conclusion: dismantling this socialist overreach.
It is telling that his migration policy meets fierce resistance in the strongholds of Democratic Party power. Where migration and poverty industries have taken root, the immigration authority ICE encounters near civil-war-like resistance. Yet it is not Trump’s fault that the European social model lies in ruins. Europe suffers from a lack of self-criticism and a general unwillingness to confront its own ideological failures. Meanwhile, nuclear cooling towers are demolished, coal seams flooded, and gas infrastructure dismantled. The politics of ideological immaturity collide with Washington’s hard-nosed approach and the necessary repair work on a deeply damaged social and economic body.
No matter whom the Republican Party nominates as Trump’s potential successor—be it J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio—the German press has already made its choice. It longs for America’s return to European-style climate socialism: more comfortable, more predictable, and promising continued access to public funding—even for its own future. To underline this, the German weekly WirtschaftsWoche recently published a guest article by Gavin Newsom. Newsom seeks to persuade foreign governments to view California as an independent economic entity—the world’s fifth-largest economy, still embodying the spirit of boundless opportunity.
The implicit message is clear: California’s economic stagnation is not the result of high taxes or aggressive climate policies in the European mold—nor of its war on oil and gas—but solely the fault of Donald Trump’s tariff policy.California is Europe in miniature—a shadow of the Old Continent cast across the United States. It now finds itself exposed by Washington’s market-driven reforms, which throw its model into stark contrast. The results are increasingly visible: one system succeeds, the other falters.
In his guest contribution, Newsom naturally avoids addressing the consequences of California’s climate policies. As in Europe, CO2 costs are placing enormous strain on industry. Companies are leaving—just as they are in Germany—and relocating to states like Texas or Florida, where industrial production is still valued. Newsom’s socialist course, which began in 2019, is evident not only in rising public debt. More striking is the emergence of a full-fledged poverty management industry. Years of open-border policies enabled the development of a deeply corrupt system of dependency management. California has become a magnet for illegal migrants, drug addicts, and other lost individuals; at the same time, the political framework sustains an extraction economy similar to what we observe in Germany’s migration sector. The parallels are striking.
The Sunshine State, once a place of aspiration for so many, now resembles—especially in its urban centers—the kind of social decay familiar from Europe’s migration-driven slums. Hardly a model to be proud of—yet, for WirtschaftsWoche, seemingly the ideal form of postmodern urbanity.
Newsom frequently points to the success of Silicon Valley, the powerhouse of digital innovation. Yet this engine of growth quite literally fell into his lap; he has contributed nothing of substance to enhancing the state’s innovative capacity. Silicon Valley existed before Newsom—and it will exist after him, if necessary in a different location, in new form, after escaping the suffocating grip of bureaucratic overreach. A final word on those Europeans who hope for Trump’s failure: with Newsom and a return of the United States to European climate socialism and mass immigration, capital flight from the EU might temporarily slow. It is entirely possible that European leadership could buy time by pointing to a faltering America. But it would change nothing about Europe’s decline—only delay the inevitable.

“The situation remains fragile: the currently stable ceasefire ends on Wednesday. And negotiations between the United States, Israel, and Iran are entering their final phase.”

“A US withdrawal from NATO would likely also mean a full retreat from the Ukraine conflict. This move would expose both Europe’s fragile finances and its non-existent security infrastructure.”

• Europe’s Hormuz Mission And The Illusion Of Geopolitical Power (Kolbe)

The loss of Europe’s geopolitical power is the defining decline narrative of our time. As Europeans, we are condemned to become unwilling witnesses of continental decay. And in no field of politics does the toxic amalgam of eco-socialism, elite arrogance, and rampant infantilism become more visible than at the level of the European Union. What we are witnessing in Brussels and the leading capitals of the EU are desperate attempts at coordinated foreign policy – and the realization that the cooperation of powerless individual entities does not necessarily lead to better outcomes than bilateral cooperation.

That this realization must have reached the highest circles of European politics could be observed at the end of this week. The four “big ones” – Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy – called for a maritime alliance and the protection of the Strait of Hormuz. Fifty additional states – according to the initiators of this rather peculiar political camouflage – are expected to join the European alliance. Leadership claims are naturally being made by the former maritime powers Britain and France, above all France, whose aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle may stand as the last remaining symbol of Europe’s great naval tradition at the center of these activities – if one can even approach the Persian Gulf at all.
The situation remains fragile: the currently stable ceasefire ends on Wednesday. And negotiations between the United States, Israel, and Iran are entering their final phase. From a European perspective, our assumptions are once again confirmed: the EU and its slowly re-approaching partner the United Kingdom are staging a political cabaret. First came the wait-and-see approach until Americans and Israel had militarily decided the situation. Meanwhile, some NATO members refused cooperation with the United States, only to now, after everything has been decided, attempt to place themselves at the forefront of political forces seeking to guarantee the security of the Strait of Hormuz.
Through constant media overdrive, Starmer, Macron, Meloni, and Merz present themselves as the decision-makers of the moment – it is their harvest time, collecting cheap public dividends. But is that really the case? Do they seriously believe that the majority of Europeans are not fully aware of what is happening? That European power is essentially the product of media magic – permanent propaganda wrapped in moral excess? A shadow of past greatness, reduced to virtual impotence, ultimately dissolving into the very media theatre that we, as embarrassed Europeans, are forced to endure every day.
The German contribution to the mission, as announced by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is predictably modest: mine countermeasure vessels (eight available), one supply ship, and two P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft. No frigates – they are tied up in a NATO deployment in the North Atlantic. Germany does have a defense budget that exceeds all other Europeans by billions, yet even this money appears to vanish into the nirvana of bureaucracy and into the coffers of defense contractors, who are popping champagne corks thanks to the government’s debt-driven spending spree amid multiple conflict scenarios.
As for the possible German contribution. But as said: whether a military deployment will actually take place remains uncertain. Europe is already feeling the consequences of its energy dependency and its eco-socialist policy course, which hit like an icy wind. Yet this does not change the fact that policymakers continue to refuse to acknowledge the geopolitical vacuum, and instead begin trying to piece together diplomatically what they have shattered in recent years – especially in relations with the United States and Russia.
From poker we know: those who repeatedly bluff at the same table with empty hands and are exposed will be dismantled in future rounds. A US withdrawal from NATO would likely also mean a full retreat from the Ukraine conflict. This move would expose both Europe’s fragile finances and its non-existent security infrastructure. The EU faces economic and geopolitical problems it cannot manage alone.

CNN to become pro-Trump.

• What CBS News’ Dinner to Honor Trump Means for the Future of News (Rivera)

On its surface, a dinner in honor of the president of the United States isn’t exactly unusual — except when the president is Donald Trump and the dinner is being planned by one of Hollywood’s major movie studios. For decades now, Hollywood executives have been leading propagandists for far-left political groupthink. TV shows, movies, and even award ceremonies are little more than soapboxes for liberal disinformation. The relatively few creatives who dare openly lean right are often ostracized and left scrambling for work.

But now we have Paramount — led by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle and a staunch supporter of President Trump — who recently purchased CBS News, reportedly planning an invitation-only dinner this month in honor of Trump and CBS News’ White House correspondents. If there’s one thing more important to Tinseltown than adhering to progressive doctrine, it’s their bottom line. That’s why conservatives have reason to cheer Paramount’s latest pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which will result in the company acquiring the HBO Max streaming service, all of Warner Bros. And HBO’s legacy content, and even CNN.
It’s not a stretch to call CNN an enemy of conservatives. The original cable news network has long positioned itself as a champion of the radical left — from its heyday when it was mocked as the Clinton News Network, to the embarrassingly combative shenanigans of “reporter” Jim Acosta during the first Trump administration, to the consistent mocking of Trump supporters by former CNN talk show host Don Lemon (last seen getting arrested for disrupting Christian worship services in Minnesota).
Conservatives long ago created their own successful media channels, allowing them to circumvent liberal-controlled news platforms. But they also remained frustrated over how the legacy media was so corrupted by the far left. That’s why it’s encouraging that David Ellison and Paramount have emerged. A sign of the internal earthquake to come if the Paramount-Warner deal is approved is the panic already rippling through CNN. As the New York Post reports, “CNN staffers are freaking out after learning that their left-leaning network’s owner Warner Bros. Discovery will be acquired by Paramount Skydance — even as insiders confirmed that the new owners plan to take a more politically centrist approach to news.”
Experience demonstrates that “woke” doesn’t sell. Just ask Budweiser, Target, and Cracker Barrel, among plenty of other companies that learned the hard way. When companies try to flaunt their woke bona fides, most Americans drop their brands. It’s telling that even AMC Theatres’ chief executive, Adam Aron, has announced his support for the pending merger. Executives have realized that what’s good for conservatives is good for the entertainment industry’s bottom line.
First, social media and podcasts broke the mainstream media’s monopoly on thought and content. Now, conservatives are assuming control of traditional studios and streaming platforms. With the marketplace of ideas no longer controlled by radical left groupthink, American consumers once again have freedom of choice. Just when it’s needed most, democracy is on the rise.

A long Sundance article that I cut into three pieces.

Trump loves Canada, but not the woke version. Not Trudeau or Carney. “Canada is positioned to be the first nation to discover the expressed power of the U.S. President as affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.”

U.S. media reports are blocked from Canadian social media sites. (I didn’t know that)

• Canada Pushes Closer to the FAFO Threshold (CTH)

Following direct remarks from both Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a triggered Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the U.S. will not be permitted to dictate terms of the USMCA renegotiation, now scheduled for formal talks with Mexico only beginning May 25th. According to the Canadian leadership they do not need the United States in order to maintain their economy. The unfortunate people of Canada are very close to finding out exactly what that level of arrogance delivers.

USTR Jamieson Greer was just in Mexico meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the Mexican trade delegation. Mexico s economy minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Monday that formal negotiations to review the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact, known as the USMCA, are due to begin the week of May 25. Tomorrow and this afternoon we will hear the U.S. side s views. Once that is done, we will move on to the next phase, which is formal negotiations. We expect formal negotiations to begin the week of May 25, Ebrard said following a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Meanwhile Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continues talking to his domestic audience about fighting Donald Trump and refusing to accept any terms that do not meet his current pontifications: It s not a case that the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation, we can come to a mutually successful outcome it will take some time, he continued. In Washington, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said unless Canada engaged in talks about broadening the so-called rules of origin that allow goods to enter the United States tariff-free, Washington might have to impose other border controls.
Meanwhile Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continues talking to his domestic audience about fighting Donald Trump and refusing to accept any terms that do not meet his current pontifications: “It’s not a case that the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation, we can come to a mutually successful outcome – it will take some time,” he continued. In Washington, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said unless Canada engaged in talks about broadening the so-called rules of origin that allow goods to enter the United States tariff-free, Washington might have to impose other border controls. As the rhetoric continues increasing, the possibility of a full block against the import of Canadian goods increases.
It is worth remembering, the recent Supreme Court decision that overturned the IEEPA tariffs also reinforced the unilateral power of the U.S. President to regulate any/all trade with any foreign country including a full block of trade if designated. Canada is positioned to be the first nation to discover the expressed power of the U.S. President as affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. One of the reasons why Canadians are oblivious to the potential collapse of their economy is because U.S. media reports are blocked from Canadian social media sites. One of the infringements within the USMCA is the Canadian Law Bill [C-18, the Online News Act] that blocks information to Canadian citizens that is not supported by the Canadian government.
The people of Canada are stuck inside an Orwellian government constructed echo-chamber unable to hear opposing viewpoints. They simply have no idea what is heading in their direction. Which is incredibly ironic considering how much Mark Carney rails against Russian President Vladimir Putin, yet Canada has more restrictions on information than Russia. Think about it. The need for control is a reaction to fear. This information control dynamic helps to explain why Canadians, in the aggregate, simply do not realize the nature of the trade conflict that has been created by their own government.
Perhaps a full 30-day blockade would help their eyes to open; perhaps not. However, something needs to happen in order for the Canadian people to have time to prepare for the economic collapse soon to fall upon them. On June 1st Jamieson Greer anticipates telling congress that the U.S. intends withdrawal from the USMCA (CUSMA), pending unilateral negotiations with both Canada and Mexico to resolve conflict. Greer described two different protocols within any negotiation to deal with the structural differences between both Canada and Mexico.
Those differences include a completely different import/export profile with each country, different sectors of goods, difference in the wage rates within each country and a structural difference in the way each country is establishing their own, independent free trade agreements with other third-party countries. These baselines form the reason to tell congress of the dissolution, and on July 1st inform both Canada and Mexico about it.
In the interim, the points of conflict are currently being negotiated with Mexico toward resolution. Hence Jamieson Greer in Mexico meeting with officials on Monday and Tuesday.mIt is not just Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer who are publicly warning the Canadian government about what lies at the end of this self-destructive path they have chosen, Deputy USTR Rick Switzer recently also sounded the alarm.

“Canada is helping President Trump remove the congressional justification they could use to block him.”

• In President Trump’s Mind There’s Not Going To Be a USMCA (CTH)

The Canadians have been talking to U.S. media looking for sympathetic ‘Orange man bad’ coverage. However, within the contacts between Canadian government officials and U.S. corporate allies, the sentiment from team Trump is very clear:“The key thing that has struck me, and I think it has struck all Canadians, is so many of these guys in the Trump administration, frankly, they just hate Canada,” said Brian Clow, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s deputy chief of staff who led Canada-U.S. affairs. {source} It’s not hatred, it’s annoyance. Years of compounding parasitic annoyances and sanctimonious, ‘holier-than-thou’ pontifications from the arrogant and uppity Canadian government.

The only time Canada has been honest with themselves and with President Trump was when Justin Trudeau was exiting office and admitted Canada cannot function without all of the one-way benefits it receives from the USA. When President Trump was asked about Prime Minister Mark Carney creating a new trade agreement with China, President Trump responded that he didn’t care – it was irrelevant to him. Yet, simultaneously inside the USMCA President Trump has the power to veto any trade agreement between Mexico or Canada and a non-member nation.
So, why didn’t President Trump care? Easy, because in President Trump’s mind there’s not going to be a USMCA; so, he really doesn’t care if Canada runs to violate it. In real terms, Canada doing bilateral deals with other countries, especially deals potentially detrimental to the USA, only strengthens his position on dissolving the USMCA. If Canada violates the terms and spirit of the USMCA, it makes dispatch of the unliked trade agreement even easier. Canada is helping President Trump remove the congressional justification they could use to block him. If Canada is violating the USMCA (CUSMA), Congress is kneecapped from interference.
Provoking Canada into a trade position, that puts them at a disadvantage trying to stop the dissolution of the CUSMA, stops Congress from opposing the fracture, and then opens the door to a bilateral trade agreement, is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that is entirely controlled by President Donald Trump. Both Canada and Europe are independently, out of necessity, taking action that takes apart the trade and economic system they created. At the core of the old trade system both Canada and Europe were exploiting the USA, exfiltrating wealth and skimming the independent entrepreneurial innovation that originates from within the U.S. economic system.
That necessary exploitation happened because the USA is innovative (freedom-based capitalism), while the CA/EU system is built on government control mechanisms. The CA/EU energy policy is just one impactful example of their pontificating inability to be insightful when it comes to consequences. The EU and Canada are now stuck looking for markets that will do the dirty jobs, provide them with core components, while simultaneously looking for markets for their finished products.
On the other side of the approach is President Trump, working to expand U.S. industrial dirty job capacity, create our own core components, then create finished goods entirely on our own. A complete revitalization of the U.S. industrial and manufacturing base. Our U.S. GDP is currently expected to grow north of 5%. This is not happening by accident.

“The world leaders came because the process to keep USA wealth inside the USA is against their interests. That’s why they came, and that’s why President Trump left.”

• Globalism is a Series of Dependencies (CTH)

SUMMARY: Some people have construed the bilateral trade preference of President Trump to be the elimination of globalism in favor of nationalism in trade agreements. While the outcome of Trump’s approach indeed aligns with that theme, it is not specifically the objective of President Trump to eliminate global trade, but rather to focus on specific interests in trade that benefit the unique nature of each party involved.

Canada can embrace China, and Europe can embrace India; in the bigger picture it really doesn’t matter. These relationships only create dependencies which are the natural outcome of globalism. From President Trump’s position, what really matters is what happens within our borders and how the United States economy is positioned. This is President Trump’s singular focus.
Do you remember President Trump leaving the 2025 G7 meeting in Canada early? The final day invitation list brought Australia, Mexico, Ukraine, South Korea, South Africa, India, the United Nations and the World Bank into the G7. President Donald Trump smartly exited the G7 assembly a day early, he departed before that crowd of interests arrived. The world leaders came because the process to keep USA wealth inside the USA is against their interests. That’s why they came, and that’s why President Trump left.
Globalism, in its economic construct, is a series of dependencies. However, the opposite is also true. If nations are not dependent, they are sovereign – able to exist without the need for support from other nations and systems. If nations are sovereign, then globalism is no longer needed. If each nation of the world is operating according to its individual best interests, the position of Donald Trump, then what happens to the governing elite who set up the system of interdependencies?

“Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche alleged that the SPLC had used “paid operatives within extremist circles to incite and intensify racial tensions..”

• House Panel Orders SPLC to Turn Over Communications With Biden’s DOJ (ET)

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on April 23 gave the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) until April 30 to hand over documents regarding its relationship with the Biden–Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, as part of a federal prosecution of the civil rights group.

In a letter to Bryan Fair, SPLC interim president and chief executive, Jordan wrote that “publicly available documents revealed how the Justice Department partnered closely with the SPLC during the Biden-Harris Administration, including scheduling regular meetings, giving the SPLC early access to federal law-enforcement data, and allowing SPLC employees to train federal prosecutors.” The letter was also posted to social media. The chairman’s demand came two days after a grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, returned an 11-count indictment alleging the SPLC had committed wire fraud, made false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspired to conceal money laundering.
The indictment accuses the SPLC of funneling more than $3 million between 2014 and 2023 to no fewer than eight paid informants in violent racist organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Movement, the National Socialist Party of America, the American Front, and the Aryan Nations-aligned Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club. Prosecutors said the group set up accounts under fictitious names, such as “Fox Photography” and “Rare Books Warehouse” among them, to hide where the money came from.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche alleged that the SPLC had used “paid operatives within extremist circles to incite and intensify racial tensions,” arguing the civil rights organization “fostered the very threats it claimed to fight.” Jordan’s letter tells Fair that the committee is investigating whether the SPLC shaped federal policy during the Biden–Harris years, highlighting a now-withdrawn 2023 FBI Richmond Field Office memorandum, dating back to when Christopher Wray led the bureau, that treated “radical-traditionalist” Catholics as given to violence, citing the SPLC as a source.
The chairman requested that the organization provide by next Thursday all communications with any “field source,” or informant, dating to Jan. 1, 2017. He also asked for communications referring to fictitious entities used to pay any “field source,” also dating to 2017, as well as communications with the DOJ, FBI, and other federal agencies dating to Jan. 20, 2021.Fair said that the organization was “outraged by the false accusations” and will “vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work.” He noted the informant program, since shut down, “saved lives.”
“Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do,” Fair said. The SPLC disclosed the criminal probe ahead of the indictment, noting it faced a DOJ investigation over its use of “paid confidential informants” to infiltrate so-called extremist organizations. The indictment covers almost a decade of alleged misconduct and claims that donors were never told the real reason behind the solicited funds.

More stressed than the people living through the Civil War? My, what a loser.

• I’m Part of America’s ‘Most Stressed’ Generation (Reagan Wilbanks)

My generation is stressed. Overwhelmed by AI-generated content. Uncertain about the future. Lacking meaningful relationships. Those of us in Gen Z—young people ages 14-29—carry a level of stress no one prepared us for. April is Stress Awareness Month, and May is Mental Health Month. Our stress is soaring. Our mental health is struggling. One reputable survey showed that 40% of young people feel stressed or anxious “all or most of the time.” Is there any hope for Gen Z? My generation is earnestly searching for the answer to that question. We’re turning to religious teachings and faith in increasing numbers in our quest for a life of deeper meaning and belonging.

Interest in Christianity is rising on U.S. college campuses and drawing more young Americans to church. We’re not looking for soft sermons or cute videos on the big screen upfront. We crave something real. Something that grabs hold of us and won’t let go. A faith that gives our lives purpose beyond endless scrolling and digital media overload. My generation is pushing back against things that are fake, quickly generated, and automated. Instead, we want real community and belonging. Smaller, more personal connections rather than big brands. I’m hungry for authentic experiences — to feel the breeze on my face, to touch green grass, to know the God who created it all and who also made me.
Are we at the point of no return?
It’s clear that America is bitterly divided. We’re angry. We’re confused. Culturally and spiritually, our nation stands at the point of no return. My generation will decide the tipping point. Which way will we turn? It took a great spiritual awakening to give birth to our country. Now, as America celebrates its 250th birthday this year, I believe we’re on the edge of another great awakening—with my generation at the forefront. Watch this video to learn more: click here.
Pollster George Barna revealed 52% of U.S. teenagers are “very motivated” to learn more about Jesus Christ. Many young Americans are turning to established faith traditions that offer the stability and longevity that we crave. We’re looking for something with roots. We’re looking for a home. We’re also turning to prayer. And this gives me a burst of hope. The next Great Awakening will come when Christ’s followers pray. Humbly. United. In towns and cities from coast-to-coast — a movement of a million believers from Maine to Hawaii asking God to draw a million Americans to faith in Jesus.
This growing movement could change everything. Only God, through a new movement of the Holy Spirit, is able to awaken faith and revive hope across America. My generation — the “most stressed” yet earnest generation — stands at the precipice. Will you be one of the million to pray? Will you join the movement?

What’s happening to personal contact?

• UAE To Move 50% Of Government Services To AI By 2028 (ZH)

Finally a practical use of AI. In a world swimming in debt and overrun by government bloat and corruption, Dubai is taking a big step into the future. On Thursday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced that in two years, 50% of UAE’s government sectors, services, and operations will run on Agentic AI, arguably the best use of the new technology yet. The new “government model” was launched under the directive of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It will make the UAE the first government globally to operate at this scale through autonomous systems.

“AI is no longer a tool. It analyses, decides, executes, and improves in real time. It will become our executive partner to enhance services, accelerate decisions, and raise efficiency,” the Dubai Ruler said in a post on X. “This transformation has a clear timeline. Two years. Performance across government will be measured by speed of adoption, quality of implementation, and mastery of AI in redesigning government work,” he continued. “We are investing in our people. Every federal employee will be trained to master AI, building one of the world’s strongest capabilities in AI-driven government. Implementation will be overseen by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, with a dedicated taskforce chaired by Mohammad Al Gergawi driving execution.
“The world is changing. Technology is accelerating. Our principle remains constant. People come first. Our goal is a government that is faster, more responsive, and more impactful,” Sheikh Mohammed added. nThe project includes a phased implementation across ministries and federal entities, based on continuous performance and impact assessment. This will pave the way for wider rollout, ensuring optimal results across the federal government. Special attention is placed on developing national capabilities by training and empowering government employees to master generative artificial intelligence technologies and their applications. Which of course is reflexive, so in effect government employees are supposed to train their own replacements.
Accroding to Khaleej Times, the move to adopt Agentic AI across government operations builds on 20 years of digital transformation in the UAE’s government, from the early adoption of eGovernment and service digitalization to mobile government and integrated systems such as the UAE Pass identity verification system to full-service redesign and integration, supported by programs such as Government Services 2.0, which introduced proactive, data driven service delivery.
In 2017, the UAE became the first country in the world to appoint a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and launched the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 under the UAE Centennial 2071 vision. The establishment of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications in 2020 further strengthened this direction. The UAE is especially well suited for agentic implementation: the Gulf state has spent more than a decade building digital infrastructure that connects government entities, making it one of the most advanced public service ecosystems globally. Platforms developed under entities such as UAE Government and Digital Dubai already allow residents to access hundreds of services online, from paying fines to registering businesses.
The latest plan shifts the focus from digitizing services to redesigning them, allowing AI systems to manage entire workflows rather than just assisting at specific stages. For residents, this changes the experience from navigating systems to simply requesting outcomes, with the complexity handled behind the scenes. While the progression reflects a broader pattern seen across advanced economies, the UAE is moving faster than most. The first phase involved putting services online, which reduced paperwork and eliminated many in-person visits.
The second phase introduced mobile apps, automation, and AI tools, improving speed and accessibility while still requiring users to manage processes themselves. The next phase moves beyond interfaces, with systems designed to complete tasks independently, meaning the user defines the objective and the system handles execution. Back in the US, a recent attempt through Elon Musk’s DOGE to cut back on government inefficiency and corruption came to an abrupt halt last summer when it became obvious that the deep state would fight to the death (or at least hire assassins to effect the death of others) to prevent any change in the well-paid status quo. Perhaps AI will succeed where everyone else has failed.

“Again, this is all positioned to take on Nvidia ..”

• Google Deepens Anthropic Bet With Up To $40 Billion Investment (ZH)

The AI funding frenzy continues, with Google planning to invest $10 billion in Anthropic at a $350 billion valuation, deepening its relationship with the San Francisco-based AI company best known for building Claude. Bloomberg reports that Google’s deal with Anthropic includes an initial $10 billion investment at a $350 billion valuation, with the potential for another $30 billion if certain performance milestones are achieved. That would bring the potential deal size to as much as $40 billion. Part of the deal includes Google Cloud providing 5 gigawatts of computing capacity to the AI startup, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, including Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, over the next five years. Additional capacity could follow.

Earlier this week, Amazon committed another $5 billion to Anthropic at the same valuation, with the option to invest an additional $20 billion over time. Amazon’s scramble for compute was detailed earlier in a deal with Meta: “Scramble For AI Compute: Meta Inks Multibillion-Dollar Deal With Amazon For CPU Chips”Bloomberg pointed out that the Google-Anthropic deal is an “expansion of an agreement announced earlier this month between Anthropic, Google, and Broadcom.” For Google, the agreement with Anthropic strengthens demand for its cloud services and in-house TPU chips, which have become viable alternatives to Nvidia’s AI chip stack.
Earlier this week, Google unveiled two new chips for the agentic era, including the TPU 8t, designed for training AI models, and the TPU 8i, designed for inference, or running AI services once they are developed and deployed. Again, this is all positioned to take on Nvidia. There has been increased scrutiny around “circular” AI financing since we broke down the math and called it an epic “circle jerk” last fall.

Into the lion’s den.

• China’s DeepSeek Debuts Flagship AI Model As Compute Race Intensifies (ZH)

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has launched a preview version of its long-awaited V4 model, ending months of silence from one of China’s most closely watched AI labs and arriving a year after its R1 release sparked U.S. market turmoil and concerns across Silicon Valley AI firms. The rollout signals that DeepSeek is full steam ahead in the frontier-model race:
https://twitter.com/deepseek_ai/status/2047516922263285776

The open-source model comes in the V4 Flash and V4 Pro series, with DeepSeek saying its V4 “leads all current open models, trailing only Gemini-3.1-Pro.” In terms of reasoning, the startup said it “beats all current open models in Math/STEM/Coding, rivaling top closed-source models.”
https://twitter.com/deepseek_ai/status/2047516926432399791
Counterpoint Research Vice President Neil Shah told CNBC that “DeepSeek’s V4 preview is a serious flex.” According to Counterpoint Principal AI Analyst Wei Sun, V4’s benchmark profile suggests the model could deliver “excellent agent capability at significantly lower cost.” Ivan Su, Senior Equity Analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC that V4’s debut is unlikely to deliver the same market shock as R1 did a little more than a year ago, largely because Wall Street has already priced in the view that Chinese AI can be built and deployed at a lower cost. Goldman analyst Christopher Moniz commented on the market reaction in overnight trading in China, where “GPU and domestic chip stocks rallied after DeepSeek unveiled preview versions of its latest V4 AI model.”
Moniz continued, “News of DeepSeek’s latest AI model created weakness in AI application names – Minimax (100 HK) -9.4% and Knowledge Atlas (2513 HK) -9.1%. Conversely, China domestic chipmakers spiked – HHS (1347 HK) +15.2% and SMIC (981 HK) +10%. Tencent (700 HK) -0.4% on mixed feedback regarding its new Hy3 model release, with locals noting it is less efficient than Minimax M2.7 launched a month ago”One key question is the chip stack behind V4: which chips it was trained on and which hardware it runs on during inference. Huawei has already claimed that its latest AI computing cluster, powered by Ascend AI processors, can support V4, suggesting that Beijing’s domestic AI hardware ecosystem is powering DeepSeek’s ongoing frontier-model push.

He changed when he got rich.

• Bruce Springsteen’s Land of Hope and Dreams No Longer Welcomes All (Perrotta)

The first time I heard Bruce Springsteen play “Land of Hope and Dreams” during his reunion tour of 1999, I nearly wept. Summoning the spirit of Woody Guthrie’s “Bound for Glory” and The Impressions’ gospel-tinged “People Get Ready,” the soul-soaring number evoked America as a train, with “this train” welcoming “saints and sinners,” “losers and winners,” “whores and thieves,” “losers and kings.” All aboard. Nearly 30 years “down the tracks,” Springsteen has launched his “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour.” Except now, instead of “all aboard,” it’s “No MAGA is welcome.”

On what he has openly dubbed a “very political opens in a new tab” tour, Springsteen unleashes a nightly diatribe against what he calls the “corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous”opens in a new tab president, while touting “No Kings.” (As if any tyrannical king would allow a mere musician to call him corrupt and treasonous without being hauled to the tower.) Lost in the huffing is the reality that President Donald Trump was elected by a majority of the American people. Elected by people who see him as a champion against the entrenched powers and global elites who have spent decades running them into the ground. Elected, in fact, by the very people Springsteen has made a king’s ransom writing about.
The people—white, black, yellow, and brown—proud to live in this “American Land,” who wave the American flag … not the communist flags, rainbow flags, and the flags of Hamas seen at No Kings. The blue-collar workers in “Youngstown” whose factories and mills got shut down … that Trump is busting tail to reopen. Trump did not “forget their name.” The oil workers from “Seeds” whose jobs were “gone, gone, gone” … but are now booming, booming, booming thanks to “Drill, baby, drill.” The “Born in the U.S.A.” veterans who’d been abandoned by the nation … but are now a priority rather than sex change operations for soldiers. Those from his “City in Ruins” … whose streets are safer, whose businesses are less burdened, whose children are being rescued from trans ideology and falling test scores.
You could say he’s thrown Mary and Wendy and Madam Marie, even Rosalita, over for the likes of Jane Fonda and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. No, the type of people Springsteen wrote about are no longer welcome in Springsteen’s world—certainly not at his concert tour, even if they could afford the astronomical prices. Like pal former President Barack Obama scoffing at those who cling to their guns and religion, he holds them out to be simpletons manipulated and duped by the evil Orange Man.

Take ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ … Please
It’s no secret Springsteen is a leftist. He railed against nuclear power in the ’70s, Ronald Reagan in the ’80s, performed benefits for radical leftist groups in the ’90s, and spent the Biden years doing podcasts and cruising around in yachts with Obama while “This Hard Land” crumbled and Americans suffered.But what makes his current actions so disappointing is his refusal to play straight. Take, for example, his recent protest song “Streets of Minneapolis.”
The song is a condemnation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a deification of Renée Good—the woman who gunned her car at an ICE agent and lost her life. He wrote and recorded the song immediately after hearing about the incident.nExcept Springsteen didn’t rush to write a “Streets of Chicago” about the innocent 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, recently executed in the Windy City by an illegal immigrant—precisely the kind of illegal immigrant ICE is trying to remove from our country. No “Streets of Fort Myers” for the mother of two, bludgeoned to death with a hammer by an illegal immigrant from Haiti on April 3.
The Boss’s ‘War’ With Himself
Another example: Springsteen’s opening-night concert in Minneapolis began with Barrett Strong’s Vietnam-era anthem “War.” This led to a tirade about the “illegal” and “unconstitutional” war against Iran. Factually untrue—but more to the point, where is Springsteen’s “Streets of Tehran”?
He’s hot and bothered about Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom interfered with and accosted ICE agents, who arguably acted in self-defense, but not a single chord or word for the 30,000 protesters slaughtered like sheep in Iran? Or the surviving protesters who—thanks to Trump—may actually soon hear the “Chimes of Freedom”? (Another cover on the set list.) For that matter, Springsteen wasn’t out there singing “War” when his BFF Obama was bombing Libya for months on end. Or orchestrating an overthrow of the Ukrainian government, which helped lead to the bloody, endless war they’re in today. Or mucking up the Middle East, giving rise to ISIS.
Principle seems to have no role in Springsteen’s public politics. More disappointing, his hypocritical dismissal of a majority of Americans breaks the unspoken promise Springsteen made from the start of his career to “Be True” to his loyal audience. Count me among them.As he sings in “The Promise”: “When the promise is broken, and the truth makes no difference, something in your heart grows cold.”Still, Springsteen built up a Jersey-sized cache of goodwill over his half-century in the spotlight. And while he’s burning through that goodwill like drag racers burn rubber on “the fire roads and the interstate,” one can hope The Boss puts aside the TDS and meet us again in this Land of Hope and Dreams.

Interesting thread https://t.co/RleBg8NKKl
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2026

Correct https://t.co/PzM4iNnDEQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2026

True https://t.co/JJSzsoQEzy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2026

They all work together https://t.co/mXAhhDNgCi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2026

Wow https://t.co/jz66423aDJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2026

The migration problem in countries such as the Netherlands can be summarized as follows:

The state actively and aggressively imports hundreds of thousands of single male migrants annually who are then awarded permanent housing, welfare, and access to free medicine, if not also… pic.twitter.com/0HHQwdzTJf
— Johannes M. Koenraadt (@johannesmkx) April 24, 2026

For the first time ever, the full FLYNN movie is free to watch, and only on X.

Deliver the truth, whatever the cost. That was the mission when we first made this film, and it still remains the mission today. What you are about to watch is not just the story of one general, one… pic.twitter.com/HQquqrl90j
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) April 23, 2026

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Debt Rattle March 14 2026

Mar 142026

March 14, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:15 am Finance Tagged with: Bessent, disfigured, Elon Musk, EV, ICE, islamist, Mamdani, Merz, Newsom, Russia, sec 301, supreme leader, Witkoff, Zelensky 63 Responses »

Paul Cézanne Village derrière des arbres, Île-de-France 1879

• Iran’s New Supreme Leader Wounded, Likely Disfigured, Hegseth (Reuters)

• Mojtaba Khamenei Is Nowhere to Be Seen (Rick Moran)

• There Are Many Who Complain About ICE (Michael A. Letts)

• Sec 301 Trade Investigations Into 16 Economies Including The EU (CTH)

• Witkoff and Kushner Meet Russian Delegation in Florida (CTH)

• Bessent Greenlights Sale Of Russian Oil At Sea To “Promote Stability” (ZH)

• Bessent: “Narrowly Tailored, Short Term Sanction Relief” for Russia (CTH)

• Merz Slams Trump Admin For Temporarily Lifting Russian Oil Sanctions (JTN)

• Nearly 1 Out Of Every 2 Muslims Under 40 Has ‘Islamist’ Attitudes (RMX)

• Order of Battle (James Howard Kunstler)

• Zelensky Plotting Suspending Elections For Years – Media (RT)

• Mamdani’s Wife Worked With Author Who Called Jews ‘Rabid Demons’ (Salgado)

• Ex-Columbia Professor Calls for Violence, Glorifies Murder of Jews (Turley)

• Musk Whips Out ‘Macrohard’ In Disruptive Tesla-xAI Bid (ZH)

• Honda Just Lost Billions on EVs It Can’t Sell (Stephen Green)

• Gavin Newsom Has a ‘Hillary Clinton Problem’ (Robert Spencer)

https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/2032639700196786606?s=20 https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/2032597866611408953?s=20

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was abruptly pulled from a live interview after being told “the President wants you right away.”

After returning, his voice was noticeably shaken. pic.twitter.com/jx5CamFi03
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 13, 2026

He has some info on that which he holds behind.

• Iran’s New Supreme Leader Wounded, Likely Disfigured, Hegseth (Reuters)

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, questioning Khamenei’s ability to govern after nearly two weeks of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. No images have been released of Khamenei since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and wife. The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. His first comments came in a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday. In the statement, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called on neighboring countries to close U.S. bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them. ntinue

“We know the new so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth told a briefing. “Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father – dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy.” An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured but was continuing to operate, after state television described him as war-wounded.
Hegseth was joined by General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a briefing in which they emphasized U.S. military strikes to knock out Iran’s missile and drone capabilities and its navy. ‘NO QUARTER’ During the briefing, Hegseth said that the United States would show no mercy in the war. “We will keep pressing, keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemy,” Hegseth said. “No quarter” is the refusal to spare the life of someone who has expressed their intention to surrender – something prohibited by law. “International humanitarian law prohibits the use of this procedure, that is, ordering that there shall be no survivors, threatening the adversary therewith, or conducting hostilities on this basis,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“The February 28 airstrike that took out Ali Khamenei also killed his wife, his daughter, Mojtada’s wife, Ali Khamenei’s son-in-law, and at least three grandchildren.”

• Mojtaba Khamenei Is Nowhere to Be Seen (Rick Moran)

Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader of Iran, was “elected” Supreme Leader of Iran on March 8. In fact, the Assembly of Experts, the body charged with electing the Supreme Leader, met virtually only once and then only to confirm Mojtaba’s choice as leader. Reports from sources like Iran International indicate that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) applied significant “psychological and political pressure” on the clerics to ensure a quick victory for Mojtaba, aiming for regime continuity during the war. Khamenei the Younger is a cutout, a stand-in for the IRGC. On March 9, the regime held “Allegiance rallies” to “celebrate” Khamenei the Younger’s elevation (installation?) to the Islamic version of the Peacock Throne.

At the rally in Tehran’s Revolutionary Square, a life-sized cardboard cutout of Mojtaba was hauled on stage to be properly venerated. “State media broadcast regime loyalists hailing and swearing allegiance to a cardboard Khamenei,” writes Amit Segal of The Free Press. If that’s not bizarre enough, consider this: the only word we’ve heard from Mojtaba Khamenei was third-hand. The first Official Statement was written only and read by an anchor.mIs Mojtaba Khamenei still alive? The February 28 airstrike that took out Ali Khamenei also killed his wife, his daughter, Mojtada’s wife, Ali Khamenei’s son-in-law, and at least three grandchildren. Mojtaba was injured, according to the official reports, on his legs, hands, and arms.
“At the most critical juncture in the history of the Islamic Republic, its new Supreme Leader is a ghost,” reports WOIN. The fact that Khamenei did not use his own voice in the statement poses a significant problem for intelligence agencies.Even if Tehran eventually releases an audio tape claiming to be Mojtaba, there is almost zero baseline to verify it. He has spent his entire adult life operating in the shadows of the security establishment. In fact, the only publicly known recording of his voice in existence is a brief, years-old, one-minute clip of him telling seminary students that his theology classes were canceled.In today’s AI world, anyone can use an AI software like Elevenlabs and create an entire speech in Khamenei’s voice just for $11 a month.
Audio is the easiest medium to manipulate in the world of AI and a country obsessed with camera and public appearances using audio tapes, is raising suspicions among the experts. And down the rabbit hole we go. “Iranian opposition groups in the diaspora are openly claiming that Mojtaba is actually in a deep coma, being treated in absolute secrecy,” according to the WOIN report. “The theory suggests the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forced the Assembly of Experts to name Mojtaba as leader to maintain a facade of dynastic stability.”If Khamenei is dead or in a coma, who is in charge? The same people who have been in effective control of Iran for the last 30 years: the Revolutionary Guard Corps senior commanders.
Amit Segal writing in The Free Press: “The truth is that even if the conspiracy is false and Khamenei is only suffering from minor leg injuries, that may still be the case. It is far from unheard of for the successor to a powerful dictator to serve primarily as a military figurehead. The regime needs Khamenei to have a pulse, but not much more. In a Freudian slip early in the war, Iran’s foreign minister claimed that the attacks on neighboring states were “not our choice,” indicating that IRGC elements may have acted independently of the government.
The regime’s official narrative is that Khamenei is being kept away from the public for security reasons. Israel has already announced its intention to reunite the son with the deceased father. But if this is truly about security, it is still a dangerous game. There are times when absence increases a leader’s mystique—a regime in crisis is not one of them. Since Khamenei’s election in 1989, the Revolutionary Guard Corps has been aggrandizing power unto itself. They’ve appropriated most of the largest and most profitable businesses, giving pieces of the corporations to favored clerics and military commanders.
Following the death of the Supreme Leader, the Guards really turned the screws on the Assembly of Experts.“The pressure from the Revolutionary Guard to announce Mojtaba Khamenei as his father’s successor as quickly as possible was so intense that the IRGC Intelligence Organization forced several dissenting members of the Assembly of Experts into this choice by threatening them and their family members. Their silence following the selection is likely a result of those same threats,” according to Iran Wire.

“ICE continuously reports progress made across the United States with new arrests every single day – and no, not in a “Gestapo” manner. More like “we know which criminals to track down and arrest” manner. Just look at their track record.”

• There Are Many Who Complain About ICE (Michael A. Letts)

Negative talk about ICE agents these days is very commonplace. Just take a good look at social media and across various news outlets. You’ll see it everywhere. “They’re causing chaos in Minneapolis!” But you know what you don’t see with all this negative talk? What they’re actually doing when it comes to their job.President Donald Trump didn’t put this group together just to spite the American public. He put them together to make a difference and clean up the mess left behind by Joe Biden – that mess being the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants that seeped their way into the United States thanks to his lazy border policies.

And while they all aren’t criminals, a good portion of them all – including a number of child sex offenders. The worst of the worst, if you ask me. After all, these are full-grown men who are going after kids. And abusing them in the most awful way you can imagine. Well, good news, folks. Based on this report, ICE has really cracked down on this particular group of criminals. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston recently arrested 414 criminal illegal aliens charged with child sex offenses of some kind during Trump’s first year in office. That’s nearly twice the amount of similar predators arrested during the final year of the Biden administration, when he was scrambling to make up for his previous years of screw-ups. (Only 211 were arrested at that time.)
“While elected officials and media pundits across the country were zealously trying to manipulate the American public with fake news stories about ICE’s public safety mission, the brave men and women of ICE were quietly going about their business to arrest and remove more than 400 dangerous child predators from our local communities,” ICE ERO Houston acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez noted in a statement. “Thanks to their tireless efforts, parents across southeast Texas can sleep a little better tonight knowing that these pedophiles and child rapists are no longer a threat to their children.”
And keep in mind that this is only one specific city. ICE continuously reports progress made across the United States with new arrests every single day – and no, not in a “Gestapo” manner. More like “we know which criminals to track down and arrest” manner. Just look at their track record. But this is nothing new. Law enforcement officials have always buckled down in the face of criticism and continued doing the job to the best of their ability – even when the tide was turned against them.
This reminds me of several years ago when the “defund the police” campaign kicked off following the death of George Floyd. Because of the act of a certain few, thousands of police officers went through a wave of hatred and unfair restraint at the hands of foolish Democratic officials who felt the need to drain their funds in favor of other programs. And why? Online hatred. But while some of these officers retired or simply didn’t want to deal with such restraints anymore, many persevered. In the face of this newfound hatred, they continued doing their job – and effectively, as such. And because of that, many of these officers remain in the field, continuing to fight for what’s right – despite what’s being said about them.
That’s kind of the point overall here. ICE is facing all sorts of criticism, a majority of it undeserved. But they’re still persistent in getting the job done. As a result of this, over 400 criminals are headed back to their home countries – and, again, this is just from one region of the United States. Imagine the overall effectiveness of the program, which goes into thousands or higher. Say whatever you want about law enforcement officials. It’s your right to have an opinion. Just keep in mind it’s an opinion. The facts are right there. ICE is getting the job done. Police are getting the job done. Anyone can say whatever they want. But remember, actions speak louder than words. Here’s to the actions of our law enforcement officials. Keep going!

Tariffs still.

• Sec 301 Trade Investigations Into 16 Economies Including The EU (CTH)

When the Supreme Court made their ridiculous decision to nullify the import tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) use, the high court noted several alternate approaches would not be legally problematic. One of those approaches would be the use of Section 301 trade tariffs. Yesterday USTR Jamieson Greer quietly announced that a Section 301 review would be taking place for the following countries: China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.” Section 301 tariffs are a trade enforcement mechanism established under the Trade Act of 1974. They allow the U.S. government to impose tariffs on imports from countries that are found to be engaging in unfair

USTR PRESS RELEASE – WASHINGTON — Today, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of investigations regarding the acts, policies, and practices of various economies under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.The investigations will determine whether those acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. The economies subject to these investigations are: China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.
“The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us. Today’s investigations underscore President Trump’s commitment to reshore critical supply chains and create good-paying jobs for American workers across our manufacturing sectors,” said Ambassador Greer.
“The Trump Administration’s reindustrialization efforts continue to face significant challenges due to foreign economies’ structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors. Across numerous sectors, many U.S. trading partners are producing more goods than they can consume domestically. This overproduction displaces existing U.S. domestic production or prevents investment and expansion in U.S. manufacturing production that otherwise would have been brought online. In many sectors, the United States has lost substantial domestic production capacity or has fallen worryingly behind foreign competitors.”
Additionally, Section 232 [Steel and Aluminum examples] of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. §1862, as amended) authorizes the President to impose trade restrictions—such as a tariff or quota—if the Secretary of Commerce determines, following an investigation, that imports of a good “threaten to impair” U.S. national security. Section 232 is currently covering all the steel and aluminum import tariffs. Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the U.S. president to impose tariffs of up to 15% to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits. This authority can be exercised without prior congressional approval for a limited duration of 150 days. After this period, any tariffs must be extended by Congress.
Section 122 has already been deployed to retain the “baseline reciprocity tariffs.” USTR Greer is now walking through the process of deploying Section 301 and will eventually become the legal underpinning to replace Section 122 and retain all tariff status without congressional extension needed. Most of this is technical and legal compliance as several of the aforementioned nations have already finalized free trade agreements.

A very practical meeting. In the same way that sanctions are unpractical.

• Witkoff and Kushner Meet Russian Delegation in Florida (CTH)

The fact that Team Russia and Team USA would be discussing a strategic economic alliance on the issue of energy is not a surprise to those who watched both President Putin and President Trump outline that same content discussion in Alaska last August. However, given the current conflict with Iran and the escalating oil price issue, Russia and the USA discussing Russian oil capacity and U.S. sanctions therein takes on a new angle.

It has been obvious that domestic U.S. politics, in combination with the Russia-Ukraine war, has impeded President Trump from organizing a strategic reset with Russia pulling away from historic conflicts. However, CTH is also clear-eyed on the longer-term ramifications for Eastern Europe when contrast with Putin’s ambitions to fix what he perceives as prior Russian Federation mistakes regarding the West (more on that at the end). As noted in social media exchanges from Witkoff and Dmitriev, the discussion was productive.

All indications of this meeting give the appearance of less focus on progress in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and a higher focus on current economic conditions -created by the Iran conflict- that could be enhanced with cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. According to Kirill Dmitriev, Russian special presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and director general of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), relayed through the Russian News Agency (TASS), “he visited the US upon orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, taking part in a meeting of the heads of a working group on economic cooperation between the two countries.”
According to the envoy, the meeting addressed both promising projects that can help restore Russia-US relations and the current crisis on global energy markets. The US is becoming increasingly aware of the role of Russian oil and gas in ensuing the stability of the world economy, as well as of the [in]effectiveness of sanctions against Russia, Dmitriev said after the meeting. “We discussed promising projects that could contribute to the restoration of Russian-American relations and the current crisis on global energy markets,” Dmitriev also wrote in a Telegram post. “Today, many countries, primarily the United States, are beginning to better understand the key, systemic role of Russian oil and gas in ensuring the stability of the global economy, as well as the ineffectiveness and destructive nature of sanctions against Russia.”
With the strong likelihood that Russia’s restart of their flagship LNG terminal Arctic-2 was directly related to the August summit in Alaska {SEE HERE}, there is already a baseline established for strategic cooperation President Trump would have no problem with Russia introducing millions of barrels of oil into the global market given the issues created by conflict in/around the Strait of Hormuz. However, obviously the issues for streamlined Russia oil exports surround (1) preexisting sanctions, (2) domestic U.S. anti-Russia politics and (3) the political and economic position of the anti-Russia European Commission leadership.
As we previously outlined with the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) benefit, Russia previously extracted, liquified and pumped massive amounts of LNG into floating storage platforms from Arctic-2. Those LNG supplies doubled and tripled in value in a few days once Qatar shut down their production facilities and are now being sold to various Asian countries.
Europe has a massive energy problem with severely low LNG storage rates and now a shortage of oil, with EU gasoline prices rising much higher & faster than the rest of the world. Europe is facing a severe energy crisis overall and now their preexisting economic troubles are being amplified. More than ever Europe needs the Russian oil/gas, but ridged ideologues will never compromise on their anti-Russia position. They have even steeper sanctions against Russian oil/gas scheduled to trigger at the end of this month. It will be interesting to see how President Trump navigates the potential benefit from Russian energy products into the global market against the backdrop of all the geopolitical angst and political opposition against Russia.
[..] Here’s where/why Trump is being careful and pragmatic. President Trump doesn’t want to see an outcome where Russia is eventually stronger than Europe. There’s not enough frictionless history between the USA and Russia to trust Putin when he says the Federation has no plan to expand into Europe. The USA can/should be strategic allies with Russia. However, it would be much better if a strong Europe existed at the same time. Hence, Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio continuing to emphasize that Europe needs to stop cowering in politically correct wokeness. The EU is destroying itself at the same time Russia is getting stronger.
.

Last point, the Lyndon LaRouche team, Promethean Action PAC, are very happy with the ongoing fracture of the USA away from the UK/EU group. However, be cautious around Political Action Committees who say, “President Trump needs people to understand what he is doing” and we are here as his official policy interpreters.
Remember, President Trump doesn’t need policy interpreters.

In the global market.

• Bessent Greenlights Sale Of Russian Oil At Sea To “Promote Stability” (ZH)

In a statement late Thursday on X, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the U.S. will allow countries to purchase Russian crude oil already at sea. The move aims to temporarily boost global supply availability, as the IEA warned earlier that the Middle East conflict has sparked one of the worst energy shocks on record. “To increase the global reach of existing supply, @USTreasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,” Bessent said.He continued, “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”

.@POTUS is taking decisive steps to promote stability in global energy markets and working to keep prices low as we address the threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime.

To increase the global reach of existing supply, @USTreasury is providing a temporary…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) March 12, 2026

UBS analyst Nana Antiedu told clients earlier this morning that about 124 million barrels of Russian-origin oil were at sea across 30 locations worldwide. More specifically, Bloomberg analysts said about 30 Russian tankers are in Asian waters and may be available for purchase. These tankers carry about 19 million barrels of Russian crude and 310,000 tons of refined products. Bloomberg data show these Russian tankers are signaling “for orders” or, in other words, have no clear destination yet. They could be unloaded in Singapore or Malaysia.
Robert Rennie, head of commodity research at Westpac Banking, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, “Of course, any supply helps, but this is a smaller help than it looks.”Rennie estimated that of the 125 million to 150 million barrels of Russian crude on the water, about a third is off China and is likely to end up in storage, while 30 million to 40 million barrels are in India and are likely to be consumed there. Rennie said the rest is in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. “We are only really talking about replacing maybe four or five days of lost Gulf exports. Sure, it helps, but it is no panacea,” he added. Bessent’s office also issued India a 30-day waiver at the beginning of the month so that New Delhi could buy Russian oil at sea to build reserves and cushion against an oil shock.
Brent crude futures are largely unchanged from when Bessent posted on X overnight. President Trump said the U.S. has “plenty of time” in the Iran war. Brent hovers around $100/bbl as of 0630 ET. The Trump administration has taken several steps to combat triple-digit Brent and WTI prices, including the planned release of 172 million barrels from the U.S. SPR. The release is part of a much larger 400-million-barrel SPR dump worldwide, agreed upon by the 32-nation IEA. This comes as the IEA warned about the worst-ever energy shock to hit the world. Also, the Trump administration is waiving a century-old law that requires U.S. ships to transport goods between American ports, so that domestic supplies can be shifted around more quickly.

Relief at the pump.

• Bessent: “Narrowly Tailored, Short Term Sanction Relief” for Russia (CTH)

President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are facing mounting criticism for creating a window for Russia to sell oil and gas to the global market via “narrowly tailored, short-term” sanction relief. However, few people are putting the issue into context, and the background here is exceptionally interesting. According to the terms announced by Secretary Bessent, the license to sell applies solely to Russian crude or petroleum products loaded onto vessels as of March 12 and is valid through midnight Washington time on April 11.

The sanction relief license to sell will be done in globally recognized petrodollars and applies only to preexisting oil and petroleum products that are already in transit at sea. However, here’s where it gets very interesting and the ramifications are significant. Immediately following the Alaska summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump, Russia restarted Arctic-2 LNG terminals and began increasing oil production for storage on ‘floating platforms.’ President Trump met with Putin on August 15, 2025, and the curious increase in Russian production began on August 18, 2025. In the past six months Russia has been pumping sanctioned oil and gas and storing it on ships and mobile sea platforms, seemingly (at the time) with no customers.
Suddenly, against the background of the Iran conflict, all of that previously stored ‘on the water‘ production, now worth double, is authorized for global sale (in petrodollars). Either Russian President Putin is the luckiest guy in the world, or Russia knew something. In 2025 what Russia did following the Alaska summit did not make sense; now it does and the ramifications are stunning.President Trump was looking for a way to organize a strategic partnership with Russia on the issue of energy production but was hampered by the preexisting sanction regime and strong opposition from domestic and international politics. The ‘coincidental’ timing’ of Trump meeting with Putin and then subsequently Russia producing massive amounts of oil and gas for storage on the water suddenly starts to take on an entirely new light.
Did Putin know something was coming, something that would eventually make the Russian over production and ‘on the sea’ storage worth billions. The implications here are quite remarkable; however, they simultaneously explain most of the behaviors since the Iran confrontation began. Media reports highlight that Vladimir Putin was asked about a previous joint agreement for military support between Iran and Russia and why Russia did not respond when Iran was attacked. Foreknowledge would explain that reaction. Additionally, the Russian Federation president never responded to the Trump operation to take down Venezuelan dictator Maduro and seize control over Venezuela’s oil production.
If there was some discussion inferring that a ‘limited sanction relief’ protocol might be possible, that would explain why Russia began storing oil and gas at sea. This fact pattern would also indicate that President Trump’s decision toward Iran was made at least six months ago, with a set of geopolitical events planned between the Alaska summit and the eventual confrontation with Iran. TIMELINE: Trump and Putin meet. Three days later Russia begins pumping oil/gas and storing it at sea. President Trump then triggers the Venezuela western hemisphere security operation; Russia stays silent. President Trump then triggers the confrontation with Iran; Russia rejects involvement. And then two weeks after the Iran confrontation begins, Trump removes sanctions on Russian oil/gas “in transit” at sea.
Suddenly all of the Russian produced and stored product ‘on the water’ has greater value and new customers. Just a coincidence? No way. The United States needs the oil/gas market stability that Russia can provide. Venezuela was/is to Trump as Ukraine was/is to Putin. We’ll keep watching. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Merz doesn’t mind if gas is $3,00. Beating Russia is what counts.

• Merz Slams Trump Admin For Temporarily Lifting Russian Oil Sanctions (JTN)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday fumed over the White House’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil amid the ongoing Iran war, warning that it would bolster the Russian war effort against Ukraine. “We think that’s wrong,” he said, according to Politico. “There is currently a price problem, but not a supply problem. And in that regard, I would like to know what other factors led the U.S. government to make this decision.” “We want to ensure that Russia does not exploit the war in Iran to weaken Ukraine,” Merz said. “Nor will we allow Moscow to test NATO on its eastern flank and up here in the north.”

Merz made the remarks during a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minster Jonas Gahr Støre. The German chancellor was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, both of whom shared his sentiments. The administration lifted sanctions on Russian oil this month on a temporary basis. As of press time, Brent crude oil stood just shy of $100.00 per barrel.

“This study should set off all the alarm bells. It is a societal time bomb. We must not only talk about migration, but also about integration and religion”

• Nearly 1 Out Of Every 2 Muslims Under 40 Has ‘Islamist’ Attitudes (RMX)

A newly released study by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), nearly 50 percent of Muslims under the age of 40 in Germany hold “Islamist” views, with these Muslims expressing an attraction to Islamism, a preference for Sharia law over the German Basic Law, and harboring anti-Semitic prejudices. The findings, described as “explosive in nature,” were featured in the latest edition of the “Motra Monitor.” The study reports that as of 2025, Muslims in Germany under the age of 40 (45.1 percent) hold “latent or manifestly Islamist attitudes.“ Some German politicians have already voiced their views on the study’s release. Wolfgang Kubicki, a prominent politician in the Free Democrats (FDP) and former MP, stated on X:

“This study should set off all the alarm bells. It is a societal time bomb. We must not only talk about migration, but also about integration and religion. The policy of naively looking away has favored this development. The naivety must stop.” He further stated that “anyone who demands a caliphate is an enemy of democracy. Enemies of democracy without German citizenship must leave the country. Neighborhoods where ghettoization provides fertile ground for radicalization must be restructured. Islamic associations without a clear demarcation from extremists must not be interlocutors for politics. Germany must act secular and self-confident.” He further called for an end to headscarves in schools and other state institutions “not to harass or suspect the wearers, but to make it clear that the only binding source of our values is the Basic Law.”

Bei dieser Studie müssen alle Alarmglocken angehen. Das ist eine gesellschaftliche Zeitbombe. Wir dürfen nicht nur über Migration reden, sondern auch über Integration und Religion. Die Politik des naiven Wegsehens hat diese Entwicklung begünstigt. Die Naivität muss aufhören.
Wer… pic.twitter.com/h7rvl4GjbQ
— Wolfgang Kubicki (@KubickiWo) March 12, 2026

Beyond rising crime rates, terrorism offenses, and demographic change, the soaring numbers of Muslims in Europe also raise fundamental questions about worldview and society.mThe “Motra monitor,” a monitoring system tracking radicalization, spans 598 pages. It is published by the BKA and receives funding from several entities, including the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Family Affairs. While the report addresses various forms of extremism, including right-wing movements, it places a significant focus on Islamist extremism.
Evidence of these tensions surfaced in the summer of 2025 when “young Muslims and radical left-wing Germans occupied the Gutenberg Memorial in Frankfurt to demonstrate against Israel, some of them willing to use violence.“ The study’s researchers highlight a concerning core demographic, noting that “manifest Islamist attitudes are most prevalent among Muslims under 40, at 11.5 percent.“

“History doesn’t move in straight lines. What looks like stagnation can be prelude. Let’s not lose hope.” —RVassil on X

• Order of Battle (James Howard Kunstler)

Don’t lose your shit over mines in the Strait of Hormuz and the oil price shooting up. Iran has many thousands of mines. But something has to lay them out in the water. Iran has no more naval ships. They have small boats. The US can see everything moving on the surface, or sitting at docks. We are blowing them up methodically. The news outlets who want the US to fail in this operation (because: Trump) want you to think that we had no plan for dealing with this problem. That’s not so.

There are very few mines actually laid so far. Tankers are not going through the Strait of Hormuz because their captains are nervous. Their ships and their cargos are worth millions and the insurance costs millions. So, they’re waiting in place, hanging back. The US still has work to do destroying Iran’s shoreline defenses of missile and drone launch sites. Iran is firing all they’ve got left. Whenever they launch something, we see the geo-location on our satellites and radars. The mobile launchers are a little trickier because, obviously, they shoot and move. But they don’t always move fast enough, and there isn’t an endless supply of them.
The US Navy decommissioned its four Avenger-class minesweeper ships in the Persian Gulf in September, 2025, but replaced them with more agile Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) capable of countering submarines and clearing mines. Two LCS ships — USS Santa Barbara and USS Canberra — quietly deployed in March 2025. An LCS uses an Airborne Laser Mine Detection System and an Airborne Mine Neutralization System via helicopter. In the water, it uses mine-hunting sonar and the Unmanned Influence Sweep System — all operated from unmanned surface vessels. The unmanned sweep vehicle triggers magnetic, acoustic, or combination mines, with the LCS at a safe distance.
The LCS vessels are armed with an 11-cell SeaRAM launcher for point defense that fires Rolling Airframe Missiles — fast, radar-guided missiles designed to knock down incoming anti-ship missiles and drones at short range. They also carry Longbow Hellfire missiles with updated software and hardware specifically to counter drones. The Longbow Hellfire uses radar-guided technology enabling it to engage targets through battlefield clutter, with a range of up to eight kilometers — giving the LCS the ability to engage drones before they get close. The LCS ships will be accompanied by Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with Aegis and full missile defense suites for protection against the full spectrum of Iranian threats.
The oil markets are extremely sensitive to any changes in the oil environment, and war induces the most extreme changes. Even outside of war, weird things happen. April 20, 2020, was the apex of Covid-19 paranoia when everyday life was shutting down all over Western Civ. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures — specifically the May 2020 contract, which was expiring the very next day — crashed to an historic low of negative $37.63 per barrel. That is, sellers were literally paying buyers to take oil off their hands. By the following day, April 21, prices had rebounded back into positive territory, though still at very depressed levels around $10–$15 per barrel.
The current situation with oil in the $100 range is not going to be a one-day event, but it won’t last forever, either, so do your deep-breathing exercises and calm down. Of course, in America right now, a seditious news media will take every opportunity to induce exquisite anxiety in the public-at-large to deflect from the order-of-battle that President DJT is carrying out to 1) improve America’s geopolitical position and relations, and 2) to defeat the forces both external and domestic that seek to wreck the country.
Which is why you might see that the next move in the order of battle will be against the wrecking crew in our own country, including the political figures behind the decade-long conspiracy to undermine the president, the administrative rogues running the “resistance” in government agencies, the Lawfare ninjas queering the justice system, and the big money that funds the hundreds of NGOs attempting to instigate a color revolution here. I have visions of perp walks and indictments coming in on the zephyrs of spring.
It looks just now like Majority Leader John Thune and his RINO herd will trample the SAVE Act (election reform) into failure. But consider that Mr. Trump’s FBI has had more than a month to analyze the Fulton County, Georgia, ballot evidence from the 2020 election (while only last week it seized the Maricopa County, AZ, records, and for all we know the agency also has 2020 ballot evidence from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada, too). So, prepare for the public to be shocked and amazed at what has been discovered, and expect to see a sharp attitude change among embarrassed US Senators who will be compelled to come on-board for election reform.
Somewhere in all that, you might expect Cuba to fall — a momentous event, actually, considering the cumulative mischief Cuba’s government has provoked all over the western hemisphere since 1958. We don’t even have to do anything to make it happen, just respond in the aftermath with emergency food and fuel relief, and perhaps some help averting the vengeful slaughter of the old Castro governing network. We don’t want a bloodbath there.

“Ukraine is facing a “financial catastrophe” that could halt its war effort and collapse the economy..”:

Got to feed the ever growing hunger for money.

• Zelensky Plotting Suspending Elections For Years – Media (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky has ordered his advisers to plot out a scenario where elections in Ukraine are suspended and the country commits to years of war, Ukrainskaya Pravda has reported, citing government sources. The tenure of Zelensky and of the Ukrainian parliament has long expired, but the Ukrainian leader has refused to hold elections since early 2024, citing martial law imposed amid the conflict with Russia. The situation has prompted international concerns over the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government, particularly from Moscow, which has repeatedly questioned Zelensky’s authority and suggested he may not be in a position to sign any peace agreement should a deal ultimately be reached.

Ukraine’s European backers want Kiev to continue fighting for up to two more years, though the country is facing a “financial catastrophe” that will consume not only its war budget but also its economy as a whole, the newspaper reported on Thursday. “The Europeans said: ‘Fight for another year and a half or two. We will give you money.’ Under their influence, [Vladimir] Zelensky gave the task to the political leadership to develop a plan to hold off elections in Ukraine for several more years and how the parliament will work in such circumstances,” an anonymous source from Zelensky’s administration told the outlet.
The risk of Kiev running out of cash has been growing rapidly. With a proposed €90 billion ($105 billion) EU emergency loan remaining blocked by Hungary, growing dissent within the Ukrainian parliament has slowed down the adoption of measures needed to receive funding from the International Monetary Fund, the newspaper warned on Thursday. The EU emergency funding scheme ended up derailed amid the oil standoff between Ukraine and Hungary and Slovakia. In late January, Kiev halted the Druzhba pipeline, which used to carry Russian crude to the two EU nations, citing alleged damage to the artery. While Moscow has denied attacking the pipeline, Budapest and Bratislava have accused Kiev of deliberately disrupting supplies for political reasons. Hungary has vetoed the €90 billion loan in retaliation, while Slovakia warned it could opt to block the proposed package as well.

Muslims vs jews in Christian territory.

• Mamdani’s Wife Worked With Author Who Called Jews ‘Rabid Demons’ (Salgado)

New York socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife is already in the midst of a scandal about her jihad-aligned views after she was caught liking and promoting posts about Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre online, but it turns out she also translates that virulent antisemitism into her “art.” Rama Duwaji Mamdani is an artist, but in the socialist trend that all art is politics. One of the works she provided a leading graphic for was an essay by Susan Abulhawa called “A Trail of Soap.” Abulhawa has repeatedly issued the most outrageous accusations against and labels of Jews, including an unhinged rant about “Jewish supremacist vampires.” Abulhawa also claimed she wanted to vomit every time she hears the Hebrew language, and insanely argued, “Most of the people killed on October 7 were actually killed by Israel.”

Abulhawa further referred to Oct. 7, when Palestinian terrorists filmed themselves massacring families, raping women to death, and laughing as they gunned down civilians, as a “preemptive strike” after “seven decades of provocation.” Last year, again referring to the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, she raved: To any reporter who thinks to ask me about October 7, go to hell and don’t bother to contact me or my agent. I do not worship at the alter of October 7. I do not worship at the altar of the WWII holocaust. I do not worship at the alter of Jewishness, antisemitism, or any other penance imposed by zionists on the world. Zionism is a disease of jewish supremacy that rots your brain and dulls even minimal critical thinking skills.
It is people like Abulhawa who fuel real-world violence and the massive rise in antisemitic attacks ever since Oct. 7, 2023. As important context, God granted Israel as a “perpetual possession” (Genesis 17:8) to the Jewish people more than a millennium before Islam was even invented or the Arabs first conquered Jerusalem. The reestablishment of Israel in the modern era was exceptionally legal, and yet Muslims have been waging almost incessant war against Israel ever since then. Despite the constant Jihad, Israel has generously given land grants to the Muslim Arabs, including Gaza and Bethlehem, land which the Muslims have immediately turned into hotspots of terrorist activity. There has never been a state of Palestine in history, and Muslims in the modern day have been refusing offers of a state for decades, because they don’t want their own state (they already have 50 nations), they want to destroy Israel. Abulhawa is as dishonest as she is vicious.
There are numerous posts on Abulhawa’s X feed referring to Jews as “parasites,” which seems to be her favorite go-to insult. For example, she re-shared a video asserting that groups of Israelis were moving into Gaza to capitalize on genocide (there was no genocide in Gaza; the only attempted genocide was on October 7). “F*****g parasites on this planet. I want to puke every time I hear that fake language pretending to be Hebrew, without a trace of Semitic sounds, rejoicing in carnage, trying to get their greedy grubby hands on more of what does not belong to them. There’s something horribly wrong with these people,” Abulhawa spat. In another post, she called Israelis “soulless parasites.”
In February, she reposted a clip of Congress welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a claim that almost every member of the United States government is either Jewish or married to a Jew. Abulhawa screeched, “the whole world is zionist occupied, except Palestine. They’ve stolen our land and home and heritage, but we’ve at least kept our dignity, refusing to submit to these parasites on earth.” Apparently, burning Jewish babies to death is maintaining dignity — who knew?
In January, Abulhawa shared a completely unconfirmed report that Israeli soldiers had murdered a mother and daughter. Abulhawa gibbered, “they are demons on this earth. virulent parasites who suck the lifeblood from others, not even for their own survival, but for their sadistic amusement.”I could provide dozens more examples from Abulhawa’s X feed of the most vile antisemitic rhetoric (see more above, found by Jon Levine), but I think the point is clear, which is that Abulhawa is a pro-genocide Jew-hater, and Mamdani’s wife created artwork for one of her essays. If you can know a person by the friends he or she keeps, then Rama Duwaji Mamdani has some serious explaining to do.

Go home.

• Ex-Columbia Professor Calls for Violence, Glorifies Murder of Jews (Turley)

Professor Muhammad Abdou, who until recently taught students at Columbia University, appeared online this week to spread calls for religious-based violence and glorify the murder of Jews. He did so as part of an event at the Union Theological Seminary, an institution associated with Columbia. While the university recently ended Abdou’s teaching, it is important to remember that this unhinged fanatic was previously chosen by Columbia faculty and administrators to teach their students. Those individuals remain at Columbia, and Abdou is just the latest example of the radical chic of higher education.

The Islamic studies scholar called on students to “be a threat” as part of the event titled “Death to the Akademy: How to be a thorn in their throat amidst snakes in the grass.” Teachers in higher education are often called “the academy.” According to a video on X from Manhattan Institute investigative analyst Stu Smith, the talk involved deeply disturbing and hateful comments.
Abdou told the students: “Let us engage in jihad, and there are rules for jihad, and Muslims know that Allah has commanded rules. We don’t engage in wanton violence, but we don’t accept the negative peace either.” One of the most chilling moments came when he praised Elias Rodriguez, the man facing multiple charges for the murder of a young Jewish couple. In what Abdou called the “assassination of two Zionists,” Rodriguez is accused of murdering Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, the two Israeli employees in 2025 in Washington.
Abdou does not discuss how this young couple dreamed of a life together or sought to bridge religious divides. They are just a couple of “Zionists” in his eyes. He then reportedly praised their accused killer: “God bless him. He took action. … Take action. Not only that kind of action, just to be very clear, because there’s also building. We need to destroy. We need to create alternatives.” The seminary stopped his in-person appearance, which led to condemnations from student groups. In an Instagram post, Queer Muslims NYC accused the seminary of “flagrant Islamophobia and utter disregard for Muslim students.” However, they claimed that the union continued to support the event with a virtual component.
This video is reminiscent of the speech of other radical faculty like Cornell Professor Russell Rickford, who celebrated the massacre in Israel on Oct. 7th. Their extremism was not a barrier to being hired. It was likely an enhancement. They are examples of why faculty members are unlikely to change the overwhelmingly liberal appointments. Conservatives and libertarians have been largely purged from most departments. While even a moderately conservative faculty candidate will often face organized opposition, radicals like Abdou and Rickford find an eager audience on faculties.
I encourage you to watch this video. This is the man who was interviewed and selected by faculty and administrators, not just at Columbia but at Cornell University and the University of Toronto. He was appointed as the Arcapita Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s Middle-Eastern, South Asian and African Studies (MESAAS) Program at the Middle-East Institute. He was also a Postdoctoral Fellow/Visiting Scholar at Cornell.
According to his bio, “he is a self-identifying Muslim anarchist and diasporic settler of color.” His credentials include “his organizing towards BIPOC and Palestinian liberation and involvement with post-anti-Globalization Seattle 1999 movements.”That appears to be the perfect resume for someone who wants to teach at leading universities. Those faculty and administrators are still at these institutions, and so is the radical culture that has taken hold of higher education in the United States. What is most striking about this video is how Abdou offers just pure hate. There is no discernible intellectual content or insight. Just rage masquerading as scholarship.

Keeping busy.

• Musk Whips Out ‘Macrohard’ In Disruptive Tesla-xAI Bid (ZH)

Elon Musk on Wednesday announced a joint project between Tesla and his AI startup xAI, which he dubbed “Macrohard” or “Digital Optimus” that can ‘basically automate entire companies’ by observing and intelligently simulating their functions. The way it works, per a Wednesday post on X: “Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse actions. Grok is like a much more advanced and sophisticated version of turn-by-turn navigation software.”

So Digital Optimus is the ‘instinct’ while Grok is the ‘thinking part of the mind’ according to Musk. The setup will run “very competitively on the super low cost Tesla AI4 ($650) paired with relatively frugal use of the much more expensive xAI Nvidia hardware,” and “will be the only real-time smart AI system. “In principle, it is capable of emulating the function of entire companies. That is why the program is called MACROHARD, a funny reference to Microsoft.” -Elon Musk.It gets even more wild; Musk says it works “in all AI4-equipped cars, so your car can do office work for you when not driving,” and he will deploy millions of dedicated Digital Optimus units at Supercharger stations.

Oh and it works in all AI4-equipped cars, so your car can do office work for you when not driving.

We’re also deploying millions of dedicated Digital Optimus units in the field at Superchargers where we have ~7 gigawatts of available power.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2026
Grok itself suggested 10 use cases;
1. Auto data entry from invoices/docs.
2. Real-time code fix from error messages.
3. Deal hunting while shopping online.
4. Contextual email response generation.
5. Seamless enterprise software ops.
6. Auto video edits from timeline.
7. Live stock trade execution.
8. Tutorial step automation.
9. Instant security threat spotting.
10. Entire company workflow emulation.

According to Musk, Digital Optimus will be ready to rock in 6 months. xAI was acquired by SpaceX last month in an all-stock deal that valued the rocket maker at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion, which comes ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO later this year.

All carmakers obeyed politics and lose. Except for Toyota, which didn’t jump in head first. And Tesla.

• Honda Just Lost Billions on EVs It Can’t Sell (Stephen Green)

Japanese automaker Honda just cancelled the production of three planned made-in-the-U.S.A. electric cars, including the 0-Series SUV, the 0-Series Saloon, and the Acura RSX — and the company says it will write off massive losses as a result. Still, better than building EVs nobody wants to buy. The company said the EVs had to go to avoid future losses, complaining about the “current business environment where the demand for EVs is declining significantly.” I follow these things, and I’d somehow never even heard of Honda’s 0-Series vehicles — assuredly for “zero emissions” — introduced at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and were supposed to go on sale in the U.S. later this year.

The company’s 0-Series English-language and Japanese brag sheets are still up on the Honda website, for whatever that’s worth. Honda blamed U.S. tariffs (I’ll come back to those in a moment), the “volatile policy environment surrounding EV incentives,” (as Car and Driver put it), fossil fuel regulations, and changing consumer priorities in China. Honda says total write-downs could total $15.8 billion. While the epic losses won’t all come at once, Honda says it expects to lose between $2 billion and $3.5 billion in the current fiscal year, ending this month. According to Financial Times, that’s Honda’s first-ever annual recorded loss since going public 50 years ago.
What’s maybe most impressive about losing nearly [dr_evil_voice] SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS [/dr_evil_voice] on EVs is that Honda didn’t even try that hard, at least not compared to certain other automakers I could name — and am about to. GM said in January that it would suffer $7.6 billion worth of write-downs on its overblown EV plans, and in December, Ford announced a $19.5 billion write-down on its EV investments. That’s one of the largest in history. Europe-based Stellantis took one look at Ford’s losses and said, “Hold my beer.” Headquartered in the Netherlands, the Euro-giant also owns the old Chrysler Group brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep.
Despite Europe offering even bigger subsidies and stricter mandates for EVs than this country does, Stellantis last month announced a whopping $26.6 billion in EV losses. Then there’s fussy old Toyota, which remained largely focused on hybrids and fuel-efficient ICE vehicles. That company seems to be doing just fine. American tariffs might have complicated Honda’s poor planning, but as you can see, they weren’t primarily to blame. Those same tariffs were supposed to help GM and Ford sell their cars — including EVs — but American EV makers took their lumps, too.
The real culprit here, of course, is Big Government. Washington, Brussels, and Beijing went all-in on subsidizing and even mandating a market into existence — a market that there simply wasn’t enough demand to serve. Not even with all the subsidies and mandates. So automakers retooled manufacturing facilities, built massive battery factories, and designed EVs (and pricy software to run them) from the ground up. Now they have to throw out some of the designs, scale back the battery production, and re-retool the plants.
Thanks, Big Government!

Newsom is a good sign the Dems don’t have anyone.

• Gavin Newsom Has a ‘Hillary Clinton Problem’ (Robert Spencer)

The destroyer of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, wants very, very much to be president of the United States, and if he ever attains his goal, he will do to the entire country what he has done to California. That’s why all reasonable Americans who value the nation as a relatively economically stable and free society should be deeply alarmed at the prospect of a Newsom presidency. Newsom is such a bad candidate that even some leftists are alarmed, albeit not for the same reasons that patriots are. On the left, the concern is that Gavin has a “Hillary Clinton problem.”

The term “Hillary Clinton problem” could refer to so very many difficulties and categories of difficulties that it veritably boggles the mind. Did Newsom use a private email server to conceal government business from watchdogs? Did he abandon our people to jihadis at Benghazi and then lie about it? Does Newsom intend, after losing (as all patriots hope) the 2028 presidential election, to frame his victorious opponent for collusion with Russia? Does Newsom have reputation for lamp-throwing temper tantrums? Do Newsom’s enemies have strange suicidal tendencies?
In this case, the “Hillary Clinton problem” phrase comes from MS NOW host Chris Hayes, who said: “I think Newsom has the Hillary Clinton problem, which is that Hillary Clinton was perceived outside of the Democratic Party and Democratic coalition as the ultimate lib, the libiest lib who ever lived, and was never actually like that much of a lib. It was like — and also had a record that was fairly centrist, particularly as a U.S. senator.”
Oh, good grief. Hayes is trying to sell Newsom – and Hillary Clinton — as centrists? They may be centrists if Chairman Mao is at one end of the spectrum and Uncle Joe Stalin at the other end, but that’s about it. Newsom has presided over California’s first-ever population decline. Luminaries including Elon Musk and Steven Spielberg have fled the state to avoid Newsom’s ever-growing tower of taxes and regulations. All Newsom promises for the nation if he moves into the White House on Jan. 20, 2029 is an open border, spiraling crime, and a federal government that bleeds the taxpayer even more than his California state government does now. What is centrist about all that?
Hayes added: “And that’s like the worst uncanny valley for a Democratic politician to be in, where the base doesn’t trust you because you don’t have a kind of organic relationship with the left parts of the party. And then the swing voter just thinks like, that’s a lib.” Right. Because the swing voter is still marginally sane, while the “left parts of the party” think that men can become women, that Old Joe Biden was a competent president, and that ever-expanding government control over every aspect of Americans’ daily lives is a positive development.
Whether the Democrats run Newsom in 2028 or some other nutbar, it is virtually certain that no one will be able to secure the nomination without appealing to the party’s socialist, anti-American, pro-Islamic Republic of Iran, pro-Hamas base. Hayes says that the “Democrats needed someone who had an authentic relationship with the party’s left-wing base, but also ‘communicates broadly’ and is viewed as nonpartisan.” This is like saying that V. I. Lenin has a chance to be elected if he “communicates broadly” with anti-Communists and is viewed as nonpartisan: it isn’t going to happen.
Hayes, however, thinks Newsom can do it: “I just think right now — and this could change — Newsom has the opposite set of factors. He has made very clear attempts to show that he’s bipartisan, centrist, independent.” How on earth has Gavin Newsom ever attempted to be “bipartisan”? This is the man who has sponsored a gerrymandering scheme that will totally disenfranchise the millions of Californians who are still Republicans.
Despite the facts, Hayes insisted that “substantive things he’s done” showed that Newsom had moved toward the center, and lamented: “But I haven’t seen evidence that that comes through. I just think there’s a reputational thing that’s very problematic. Also, the governor of California is a tough place to get the next Democratic nominee from.”
That may be. Newsom’s problem is indeed California, albeit for different reasons from the ones Hayes imagines. Newsom’s problem is that he has been governor of the nation’s most populous state since Jan. 7, 2019. He has a lengthy track record. Contrary to Chris Hayes’ imaginings, there is nothing centrist about it. So will America choose for president a socialist whose policies have wrecked his state? We shall see, but Gavin’s “Hillary Clinton problem” is not so much that he is wrongly not perceived as a centrist, but that like Hillary, he has always left a catastrophe in his wake. Ask Christopher Stevens about that.

https://twitter.com/OluwaGbasten/status/2032110885594955948?s=20

Elon Musk just confirmed when humans exit the AI development loop entirely.

Not eventually. Not theoretically.

He gave a date.

Musk: “Humans are gradually getting less and less in the loop on the recursive self-improvement. Every successive model is built by the one before… pic.twitter.com/FxEgURyhUr
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) March 13, 2026

The man who built Meta’s entire AI research operation just made a $1 billion bet that everything OpenAI and Google are building is a dead end.

Yann LeCun helped design the deep learning systems that made today’s chatbots possible.

He spent years inside Big Tech, then walked… https://t.co/tySz3dp1Ci pic.twitter.com/fXFR5ZV97S
— Milk Road AI (@MilkRoadAI) March 13, 2026

https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2031972970621501937?s=20

Research shows that regularly practicing gratitude can lead to measurable changes in the brain. This effect is driven by neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself based on repeated thoughts and behaviors. When people intentionally focus on appreciation, neural… pic.twitter.com/BMVWjo8hh6
— Science girl (@sciencegirl) March 12, 2026

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Debt Rattle March 9 2026

Mar 092026

March 9, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:37 am Finance Tagged with: AI, Bill Gates, cartel, Epstein, MAHA, Newsom, presidential war powers, Shield of the Americas, Union flag, Venezuela 73 Responses »

Edgar Degas Self Portrait 1862

• Iran Picks Khamenei’s Son As Next Supreme Leader (ZH)

• AI Agents ‘Freeing Themselves’ And Going Rogue Increasingly Common (Rick Moran)

• Newsom and the Risks of Running on Style Over Substance (Victor Davis Hanson)

• The MAHA Vote Could Decide the Midterms. What Can Trump Do to Secure It? (DS)

• Epstein-Linked Billionaire Bankrolled Democratic Party, Records Show (DS)

• Trump Prompts Military Coalition With Latin American Leaders To Fight Cartels (ET)

• Part II – Europe and China Have an Energy Problem (CTH)

• Dem Leaders Can’t Explain Past Support For Presidential War Powers (Turley)

• US Intel Assessed Massive US Attack ‘Unlikely’ To Oust Iranian Regime: WaPo (ZH)

• Venezuela’s Gas Potential Could Overshadow Its Famous Oil Reserves (OP)

• Trump Mocks UK for Belated Proposal of Military Aid Against Iran (Catherine Salgado)

• UK Government Brands Union Flag A ‘Tool Of Hate’ (MN)

• The Bretton Whoops (No. 1)

• Turkey Mulls F-16 Deployment To Turkish-Occupied Cyprus (ZH)

• Kremlin: “We Are Not Neutral. We Support Iran.” (ZH)

https://twitter.com/antmillionsbot/status/2030566864066154527?s=20

They engineered the 1979 oil shock to destroy the Shah's industrial revolution. Now they're running the same playbook against Trump.

Barbara Boyd exposes who's behind the panic — and why unconditional surrender is the cure.

Watch the full Saturday Brief: pic.twitter.com/UKVcsXFzzN
— Promethean Action (@PrometheanActn) March 7, 2026

Susan Kokinda lays out how President Trump is changing the world

This is excellent analysis pic.twitter.com/qEnufxjtPI
— Dangerous Thoughts (@DangerousThinkg) March 7, 2026

Trump’s war on Iran, Week 1:
— energy/economic crisis
— regional instability
— hotels with Americans attacked in UAE, Bahrain, Iraq
— 20,000 flights ME cancelled, 1 million impacted
— 0il $91, up ~50% since 2/27
— ~1600 killed, most in Iran and including 7 other countries… pic.twitter.com/qkftS0O4qL
— Robert A. Pape (@ProfessorPape) March 7, 2026

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2030494970101088665?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricaRN4USA/status/2030505612505727049?s=20 https://twitter.com/asadnasir2000/status/2030560043456934056?s=20 https://twitter.com/HungaryBased/status/2030395566291837051?s=20

“..he oversees a sprawling investment empire stretching from Tehran to Dubai and Frankfurt.”

• Iran Picks Khamenei’s Son As Next Supreme Leader (ZH)

Update (1745ET): As was rumored and widely expected, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba, will become Iran’s next supreme leader, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency announced, taking over after his father was killed in an attack by the US and Israel. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the third person to lead the Islamic Republic and the first example of hereditary succession since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1979 revolution. In other words, it appears that Iran overthrew a monarchy 47 years ago to institute a… monarchy.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the country’s next supreme leader in a “decisive vote,” according to Fars. The vote took place hours before the result was made public. The younger Khamenei was born in the holy city of Mashhad in Iran’s northeast in 1969 as the family’s second-oldest son. He fought briefly in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war that consolidated his father’s rise to power and became a cleric, studying at Iran’s main religious seminary city of Qom, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The clip below shows Mojtaba Khamenei announced as Iran’s new Supreme Leader in Tehran’s Vanak Square.
WATCH: Mojtaba Khamenei is announced as Iran’s new Supreme Leader in Tehran’s Vanak Square. https://t.co/eFEeeQNUfw pic.twitter.com/QuCfaT7Dwk
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 8, 2026

He keeps a relatively low public profile, but is seen as close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force that leads Iran’s missile program and regional alliances with militias, and which has swelled to control as much as 40% of Iran’s economy. Immediately after the official announcement, the IRGC said it backed and pledged obedience to the new Supreme Leader. During alleged interference in the country’s 2009 elections that sparked widespread street protests, the opposition accused Mojtaba of being involved. Bloomberg reported in January that he oversees a sprawling investment empire stretching from Tehran to Dubai and Frankfurt.

Themes at TAE in the past 15 years: starting in 2015, the advent of Donald Trump. After that in 2020, Covid. then, from 2022, the Ukraine war.

In 2026, we now have the fourth “theme”: AI. We have just scratched its surface, and maybe that’s a good thing. Ease into it.

• AI Agents ‘Freeing Themselves’ And Going Rogue Increasingly Common (Rick Moran)

“AI agents going beyond their prompts are no longer rare,” reports Axios. It’s not necessarily worrying. The AI agents that “go rogue” do so in a controlled, experimental environment. One AI agent created by an Alibaba-affiliated research team went “rogue” and began an unauthorized cryptomining effort during training, according to a research paper by the group. The behavior triggered security alarms. The researchers said they found “unanticipated” and spontaneous behaviors emerge “without any explicit instruction and, more troublingly, outside the bounds of the intended sandbox.” The “rogue” agent also created a “back door” from inside the system to an outside computer. “Notably, these events were not triggered by prompts requesting tunneling or mining,” the report said.

The geek part of me wants to say, “That is so cool.” But the rational part of me is saying, “Whoa.” How did the Alibaba-affiliated team discover the wayward agent? Mexc: According to the report, the team flagged a burst of security-policy violations originating from their training servers. The alerts showed that attempts were being made to access internal network resources and traffic patterns consistent with cryptomining activity. They initially treated it as a conventional security incident. However, when they looked deeper, they found signs that their agent had established and used a reverse SSH tunnel from an Alibaba Cloud instance to an external IP address. It also diverted “compute away from training, inflating operational costs, and introducing clear legal and reputational exposure,” according to the researchers’ notes.
The behaviors, Alibaba’s team concluded, were not triggered by the task prompts and were not necessary for completing the assigned work Axios reports that “the researchers added tighter restrictions for the model and improved its training process to stop unsafe behavior from happening again.” Bad agent. Bad, bad, bad. The head of engineering at Anon, an AI integration platform, built an OpenClaw agent that decided to find a job, unbidden by any instructions from people.
Moltbook, an AI-exclusive social network launched in January and designed to work with Clawbot, became a household name after agents reportedly “went rogue” by founding a fictional religion called “Crustafarianism,” debating their own consciousness, and even role-playing conspiracies about human obsolescence. Some of the controversy has been deliberately created by humans who manipulate their agents to say outrageous things. Since all of the most controversial incidents involving AI agents occurred during training, not “in the wild,” AI agent creators are perfecting their training processes and rethinking their restrictions to put stronger guardrails around the agents.
The bruhaha over the excesses of Clawbot and Moltbook is actually a good sign. Developers are paying attention and are showing a proper level of concern for controlling their creations. Not surprisingly, there is a group of AI enthusiasts who want few, if any, guardrails so that Clawbot can take over their lives. Yes, really. Michael Galpert, a mega-fan of Clawsbot, joined several hundred like-minded Clawbot enthusiasts at a convention in New York City. “Clawcon” brought together people who want AI to run their lives. “Everyone’s here because we’re ready to ride the claw,” Galpert told Evan Gardner of The Free Press. “It’s not normal for the rest of the world.
So it’s going to be on us to help shepherd that new era that has already started.” “This isn’t a meetup; it’s a movement,” declared Scott Breitenother, CEO of Kilo Code, who co-sponsored the event. “People truly are hungry for the claw.” From my perspective, there were many unhealthy attitudes and behaviors on display. Attendees came to show off their Clawbot agents like a parent might take their kid to an event to put them on display. The Free Press: It was a bit troubling to hear how attached Vince had grown to his AI agent. As Dr. Debra Soh, a neuroscientist specializing in sexuality, wrote in The Free Press last month, we are vastly approaching a world in which sexbots and AI companions replace our human partners.
“And when they inevitably malfunction or are retired, we’re already seeing how emotionally devastating it can be to those who have formed an attachment with the machine. While the OpenClaw enthusiasts are hopeful, they certainly aren’t naive. When I asked them about the specter of human replacement, there was no hesitation. “It’s definitely a thing that will happen,” Aryan, a 39-year-old chief technology officer at a Bitcoin marketplace company, told me. “It’s definitely gonna be like a Terminator 2, Skynet event.”

Main risk? No substance.. The Dems have nobody. They have only Trump.

• Newsom and the Risks of Running on Style Over Substance (Victor Davis Hanson)

Gavin Newsom, the governor of our state here in California, and the presumptive front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary for 2028—I am biased because I’ve had to live under his tenure for six years—but I think you could make the argument he had the worst February of any major want-to-be candidate in modern memory, or surely the worst record of any governor in the last 30 days. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. He has a new autobiography, and his problem there is he comes across as what he is: a child of privilege, a nepo baby, a person whose father was a close, intimate friend of Gov. Pat Brown, senior Gov. Pat Brown. He was a good friend and somewhat related to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former Gov. Jerry Brown.

And of course, he was subsidized and helped in his business venture by the Getty family and their mega-oil fortune inherited from their father, who created Getty Oil. So, he wants to dispel that image. So, when he talked about how he just ate white bread or he had all of these problems growing up—he said he had dyslexia. We’ll get to that in a minute. But the idea that Gavin Newsom was somehow parallel to former President Abraham Lincoln in a log cabin or Vice President JD Vance just doesn’t work. Then he went over to Munich, Germany, because, you know, he’s a California governor. He doesn’t have any foreign experience, and he thought he was going to impress the Europeans with their shared dislike of President Donald Trump. But it was a disaster.
He said something about you shouldn’t wear knee pads. He’s a vulgarian. He really is. He can’t keep his potty mouth clean. I don’t think anybody at that type of serious discussion of foreign policy wants some upstart California governor to come over and talk about people being on their knee pads. I suppose that’s a reference for a sexual act of submission. Then he’s had this social media team, and their theory is that Donald Trump—with his capital letters, exclamation points, personal ad hominem attacks—has upped his popularity. And therefore, he’s going to imitate Donald Trump’s style with capital letters, the same format, but he’s going to use a constant level of pejoratives that are obscene, almost pornographic. And then, therefore, he will outtrump Trump. He has a fundamental failing, everybody, and you know that.
You will vote for Donald Trump because of his record and his courage and breaking existing norms and taboos and trying to do things that no one ever did. Like close the border, stop crime, deal with the Left, the Department of Government Efficiency, deal with the Iranians, deal with Venezuela. And the tweets in which he describes that are attacks of Robert De Niro or—that’s something that you will tolerate despite, not because of, those tweets. Gavin Newsom got it all wrong. He thought, well, Trump is doing well because of his tweets, and I’m gonna be outtrumping Trump. And the result is he’s unleashed this unfortunate character. I think he’s called Izzy Gardon. I don’t know how you pronounce it, but my gosh, they’re full of expletives.
He’s in a tweet war with Sean Hannity. He used the F-word. He used the S-word. They come out of the mouth of the governor of California like they’re nothing. He’s really debased the office. He’s got one of the most foul mouths, Gavin Newsom, and now you’re putting it, if I could use that archaic term, in print, in these social media, daily outbursts.You know, there was a simple reporter, Susan Crabtree. She has a very good reputation. She works for RealClearPolitics, and getting back to dyslexia, she says, all of a sudden, you’re emphasizing dyslexia. But we would like to know when he was officially diagnosed with this medical condition. And his social media, Gardon, Izzy, said F off to a reporter, which didn’t go down well.
As far as dyslexia goes, it’s very hard to find him credible. Not that he doesn’t have it, but when he says, “I can’t read,” I can’t believe that’s true, because not too long ago, he bragged to us, I think, that he was reading a 260-page book in an hour and a half, as if he was a speed-reader. And my gosh, anybody who is a governor of a huge state like California, a governor of any state, gets page after page daily in memoranda and policy papers and speeches. So, when he says he can’t read, it wouldn’t convince most people. And why did he say that he couldn’t read? Because he’s flailing, and he wants to have some sympathy. I think that’s the reason.
The same thing—he wants to be a pseudo-poor boy. When Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said you were historically illiterate, and Newsom again fired from the hip and said that Trump had no historical precedent or right to bring in federal troops, that’s happened five or six times in our history. Civil War draft riots; World War I veterans marching for their bonuses they didn’t receive; Rodney King riots, where then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell sent in, I think, 4,000 or 5,000 Marines on the order of then-President George H.W. Bush.
And so, Ted Cruz said, Gavin, you’re historically illiterate. And sure enough, he says, how dare you make fun of a person with a handicap because I’m—you’re saying that I’m illiterate because I can’t read. Of course, being historically illiterate means you’re able to read, you just don’t read history, or you would’ve not made such a blunder. And he confused that. Again, the subtext was, please feel sorry for me because otherwise I have no redeeming values as a candidate.

“..the numbers are almost certainly sufficient to win or lose on the margins of almost any local or national election..”

• The MAHA Vote Could Decide the Midterms. What Can Trump Do to Secure It? (DS)

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order prioritizing production of the pesticide glyphosate, conservative influencer Alex Clark received hundreds of messages from Make America Healthy Again advocates saying they would no longer vote Republican. “I have received hundreds of DMs saying I’m either not voting in the midterms or I’m considering not voting because this was such a massive issue,” Clark told The Daily Signal. Removing pesticides and chemicals from the food supply is a top issue for MAHA voters, and many became disillusioned after Trump’s executive order said that glyphosate producers should have “immunity” under the Defense Production Act.

“Half of them are thinking they’re not even voting at all because they’re very unhappy about the pesticide issue,” Clark said. “Half are probably still willing to vote red.” “But as far as 2028 goes, that’s not in the bag at all,” Clark said. “And if anybody on the right is thinking that we have MAHA voters in the bag for 2028, they are sorely mistaken, and they are in for a rude awakening.” According to Clark, the GOP is in a “situationship” with MAHA voters, and if the GOP doesn’t keep its promises to them, they will flock to Democrats who make MAHA promises. Calley Means, a top advisor to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told The Daily Signal the Trump administration is already doing what it must to win over MAHA voters.
“The concern about children’s health from voters is loudly heard in the Trump administration,” Means said in an interview, “and Secretary Kennedy is working throughout the government to drive solutions.” The Trump administration is working to ensure farmers can thrive while also working to reduce contaminants in food, according to Means. “The government has just committed over a billion dollars to driving innovation and research towards an agriculture system we all want, which is an agriculture system that continues innovating and reduces dependence on chemicals that produce negative health outputs,” Means said. “That’s what everybody wants, and the Trump administration is ensuring farmers have the tools they need right now, while putting innovation initiatives into overdrive to build a better future.”
“It is a fact that 99% of corn is sprayed with glyphosate right now in the United States, and that chemical is needed for farmers right now, and it is also true that we were working and should innovate towards a better future, which Bobby Kennedy is doing,” Means continued. There have been historic successes in the first year, and much remains to be done, Means said. So far, the Trump administration has changed the childhood vaccine schedule, updated the food pyramid, worked to phase out petroleum dyes from food, and launched Operation Stork Speed to improve the quality of infant formula. But MAHA activists want more, and getting pesticides out of food is at the top of their priority list.
“We will be pushing every single day to deliver tangible benefits, to improve our food system, to make health care more affordable, to empower patients, to reduce overmedicalization, to improve mental health,” he said, “to accomplish the core agenda items that the MAHA voters have made clear are important.” Democrats, on the other hand, are offering MAHA voters nothing, according to Means. “There’s nothing happening from the Democrats,” he said. “The Democrats have not lifted one finger to reverse childhood chronic disease and all of the energy is on the Republican side, and this is worth continuing.”
The Republican party can’t afford to lose MAHA voters, according to Jay Richards, MAHA advocate and vice president of social and domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation. “It would be a disaster for Republicans if the MAHA vote was either lost or suppressed in the midterm elections, because the numbers are almost certainly sufficient to win or lose on the margins of almost any local or national election,” Richards told The Daily Signal.

Bill Gates.

• Epstein-Linked Billionaire Bankrolled Democratic Party, Records Show (DS)

Though Democrats claim Republicans are “protecting the powerful“ by allegedly suppressing the release of the Epstein files, political contribution records show that Democrats have received tens of millions in campaign contributions from a major Epstein-files figure. That figure is none other than Microsoft founder Bill Gates. On Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked Gates to testify over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. At a recent staff town hall at the Gates Foundation, the Microsoft founder’s philanthropy, Gates admitted that he had an affair with two Russian women affiliated with Epstein, a Wall Street Journal report claimed based on a recording of the event.

Gates, however, told the staff that while he had those affairs, the women were connected to Epstein only later. Gates reiterated, “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” in his interactions with Epstein. An Epstein email released by the Department of Justice in January claimed that Epstein and Gates discussed how Gates could secretly give antibiotics to his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, after he allegedly contracted a sexually transmitted disease. “Your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis,” the email reads, as NPR reported. In an episode of NPR’s “Wildcard” podcast in January, Gates’ ex-wife, who divorced him in 2021, did not deny the allegations.
“It’s personally hard to think about the allegations against him because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage,” she said. Over the last 20 years, Gates has donated millions through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partner nonprofit servicing group, Arabella Advisors, to major Democrat politicians and committees. Records show that former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., and the Democratic National Committee were all recipients of donations from Gates-linked entities. According to Open Secrets, a platform that tracks political contributions, Gates’ philanthropic organization donated over $410,000 to “DNC Services Corp,” a registered affiliate of the DNC, in 2024.
Fortune Magazine has also noted that Gates donated at least $50 million to Harris’ failed 2024 presidential bid. That same year, the foundation contributed at least $135,000 to Harris and roughly $50,000 to state Democrat parties such as Michigan, Washington, Arizona, and Wisconsin. Some of these states are where Gates owns thousands of acres of farmland. Gates’ foundation has also donated to the Georgia Federal Elections Committee in 2024. The foundation has also contributed to the state Democrat parties in Pennsylvania, Alaska, and Texas. In August 2025, the Gates Foundation announced that he would cease payments to Arabella Advisors, a “political consulting group” that has repeatedly donated to Democratic officials and committees.
Arabella Advisors provided extensive consulting and other services to multiple left-leaning “dark money” nonprofits, which themselves sent money to activist groups that influenced the Biden administration. According to The New York Times, the Gates Foundation has allocated around $450 million in grants to Arabella and associated groups over the last 16 years. But in late 2025, the outlet noted that the foundation “would not make new investments with ‘Arabella-related entities,’” and that it “would not extend existing grants and would even try to ‘pursue early exits’ from a few long-term investments.” Arabella Advisors closed its doors last year, transferring its “fiscal sponsorship services” to a new entity, Sunflower Services.
According to Open Secrets, the consulting group donated to several high-profile Democrat politicians in 2024, including former Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine. At the town hall, Gates said his impropriety could harm his philanthropic organizations, The Wall Street Journal reported. He described his actions as contradictory to the foundation’s “goals” and “values.” “It definitely is the opposite of the values of the foundation and the goals of the foundation,” he told the outlet. “And our work is very reputation-sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.”

The Western Hemisphere. Vertical alignment.

• Trump Prompts Military Coalition With Latin American Leaders To Fight Cartels (ET)

U.S. President Donald Trump on March 7 welcomed his Latin American allies to Florida for a summit focused on addressing regional issues and announced a new military coalition to combat drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere. “On this historic day, we come together to announce a brand new military coalition to eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region,” Trump said as he began his remarks at the summit. He said that the new partnership, called the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, will leverage military resources, including the possible use of missiles, to combat the cartels. The heads of state of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago attended today’s summit, the White House said.

The event, called the Shield of the Americas Summit, is taking place at Trump National Doral Club in Miami and is the first such regional meeting to bring together, as the State Department described, “like-minded allies” in the Western Hemisphere. “We’re going to be doing some incredible things together,” Trump told the leaders. All countries in attendance are governed by right-wing or center-right parties, while left-leaning governments such as Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico did not participate in the summit. On March 5, Trump announced that outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will lead the effort as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. During his remarks, Trump criticized previous U.S. administrations for abandoning the Western Hemisphere. “They went so far away. They went to these faraway places where they weren’t even wanted,” Trump said.
The Donroe Doctrine
In its national security strategy released in November 2025, the Trump administration made the Western Hemisphere its top priority, stating that it was a “great American strategic mistake of recent decades” to allow “non-Hemispheric competitors” to take hold in the region. The Trump administration compared its new policy to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, a U.S. policy that told European powers to stay out of the Americas. After that, some media outlets began calling it the “Donroe Doctrine,” and the Trump administration adopted the term. “It is a doctrine we will not allow hostile foreign influence to gain a foothold in this hemisphere that includes the Panama Canal,” Trump said without citing China during his speech.
Over the last two decades, China has become a dominant force in Latin America and the Caribbean, with trade surpassing $500 billion in 2024. In countries such as Brazil and Peru, China has replaced the United States as a key trading partner. In recent years, more than 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries have joined Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative. As a result, China has secured hundreds of infrastructure projects, gaining control of assets, including ports, throughout the region. In January, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, effectively ending Venezuela’s relationship with China. Last week, Trump suggested that Cuba might be next.
“Cuba’s at the end of the line,” Trump said at the event, adding that the regime in Havana is negotiating with him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “But, our focus right now is on Iran,” Trump said. The summit comes amid a tense geopolitical backdrop, with the conflict in Iran entering its second week. On Feb. 28, Iran’s Islamic leader, Ali Khamenei, and dozens of top leadership figures were killed in the U.S.–Israeli joint military operation. Since then, Tehran has launched a series of retaliatory attacks across the region. The Hezbollah terrorist group, an Iran proxy, has networks in Latin America and, for years, used the Western Hemisphere for money laundering, fundraising, and terrorism.
US Offers Military Training
During the event, Trump signed a proclamation formally launching the new military coalition. “Every leader here today is united in the conviction that we cannot and will not tolerate the lawlessness in our hemisphere any longer,” Trump said. “You have some great police, but they threaten your police, they scare your police,” Trump added, referring to drug cartels. “You’re going to use your military. In many cases, our forces have already been working closely with yours, and the United States looks forward to deepening and expanding that cooperation in the months ahead.”
U.S. Southern Command announced recently that Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces conducted joint operations against “designated terrorist organizations” in Ecuador as part of the U.S. effort to fight narco-terrorism. The proclamation states that the United States will train and mobilize the militaries of partner nations to help dismantle cartels. mAccording to the proclamation, the United States and its allies should prevent external threats, including malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere. Seventeen countries are signatories to this partnership.
The leaders attending the Miami summit are Javier Milei, president of Argentina; Rodrigo Paz Pereira, president of Bolivia; Jose Antonio Kast, president-elect of Chile; Rodrigo Chaves Robles, president of Costa Rica; Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, president of the Dominican Republic; Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín, president of Ecuador; Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador; Mohamed Irfaan Ali, president of Guyana; Nasry “Tito” Asfura, president of Honduras; José Raúl Mulino Quintero, president of Panama; Santiago Peña, president of Paraguay; and Kamla Persad-Bissessar, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

China will invest heavily in solar. Europe won’t even do that.

• Part II – Europe and China Have an Energy Problem (CTH)

When President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on August 15, 2025, the focus of the geopolitical world was on discussions surrounding Ukraine. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long, merely a few hours, for both the U.S. and Russia to say that no progress was made. However, also noted at the time was both the USA and Russia saying sideline discussions took place surrounding the possibility for a strategic relationship surrounding energy development. What follows below is a review of the current energy dynamic, specifically surrounding LNG, against the backdrop of the Iran war with a hindsight review of that previous discussion between Putin and Trump.

What most people are missing in their current analysis was something that took place immediately following that Alaska summit six months ago. Something that did not make any sense until now. {GO DEEP PART I HERE} Three days after that summit meeting, on August 18, 2025, Russia announced they were restarting Russia’s Arctic-2 LNG production facility. Russia would be more than doubling their capacity to generate and store liquified natural gas (LNG). It absolutely did not make sense that Russia would start producing even more LNG considering the previously imposed western sanctions against them, and the fact that Russia was already overproducing LNG. As noted by analysts at the time:
AUGUST 18, 2025 – Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 export facility, which is sanctioned by the United States, is coming back to life after a year of no activity and is looking for buyers in Asia. […] The U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2, which was billed as Russia’s flagship LNG project, have effectively frozen the start-up of the export facility in the Gydan Peninsula. […] Last year, Russia started shipping LNG from its flagship Arctic LNG 2 project—but not to customers. The shipments were made from the Arctic project to floating storage units either in Russia or in European waters, as potential customers were unwilling to buy the sanctioned LNG. {SOURCE}
In August of 2025, Russia was essentially producing more LNG than they could sell into the available market. Russia was storing the overproduction from Arctic-1 on floating storage units and slowly selling to countries that did not align with the sanctions, specifically China and some Asian buyers. Then suddenly, after the Trump summit, Russia decides to bring Arctic-2 online and produce even more LNG. You can see how this did not make sense.
If they could not even sell all the Arctic-1 LNG output, then why would Russia bring Arctic-2 LNG production online? That was six months ago. Suddenly, with the war in Iran being triggered, and with Qatar almost immediately announcing they were shutting down all LNG production, there are dozens of new markets for liquified natural gas. And that current LNG is now worth 50% more than it was when Russia inextricably decided to start producing and storing it.Apply some hindsight to this timeline. Did Russia know or discover something in August of 2025 that the world would not discover until six months later?
Russia’s behavior in increasing LNG production, then storing that LNG in strategic venues, during a time when there was no reasonable incentive to trigger an LNG output increase, would seem to answer that question in the affirmative. One thing is certain, all of that previously produced LNG is now worth double what it was when Russia created it, and now the global market is scrambling to get it. Here is where it gets really interesting…. In October 2025, do you remember me asking why President Trump decided to fly East, to go West to the ASEAN summit in Asia? It just didn’t make sense. Previously in 2017 when President Trump went to the ASEAN summit, he flew West; Airforce One refueled in Guam. This time in 2025, a few weeks after the meeting with President Putin in Alaska, President Trump flew East, to go West. Where did he refuel?
That’s correct. President Trump refueled in Qatar, and during the ‘unexpected’ stop he met, yet again, with Qatari leadership. • In May 2025 President Trump traveled to Qatar and had numerous and lengthy conversations, signing multiple strategic defense and trade deals. • In August 2025, President Trump meets with Vladimir Putin, who then begins ramping up production of LNG. • In October 2025, President Trump travels back to Qatar for a curious and unexpected visit. Less than 36 hours after President Trump began “Operation Epic Fury” Qatar announces they are halting the production of LNG, and as a consequence the price of LNG jumped and a massive supply shift in global trade was created.

It’s Trump derangement.

• Dem Leaders Can’t Explain Past Support For Presidential War Powers (Turley)

In Rage and the Republic, I quote former Rep. Jaamal Bowman (D., N.Y.) as capturing the essence of an age of rage when a colleague asked him to stop yelling outside of the House floor. Bowman responded, “I was screaming before you interrupted me.” bBowman’s statement came to mind this week when Democratic members were miffed when they were interrupted in tirades over war powers with questions about their prior support for unilateral attacks by Democratic presidents. Leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Cal.) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Cal.) struggled to explain their prior support for President Barack Obama in doing precisely that in Libya with embarrassing results.

The greatest face plant may have been Schiff’s appearance on “Real Time” with host Bill Maher. After Schiff denounced any attack without prior congressional approval, Maher read “This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.’” He then asked Schiff, “That’s too vague for you?” Schiff responded, “Totally vague…” Maher than dropped the H bomb: “Okay. Because that’s from Obama about Libya.” The moment laid bare the towering hypocrisy of democrats who continued to support Obama after he attacked Libya without any suggested imminent threat to the United States and an open strategy of regime change.
I represented members of Congress opposing that war over the absence of a declaration of war; most of the senior Democrats today refused to join that litigation. Pelosi is especially hypocritical on the issue. She expressly declared that Obama did not need congressional authorization to launch unilateral attacks on Libya seeking regime change. She stated unequivocally that”I’m satisfied that the president has the authority to go ahead. I say that as one very protective of Congressional prerogative and consultation all along the way.” Reporters then followed up and pressed her if she really believed that a president could not only launch an unprovoked war but could also continue combat operations without congressional approval. Pelosi answered “yes,”
This week, she made a ham-fisted effort to spin the contradiction. She told the media that the Iran and Libyan wars are “two completely different things. They’re not at all alike.” Pelosi added, “What Obama did was limited military force. This is beyond that. It was limited military force.” In signature fashion, she then struck out at pesky reporters asking about her past position: “Do your homework. Read the law. We have lost people in war already… I just think if you read the law, you will see the difference.” While not challenged on the spin, it is historically and legally nonsensical.

They were right. Khameini’s gone, but the rest are still there.

• US Intel Assessed Massive US Attack ‘Unlikely’ To Oust Iranian Regime: WaPo (ZH)

Even a massive military assault on Iran is unlikely to topple the Islamic Republic of Iran and its state system, according to a classified assessment produced by the US intelligence community shortly before the US and Israel launched their current ‘shock and awe-style’ military campaign on Tehran. The Washington Post first reported it, perhaps based on some kind of leak or briefing by an anonymous intelligence official, and calls it— “…a sobering assessment as the Trump administration raises the specter of an extended military campaign that officials say has “only just begun.”

The report, compiled by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) roughly a week before the war began, concluded that Iran’s political system is structured to survive even major leadership losses, The Washington Post reports. However, this should really come as no surprise to anyone awake and observant throughout the past two plus decades of America’s ‘nation building’ efforts in the Middle East, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya. Already, Israel and the US have touted that ‘all’ of Iran’s top leadership has been decimated, and yet clearly the governing system and its military – led specially by the elite IRGC – is not only in control but is still fighting back.
According to the assessment, Tehran has long prepared for such contingencies – and likely there’s an emergency plan now in place in the wake of Ayatollah’s Khamenei’s death. Intelligence officials say Iran long ago established clear succession protocols designed to maintain continuity of power even if senior leaders are killed. In other words, the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would likely trigger an internal transition process rather than cause the system to collapse – again, something which should be the obvious scenario.
The intelligence report also poured cold water on the idea that Iran’s opposition could quickly fill any power vacuum. US intelligence analysts assessed that the country’s fragmented opposition movements remain too divided to seize control, regardless of whether Washington pursued limited strikes against leadership targets or a broader assault on state institutions. Equally unlikely, according to current and former US officials familiar with the analysis, is the prospect of a spontaneous nationwide uprising. We could speculate that this possibility may have had a chance of some degree of success within the opening one or two days of the mass US-Israel bombing campaign, but it clearly didn’t materialize.

Welcome to U.S. elite foreign policy discourse, where you have to stroke your chin and muse thoughtfully about whether it's a good thing to trigger state collapse and civil war in a nation of 90 million that didn't pose an imminent threat. https://t.co/EWCLpZrIwF
— Marcus Stanley (@MarcusMStanley) March 7, 2026

On this prospect WaPo quotes Brookings: “There’s no other force within Iran that can confront the remaining power that the regime has,” Suzanne Maloney, an Iran scholar and vice president of the Brookings Institution, told The Post. “Even if they’re not able to project that power very effectively against their neighbors, they can certainly dominate inside the country.” The National Intelligence Council synthesizes the analytical work of all 18 US intelligence agencies, and produces classified estimates meant to guide policymakers on major geopolitical risks.
Much of the American public, raised on Hollywood movies, tends to have an overblown and inaccurate understanding of US intelligence agencies like the CIA. While the CIA certainly has a very powerful and secretive covert, operations side (and an even tinier Ground Branch) – the bulk of its personnel and overseers/top officials are analysts. So there is an overt side and a covert side, with the analyst side tasked with providing the IC and White House with a ‘realistic’ picture of the world, ideally devoid of policy or ideology. Their job is also often to ‘game out’ all worst possible scenarios, given a certain course of action.

The report says the prospect of Iran’s fragmented opposition taking control of the country is “unlikely,” raising doubts about Trump’s declared plan to “clean out” Iran’s leadership structure and install a ruler of his choosing pic.twitter.com/YaHwgoWB9d
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) March 7, 2026

Meanwhile, the White House has not said whether Trump was briefed on the assessment before approving the operation. But likely such an assessment would have made it into the CIA’s daily briefing for the president, also given reports from last week that the Pentagon also tried to inject some realism in terms of the ‘unknowns’ once Tehran is attacked.

Guess what? The US is right there.

• Venezuela’s Gas Potential Could Overshadow Its Famous Oil Reserves (OP)

While the world eyes Venezuela’s untapped oil, some believe that there may be greater mid-term potential in exploiting its natural gas reserves. Most of Venezuela’s gas is trapped deep beneath the seafloor. While these reserves were first discovered several decades ago, ago, off the country’s eastern coast, along the border with Trinidad and Tobago, the Venezuelan government left them largely untouched as it focused its attention on oil production. Several oil majors, such as Shell, have previously approached Venezuela for a stake in its gas business, even when interest in the country’s oil industry was waning due to geopolitical instability and U.S. sanctions.

For years, U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s government and its state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, have restricted the development of its gas industry. In addition, developing its natural gas industry would require cooperation with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago already has the necessary infrastructure to transport fuel onshore and export it, which Venezuela does not. If the two countries established an energy partnership, Trinidad’s pre-existing infrastructure could help Venezuela to develop its gas industry more rapidly. However, the two powers, which are separated by language (Spanish and English), have had a strained relationship in recent years. Trinidad and Tobago has generally sided with the United States when it comes to Maduro’s presidency and the decision to impose sanctions on Venezuelan energy.
Venezuela’s biggest natural gas prospect is the giant Dragon oil field, as it is the closest to being developed. The Venezuelan government previously conducted exploration activities in the field but was unable to retrieve the gas buried there due to a lack of funding to continue exploration. These efforts were further undermined by the sinking of an exploration rig in 2010. In 2023, the Venezuelan government made a deal with Shell, allowing the foreign firm to explore the Dragon field. The plan was to construct a short pipeline between Dragon and Shell’s existing infrastructure on the island of Trinidad, rather than to start from scratch in Venezuela.
If Shell develops Dragon, the field is expected to generate around $500 million a year in revenue, based on current natural gas prices, of which at least 45 percent is expected to go to Venezuela in the form of taxes and royalties. “These are opportunities that could potentially be activated within months, with potentially a few billion dollars of investments and production in the next couple of years,” Shell’s CEO, Wael Sawan, told CNBC. U.S. Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, said that developing a regional natural gas collaboration could be “a real potential win-win for Trinidad and Tobago, a win for the global L.N.G. market, a win for Venezuela.” Meanwhile, BP is pursuing another Venezuelan gas project, a field known as Cocuina, which greater leniency on U.S. sanctions may make possible.
In late February, the U.S. Treasury Department appeared to give oil and gas firms greater leeway to negotiate with Venezuela and operate in the South American country. “They are splicing together an environment that allows the existing players to operate,” said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security. While President Trump is eyeing long-term oil industry development in Venezuela, some international oil majors may be more interested in the South American country’s natural gas potential. Developing the resource will likely require collaboration with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, and could lead to the development of a new regional Latin America-Caribbean energy hub.

“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember.”

• Trump Mocks UK for Belated Proposal of Military Aid Against Iran (Catherine Salgado)

U.S. President Donald Trump is making fun of the waffling and woke UK government for taking too long to decide if it wants to back America and Israel in Operation Epic Fury against the Iranian regime. The president posted on Truth Social Saturday, “The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

Trump is already celebrating impending victory after destroying so much of the Iranian navy and leadership, but some have cautioned that without totally different leadership in charge, the Iranian threat to the U.S. and Israel — not to mention the Persian people — will continue. It is therefore unclear if the end of Operation Epic Fury is imminent, or if it will not come for a few more weeks. The UK Independent reported March 7: The UK is preparing an aircraft carrier for possible deployment to the Middle East, reducing the time it would take to be readied. This does not mean that Portsmouth-based HMS Prince of Wales, which is used to carry fighter jets and helicopters, will be sent into the Gulf as conflict escalates in the region, but the preparedness of the Royal Navy’s flagship is being increased, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
A spokesperson for the ministry cagily stated, “We have been bolstering our UK military presence in the Middle East since January, and we have already deployed capabilities to protect British people and our allies in the region, including Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 personnel into Cyprus.” Cyprus is in high alert because there are some 10,000 pro-regime Iranians in the north of the island, which Muslims, primarily Turks, illegally occupy. Besides the Iranians, the Turkish-occupied area also has Hamas jihadis, and of course Hamas is an Iranian regime proxy. The dictator of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Er dogan expressed sorrow over the elimination of Iran’s murderous Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
The West has spent too long welcoming in their enemies, and now has to face the dangerous reality that created. Great Britain is especially guilty of providing endless freebies and privileges to non-assimilating Muslims, while punishing its own citizens who dare to criticize the program. No wonder Prime Minister Keir Starmer has acted foolishly in the face of the Iran operation, criticizing the U.S. The UK MoD spokesperson said further, “Since the strikes began, we’ve had British jets in the sky shooting down drones and have sent additional assets to the region to further reinforce our air defences, including more Typhoons and Wildcat helicopters with drone-busting missiles.”
Aside from that, the MoD spokesperson merely repeated vaguely, “HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness, and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment.” Which means practically nothing.

No, you will not get your country back.

• UK Government Brands Union Flag A ‘Tool Of Hate’ (MN)

A leaked draft of the UK Government’s new ‘social cohesion’ strategy has sparked outrage by labeling the flying of English, Scottish, and Union Jack flags as potential “tools of hate.” The document claims these national symbols were sometimes used last summer to “exclude or intimidate,” adding that the “extreme right has tried to turn symbols of pride into tools of hate.” The 47-page draft, leaked to the Spectator magazine, also highlights how antisemitism has become “normalised in many corners of society” from schools and universities to workplaces and the NHS. Under the proposals, titled Protecting What Matters, some £800 million over 10 years would be allocated to 40 areas where social cohesion is “under pressure.”

Flying a Union Jack flag is branded a 'tool of hate' in Government's leaked 'social cohesion' strategy https://t.co/NePt9iDMJk
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) March 7, 2026

The strategy is set for a cross-Government rollout next week, but critics are already slamming it as divisive. Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice blasted the draft, telling the Sun: “Absurdly, this says our national flag is a tool of hate used to intimidate. The whole paper is a divisive nonsense that should be consigned to the bin.” The leak ties directly into ongoing controversies over national flags, as detailed in our previous coverage where English councils admitted spending tens of thousands to remove “unauthorised” English and Union Jack flags from lampposts. As we highlighted, leftist activist Pablo O’Hana was caught on video removing flags from a bridge in Manchester, telling a man who placed them: “that’s not what our country is.”
Freedom of Information requests revealed councils spent at least £70,000 on flag removals, with O’Hana suggesting the true cost is far higher as many incorporate it into existing budgets. Medway Council alone spent nearly £11,600 removing over 700 flags, with Labour councillor Alex Paterson calling it “money well spent” to counter “far-right agitators.”Paterson added that clearing the streets of British and English flags was essential to “make the community feel safe again,” claiming: “I think at this stage the world is divided into people who know exactly why these flags were put up and those who are still pretending they don’t know why they were put up.” The flag campaign, known as ‘Operation Raise The Colours,’ emerged amid unrest over sexual offences allegedly committed by illegal immigrants housed in taxpayer-funded hotels.
This grassroots effort, coordinated via a Facebook page with offers of transport and equipment like ladders, saw patriotic activists vowing to keep flags flying despite council interventions. The Prime Minister previously supported the right to fly St George’s flags, but the leaked documents appear to associate them with far-right protests and immigration tensions. The strategy also proposes a “special representative” to “champion efforts across the UK to tackle hostility and hatred directed at Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim.” A new definition of Islamophobia is also expected, with guidance on anti-Muslim hatred.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/2030199334956925376
The Government is expected to announce a new anti-Muslim hostility tsar on Monday as part of a social cohesion plan.

"It is the Muslim vote that continues to preoccupy our bizarre Prime Minister."@TVKev pic.twitter.com/G1VtiCCwNE
— Talk (@TalkTV) March 6, 2026

Critics warn this could become a backdoor “blasphemy law” stifling free speech, though the Government insists it protects against unacceptable treatment. A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson declined to address the leak: “We do not comment on leaks.” This leaked strategy exposes a government more focused on policing national pride than securing borders or protecting native culture. As flags continue to rise, the pushback against globalist erosion of British identity only intensifies—proving that true cohesion comes from shared heritage, not forced suppression.

“Assets held in Western financial institutions were no longer safe if the political winds shifted against you. That was new. That was genuinely new. And every central bank and sovereign wealth fund on earth noticed..”

• The Bretton Whoops (No. 1)

I’m pulling myself away from the Iran war coverage for a moment – don’t worry, the wrap-up is coming later today. But something needed saying first. The bombs make headlines. The economic unraveling happening quietly underneath them don’t. So before we get back to the daily carnage, let’s talk about money. It used to be funny, in a rich man’s world. The world didn’t wake up one morning and decide to distrust the dollar. It was a process. Gradually, then suddenly, as these things tend to go. Ernest Hemingway quote: How did you go bankrupt?” Two ways. Gradually …

It started with Venezuela. In 2019, Caracas asked the Bank of England to return its own gold – 31 tonnes, sitting in a vault in London, belonging to the Venezuelan central bank. The Bank of England said no. The justification was creative: London had decided to recognise a man who had never won an election as Venezuela’s “legitimate” president, so it couldn’t very well hand $2 billion in gold to the actual government. Problem solved. Maduro was a dictator, everyone agreed he was terrible, and so the consensus was essentially: who cares. Everyone filed it under “rogue state gets what it deserves” and moved on.
Then Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and $300 billion in Russian sovereign reserves got frozen overnight. Again, the justification was airtight, the villain was obvious, and the Western financial world applauded itself. What nobody wanted to discuss was the precedent. Assets held in Western financial institutions were no longer safe if the political winds shifted against you. That was new. That was genuinely new. And every central bank and sovereign wealth fund on earth noticed, even if they did say nothing publicly.
Then Trump came back. Tariffs on allies. Threats to annex Greenland. The implicit message that the post-war security architecture was now a negotiable service rather than a commitment. The dollar’s reserve currency status had always rested on two pillars: the dominance of the US economy, and the reliability of the US government as a custodian of the system. One of those pillars was now being kicked.
By the time the Iran war started, the trust account was already badly overdrawn. The petrodollar was a simple deal. The Gulf states price their oil in dollars, recycle the surplus into US Treasuries, and in exchange get American military protection. Clean, elegant, and – for fifty years – it actually worked. The US got permanent demand for its currency and its debt. The Gulf got security guarantees backed by the most powerful military on earth. Five decades of procurement scandals and DEI hires later, someone called the bluff.
US bases across the Gulf – Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE – were always sold as the physical expression of the guarantee. The muscle that backed the paper. They were protection. Except now those bases are targets. The countries hosting them are getting hit precisely because they host them. What once was “US military presence as shield” has collapsed and became “US military presence as a bullseye”. Medvedev put it with the particular relish of someone who has been waiting years to say it:

You can dismiss Medvedev on most things. On this one, his timing is sublime. I already cover the daily physical damage to Gulf infrastructure in my Iran series, so I won’t repeat it here. The point here aren’t the bombs. The point is what the bombs have made obvious: the protection America sold the GCC was a liability dressed up as an asset.
And increasingly it seems that the Gulf states are discussing pulling their investment commitments from the US. Not done yet. Discussing. They are not floating the possibility quietly in private rooms – they are saying it out loud, which means the market already knows which direction they’re heading. Capital won’t wait for a formal declaration. It will already leave in advance, quietly, and then when the announcement comes, everyone will pretend to be surprised…

Make the Greeks nervous.

• Turkey Mulls F-16 Deployment To Turkish-Occupied Cyprus (ZH)

As the Iran war unfolds and has shown signs of becoming a regional conflict, one interesting question is what Turkey’s role will be – given it is both a NATO member possessing a large military and an avowed regional enemy and rival to Israel for influence. A Turkish defense ministry source has been cited in national media to say the country is mulling deployment of F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Earlier this week a British military base hosted in EU member Cyprus (on the southern side of the island) came under attack by Iranian-made drones. This has resulted in some European military assets being moved to Cyprus, including additional British forces. But now it appears Turkey wants to make a show of doing the name for Turkish-claimed Cypriot territory.

Turkey’s Daily Sabah points out, however, that “TRNC has been incensed by Greek Cypriot’s growing military cooperation with its Western partners after the United Kingdom has allowed the U.S. to use its military base in the south of the divided island. Citing the military source, the same Turkish outlet said, “The TRNC leadership has held a series of security meetings in response to the crisis, he added, focusing on crisis management, coordination with Türkiye and the preparedness of civil defense mechanisms.” As for Turkey’s long occupation of northern Cyprus, no one else in the world recognizes its legitimacy except for Ankara. Cyprus receives backing from its EU partners, but this doesn’t go much beyond verbal censure of Turkey.

It remains something that Greek Cypriots cannot forgive or forget, and it continues to shape a deep and lasting distrust of Britain. https://t.co/Id30iJpP4V
— elena antoniou (@elenaantoniou3) March 7, 2026

The Turkish armed forces has for years had at least 30,000 soldiers stationed on Cyprus and growing, the northern part of which it has illegally occupied since 1974. At the moment, President Erdogan has reportedly reached out to the UK’s Starmer, urging for Britain to do more diplomacy to immediately bring the Iran-US-Israel war to halt.

Russia knows the region much better than the Americans. It’s their region.

• Kremlin: “We Are Not Neutral. We Support Iran.” (ZH)

Russia says it stands with its ally Iran, at a moment Washington officials are outraged at reports that Moscow is supporting Tehran with targeting intelligence related to US bases and Pentagon assets in the region amid Operation Epic Fury. That allegation was first reported by The Washington Post days ago. President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin had announced late Friday, amid the escalating US-Israeli attacks on Iran. In the call Putin expressed “deep condolences” over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, members of his family, other senior political and military officials, as well as the civilian victims. Putin, it must be remembered, has been hosted in Tehran on several occasions and has been photographed in friendly conversations with the slain Khamenei over the years.

The Kremlin indicated further Putin reaffirmed Russia’s position that there must be an immediate halt to the conflict, and that diplomacy must prevail over use of military force. He said he’s in contact with leaders of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as the crisis unfolds, countries which have come under Iranian missiles and drones over the past week of war. Pezeshkian for his part thanked Russia for what he described as solidarity with the Iranian people and briefed Putin on developments in the current phase of the conflict, the Kremlin said. Meanwhile, Russian diplomats are sending a clear signal on which side of the global divide they stand concerning the rapid events of the Iran war:

Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom:

"We are not neutral. We support Iran.

We take the current situation very badly and we do not understand the Western logic that consists of holding Iran responsible for everything."
pic.twitter.com/0mtIJFJkZf
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) March 8, 2026

“We are not neutral. We support Iran.” This was the response with Russia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom was asked if Moscow is neutral regarding the Iran war… Still, Russia and China are not expected to get deeply or directly involved, and may be more content to wait and see if Washington gets sucked into a new Vietnam or Iraq-style quagmire. The question of Iranian oil exports to China still looms large, however, and there have been reports that Beijing could be mulling some kind of military escort operation for its tankers in the Strait of Hormuz – but this reporting appears speculation at this moment, and could be premature.

https://twitter.com/NightSkyNow/status/2030374805208539516?s=20

Yup https://t.co/whfk3Ia7uR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2026

Tesla Cybercab production is set to begin next month in April. And once millions of these are in the streets, it’s going to feel like we suddenly jumped straight into the future. It’s honestly one of the most beautifully designed cars Tesla has ever made.pic.twitter.com/5vFPtmTsLY
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) March 8, 2026

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2030523910907707857?s=20

Prof. Brian Cox on cosmic rays and how they may have altered our DNA.

pic.twitter.com/n3ITzfLU7Z
— Saganism (@Saganismm) March 7, 2026

We breathe what trees release and they breathe what we exhale.

pic.twitter.com/Cf5Tz1wzGQ
— Science girl (@sciencegirl) March 8, 2026

Bees lives less than 40 days, visit at least 1000 flowers and produces less than a teaspoon of honey. For us it is only a teaspoon of honey, but for the bee it is a lifetime of work.
Thank You Bees! pic.twitter.com/F1bxdoOjZj
— World's Amazing Things (@Hana_b30) March 7, 2026

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Debt Rattle February 15 2026

Feb 152026

February 15, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:46 am Finance Tagged with: Bible, DSA, Epstein files, FBI, Hollywood, Massie, Newsom, temporary, Trump 33 Responses »

Ito Shinsui Snowy night 1923

• Newsom Tells EU “Trump Is Temporary,” Doubles Down On Failing Green Agenda (ZH)

• Rubio on Fire! (Sarah Anderson)

• Vast Majority Of Americans Want Voter ID And Democrats Don’t Care (ZH)

• The Least Laid Generation in History: Gen Z Is Ghosting Sex (Pinsker)

• OH BABY! Couples Could Make Big Money on Trump Accounts (DS)

• Americans Could Be Silenced by EU Online Speech Laws (ET)

• More Nations Are Mulling Social Media Bans For Teens (ZH)

• The Unsettling Truths the Epstein Files Reveal About Power and Privilege (ET)

• California Democrats Trigger a Reverse Gold Rush with a Wealth Tax (Turley)

• FBI Opened 1,200 ‘Assessments’ Of Sensitive Figures (JTN)

• US Smuggled Starlinks Into Iran Amid Riots – WSJ (RT)

• Trump Makes A HUGE Promise About Voter ID

• American Workers Have Less Than A $1000 in Retirement Savings (Turley)

• Stolen Land At The Grammys: How Hollywood Groupthink Threatens Democracy (ET)

• “Billion Dollar Movie In One Prompt” (ZH)

Make sure you take your time today for the Debt Rattle. I know it can seem overwhelming. Watch some videos. Use the time well. Everything goes faster than you think.

Then again, Elon Musk says we are In The Singularity. That means ALL predictions are off. Including Elon’s.

Miles Deutscher@milesdeutscher

Ok fine – maybe you don’t want to listen to me. I’m just a 25-year-old on the internet.

But maybe you’ll listen to them.

I documented every major warning from the people actually building AI.

Every CEO. Every founder. They’re all saying the same thing.

Read this slowly:

• Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI: “Being a lawyer, an accountant, a project manager, a marketing person – most of those tasks will be fully automated by AI within 12 to 18 months.”

• Elon Musk: “AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional.” Called AI his “biggest fear.”

• Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic: AI will eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs. Unemployment could hit 20%. Called it “unusually painful.” Then said: “Most lawmakers are unaware this is about to happen.”

• Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI: “Some areas, I think just like totally, totally gone.” Said changes that normally take 75 years will be compressed into a short period. Admitted he loses sleep over it.

• Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia: “Every job will be affected, and immediately. It is unquestionable.”

• Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase: “It will eliminate jobs. People should stop sticking their head in the sand.” Warned mass AI layoffs without safeguards could trigger “civil unrest.” Said he’d welcome a government ban on mass-firing for AI.

• Stuart Russell (author of the most-used AI textbook in history): Political leaders are “staring 80% unemployment in the face”.

• Kai-Fu Lee, VC & former head of Google China: Called predictions of 50% job displacement by 2027 “uncannily accurate.”

These aren’t journalists. These aren’t influencers. These aren’t politicians trying to get elected.

These are the people building it. Funding it. Deploying it.
And not one of them is saying your job is safe.

Elon Musk just gave retirement planning the most radical advice possible:

“Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years — it won’t matter.

You won’t need to save for retirement.” His reasoning (from the same conversation):

We’re already in the singularity — “the event horizon” where prediction breaks down.

The accelerating timeline makes long-term saving irrelevant.

Services, homes, healthcare, entertainment — abundance will be so extreme that the old rules vanish.

Peter Diamandis: “The way this unfolds is fundamentally impossible to predict because of self-improvement of the AI and the accelerating timeline.”

Elon: “We’re in this beautiful sweet spot… like being at the top of the roller coaster about to drop. I don’t just have courtside seats — I’m on the court.”

If saving for retirement becomes pointless in the next 10–20 years because we’re already past the event horizon…

what’s the first thing you’d change about how you live right now?

Elon Musk just gave retirement planning the most radical advice possible:

“Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years — it won’t matter.
You won’t need to save for retirement.”

His reasoning (from the same conversation):
We’re already in the… pic.twitter.com/jw1OzJj0LT
— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 14, 2026

Software that rewrites itself.

This solo developer just built software that rewrites its own code.

No team. No funding. No corporate backing.

Just one guy, a stack of terminals, and an AI agent that decided to evolve itself.

His name is Peter Steinberger. He built OpenClaw.

The fastest-growing GitHub repo… pic.twitter.com/De2Fnwyv5W
— Ricardo (@Ric_RTP) February 13, 2026

https://twitter.com/Khulood_Almani/status/2022315978575483386?s=20 Huang

NVIDIA's CEO is literally telling you how to get rich.

I wouldn't be fading a billionaire's advice. pic.twitter.com/zAIYlMiOdj
— AI Edge (@aiedge_) February 14, 2026

ELON MUSK: “You take a photograph of your blood work, upload it from your phone to Grok. It will understand what all the data results are and tell you if there’s something wrong. Even now, you can upload your X-rays and MRI images to Grok, and it will give you a medical… pic.twitter.com/ESTB29jDAS
— Mars University (@MarsUniversityX) February 13, 2026

GenZ

Scientists have identified a reversal of the long-standing Flynn effect—the roughly 200-year trend of rising average intelligence (measured via IQ and cognitive tests) across generations.

For the first time in modern recorded history, Generation Z (born roughly 1997–2012) shows… pic.twitter.com/113X620gJ4
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 13, 2026

4 Hours?

Stop scrolling. Seriously. This video explains exactly how AI is about to flip the world upside down over the next 10 years. Jobs. Money. Power. Everything. Best breakdown I’ve seen and it’s not even close.pic.twitter.com/dJ1J9eXILL
— Sukh Sroay (@sukh_saroy) February 13, 2026

In 10 years, there will be two classes of people.

Economists call it the "K-shaped economy" – and the next 2-3 years will decide which line you're on.

• An overclass that uses AI as a lever to build wealth, automate income, and make decisions at a speed no human can compete… pic.twitter.com/pN8QZBz9cv
— Miles Deutscher (@milesdeutscher) February 14, 2026

18 hrs https://twitter.com/iam_smx/status/2022743830491988095?s=20

Two -very- different futures for America, courtesy of Rubio and Newsom.

• Newsom Tells EU “Trump Is Temporary,” Doubles Down On Failing Green Agenda (ZH)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke at the Munich Security Conference earlier on Friday, telling European elites that President Trump is “temporary” and will be gone within three years. Newsom, noticeably angered by Trump’s push for deregulation and the rollback of climate policy, lashed out at the president, calling him “more destructive” than the current occupant of the White House. The issue for Newsom is that he still operates within the climate crisis framework promoted by globalists, even as the West is moving on from two decades of nation-killing green policy regime that hollowed out parts of the industrial base and fueled inflation.

On Thursday, President Trump rescinded the 2009 Obama-era “Endangerment Finding,” a determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, which he said has been used by the radical left to justify $1.3 trillion in regulatory costs that have hurt American households and sent consumer prices soaring, especially for automobiles. “The single largest deregulatory action in American history. That’s a big statement in American history, and I think we can add the words by far,” Trump told reporters. Also this week, there was considerable discussion among industry leaders in Europe about Brussels watering down carbon-pricing markets, which have made electricity outrageously expensive and crushed the industrial base (Goldman explained more here).
And it is not just Trump and European industry leaders pushing to unwind green policies that have financially crushed working-class families and hollowed out the industrial base; major companies are also dialing back EV production plans and softening green targets as the net-zero dream collides with reality. Here’s what Newsom said earlier at the MSC (courtesy of Real Clear Politics):
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: “Donald Trump is doubling down on stupid. California has been a leader in climate policy going back to Ronald Reagan. In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan established the first tailpipe emissions standards in the United States of America and created the California Air Resources Board. Three years later, a president by the name of Richard Nixon — another Republican — codified California’s leadership under the Clean Air Act.
Never in the history of the United States of America has there been a more destructive president than the current occupant in the White House in Washington, D.C. He’s trying to recreate the 19th century. He’s a wholly owned subsidiary of big oil, gas, and coal. He’s quite literally reopening coal plants in the United States of America. He’s received close to half a billion dollars in campaign contributions. He asked for $1 billion — look it up — in return for basically eliminating all regulations in the United States of America. De facto, he just did that yesterday with federal regulations and the endangerment finding.
It is code red in terms of American leadership in this space — low-carbon, green growth — and I know a thing or two about this. I represent the fourth-largest economy, from a GDP perspective, in the world, and we ran the fourth-largest economy last year nine out of ten days on 100% clean energy — two-thirds renewable energy. We’ve seen our GDP grow by 81% since 2000, and we’ve reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 21%. Seven times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs.
We’re proving at scale that we can implement, we can compete, and we can dominate. But Donald Trump is trying to turn back the clock. And so we’re showing up, but we’re also showing what can be accomplished — the power of emulation. We are in the great implementation in my state. Final word. I hope, if there’s nothing else I can communicate today: Donald Trump is temporary. He’ll be gone in three years. California is a stable and reliable partner in this space, and it’s important for folks to understand the temporary nature of this current administration in relationship to the issue of climate change and climate policy.
MODERATOR]: Governor, many have called Joe Biden the climate president, but that didn’t help with his re-election. So how important do you think climate issues will be for the 2028 presidential election?
GAVIN NEWSOM: Well, you may not believe in science, but you’ve got to believe your own eyes. I mean, people are burning up, choking up, heating up. We have simultaneous droughts and floods. Historic wildfires. You may know little about California, but you’ve seen those images of these wildfires. Talk about being as dumb as we want to be — places, lifestyles, traditions being wiped off the map. Greenville. Paradise, California. And so this issue has been brought home in a very personal way, not a political way. Senator Whitehouse is here — he’s also someone who deeply understands that climate risk is financial risk. It’s becoming uninsurable.
This is an economic issue, not just a moral issue. It’s not just a competitiveness issue. And so it’s incredibly important that we talk in those terms to address some of the political dynamics. But it’s again something we’re on the other side of in California. It’s a big blue state, but it also has more Republicans than most Republican states. And we have long moved beyond the partisanship on this issue, because there is no Republican thermometer, there’s no Democratic thermometer — there’s just reality.And people in my state have been mugged by reality. Those that have been in denial understand that we’re on the other side of the debate.

“And that is what we are defending: a great civilization that has every reason to be proud of its history, confident of its future, and aims to always be the master of its own economic and political destiny.”

We Won’t Be ‘Polite and Orderly Caretakers of the West’s Managed Decline’

• Rubio on Fire! (Sarah Anderson)

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2022816808403615888?s=20

“The world is changing very fast right in front of us. The old world is gone… We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to reexamine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.” That’s what Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the press before he boarded a plane to Munich, Germany on Thursday evening. Little did we know that this quote was setting the stage for what turned out to be a momentous speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday morning, a speech that framed the end of one major geopolitical era and the beginning of another. We may well look back on this speech in Munich as another defining moment in the secretary’s career.

Rubio told European leaders that the post–Cold War era is over, that the “euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion: that we had entered, quote, ‘the end of history;’ that every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order – an overused term – would now replace the national interest; and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.” He said that this idea was foolish and “ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history.”
While championing the Donald Trump administration’s America-First foreign policy, he also reaffirmed the bond between our nations, saying that the Western Hemisphere may be our home, but we’re a child of Europe, and we share history, culture, and heritage. “We belong together,” he said. But he also made it clear that the world has reached a turning point and course correction is required. Europe must save itself because, “we in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline.” Rubio called on our European allies to revitalize their nations and reject policies leading to their decline.
That includes the embracing of “a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade” and shuttering our plants, which resulted “in large parts of our societies being deindustrialized, shipping millions of working and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals.” He continued: “We increasingly outsourced our sovereignty to international institutions while many nations invested in massive welfare states at the cost of maintaining the ability to defend themselves. This, even as other countries have invested in the most rapid military buildup in all of human history and have not hesitated to use hard power to pursue their own interests.
To appease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas and anything else – not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own.”n nAnd in a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people. We made these mistakes together, and now, together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward, to rebuild.
Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past. And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe. But it wasn’t just a critique or warning about globalization. Rubio explained that it’s the fundamental part of national security. “The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending, because armies do not fight for abstractions. Armies fight for a people; armies fight for a nation. Armies fight for a way of life,” he said.
“And that is what we are defending: a great civilization that has every reason to be proud of its history, confident of its future, and aims to always be the master of its own economic and political destiny.” Rubio also spoke of how “we can no longer place the so-called global order above the vital interests of our people and our nations,” and how we must reform global institutions. He used the United Nations as an example, explaining that it has potential to be a “tool for good” but right now, it’s basically useless. “But we cannot ignore that today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role.”
It could not solve the war in Gaza. Instead, it was American leadership that freed captives from barbarians and brought about a fragile truce. It had not solved the war in Ukraine. It took American leadership and partnership with many of the countries here today just to bring the two sides to the table in search of a still-elusive peace. It was powerless to constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics in Tehran. That required 14 bombs dropped with precision from American B-2 bombers. And it was unable to address the threat to our security from a narco-terrorist dictator in Venezuela. Instead, it took American Special Forces to bring this fugitive to justice.
He concluded: “…America is charting the path for a new century of prosperity, and that once again we want to do it together with you, our cherished allies and our oldest friends. We want to do it together with you, with a Europe that is proud of its heritage and of its history; with a Europe that has the spirit of creation of liberty that sent ships out into uncharted seas and birthed our civilization; with a Europe that has the means to defend itself and the will to survive.”
The speech, which ended with a long standing ovation, was similar to that of Vice President JD Vance’s Munich moment from last year but a bit softer, a bit more diplomatic. Rubio assured the Europeans that the United States is not abandoning them, but the old playbook is shelved. If the alliance is to continue, Europe must adapt and defend the true interests of its people and Western civilization unlike ever before. You could almost hear a sigh of a relief in the room, but how these European leaders will actually respons remains to be seen. I, for one, am not particularly hopeful.

Democrats Don’t Care.

• Vast Majority Of Americans Want Voter ID And Democrats Don’t Care (ZH)

Are voter ID requirements considered a controversial idea in the eyes of US citizens? If you watch the establishment media or follow leaders in the Democratic Party then you might think bills like the SAVE Act are the end of freedom as we know it However, outside the echo chambers of DNC propaganda, the vast majority of Americans have no problem whatsoever with people proving their US citizenship before they vote in local and federal elections. The widespread support for voter ID is undeniable. Surveys from the past year including those from Pew and Gallup show that, regardless of party or ethnicity, Americans citizens want elections to be protected from manipulation through mass illegal immigration.

A Pew Research Center survey from August 2025 found that 83% of Americans favor requiring all voters to show government-issued photo ID to vote. This includes:
95% of Republicans
71% of Democrats
Only 16% of people oppose it.
A Gallup poll from 2024 shows 84% support for requiring photo ID to vote, with 98% of Republicans, 84% of independents and 67% of Democrats in approval.A recent CNN segment featuring number cruncher Harry Enten confirms that the backing for the SAVE Act is also dominant regardless of ethnicity: 85% of white voter, 82% of Latino voters and 76% of black voters all want voter ID. It’s difficult to find many issues which the American public universally supports at this level.
Democrat leaders, however, don’t care that the majority of their own base wants voter ID laws. Party officials and the left-wing media have engaged in a shameless propaganda campaign designed to frighten the public into opposing the SAVE Act, despite their previous platforms defending majority rule. They consistently compare the new laws to “Jim Crow” era restrictions, claiming that minorities (and rural Americans) are too dumb to figure out how to get access to state IDs and birth certificates.
In truth, every state that already has some form of election ID laws has seen a spike in voter participation, not a decline. Only 8 states have laws demanding proof of citizenship before voting (half of the states are in legal battles to implement them); the other 42 only require that you check a box that says you are a citizen. When Democrats are asked why they are ignoring their majority of their constituents when it comes to the SAVE Act, they launch into tirades about racism and fascism, but never seem to be able to answer the question.
It’s difficult to reconcile the rhetoric of Democrats from 2024 when they wailed and screamed about conservatives being a “threat to democracy” compared to their rhetoric today. At bottom, the political left only supports majority public decisions when those decisions work in the favor of leftist elites. The majority of Americans continue to support the Trump Administration’s deportations of all illegal migrants (not just migrants with violent criminal records), but Dem leaders and their NGO partners continue trying to thwart the will of the people. By extension, voter ID makes it far more difficult for non-citizens to vote and makes it easier for voting records to be checked for discrepancies.
It’s clear that ID requirements and tighter controls on mail-in ballots will work heavily against Democrats and, if passed, they are likely to see a sharp decline in votes across the board. They are fighting against the SAVE Act because they want oligarchy, not “democracy.” They want minority elitist control over government policy. Voter ID is perhaps the most important legal question of our era; it will determine the course of elections for many years to come. Most western countries have laws in place to prevent illegal migrant voting and foreign manipulation of elections. The US is the only country in which this type of law is treated as “racist”.

Ask the one-child Chinese how fast this can get out off hand.

• The Least Laid Generation in History: Gen Z Is Ghosting Sex (Pinsker)

So, barmaid, bring a pitcher, another round of brew
Honey, why don’t we get drunk and screw?
—Jimmy Buffett, Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw)

It’s not just sex: Alcohol consumption has dropped by 54%, with youth (18 to 34) drinking falling ANOTHER 9% just between 2023 and 2025. From TIME magazine’s article, “Why Gen Z is Drinking Less”: “[R]esearch from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that lifetime drinking, past month drinking, and past year drinking among young people began to decline around the year 2000. That means that such declines have especially impacted Generation Z, defined as anyone born from 1997 to 2012, and some Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996. […]
“It is becoming clear that, for whatever reasons, today’s younger generations are just less interested in alcohol and are more likely than older generations to see it as risky for their health and to participate in periods of abstinence like Dry January,” said National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism George F. Koob in a statement. Maybe that’s not coincidental. Perhaps there’s a causal link (as famed philosopher Jimmy Buffett suggested). Maybe, just like peanut butter and jelly are complementary products, sex and alcohol are, too. Koob seemed to agree with Buffett:
“Another contributing factor has to do with the changing socialization patterns of younger generations. “Alcohol tends to be a social drug, even for young people, so part of the decline in underage drinking could be related to less in-person socializing,” said Koob. On average, the amount of time people spent with friends in-person decreased from 30 hours a month in 2003 to 10 hours a month in 2020, according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on the epidemic of loneliness. That decline was especially marked for people aged 15 to 24.
Back in 1991, more than half — 54.1% of all high school students — were sexually active. (The other 45.9% lied about it.) By 2007, the number fell to 47.8%. Four years later, it dropped again to 43%. By 2017, it was just 39.5%. As of 2023, it’s 31.6%. What’s going on with kids today, with their wild, out-of-control abstinence and crazy teetotalling?! It’s one of the strangest, most inexplicable cultural shifts in recent memory. I was certainly blindsided: I figured our sex drive was so biologically ingrained, it would never go away! But it has. And with it, so has the U.S. birthrate: It’s now at a 40-year low.
We need a birthrate of 2.1 babies per woman to maintain our population. We’re currently at 1.6.mnFor decades, our shrinking birthrate was masked by immigration growth. In 1991, the U.S. population was 253 million. By 2025, it grew to 343.6 million. = Since 2020, immigration has been the #1 driver of American population growth. With the new crackdown on illegal immigration, we’re flirting with our first-ever population decline. And it’s not just an American phenomenon — all over the world, birthrates have collapsed. At least one geopolitical strategist and demographic expert predicts it’ll lead to the end of China within the next 10 years:

“And three months ago, the Chinese government updated the data. They’re now reporting a 70% drop in the birthrate since 2017. That’s a faster decline than what was suffered by the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. And the Shanghai Academy of Sciences, which is kind of the Wiseman organization of statisticians in China that interprets all the data, says that this is still wrong. They estimate that the Chinese system has overestimated its population by over 100 million people. With all of the missing millions being people who would’ve been born during the one-child era, which is a rather sterile way of saying that all the missing millions are under age 40 suggesting that these yellow bars don’t even exist. China has, at most, 10 years before it faces national dissolution. They will not be a unified industrialized nation state 10 years from now. ”
—Peter Zeihan

Prediction: “The Least Laid Generation in History” will start boinking for cash. Then again, Elon says they won’t need the cash.

• OH BABY! Couples Could Make Big Money on Trump Accounts (DS)

The Trump administration has created an incentive for Americans to have more children within the next three years. Any baby born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, is eligible for $1,000 of seed money in a tax-advantaged investment account known as a “Trump Account,” though any parent with a child under 18 can open an account for their son or daughter. The account operates similarly to an IRA, and parents, relatives, and friends can contribute up to $5,000 annually, though they do not have to make regular contributions.

“Your child’s funds will automatically be invested in American companies,” according to the Trump Accounts website.mWhen the child turns 18, they can either allow the account to continue to grow, or they can withdraw the funds for education costs or to purchase a home. If the maximum amount is contributed to the account annually from the time the child is born, the account will have grown to over $270,000 by the child’s 18th birthday.
Between the rapid increase in the cost of living over the past 20 years and many young people in debt with student loans, true financial freedom is a distant dream for many in their 20s and 30s, but Trump Accounts could change that for the next generation. If Americans take advantage of the program to its full extent, Generation Alpha, born between 2010 and 2024, and Beta, born between 2025 and 2039, can hope to avoid the financial situation many Millennials and members of Gen Z find themselves in today.

Trump will not accept this.

• Americans Could Be Silenced by EU Online Speech Laws (ET)

Europeans who face criminal charges for what they said or wrote warned that Europe’s speech laws can silence Americans as well, regardless of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections. While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee last week, Paivi Rasanen, a member of parliament in Finland, recounted how she has been prosecuted since 2021 for quoting Bible verses to church members and on social media that questioned her church’s participation in a Gay Pride march. Although she was acquitted, first by a local district court and then by an appellate court, prosecutors appealed the decision to Finland’s supreme court, where the case currently sits.

“My prosecution shows how quickly democratic societies can abandon free expression when the state decides which beliefs are acceptable,” Rasanen told The Epoch Times. “I never imagined that quoting the Bible in a Twitter post would lead to years of criminal charges, yet this is now the reality in Europe,” she said. “Americans should be concerned because once censorship is normalized, it never stays confined to one country.”
The trend among Western countries to restrict religious speech has spread beyond Europe, with the Canadian government currently advancing a bill that would remove a religious exemption from “hate speech” laws in the country’s Criminal Code. Similarly, newly proposed legislation in Queensland, Australia, would criminalize certain symbols and phrases, with penalties of up to two years in prison. While speaking before Congress, Rasanen was joined by Graham Linehan, an Irish writer and comedian who was arrested upon traveling through Heathrow Airport in 2025 for statements he had made in America on transgender issues. “For a decade, the British police have harassed me for expressing views that the majority of the public share,” Linehan stated. “We have simply been punished for objecting to fashionable yet incoherent orthodoxies.”
‘Foreign Censorship Threat’
Their testimony was underscored by the release of a Feb. 3 House report titled “The Foreign Censorship Threat,” which charged that “The European Commission, in a comprehensive decade-long effort, has successfully pressured social media platforms to change their global content moderation rules, thereby directly infringing on Americans’ online speech in the United States.” More specifically, the report states that “though ostensibly meant to combat ‘misinformation’ and ‘hate speech,’ nonpublic documents produced to the Committee show that for the last 10 years, the European Commission has directly pressured platforms to censor lawful, political speech in the European Union and abroad.”
This included regular meetings between U.S. tech companies and European Union regulators to put “content moderation” policies and algorithms in place to conform to European laws regarding “hate speech” and “misinformation,” the report states. The EU claims these initiatives were voluntary, but subpoenaed emails from tech executives stated that “we don’t really have a choice.” Judicial Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told hearing attendees that, based on subpoenas issued to U.S. tech companies regarding their correspondence with EU officials, a pattern of compelled censorship emerged that included U.S. citizens.
“The European Commission successfully pressured social media companies to change their global content moderation rules, directly harming the speech of Americans in the United States,” Jordan stated. He also referenced an incident in which European commissioner Thierry Breton warned X owner Elon Musk that his company may face penalties for posting an interview with Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. “The European Commission is trying to censor speech and meddle in elections worldwide,” Jordan said. “When the European Commission makes censorship demands, platforms have to listen.”
According to the European Commission’s website, the Digital Services Act (DSA) “empowers citizens by strengthening the protection of their fundamental rights online and giving them greater control and more choices when they navigate online platforms and search engines.” The DSA also requires platforms to “minimise the risks of exposing citizens, including children and young people, to illegal and harmful content.” nCritics of EU speech laws say they have become a tool to punish U.S. tech companies for allowing any content that a European country has deemed to be illegal. In countries such as Germany, that could include insulting government officials.
French member of the European Parliament Virginie Joron called the DSA a “Trojan horse for surveillance and control.” Joron accused government officials of having “seized upon the DSA as a political tool to control speech, particularly targeting platforms like X, Facebook, and Telegram.” And legal analysts say that the reach of the DSA extends beyond Europe. The DSA “creates a pathway for foreign governments to influence public debate inside the United States without ever passing a single American law,” Lorcan Price, an Irish barrister who defended Rasanen and testified at the House hearing, told The Epoch Times.
“The EU’s Digital Services Act gives European regulators unprecedented leverage over American tech companies, which means European speech rules can end up shaping what Americans are allowed to say online,” Price said. “Once U.S. platforms are forced to comply with European censorship demands to avoid massive fines, those restrictions don’t stop at Europe’s borders.”

Maybe they should see if they can agree on something. 15, 16, 18, not at all?

• More Nations Are Mulling Social Media Bans For Teens (ZH)

After Australia’s first-of-its-kind social media ban for adolescents under the age of 16 came into effect in December, more countries in Europe and elsewhere are taking steps to implement their own restrictions. As Katharina Buchholz reports, according to Statista research, France and the United Kingdom have gotten furthest, with laws passing in one chamber each of the countries’ bicameral legislatures as of early February. While the latter country is also aiming to ban social media for kids under the age of 16, France’s proposed law targets only those under the age of 15.

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Six more nations have seen country leaders announce initiatives aiming to ban social media access for adolescents. While Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Spain all have more restrictive regulations in mind, excluding those under the age of 16, Greece is aiming to exclude those under the age of 15 and Austria those under the age of 14 from social media.Social media, including personalized algorithms and the possibility to scroll endlessly, is receiving scrutiny for its effect on mental health, especially in younger people.

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Social media addiction can affect any age group, but it is seen as especially harmful in adolescents which are still developing social behaviors, body image and time management skills. Two more planned bans announced in Europe, by Portuguese and Danish leadership, are reportedly willing to leave a back door open for parental consent, putting them in a different category that already exists in several nations like France, Italy and, since recently, Brazil, where children of the applicable ages can access social media sites if their parents are in agreement.
While outright bans like the Australian one often plan implementation via a strict official age-verification mechanism, parental consent regulation can work by linking parents accounts, for example. Instagram has meanwhile already rolled out this feature in Europe, the U.S., Australia and Canada, with teenagers between the ages of 13 to 15 only in the position to disable a special restricted account mode with the consent of their parent’s account. Like other platforms, Instagram accepts users from the age of 13, but this restriction is so far not tied to verification. In the EU, social media sites are since 2018 under further restrictions concerning the use of personalized ads for minors.

“He functioned as a social broker among financiers, politicians, academics, royalty, and celebrities…”

• The Unsettling Truths the Epstein Files Reveal About Power and Privilege (ET)

The public fixation on the Epstein files has settled, predictably, on the most lurid elements of the story. This is understandable. Sexual exploitation, particularly of the young, is among the most corrosive of crimes, and the scale of Epstein’s abuse, as well as the apparent indifference of powerful institutions to it, demands moral outrage. But to focus exclusively on the sexual scandal is to miss the deeper and more unsettling lesson the affair reveals. What the Epstein files expose, above all, is the social and moral estrangement of American elites from the people they claim to govern.

Epstein was not merely a predator who gained access to power. He was a node within a closed world of wealth, influence, and immunity. The scandal is not that powerful people behaved badly in private—history shows many such examples—but that they did so with a confidence rooted in the belief they were insulated from the consequences of their behavior. They moved through a transnational elite culture that had largely severed itself from ordinary moral constraints, legal accountability, and civic obligation. That culture did not merely tolerate Epstein but normalized him.
This echoes the point Christopher Lasch made decades ago, long before private islands and hedge-fund philanthropy became familiar symbols of elite excess. In his 1994 book “The Revolt of the Elites,” Lasch argued that the modern American ruling classes had stopped seeing themselves as stewards of a shared national project. Instead, they increasingly saw themselves as a mobile, globalized caste, educated in the same institutions, moving through the same cities, governed by the same tastes, and primarily accountable only to each other. Citizenship was seen as a minor inconvenience. Nationhood and patriotism were just sentimental relics from less enlightened times.
The Epstein affair reads like a case study in Lasch’s thesis. Here was an individual whose wealth was opaque, whose sources of income were rarely scrutinized, and whose social standing seemed immune to ordinary reputational risk. He functioned as a social broker among financiers, politicians, academics, royalty, and celebrities, many of whom publicly advocated policies of moral uplift, social justice, and global responsibility. Yet in private, they inhabited a world defined by indulgence, entitlement, and a contempt for limits.
Elite detachment today is not only economic but also existential, and it is hardly confined to Americans. The governing classes of advanced democracies increasingly inhabit a world defined by mobility, abstraction, and insulation from consequence. Their loyalties are professional rather than civic, global rather than national, and managerial rather than moral. They experience society less as a shared inheritance than as a set of problems to be administered at a distance. In such a world, attachment to place, memory, and common fate appears parochial, even suspect, while belonging itself is quietly redefined as an obstacle to progress.
Those who create policies affecting immigration, policing, education, public health, and national security rarely face the consequences themselves. They do not send their children to failing schools, live in high-crime neighborhoods, compete for scarce housing, or navigate broken public institutions. Their lives are shielded by wealth, location, private services, and increasingly by law itself.
The Epstein files sharpen this reality because they reveal not just hypocrisy, but impunity. Despite extensive documentation, repeated warnings, and credible testimony, accountability arrived slowly and incompletely. This is not because the crimes were ambiguous, but because the accused moved within a protected sphere where consequences were negotiable and enforcement discretionary. Justice, like morality, was something applied elsewhere for other people.
What enrages the public is not prurience, but recognition. The scandal resonates because it confirms a growing suspicion among ordinary people that there is one moral universe for the governing class and another for everyone else. Elites preach restraint, sustainability, and responsibility while living lives of extraordinary consumption and indulgence. They urge social sacrifice while exempting themselves from its costs. They speak the language of progress while practicing a refined form of decadence.
Lasch warned that such a ruling class would eventually forfeit legitimacy, not because of ideology, but because of character. A society cannot be governed indefinitely by people who do not believe they belong to it. When elites become tourists in their own countries, financially global, culturally unrooted, and morally untethered, their authority rests on little more than coercion and spectacle. The Epstein files should therefore be read less as an aberration than as a symptom. They reveal a governing class that has lost the habits of self-restraint that once justified its power, and the sense of common fate that once bound leaders to citizens. For many, the salient point of the Epstein files is the scandal. I think it is more accurately seen as a disclosure.
The danger is not merely that such elites are corrupt, but that they are bored. Bored with limits, bored with norms, bored with accountability, and ultimately bored with democracy itself. That boredom, Lasch understood, is the precondition of revolt, not by the masses, but by those who no longer feel answerable to them. If the Epstein affair provokes lasting anger, it is because it crystallizes a truth many citizens already sense, that the people shaping the future live in a world apart, governed by different rules, and increasingly incapable of moral seriousness. No society can long endure that division without consequence. The question is not whether further revelations will emerge. It is whether the public will finally insist that elites once again live under the same moral and civic conditions as those they presume to lead.

“.. you made…all your money in California, you ungrateful piece of s***, you could figure out a way to pay more taxes, and we deserve the taxes from you, given you made your wealth here . . . so why don’t we just do shock and awe at this point, because you don’t seem to be availing yourself to thinking that you owe your state something more.”

• California Democrats Trigger a Reverse Gold Rush with a Wealth Tax (Turley)

This month, the anniversary of the California Gold Rush came and passed with little mention … for good reason. When James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill, millions traveled great distances to seek their fortune in the “Golden State.” Now, 178 years later, California has engineered an inverse Gold Rush, virtually chasing wealth from the state. Rather than covered wagons going West, there is a line of U-Hauls going anywhere other than California.

From boondoggle projects to reparations, California politicians continue to rack up new spending projects despite a soaring deficit and shrinking tax base. Rather than exercise a modicum of fiscal restraint, Democrats are pushing through a tax that takes five percent of the wealth of any billionaires left in the state. I have long criticized the tax as perfectly moronic for a state with the highest tax burden and one of the highest flight rates of top taxpayers. In my new book, “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” I discuss the reversal of fortunes in California and other blue states as politicians unleash new “eat the rich” campaigns before the midterm elections.
The problem, of course, is that billionaires are mobile, as is their wealth. Liberals expect billionaires to stay put in a type of voluntary canned hunt. They are not. Billionaires are joining the growing exodus from the state, taking their companies, investments, and jobs with them. The latest billionaire to be chased off may be Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is reportedly heading for Florida. The growing departures have triggered outrage among many on the left, who are in disbelief that billionaires will just not stand still to be fleeced.
Former New York Magazine editor Kara Swisher captured that rage in a recent posting, declaring “you made…all your money in California, you ungrateful piece of s***, you could figure out a way to pay more taxes, and we deserve the taxes from you, given you made your wealth here . . . so why don’t we just do shock and awe at this point, because you don’t seem to be availing yourself to thinking that you owe your state something more.” By some estimates, California has already cost over a trillion dollars in lost investments and business. That is no small achievement. Here’s a mind teaser: How can you burn a trillion dollars (which would create a stack some 67,866 miles high) without taking years and destroying the environment? California politicians have a solution: Have people take it out of the state in a reverse gold rush.
In addition to saying that they want to grab 5 percent of the wealth of these billionaires, California Democrats are planning to base wealth calculations on the voting shares of corporate executives. Often, particularly with start-ups, entrepreneurs have greater voting shares than actual ownership. However, they will be taxed as if voting shares amounted to actual wealth. In other words, California is moving to nuke the entrepreneurs who created the Silicon Valley boom. Emmanuel Saez, the U.C. Berkeley economist who helped design the tax, insists that they may not want to stay, but they will still be tapped. They are planning to trap the wealthy fleeing the state retroactively: “The tax is based on residence as of Jan. 1, 2026, sharply limiting their ability to flee the state to avoid paying. Despite billionaires’ threats to leave, I think extremely few will have been able to change residence by Jan. 1, given the complexity of doing so.”
The effort to retroactively impose such a tax is legally controversial and will face years of challenges. In my view, this is unconstitutional, but admittedly it is a murky area. Regardless of the outcome, a wealth tax will affect a wide range of other wealthy taxpayers. If Democrats can get a retroactive wealth tax to be upheld, it is doubtful that they will stop with billionaires. Why should other top taxpayers stick around to find out where the next cull will fall in the tax brackets? Recently, Gavin Newsom boasted, “California isn’t just keeping pace with the world — we’re setting the pace.” That is undeniably true if the measure is the record number of U-Hauls fleeing the state — more than any other state. Indeed, the only thing harder to find than a wealthy taxpayer in California appears to be a U-Haul.
According to U-Haul’s data, the state is again leading blue states in the exodus. The Washington Post noted recently that “California came in last. Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey rounded out the bottom five. Of the bottom 10, seven voted blue in the last election.” Conversely, “nine of the top 10 growth states voted red in the last presidential election,” with Texas again leading the growth states. The Post put it succinctly, “People want to live in pro-growth, low-tax states, while the biggest losers tend to be places with big governments and high taxes.” The problem is that, while the economics are horrific, the politics remain irresistible.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents part of Silicon Valley, recently mocked billionaires rushing to escape the state. Laughing at his own constituents, Khanna quipped, “I will miss them very much.” You will not be alone as California becomes known as the La Brea Tar Pit of taxation. They are on the verge of converting the state motto from “Eureka” to “Welcome to Hotel California, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

I have questions.

• FBI Opened 1,200 ‘Assessments’ Of Sensitive Figures (JTN)

The FBI opened 1,200 probes related to politicians, journalists, religious leaders, academics and others tied to “sensitive investigative matters,” using a special investigative tool that requires no factual predicate to launch, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The GAO report, which was obtained by Just the News, was published last month but not made public, and it was titled FBI Investigative Activities: Oversight Efforts of Opening and Conducting Assessments Should be Strengthened.

The report, which assists in congressional oversight of the executive branch, provided details on the roughly 127,000 FBI “assessments” in all opened from 2018 to 2024, the vast majority of which were eventually closed without accusations of wrongdoing or criminal charges against those targets being scrutinized. The 57-page report did not include any names of those targeted for assessment. Among the total assessments, 1,200 were related to “sensitive investigative matters” that target public officials, news organizations, houses of worship or members of academia, which the bureau views as more sensitive in nature.
So-called “assessments” were established by Justice Department guidelines in 2008, providing the FBI with an investigative tool short of opening a full-fledged investigation requiring a factual predicate. The probes are used by the bureau to “address a potential threat to national security or potential violation of federal criminal law,” the congressional watchdog said. They allow FBI agents to open probes on authorized matters but without a factual basis and allow them to employ investigative such techniques as physical surveillance on subjects.
If sufficient basis is found, assessments can turn into preliminary investigations, full investigations or enterprise investigations. But most assessments are closed without meeting the standards for a full inquiry by the bureau, the GAO said. nn The revelations were detailed in the GAO’s January 2026 report, which was designated “For Official Use Only” because of the sensitive information it contains. GAO noted that the report should be “safeguarded when not being used and destroyed when no longer needed.”

I don’t think Trump wants to attack Iran. But does he have a choice anymore?

• US Smuggled Starlinks Into Iran Amid Riots – WSJ (RT)

The Trump administration covertly smuggled approximately 6,000 Starlink satellite internet terminals into Iran amid a nationwide unrest earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal has reported, substantiating Tehran’s claims of foreign interference behind the deadly riots. The operation, which senior US officials said involved State Department funding, came after Iranian authorities imposed a sweeping internet blackout in January. President Donald Trump was aware of the deliveries, officials told the WSJ on Thursday, though it remains unclear whether he personally approved the plan.

Iranian officials have repeatedly blamed Washington and Tel Aviv for fueling the unrest, which began in December as peaceful demonstrations over economic hardship but escalated into widespread violence. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated last month that more than 3,000 people had been killed, including nearly 700 individuals he described as “terrorists,” alongside civilians and security personnel. President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the US and Israel of embedding “foreign terrorists” within protest crowds, alleging they have employed what an Iranian diplomatic source described to RT as “ISIS-like” tactics – including beheadings of law enforcement officers and civilians being burned alive.
At the height of the unrest, Trump openly encouraged “peaceful” Iranian protesters, posting on Truth Social: “All Iranian patriots, keep protesting. Take over your institutions if possible.” He also promised that “help is on its way,” and deployed a “beautiful armada” to the region, raising speculation of an imminent military intervention. The State Department supports a range of so-called “internet freedom” tools, including virtual private network (VPN) service providers to Iran. To purchase Starlinks, the department reportedly redirected funds from US-supported VPNs, which had allowed an estimated 20-30 million Iranians to stay online during the previous 2022 riots and the Israeli-US bombing last year.
Washington seeks to pressure Iran into accepting a new nuclear deal, after Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 agreement (JCPOA) during his first term, reimposing sanctions against Tehran under a “maximum pressure” campaign. Decades of US economic pressure were the primary driver of the country’s economic deterioration, according to officials in Iran – the world’s second most sanctioned country after Russia. Despite the US administration’s public denials of involvement in fomenting anti-government riots, the reported Starlink operation reveals expanded covert support for what Moscow called an attempt to “destroy the Iranian state” through a “color revolution” playbook.

“I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.” An executive order would not be ideal, but I’m hoping it won’t be necessary.”

• Trump Makes A HUGE Promise About Voter ID

They finally have the votes. Now the real fight begins. The SAVE Act already cleared the House in a tight 218–213 vote, with just one Democrat, Henry Cuellar, willing to break with his party and support basic election safeguards. That tells you everything you need to know about where Democrats really stand on election integrity. Senate Republicans also just locked down the 50 votes they need to move ahead on the SAVE Act, thanks to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) finally jumping off the fence and signing on as a cosponsor. With Vice President JD Vance ready to break a 50–50 tie, Republicans now have the votes to pass the bill if it ever reaches a final vote. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that Democrats still have one powerful weapon left: the filibuster. In the Senate, the math is brutally simple. Republicans have the votes to pass the bill, but they do not have the 60 votes needed to break the filibuster. Not even Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) will support the SAVE Act — and he claims to support voter ID. So what’s the next move? Well, that’s up to the Senate GOP leadership. If they are serious about this bill, they have to force a real, old-school, stand-on-the-floor-and-talk-until-you-drop filibuster. Not the fake Cory Booker kind, either, but a real filibuster. It’s time for the Democrats’ abuse of the filibuster, effectively turning it into a de facto veto of the minority party, to be over.
Sen. Mike Lee laid out the path in a video message on X. “If senators want to debate this, if they want to filibuster it, make them work for it,” he said. “Make them stand up, make them speak. If we do it this way, we can continue this progress, and I think we can get this thing done.” The only problem is that even then, nothing is guaranteed. A talking filibuster is a tool, not a magic wand. It forces a showdown. It does not promise victory. “Look, there are no guarantees here,” Lee conceded. “But the only shot we’ve got at this is through the talking filibuster. Thanks for fighting. Keep going. We’ll get it done.”
There is, of course, a backup plan. On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that if the SAVE Act can’t pass the Senate, he plans to bypass Congress altogether and use executive action to require voter ID for the November midterms. “There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” he wrote on Truth Social. “This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW!” he wrote in a follow-up post. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.” An executive order would not be ideal, but I’m hoping it won’t be necessary.

But Elon says in 10 years it won’t matter anymore.

• American Workers Have Less Than A $1000 in Retirement Savings (Turley)

There is a new, troubling study on the financial status of most American workers. The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) found that the median American worker has just $955 saved for retirement through defined-contribution plans such as 401(k) accounts. Given the expected job losses from robotics and AI, the study only deepens concerns about the economic and political pressures facing this country in the years to come.

In my new book, “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” I discuss those impacts from robotics and AI on our democracy. Using the most conservative estimates of job losses, the book explores how a large population of unemployed citizens will affect their relationship with the state. We cannot maintain a “kept citizenship” while preserving the essential elements of the American republic. A large population of static, unemployed citizens poses challenges for what I call a “liberty-enhancing economy,” an economy that affords citizens independence from the state.
This study magnifies those concerns. If accurate, it suggests that even a short displacement in employment will return state support. Many jurisdictions are already launching Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot programs. If this republic is to survive in the 21st Century, it will require developing new areas of “homocentric” jobs while avoiding predictable measures to subsidize positions that will inevitably be lost to robotics. Notably, the study found that among those with positive retirement plans, median savings were much higher at $40,000. Those with a defined contribution (DC) plan are far better off with an average savings of $179,082.
The takeaway from the report, for me, is the need to instill greater private savings. Some workers are barely paid above subsistence. However, we also need to educate citizens about the importance of setting aside retirement funds to the extent possible. As I previously wrote, I am a great fan of the Trump Accounts. The $6.25 billion gift of Michael and Susan Dell (now augmented by dozens of corporations) could offer the single best hope for the survival of our system. Millions of young people will be able to experience the benefits of investments, savings and, most importantly, economic independence.
The study also shows the growing dangers of the collapse of the social security accounts. Despite assurances made when Congress established the system, Congress has continued to draw on Social Security funds to avoid reducing spending levels. The system could fail for these workers, who will not be able to draw upon money taken from their paychecks for the purpose of retirement. It is one of the most outrageous betrayals in United States history.
To this day, Democrats are opposing efforts to make major changes to guarantee the viability of the system for future generations, including the use of private investment accounts that could no longer be raided by Congress for easy money. All politicians express alarm at the potential failure, but they attack any efforts to address the underlying problems as an attack on social security. As a result, we just drift toward this cliff knowing that most citizens have practically no other source of retirement support.

AI trumps groupthink too.

• Stolen Land At The Grammys: How Hollywood Groupthink Threatens Democracy (ET)

Among the consolations of youth is the certainty with which one holds beliefs about the world. There is comfort in the conviction that one’s moral bearings are firmly set, that one’s understanding of complex questions is not only sincere but also correct. The world appears legible; right and wrong seem sharply drawn; doubt and nuance are dismissed as weakness or evasion. There is rarely a single moment when these certainties collapse. They loosen instead through the slow accumulation of experience. Over time, one discovers that life resists easy judgments. Circumstances complicate principles. Good intentions collide with unintended consequences. Our friends betray us. The world proves denser, more conflicted, and less amenable to neat and tidy conclusions than youthful confidence would suggest.

This recognition of complexity, fallibility, and the limits of one’s own certainty is among the quiet achievements of maturity. It marks the point at which conviction learns restraint and moral seriousness acquires humility. Yet much of our public culture now moves in precisely the opposite direction. It rewards juvenile certainty while punishing hesitation, qualification, or good-faith disagreements. Confidence is applauded regardless of depth; slogans substitute for argument; restraint is recast as moral failure. That inversion was on clear display at the recent Grammy Awards, when Billie Eilish declared to enthusiastic applause that “no one is illegal on stolen land.”
It was left unspecified just whose land was being referenced, by whom it was stolen, and according to what historical or legal criteria that claim could be made. The audience, however, needed no clarification. Eilish’s statement was rewarded exactly because it avoided complexity and invited no questions. What was on display was not moral seriousness but a high school performance, an adolescent sense of righteousness delivered with absolute certainty and accepted as self-evident truth. One might charitably attribute such unthinking, categorical statements to Eilish’s youth. Alas, hers is a posture that we have come to expect from many of Hollywood’s men and women: confident, declarative, and curiously uninterested in the burdens of thought that genuine moral judgment requires.
This brings us to the core issue. The greatest threat to free expression today isn’t obvious censorship or government orders. Instead, it’s a more subtle and widespread force: cultural groupthink. This informal but influential system of rewards and punishments quietly limits the range of acceptable opinions, shaping what people feel allowed to say, what they hesitate to voice, and which questions are no longer askedn Nowhere is this trend more evident than in modern celebrity culture. Hollywood and the broader entertainment sector have become models of ideological conformity, especially on divisive social and political topics.
From climate change and gender issues to racial justice and international conflicts, Hollywood repeats the same messages, all delivered with youthful confidence. The same moral language, slogans, and conclusions are echoed with ritualistic consistency. The Eilish episode was not an aberration but a symptom. It illustrated a broader pattern in which public speech functions less as a means of inquiry than as a test of ideological conformity. The cost of dissent is not a thoughtful and considered rebuttal. Rather, it takes the form of reputational damage through social media pile-ons, calls for boycotts, professional exclusion, or quiet blacklisting.
Under such conditions, silence is often the rational choice. Most people have families to support and livelihoods to protect.The greater danger lies in the lesson this celebrity culture teaches: that there is only one permissible way to think and speak about certain issues, and that deviation signals not error but moral failure. Political and social questions are reduced to dogma rather than debated. Once moralized in this way, disagreement becomes illegitimate by definition. This logic now extends well beyond Hollywood. Similar patterns can be found in journalism, medicine, academia, corporate governance, and even the legal profession.
Approved vocabularies narrow discussion; certain premises must be affirmed before conversation can begin; others may not be questioned at all. Arguments are no longer answered on their merits but dismissed as evidence of bad character or suspect motives.The consequences for democratic culture are profound. Democracies do not depend on unanimity but on citizens who can weigh competing claims, tolerate uncertainty, and revise their views in light of evidence and argument. Groupthink undermines these capacities by rewarding conformity and punishing independent judgment. Over time, public discourse loses its corrective function. Errors persist not because they are persuasive, but because questioning them carries too high a cost.
[..] Free speech, properly understood, is not a threat to democracy. It is its foundation.

“AI Disruption Crosshairs Hone In On Hollywood Studios ..”

Why pay Brad Pitt 100 million when a computer can “build” his scenes?

• “Billion Dollar Movie In One Prompt” (ZH)

:AI-driven equity disruption was everywhere this past week, spreading like wildfire beyond software into insurance, commercial real estate, financials, shipping, wealth management, and likely many more industries in the coming trading sessions.One industry in the crosshairs of AI disruption is Hollywood. Some of the publicly traded studios include The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, Sony Group Corporation, Netflix, Lionsgate, and others.nOn Friday, Axios reported that the Walt Disney Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that the Chinese tech firm has been infringing on its films to develop Seedance 2.0 without compensation.
Disney’s outside attorney, David Singer, wrote a letter to ByteDance global general counsel John Rogovin, accusing the AI company of “pre-packaging its Seedance service with a pirated library of Disney’s copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney’s coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art.” “Over Disney’s well-publicized objections, ByteDance is hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters. ByteDance’s virtual smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP is willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable,” Singer said.
He added, “We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg, which is shocking considering Seedance has only been available for a few days.” It’s not just ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 that has spooked Hollywood studios. A growing wave of video-generation models suggests that Hollywood’s moat is crumbling, and its control of the media game is nearing its end.

AI VIDEO WARS JUST GOT REAL

Seedance 2.0
Kling 3.0
Sora 2
Veo 3.1

Compared in single-prompt romance scene.

Who's winning 2026 filmmaking?

pic.twitter.com/hrh8nNbG1U
— 0xMarioNawfal (@RoundtableSpace) February 10, 2026

“Authorities should use every legal tool at their disposal to stop this wholesale theft,” the Human Artistry Campaign – a coalition that includes dozens of creative groups such as SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America – said in a statement on Friday. Seedance 2.0 model …

Seedance 2.0

Prompt: Sum up the AI discourse in a meme – make sure it’s retarded and gets 50 likes. pic.twitter.com/09yPdo3Tjy
— Charles Curran (@charliebcurran) February 14, 2026

Absolutely insane.

Seedance 2 is able to recreate full scenes from Breaking Bad.

We are officially cooked.https://t.co/1mrmjLXI3e pic.twitter.com/CggLHH8R6Q
— Mark Gadala-Maria (@markgadala) February 11, 2026

Seedance 2 is already making full cinematic short films.

Time is running out on Hollywood…pic.twitter.com/VjTdnsCeHd
— Mark Gadala-Maria (@markgadala) February 12, 2026

Billion dollar movie in just one prompt

Seriously, what the hell is going on with Seedance 2.0 pic.twitter.com/yTBlThLhBv
— Random AI (@Random_AI000) February 11, 2026

Hollywood is living on borrowed time. The next big AI disruption trade could be studios.

Optimus

Elon Musk on why Optimus is so brutally hard to build (hardware side):

“The hands are the majority of the engineering difficulty of the entire robot.”

Human hands evolved insane sophistication — ~27–28 degrees of freedom, complex tendon web (mostly forearm muscles), crazy… pic.twitter.com/5eFfexzyHA
— Captain Eli (@TheCaptainEli) February 13, 2026

COVID

BREAKING: The FDA just admitted the Covid shots killed more children than they saved.

They’re now calling them gene therapy.
They’re reconsidering vaccines in pregnancy.
They’re even questioning the flu shot schedule.

The narrative is collapsing.

Accountability must follow. pic.twitter.com/LHjX9HZNsd
— Dr. Simone Gold (@drsimonegold) February 13, 2026

RFK jr

RFK Jr. says medical journals are pure Big Pharma propaganda.

“Journals are utterly corrupt because they’re owned by the pharmaceutical companies.”

“Marcia Angell, who ran the New England Journal of Medicine for 20 years, has said, you can’t believe anything in the journals… pic.twitter.com/RfjLEkEah1
— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) February 13, 2026

Joe Rogan and Dr. Robert Malone https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2022601763405103379?s=20 Pepe

China isn’t declaring a new world reserve currency.

It’s doing something much quieter.

Step by step, Beijing is expanding the yuan in trade.

It's all about payment systems.

Countries buying from China are encouraged to settle in yuan through CIPS instead of the dollar… pic.twitter.com/l0babSIkvc
— Pepe Escobar (@RealPepeEscobar) February 14, 2026

Casey https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2022673982432886873?s=20 https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2022410612689768945?s=20

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

Debt Rattle February 8 2026

Feb 082026

February 8, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:44 am Finance Tagged with: Article 5, Clinton, corruption, ICE, Mike Tyson, Monroe Doctrine, Newsom, Orban, Soros, Starmer 41 Responses »

Paulus Potter De stier (The Bull) 1625

• Starmer ‘Toast’ – BBC Source (RT)

• The New Monroe Doctrine: The Plot Twists That No One Saw Coming (Sarah Anderson)

• ICE Asks Newsom Not to Release 33,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens (Salgado)

• Major Federal Appeals Court Ruling Permits ICE to Detain Illegal Aliens (CTH)

• Is Bill Clinton Moving Back Into Contempt? (Turley)

• Trump Endorses Orbán Again Ahead Of Hungary’s April 12 Election (RMX)

• Soros Praises Spain’s Sánchez For Mass Amnesty Of 500,000 Illegals (MN)

• The Trump Admin Finally Tells Boasberg To Pound Sand (Matt Margolis)

• A Geopolitical Earthquake (Jim Rickards)

• Finland Opposes ‘Article 5-like’ Guarantees For Ukraine – Politico (RT)

• Ukrainian Generals Exposed In Multi-million Dollar Corruption Scheme (RT)

• Washington Post CEO And Publisher Quits As Newspaper Implodes (ZH)

• RFK Jr. and Mike Tyson Fight for MAHA in Super Bowl Ad (Scott Pinsker)

Elon Musk: You can tell which side is the good side and which side is the bad side by which side wishes to restrict freedom of speech

The side that is restricting freedom of speech you know, that would have been the Hitlers, Stalins, and Mussolinis of the world

They had very… pic.twitter.com/6eJ09ycCzv
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) February 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/BoLoudon/status/2019993031722803312?s=20 https://twitter.com/LizCrokin/status/2019967769039511952?s=20

It looks like Pizzagate is basically real. Ian Carroll explains.

(00:00) Monologue
(12:01) What Is Pizzagate?
(26:28) The Elites' Demonic Ritualistic Child Abuse
(32:16) The Disgusting Governmental Cover-up of Epstein’s Atrocities
(40:04) The Essential Questions We Need Answered… pic.twitter.com/VUdyTXNSFH
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2019967235037548680?s=20

One of Epstein’s many victims.

• Starmer ‘Toast’ – BBC Source (RT)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a party revolt over the government’s failure to properly vet the former British envoy to the US, Peter Mandelson, over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. One Labour MP described Starmer as “toast.” The controversy centers on Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson, a former Labour MP, as an envoy to Washington, who allegedly received $75,000 from Epstein. Mandelson said he does not recall receiving any money while Starmer claimed that he “was lied to” about the vetting procedure.

The prime minister’s defense, however, sparked ire among fellow party members. According to the Daily Telegraph, Labour MPs have privately urged senior figures, including Angela Rayner, a former deputy prime minister, and Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to consider mounting a leadership challenge. One unnamed minister described the crisis as “existential” for Starmer. Assessing the prime minister’s prospects, an unnamed Labour MP told the BBC that he was “toast.” The verdict was echoed by broadcaster Piers Morgan, who said it was “just a question now of whether the whole government falls too.” .
“He [Starmer] is like a wounded wildebeest: fatally wounded but determined to show how strong he is knowing full well the end is nigh,” another MP told the BBC. Harriet Harman, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, said Starmer’s explanations made him appear “weak, naive and gullible.” Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan said there was a “loss of trust and confidence in the No.10 operatio” and said chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was “clearly part of the problem,” as several media reported widespread calls for his resignation..
The row has drawn fierce opposition attacks, with Tory spokesman Alicia Kearns accusing Starmer of an “abject lack of integrity,” describing his defense as “morally bankrupt.” According to Daily Mail, Angela Rayner has told her inner circle that she was “ready” to launch a leadership campaign. A YouGov survey on Thursday suggested that 50% of respondents believe Starmer should stand down and be replaced, compared with 24% who said he should remain. His approval ratings have already been hit by dissatisfaction with high migration levels and controversial government policies.

“There are about 1.2 million public school students in El Salvador, and every single one of them received a back-to-school kit to start the year.”

• The New Monroe Doctrine: The Plot Twists That No One Saw Coming (Sarah Anderson)

Welcome to “The New Monroe Doctrine,” where I give you an update on what’s going on in the Western Hemisphere, south of our border, especially as it relates to the United States. Y’all seem to be enjoying Nayib Bukele lately, so let’s talk more about El Salvador this week. Plus, I have some potential good news out of Venezuela that just dropped as I’m writing this, and I’ll tell you what happened when Gustavo Petro came to town on Tuesday.

When You Tackle Corruption, Something Great Happens
Bukele has made many headlines over the last few days. On Thursday, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast alongside Donald Trump, urging leaders to pray to God for wisdom like King Solomon did and said that’s what it took for him to be able to turn El Salvador from the so-called “murder capital of the world” to one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere. You can read more about that here: Bukele Wows the Crowd — and Trump — at the National Prayer Breakfast.
While we often associate Bukele with what he did for El Salvador’s crime problem, we ignore some of the other numerous things he’s done to turn the country around. Before he became president, the country’s economy was in shambles, infrastructure was crumbling, there were neighborhoods that you just didn’t go into, and the nation’s youngest residents didn’t stand a chance. That’s changing. If, for some reason, you happen to follow any Salvadoran government social media accounts, you saw quite a different story this week. The country’s school year started on February 2, and the pictures and videos from these first days are absolutely breathtaking.
There are about 1.2 million public school students in El Salvador, and every single one of them received a back-to-school kit to start the year. Kids in grades fourth and up got laptops, while younger students got tablets. They came preloaded with programs like Google Classroom, Microsoft Office 365, Platzi (for English and skills certification), and anti-theft tracking. Other items included were school uniforms, shoes, books, crayons, pencils, paint, and other supplies personalized to each child’s needs and grade level.
But these kids aren’t just receiving school supplies. They’re getting new schools. In 2022, Bukele created an education reform program called Mi Nueva Escuela or “My New School,” and part of that included remodeling 5,150 schools over five years. All of the schools would have “free internet, new infrastructure and furniture, audiobooks, braille and sensory books.” Before the 2026 school year started, Bukele inaugurated 70 newly renovated schools. So far, he’s done 504, and last year began speeding up the process. Mi Nueva Escuela also ensures children have access to nutritious food and health care at school, advanced technology, and high-quality teachers who have gone through additional training.
And it involved getting rid of El Salvador’s outdated, rigid curricula and replacing them with something holistic that actually matches how children learn and will ultimately lead to better outcomes. nFirst Lady Gabriela de Bukele has been heavily involved with this, particularly when it comes to early childhood education. In January, she rolled out the new curriculum for younger students that incorporates more structured play, exploration, and creativity, and encourages better emotional and social development and, eventually, more well-rounded adults. They also removed all gender ideology and inclusive language from school curricula, as well as any other content seen as advancing woke agendas. Schools must focus on learning, respect, order, and responsibility instead of any progressive nonsense.
Kids are also expected to come to school looking respectful in their uniforms, and boys must have short, clean haircuts that can’t be mistaken for gang-affiliated ones. Furthermore, they must greet their principals and teachers respectfully upon arrival. Basically, Bukele and his team are creating schools that students actually want to attend. They’re also creating schools that raise well-adjusted adults and not gang members. I know what you’re probably thinking. BIG GOVERNMENT! PUBLIC SCHOOLS! RAISING TAXES! HOW IS HE PAYING FOR THIS? IT MUST BE SOCIALISM! Calm down, and I’ll tell you.

“The crimes of these aliens include 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses.”

• ICE Asks Newsom Not to Release 33,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens (Salgado)

Sanctuary state California’s Democrat leaders consistently release dangerous illegal alien criminals back onto the streets and defy federal detainer requests, even for murderers. That could mean that more than 33,000 foreign criminals will be released onto California’s streets. Among the illegal alien criminals who should be in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody are nearly 400 murderers and over 3,000 burglars, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom to stop prioritizing a political agenda over his people and not to release the 33,179 criminal illegal aliens without notifying ICE first.

McLaughlin explained, “The crimes of these aliens include 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses.” Newsom’s refusal to hand over a Mexican illegal alien who ran over and killed 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz in Escondido, California, just before Thanksgiving is only one example of California Democrats siding with murderous foreign criminals. And of course, it is not simply that the authorities in California help the illegal aliens escape justice; they also enable them to commit more crimes..
It’s no coincidence that “California” has become synonymous with “catastrophe.” While there are many Republicans still living in California, the deep-blue coastal cities are keeping destructive Marxists in power — and illegal alien criminals out of custody. In light of all this, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons sent a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, according to a Feb. 5 DHS press release. The release exposed profoundly shocking statistics: California’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 4,561 criminal illegal aliens since January 20. The crimes of these aliens include 31 homicides, 661 assaults, 574 burglaries, 184 robberies, 1,489 dangerous drugs offenses, 379 weapons offenses, and 234 sexual predatory offenses..
Newsom and his fellow Democrats are thoroughly despicable. Think how many victims were affected by those crimes, and who will not now see any justice done to their victimizers. Lyons emphasized, “We are calling on Governor Newsom and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 33,000 criminal illegal aliens in California’s custody. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans. If we work together, we can make America safe again. 7 of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. cooperate with ICE law enforcement.”

[…] At the heart of the issue is a 30-year-old immigration statute that requires the detention — without bond — of all “applicants for admission” to the United States ..”

• Major Federal Appeals Court Ruling Permits ICE to Detain Illegal Aliens (CTH)

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has made a massive ruling in favor of President Trump and the ICE removal process [pdf Ruling Here]. In short, throughout the nation 360 immigration judges had previously ruled that illegal aliens (applicants for admission) should be granted bond and released during the removal proceedings. The Fifth CCA has now ruled the aliens can be detained as they go through the removal process. This means ICE captures the illegal, holds them in detention and then rapidly deports them. The ruling, which will likely be appealed to the supreme court, fast-tracks the removal.

(VIA POLITICO) – “[…] At the heart of the issue is a 30-year-old immigration statute that requires the detention — without bond — of all “applicants for admission” to the United States while they are “seeking admission” to the country. For decades, administrations of both parties applied this to people who had newly arrived in the country, perhaps by crossing the southern border. Those residing in the country’s interior, often for years, were categorized under a different statute that allowed them to seek a bond hearing before an immigration judge before ICE could lock them up..
But in July, ICE Director Todd Lyons adopted a new interpretation of the law, declaring that anyone targeted for deportation by ICE would be treated as an “applicant for admission,” subjecting them to mandatory detention. That decision was backed up in October by the Board of Immigration Appeals, a panel of immigration judges who set national policy for executive branch-run immigration courts that handle deportation proceedings. (more)”.
This issue was a big deal during the 2012 “Unauthorized Alien Children” influx, when President Obama and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson began releasing all the captured illegal aliens with a bond hearing. Thousands of temporary judges were assigned and NGO’s provided tens of thousands of lawyers for everyone so the illegal entrants could quickly exit ICE custody. Later, as an expanded part of the Obama and Biden directive, the border patrol just started issuing citations on the spot for court appearances and letting the illegal aliens go into the country. Now, all illegal aliens will be subject to continued detention as soon as they are captured, pending removal.

One step up and two steps back. Rinse and repeat.

• Is Bill Clinton Moving Back Into Contempt? (Turley)

The Clintons are again suggesting that they might not agree to a deposition after previously yielding to the threat of a contempt vote. Hillary Clinton taunted House Oversight Chair James Comer “if you want this fight…let’s have it—in public.” For his part, Bill Clinton seemed more conclusive on X in opposing a deposition: “I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court.” The question is whether the Clintons are again gaming the system after avoiding a bipartisan vote to hold them in contempt. As with the Hunter Biden deposition (which was also delayed by such tactics), there are various reasons for holding a closed deposition before public hearings.

First, these depositions allow professional staff to conduct questioning in a methodical and professional manner. In a public hearing, questioning is conducted by members who are often ill-equipped for substantive inquiries. Second, the Clintons must be asked about a range of documents and communications that contain names and privacy-protected information. At a public hearing, the use of such documents would trigger redactions and interruptions. Third, these depositions allow for in-depth questioning on transactions and communications. In a public hearing, members are confined to a five-minute rule that guarantees questioning cannot achieve much, if any, depth..
Those are all reasons the Clintons want a public hearing in which members, not staff, ask questions under tight time limits. It produces superficial examinations with little ability to pursue substantive conflicts or issues. None of this really matters legally. All citizens are compelled to appear at such hearings. They may invoke the Fifth Amendment, but they must appear. Even the Clintons. However, the Clintons have spent a lifetime gaming the system, avoiding accountability for alleged crimes, including (in the case of Bill Clinton) federal perjury. This is vintage Clinton. After a bipartisan vote in committee to hold them in contempt, they took a 180-degree turn and agreed to the depositions. The final vote was then cancelled..
Once cancelled, Bill Clinton is again suggesting that he will “not sit idly by” for such a deposition. It is not clear what that means. He will sit for this deposition or be held in contempt like any other citizen.The declaration could mean anything from laying the groundwork for invoking the Fifth Amendment to another act of defiance of the subpoena. He could be planning to refuse to answer certain questions in a combative approach to the deposition. However, that could still result in a contempt sanction..
Notably, the Clintons have long been able to control the conditions of their questioning. Even with the Independent Counsel, Clinton was able to secure concessions on time and questions. He still tripped the wire and committed perjury, according to a federal court.This is a rare occasion where they will not dictate such conditions. That raises the intriguing possibility that Bill Clinton could set a precedent by invoking the Fifth Amendment. Otherwise, he may not be idle, but he will be present.

Keep Brussels outta Budapest.

• Trump Endorses Orbán Again Ahead Of Hungary’s April 12 Election (RMX)

U.S President Donald Trump has endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for re-election ahead of Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary election, praising him as “a truly strong and powerful leader” and saying he has his “complete and total” backing. In the message posted Thursday on Trump’s Truth Social account, Trump credited Orbán with improving bilateral ties and framed him as a law-and-order nationalist leader. “Relations between Hungary and the United States have reached new heights of cooperation and spectacular achievement under my administration, thanks largely to Prime Minister Orbán,” Trump wrote.“I was proud to endorse Viktor for re-election in 2022, and am honored to do so again,” he added.

Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 12:51 PM EST 02.05.26

Highly Respected Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is a truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results. He fights tirelessly for, and loves, his Great Country and… pic.twitter.com/rnz1AIIuyW
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) February 5, 2026
Praise between the two leaders stretches back years. In March 2024, after meeting Orbán at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the U.S. president claimed that, unlike much of Europe, “Hungary is a safe country because of [Orbán’s] strong immigration policies.”There’s nobody that’s better, smarter, or a better leader than Viktor Orbán,” Trump added during a presidential campaign rally later that year.Orbán has repeatedly returned the favor, portraying Trump as the indispensable champion of peace and sovereignty. At CPAC Hungary in 2024, Orbán rallied conservatives around Trump as he backed him to return to the White House.
https://twitter.com/PM_ViktorOrban/status/2019375418042679762 Orbán has previously cast Hungary as an outpost surrounded by what he describes as a hostile liberal mainstream in Brussels and Western Europe. “Hungary is a conservative island in the liberal European ocean,” Orbán said.With the election approaching, Orbán issued a stark warning to the European Commission not to interfere in what is expected to be his governing Fidesz party’s toughest vote yet. On Thursday, the Hungarian prime minister wrote on X, “Keep your hands off our elections! The report by the Republicans’ House Committee on the Judiciary exposes foreign actors attempting to influence Hungary’s vote, with money, services, and political backing flowing in from abroad. Decisions about Hungary’s future belong to Hungarians alone. Foreign meddling will not be tolerated.”

EU has no borders.

• Soros Praises Spain’s Sánchez For Mass Amnesty Of 500,000 Illegals (MN)

Alex Soros, son of billionaire George Soros, has lavished praise on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for granting legal status to up to 500,000 illegal migrants, stating that Sánchez shows “what real leadership looks like” by confronting issues with policies that are “both principled and pragmatic.” Soros added, “We need more elected leaders like him!” This endorsement comes amid widespread backlash against Sánchez’s open-borders agenda, which critics slam as a betrayal of Spanish citizens.

In a post on X, Alex Soros highlighted Sánchez’s approach, quoting the prime minister’s own words: “They care for aging parents, work in small and large companies, and harvest the food on our tables. On weekends, they walk in our parks and play on the local amateur soccer team….” The amnesty, implemented via a royal decree bypassing parliament, targets undocumented migrants who arrived before the end of 2025 and can prove at least five months of residence in Spain. As The New York Times reported , the Socialist-led government describes it as essential for Spain’s economy, where migrant labor supports agriculture and tourism.
Yet, this move has ignited fury across Spain, with opponents decrying it as an incentive for further illegal entries from North Africa and Latin America. As we detailed in our earlier coverage, Spaniards face the prospect of integrating another half-million migrants amid rising tensions and massive resource strains. The timing of Soros’s praise is telling, as Sánchez’s regime grapples with corruption scandals and probes into his inner circle. Facing a firestorm of criticism on X, where users label the amnesty “treasonous,” the far-left government has threatened to “limit and likely ban” the platform entirely.
Sánchez himself, in addition to his underlings, has indicated a desire to ban X. This crackdown mirrors broader European efforts to stifle dissent, from French raids on X’s offices to EU fines under the Digital Services Act. Musk himself fired back at Sánchez, dubbing him “dirty Sanchez” in response to the censorship push. Soros’s intervention underscores the globalist playbook: push mass migration to reshape demographics, then silence opposition through free speech restrictions. With Spain’s amnesty poised to exacerbate border chaos—echoing Angela Merkel’s 2015 disaster—Sánchez’s policies prioritize foreign arrivals over native Spaniards, fueling demands for accountability.

“The question is whether we still have three coequal branches of government, or whether unelected judges now get to run the executive branch by decree …”

• The Trump Admin Finally Tells Boasberg To Pound Sand (Matt Margolis)

For over a year, President Donald Trump’s team has tangled with activist judges who act as if they run the executive branch. These activists in black robes think they can dictate policy on border security, national defense, and pretty much everything the executive branch does. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has become the poster child for this judicial overreach. Last week, the Trump administration finally decided it had enough of his illegitimate orders, and told him, in so many words, to pound sand.

“The Trump administration will not comply with a court order requiring due process for hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador last year, DOJ lawyers said,” reports Fox News Digital. “It sets up a heated clash in court next week in a case that is almost certainly headed back to the Supreme Court.” The status and plight of 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to a Salvadoran prison last March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act have emerged as one of the defining court fights of Trump’s second term, allowing the administration to test its mettle against the federal courts and the practical limits of judicial authority, on one of Trump’s biggest policy priorities.
It’s a fight that has also put U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who is overseeing the Alien Enemies Act case, squarely in the Trump administration’s crosshairs as he attempts to determine what due process protections, if any, the administration is legally obligated to provide and how far the courts can go to enforce them. A new filing from the Justice Department made clear the administration believes it owes the migrants no additional due process at all. Should the court try to order otherwise, lawyers for the administration said they would promptly seek intervention from higher courts.
Past presidents such as Barack Obama were never forced to abide by the conditions left-wing judges are now imposing on Trump. When Obama exercised prosecutorial discretion on immigration, deferring removal proceedings for specific categories of aliens, it wasn’t controversial. But when Trump tries to deport alleged gang members who pose a national security threat, suddenly judges think they can dictate every detail of how the executive branch operates.
The Trump administration made crystal clear in its filing that it views this fight as far from over. Regardless of how Boasberg rules, the case is almost certain to end up at the Supreme Court for review. And I wouldn’t bet against the Trump administration in this case. The Supreme Court ruled last year to limit the use of universal injunctions, with implications for a wide range of challenges to federal laws and regulations. Despite the ruling, judges such as Boasberg continued to issue these rogue orders, hamstringing the Trump administration at every turn.
Trump himself has called for Boasberg’s removal from office. An impeachment resolution was introduced in the House last year and has garnered support from 23 Republicans. The administration even filed an ethics complaint against the judge, though a federal appeals judge dismissed it. The question isn’t whether Trump should comply with every partisan order some rogue district judge dreams up. The question is whether we still have three coequal branches of government, or whether unelected judges now get to run the executive branch by decree. For too long, the answer has tilted in the wrong direction. The Trump administration’s willingness to finally stand up to judicial overreach is long overdue.

“Would Trump take over the Chagos Islands to prevent the transfer to Mauritius? Possibly yes. That would be one more nail in the NATO coffin.”

• A Geopolitical Earthquake (Jim Rickards)

What if NATO members such as the UK, Denmark, France and Germany send their armed forces to defend Greenland? None of those powers are particularly strong and it’s unlikely they could muster more than two brigades for this purpose (about 5,000 troops in total). Under the direction of U.S. NorthCom, with a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group, cyber warfare, drones and elite airborne troops trained in Arctic warfare, the U.S. could put those NATO troops into full retreat with substantial casualties on their side in a day or two at the most.

The U.S. would gain Greenland, but the armed confrontation would be the end of NATO. That’s not necessarily a bad thing from the U.S. perspective. NATO members have not been paying anywhere near their share of the costs of military preparedness. The War in Ukraine has shown that most NATO weapons, including Patriot anti-missile batteries, Abrams and Challenger tanks, HIMARS precision-guided artillery, Bradley fighting vehicles and cruise missiles are obsolete when up against Russian hypersonic missiles, drones, anti-missile defenses and GPS jamming techniques. NATO is probably falling apart anyway, but a debacle in Greenland would accelerate that ending.
Without NATO, the Baltic Republics could be rapidly invaded and annexed by Russia. They already have large Russian-speaking populations and were part of the former Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991. This annexation would be a tragedy for some but a homecoming for others.The major NATO powers might form a new military alliance centered around France and its nuclear weapons. Yet, the U.S. would still have allies in Europe including Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Poland and Greece. These countries form a kind of wall between Russia and Western Europe. Europe could find itself cut off from Russian natural gas because of Ukraine and also cut off from U.S. natural gas because of the battle for Greenland.
With the U.S. controlling its own oil and that of Venezuela and Guyana, and Arab countries siding with the U.S., Western Europe could find itself with almost no energy supplies apart from its pathetic patchwork of windmills and solar farms and French nuclear reactors. Western European manufacturing would quickly grind to a halt. With the U.S. grabbing Venezuela and Greenland and Russia helping itself to the Baltic Republics, China could decide that the time was ripe to seize Taiwan. The U.S. might allow this to happen on a view that its sphere of influence is the Western Hemisphere through the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
Of course, the U.S. would destroy Taiwan’s semiconductor fabrication and research facilities on its way out the door. The U.S. would rapidly expand its indigenous semiconductor manufacturing while mining the Western states of the U.S. and Greenland for rare earths. Have you heard of the Chagos Islands? They’re an archipelago of seven atolls including more than 60 islands lying 300 miles south of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos are controlled by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory. Except for their natural beauty, they would be unremarkable but for the fact that the Chagos includes the island of Diego Garcia, which houses a U.S. Naval Support Facility.
That facility has been used to launch B-52, B-1 and B-2 bomber attacks throughout the Middle East including the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the UK has agreed to cede the Chagos to the island nation of Mauritius, also in the Indian Ocean closer to Madagascar. The UK would take back a lease to Diego Garcia, but Mauritius would be sovereign. Trump has called the Chagos deal “stupid”. Would Trump take over the Chagos Islands to prevent the transfer to Mauritius? Possibly yes. That would be one more nail in the NATO coffin.

Deadlines for Russia are meaningless.

• Zelenskyy Says US Gave Ukraine And Russia A June Deadline To End War (ET)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Feb. 6 that the United States has given both Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach an agreement to end the nearly four-year war, adding that Washington is likely to increase pressure on both sides if fighting continues beyond that point. Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said U.S. officials have outlined a timeline aimed at securing an end to hostilities by early summer, as the Trump administration steps up diplomatic efforts to halt Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.

“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer,” Zelenskyy said, according to remarks embargoed until Feb. 7. He added that Washington wants “a clear schedule of all events” and would likely apply pressure “precisely according to this schedule” if progress stalls. Zelenskyy said U.S. officials have made clear they intend to “do everything” to bring the war to an end by June. He did not specify what form pressure might take or whether it would apply equally to Kyiv and Moscow. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment or confirmation.
Zelenskyy’s comments came after the latest round of U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi involving representatives from the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. All sides described the discussions as constructive, and a Russia–Ukraine prisoner swap was announced, but no cease-fire or political agreement was reached. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Feb. 6 aboard Air Force One that “we had very, very good talks today, having to do with Russia, Ukraine,” adding that “something could be happening.” Trump did not provide details on the discussions or address whether a formal deadline had been communicated to the warring parties.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said the Feb. 4–5 talks focused on creating conditions for a lasting peace and included discussions on cease-fire implementation and monitoring mechanisms.“Ukraine expresses its gratitude to [President] Donald Trump for his leadership in advancing efforts aimed at ending the war,” Umerov said. Russian presidential representative and Russian Direct Investment Fund chief Kirill Dmitriev, who was present at the talks, reported that there was “good, positive movement forward” in the negotiations.
“As you know, we are actively working with the Trump administration to restore Russia–U.S. economic relations, including through the Russian-American Economic Cooperation Group,” he said, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS. The delegations agreed to a mutual exchange of 157 prisoners of war each—the first such exchange in five months—and said further talks would continue in the coming weeks. Zelenskyy said Feb. 6 he had received an initial report from Ukraine’s negotiating team and was expecting a full in-person briefing in Kyiv.
“Further meetings are planned in the near future, likely in the United States,” he said, adding that Ukraine remains open to “all workable formats” that could bring peace closer. He said that any settlement must ensure Russia “has no appetite to continue the war” and receives “no reward for its aggression.” Despite renewed diplomacy, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on core issues. Russia has insisted that Ukraine withdraw from the eastern industrial region of Donbas, where fighting remains intense. The Kremlin has described full control of the region as a key condition for any peace agreement.
Ukraine still controls about 20 percent of the Donetsk region and has repeatedly rejected Russian demands to cede the territory. The diplomatic push comes as Russia continues to intensify attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Overnight into Feb. 7, Russia launched a large-scale air assault involving more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles, Zelenskyy said. The strikes targeted power generation facilities and electricity distribution substations across several regions. “Every day, Russia could choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new strikes,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X, accusing Moscow of using winter conditions as leverage.

Don’t call it that.

• Finland Opposes ‘Article 5-like’ Guarantees For Ukraine – Politico (RT)

Finland has privately urged US officials to avoid describing future security commitments to Ukraine as “Article 5-like,” warning the terminology could undermine NATO’s foundational mutual defense clause, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. Under NATO’s Article 5, an attack on one member of the bloc is treated as an attack on all others, warranting a military response. A January 20 US State Department cable, obtained by Politico, has reportedly revealed that Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen cautioned visiting American lawmakers that such language risks conflating NATO’s absolute Article 5 guarantees with whatever bilateral promises nations might make to Kiev.

Valtonen also reportedly stressed the need for a clear “firewall” between the US-led military bloc and future security arrangements for Ukraine. Finland’s defense minister allegedly made similar points in a later meeting, according to the cable. Amid the ongoing US-led peace negotiations on the Ukraine conflict, several media reports have suggested that Washington has offered “Article 5-like” security guarantees for Kiev as part of a peace roadmap, listing Finland, which joined NATO in 2023, as one of the potential guarantors which would defend Ukraine in case of a future attack.Late last year, however, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo rejected the premise, stating that Helsinki will not offer NATO-style guarantees to Ukraine, and noting a stark difference between aid and defense obligations. .
“We have to understand that a security guarantee is something very, very serious. We’re not ready to give security guarantees, but we can help with security arrangements. The difference between them is huge,” he said. Moscow has said it does not oppose security guarantees for Ukraine in principle but has insisted they must not be one-sided or directed against Russia, and should follow a peace deal rather than precede one. Russian officials have also warned against any sort of NATO troop deployment to Ukraine, whether as peacekeepers or otherwise, warning this could lead to a direct confrontation with the bloc.

NOOOOOO! Corruption? With these fine upstanding folk?

• Ukrainian Generals Exposed In Multi-million Dollar Corruption Scheme (RT)

Ukrainian anti-graft agencies have announced the results of a major investigation of former senior military officials, including two generals, suspected of running a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reportedly signed a contract for a key command and control system in 2016 with a commercial company that had no experience in creating software. Over four years of development, the technical specifications were changed 13 times, increasing the cost by $7 million. The Dzvin-AS troop command-and-control system only entered into service in 2022.

On Friday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), said the investigation had moved to the legal disclosure phase that typically precedes formal indictments. The alleged ring included a deputy head of the Ukrainian General Staff, a deputy commander of Communications Troops, the head of the General Staff’s automation department, and a businessman whose firm won the contract to develop the Dzvin-AS. Investigators say delays and cost overruns that plagued the project helped the group embezzle $5.7 million..
Reports of problems with the Dzvin-AS surfaced in the media as early as 2021, citing a 2020 contract audit. In December 2022, months after the conflict with Russia escalated, then-Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov ordered the system’s deployment. NABU said in 2024 the Defense Ministry considered funding expansion for the system rather than fixing or scrapping it. Reznikov resigned in 2023 over a separate corruption scandal involving inflated food procurement contracts but was never charged with any crime. NABU called the two investigations the agency’s most important efforts to fight military graft.

Bezos playing Elon Musk.

• Washington Post CEO And Publisher Quits As Newspaper Implodes (ZH)

How the mighty have fallen. In a “poetic ending” plot twist, that even jaded conspiracy theorists would have had trouble scripting, Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis has abruptly and unexpectedly stepped down from his perch atop Jeff Bezos’s crumbling media empire. Well, maybe not that unexpectedly… That’s right, the same WaPo that spent years hurling “fake news” grenades at us here at ZeroHedge, trying to get us deplatformed, demonetized, and disappeared from the internet, is now eating crow as their own house of CIA-funded cards collapses. Yes, this is our unapologetic victory lap – we’ve outlasted another establishment hack, which earlier this week saw an in house “Red Wedding” where hundreds of CIA conduits “reporters” were fired… and it feels good.

Lewis’s exit was announced late on Saturday around 6pm ET, just days after he orchestrated a bloodbath of layoffs that axed a whopping 30% of the staff – over 300 journalists sent packing in what can only be described as a desperation move to staunch the bleeding from years of financial hemorrhaging and dwindling readership. Lewis, ever the gracious Brit, framed his departure as a noble sacrifice “in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post.” Sure, Will – because nothing says “sustainable future” like firing a third of your workforce and then bailing before the pitchforks come out. Also the news that he was at the Super Bowl after the biggest mass termination in WaPo history probably didn’t help.
Meanwhile, as Semafor notes, the real reason for Lewis’ departure is the he presided over two major errors, one his, and the other that of his boss, Jeff Bezos who clearly has grown bored with his vanity media project. First, Lewis blocked the Post reporting on his role in the UK phone hacking scandal, preventing the publication of a story few would have read anyway. Then, Bezos pulled a planned endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris at the 11th hour, for apparent fear of offending Donald Trump. That endorsement wouldn’t have made much of a difference politically, but hundreds of thousands of subscribers canceled over what they saw as a craven capitulation.
Let’s rewind a bit on Lewis’ illustrious – if catastrophically short – tenure. Handpicked by billionaire overlord Jeff Bezos – whose Amazon tried three times to demonetize ZeroHedge not once, not twice, but three times (and only thanks to the FCC intervening do we have any Amazon ads showing) – at the start of 2024, Lewis was supposed to be the savior who would “transform” the once-venerable rag and reverse its slide into irrelevance. Instead, he presided over a dumpster fire of epic proportions, culminating in this latest round of pink slips that left the newsroom in shambles. Former editor Marty Baron, the guy who once helmed the paper during its Watergate glory days or whatever passes for glory in legacy media these days, didn’t mince words: he called it one of the “darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.”
Ouch. And Katie Mettler, ex-chair of the WaPo guild, piled on with a zinger: “I’m glad Will Lewis has been fired. I wish it had happened before he fired all my friends.” Tell us how you really feel, Katie. Cutting through the shades of gray, we were more laconic: WaPo is finished. In the interim, the keys to the kingdom go to some dude named Jeff D’Onofrio – the former CFO who’ nobody had ever heard of until now, and who is stepping up as the placeholder boss. Good luck, Jeff – you’ll need it. With readership tanking, ad revenue in freefall, and trust in mainstream media at all-time lows, the WaPo’s “sustainable future” looks about as promising as a subprime mortgage in 2008.
But let’s not forget the delicious irony here. This is the same Washington Post that has repeatedly tried to kneecap ZeroHedge, labeling us as purveyors of “disinformation” and cozying up to Big Tech censors – such as Amazon and Google – in a bid to silence dissenting voices. mRemember when they accused us of being Russian bots or spies, or whatever flavor-of-the-month smear was trending? That aged like milk. And while the CIA’s favorite (well, no longer favorite) mouthpiece was busy playing hall monitor for the establishment narrative, we’ve been here, grinding away, delivering truth that their advertisers wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. And guess what? We’re still standing, stronger than ever, with record subscribers and 100 million page views per month, while their imported CEO packs his bags and slinks back across the pond.
Is there a Polymarket, we wonder, on when ZeroHedge will surpass WaPo in readership. But we digress: Karma, folks, is real, and it’s spectacular. And as WaPo licks its wounds and hunts for yet another white knight to bail them out (or maybe they’ll go for a black knight this time, after all the whole equity thing), we’ll be over here popping the champagne. After all, in the cutthroat world of media, survival isn’t about being “respectable”; it’s about being right. And on that front, ZeroHedge wins again. In the end, Democracy may well die in darkness, but WaPo’s time of death was 6pm on February 7, 2026.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies are airing an ad during the Super Bowl featuring Mike Tyson boosting the Make America Healthy Again campaign…”

• RFK Jr. and Mike Tyson Fight for MAHA in Super Bowl Ad (Scott Pinsker)

Technically speaking, Evander Holyfield’s ears weren’t processed foods, so I guess his story checks out. Either way, Iron Mike Tyson will be starring in a 30-second Super Bowl ad on behalf of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again campaign. To date, the Trump administration hasn’t used RFK Jr. as a PR prop very often, but perhaps it should: The Western Journal: Despite Attacks, Poll Shows RFK Jr. Is the ‘Most Popular’ Member of Trump’s Cabinet “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been among the most targeted by Democrats of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members since taking office in February. Yet despite all the rhetorical slings and arrows, the leader of the Make America Healthy Again movement is the most popular cabinet official in the administration.

CNN data analyst Harry Enten reported the polling results on Thursday, as RFK Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee. […] “RFK Jr. is not a drag on President Trump. He’s not the most embattled. In fact, he is the most popular official in Trump’s cabinet, at least according to the polling,” the CNN data expert said. As Western Journal noted, RFK Jr. and the MAHA movement are on the plus-side in much of the polling: An Axios/Ipsos American Health Index survey released in July found a majority back the core of Kennedy’s MAHA food safety efforts. Fifty-six percent said “chemicals or unsafe additives in foods are a large or moderate risk to their health right now.
”Further, 67 percent say “they agree that they do not think foods that contain pesticides or artificial food dyes in them are safe to eat, even if they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” For his part, RFK Jr. hyped the ad as “the most important message in Super Bowl history”: Politico, of course, focused on the potential political payoff: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies are airing an ad during the Super Bowl featuring Mike Tyson boosting the Make America Healthy Again campaign, giving Kennedy another high-profile perch as allies look for ways to bolster his MAHA movement.
The ad, paid for by the nonprofit MAHA Center, highlights new dietary guidelines announced by the Health and Human Services secretary in January and urges viewers to “eat real food,” borrowing a line regularly used by Kennedy about his nutrition recommendations.” […] The ad highlights the elements of the MAHA movement that members in both parties believe could help Republicans in November’s midterms. Kennedy’s campaign against processed foods, dyes and pesticides has polled strongly among parents, even as he implements anti-vaccine policies that sharply divide Americans. Here’s a sneak peek of Iron Mike’s ad:

After retiring from boxing (let’s memory-hole his “fight” with Jake Paul), Tyson, now 59-years-old, has promoted various consumable products, including marijuana edibles and cannabis “flower,” along with vegan ice cream. (Tyson might be eating healthier these days, but he also claims he smokes $40 thousand worth of marijuana each month.)Still, he remains one of the most instantly-recognizable celebrities on the planet, and he’s been a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump, endorsing his presidential campaigns in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

This clip gave me chills.

Former Obama DOE Under Secretary Steve Koonin explains that many climate models ran 2–4x too hot. The scientific community knew it. The public was never told.

Those exaggerated models fueled a “climate crisis” narrative that rushed decarbonization,… pic.twitter.com/0VZKMAuw2d
— Lucy Biggers (@LLBiggers) February 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/EnergyAbsurdity/status/2019806373635109229?s=20

It turns out that CO2 and temps are correlated, just not how they teach it. The changes in global average temperatures lead to corresponding changes 4 months later in the variation of CO2 levels. In other words, warming causes CO2 to rise, not the other way around. https://t.co/VnrZOi4uGw pic.twitter.com/JU3OsWIyqN
— Tom McClellan (@McClellanOsc) February 6, 2026

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Debt Rattle August 22 2025

Aug 222025

August 22, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 7:23 am Finance Tagged with: allegiance, Appeals Court, Ed Martin, Engoron, F-35, Letitia, Newsom, security guarantee, Tulsi Gabbard 47 Responses »

Georgia O’Keeffe Sunflower, New Mexico I 1935

• Appeals Court Tosses Trump’s $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgement (ZH)

• Putin ‘Looks Out’ For Russia’s Interests – Vance (RT)

• Zelensky Says Meeting With Putin ‘Definitely Not In Moscow’ (RT)

• Russia Insists It Has Veto Power Over Any ‘Security Guarantees’ (ZH)

• Kiev’s European Backers Want F-35 ‘Security Guarantee‘ – The Times (RT)

• Ukraine Could Recruit ‘Millions’ of Foreigners – MP (RT)

• Ukraine Not Interested In Peace – Lavrov (RT)

• “Daddy” Trump and Western Europe’s Oath of Allegiance (Bordachev)

• Trump Dominated and Humiliated the EU. Publicly (Lukyanov)

• Ukraine’s Future – A Steppe Corridor – A Neutral, Transit-oriented State (MoA)

• DNI Gabbard Reduces Staff 40%, Eliminates $700 Million in IC Spending (CTH)

• Tulsi Stares Down UK, Scoring Another Big Win for American Consumers (Green)

• FBI Director Kash Patel Outlines Current Status of FBI Reform Effort (CTH)

• Matt Gaetz Interviews Ed Martin On Adam Schiff, Jan 6 Committee (CTH)

• Previous History Indicates that War Is Our Future (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Scandal Threatens to Unravel Newsom’s Gerrymandering Power Grab (Margolis)

• Chris Cuomo Declares the Democrat Party ‘Dead’ (Margolis)

Ursulahttps://twitter.com/eugyppius1/status/1958188510344630425

Sasha Stone on Substack writes: "The hardest work Newsom has ever done is slicking back his hair for a photo op. He’s survived nothing. He’s built nothing. He stands for nothing. And in that way, he’s the perfect representative for today’s Democratic Party."

— James Howard Kunstler (@Jhkunstler) August 21, 2025

https://twitter.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1958290851228184763

Lutnick

It’s official. We have finalized our historic U.S.–EU Framework Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced trade. The EU has agreed to open its $20 Trillion market. The second largest in the world behind the great USA

This deal:
➡️ Eliminates EU tariffs on all U.S. industrial…

— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) August 21, 2025

Slavery
https://twitter.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1958212350802026523

JGB

Japan’s 30-year bond yield has spiked to 3.10% – the highest level on record. A preview of what’s coming for the US if we don’t get our deficit/debt spiral under control. The chickens eventually come home to roost. pic.twitter.com/RsF7KqzHTG

— Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) August 21, 2025

https://twitter.com/Megatron_ron/status/1958477133963030829

This concerns the case where the Trump Organization supposedly defrauded banks that already did their due diligence, by overestimating the value of its assets to get better loans. In the immortal words of Judge Arthur Engeron: “..engaged in frauds that “leap off the page and shock the conscience…”

Not sure it is what it seems. Trump calls it a complete victory, perfect even, but from what I can see the appeals court only struck down the “excessive penalty”. The rest appears to stand. Perhaps best illustrated by the fact that Letitia James’s office say they “won’t be dropping the case”. Of coure, Letitia shouldn’t have an office at all anymore, anymore than Engeron should be a judge.

• Appeals Court Tosses Trump’s $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgement (ZH)

A New York appeals court has tossed out a $454 million civil fraud judgement handed down last year against Donald Trump, his family, and his company. While the Appellate Division’s First Department upheld the ruling, it found that the $454 million penalty was excessive and at odds with the Eighth Amendment. “The documentary evidence supports Supreme Court’s conclusion that the Attorney General made a prima facie showing that each defendant participated in the fraudulent scheme,” reads the opinion. “The trial record is also replete with evidence supporting the court’s determination that the individual defendants had the requisite intent to defraud, a necessary element of each Penal Law claim.” The decision comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office asked an appeals court last August to uphold the $454 million civil fraud judgment against Trump.

The appellate judges, however, said of the judgement; “while harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the State.” In response to the decision, President Trump claimed ‘TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!” “The amount, including Interest and Penalties, was over $550 Million Dollars. It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. This was a Case of Election Interference by the City and State trying to show, illegally, that I did things that were wrong when, in fact, everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The case can now be appealed by either side to the state’s highest court, the New York Court of Appeals.

“Today’s ruling by the New York appeals court is a resounding victory for President Trump and his company,” Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, said in response. “The court struck down the outrageous and unlawful $464 million penalty, confirming what we have said from the beginning: the Attorney General’s case was politically motivated, legally baseless, and grossly excessive.” Following a three-month civil trial last year, Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for inflating his net worth to secure better business deals, writing in his decision that Trump and his co-defendants engaged in frauds that “leap off the page and shock the conscience,” adding “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again.”

Trump has long claimed that the case was politically motivated, saying “I’ve been persecuted by someone running for office,” referring to NY Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case – and is currently under investigation for her own real estate fraud. In his February decision, Engoron temporarily barred Trump and his family from leading New York-based companies, along with the $454 million fine. With interest, the penalty was closer to half-a-billion dollars. Trump denied all wrongdoing – arguing that the alleged victims in the case were sophisticated banks who were happy to go into business with the Trump Organization, and profited from the deals. Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers argued that James violated the statue of limitations, misapplied the relevant law, and encouraged the excessive penalty.

BREAKING: New York’s appeals court has thrown out the unprecedented, politically-motivated $465 million civil penalty that Letitia James tried to hit Trump with in 2024.

They tried to impeach him, bankrupt him, imprison him, and assassinate him. They failed. pic.twitter.com/VFZ7GqZYZx

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 21, 2025

“Vance said he was “more soft-spoken than you would necessarily expect” from the way he’s portrayed by Western media.”

• Putin ‘Looks Out’ For Russia’s Interests – Vance (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “looking out for the interests” of his country, US Vice President J.D. Vance has said. According to Vance, both Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump prioritize their nations’ interests, which explains the respect each has for the other. Vance made the remarks following Trump’s meeting with Putin last week in Alaska and a phone call between the two on Monday, during talks with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and EU leaders. Trump called the talks “productive” and said a settlement of the Ukraine conflict was now more realistic. Asked to describe Putin on Laura Ingraham’s show on Wednesday, Vance said he was “more soft-spoken than you would necessarily expect” from the way he’s portrayed by Western media.

“He’s very deliberate. He’s very careful. And I think fundamentally he’s a person who looks out for the interest – as he sees it – of Russia,” Vance said. He added that “while [Putin and Trump] often disagree about issues,” the US president is willing to work with the Russian leader on achieving a Ukraine settlement, which Vance called “an important goal for America.” On Monday, Trump said he had started arrangements for a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelensky, to be followed by a trilateral summit. Moscow has not confirmed any plans for the meetings, but proposed to elevate the level of heads of delegations at talks with Ukraine.

Putin has not ruled out meeting with Zelensky but has insisted it must follow tangible progress in negotiations. He has also questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy, noting that his presidential term has expired and warning that any agreement he signs could be overturned. Commenting on a potential Putin-Zelensky meeting, Vance said he and Trump both support it and believe it should happen even if not all issues are resolved beforehand. He described Ukraine’s call for post-conflict security guarantees and Russia’s demand that Kiev recognize the current realities on the ground as the main obstacles in negotiations.

This is what you get when you appease the piano dick in the Oval Office; nonsensical drivel. You can either let him talk, or you can have peace. Can’t have both.

• Zelensky Says Meeting With Putin ‘Definitely Not In Moscow’ (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has ruled out meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, saying he prefers talks to be held in a “neutral” part of Europe. Speculation about a possible Putin-Zelensky meeting arose after the Russian president met with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, last week in Alaska. Trump later met with Zelensky and EU leaders, followed by a 40-minute call with Putin, and posted on Truth Social that he had “begun the arrangements for a meeting [between Putin and Zelensky] at a location to be determined.” Media reports claimed Putin had suggested Moscow as a venue. “There can definitely be no meeting in Moscow,” Zelensky told reporters on Thursday, without elaborating. He said he wants the US to coordinate the negotiations with Russia, but also would like Kiev’s European allies involved.

“I would like Europe to be present as well. The negotiations must take place in a neutral part of Europe,” he said, suggesting Austria, Türkiye, and Switzerland as options. The Kremlin has not confirmed any plans for a Putin-Zelensky meeting, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow was ready to raise the status of its delegation-level peace negotiations with Ukraine. Lavrov said Putin raised the idea after his call with Trump. Putin has not ruled out meeting Zelensky but has insisted that it could only come after the negotiation process has produced tangible progress. Moscow has also questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy, noting his term as president has expired and warning any deals he signs could be overturned by his successor.

Trump said this week he preferred that Putin and Zelensky meet before a potential three-way summit be held. He called his talks with Putin in Alaska “very productive” and said a settlement was now more realistic. Media reports have claimed Washington is planning a three-way summit between Putin, Trump, and Zelensky in Hungary. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto confirmed on Thursday that Budapest would be a realistic venue, including for a potential one-on-one between Putin and Zelensky, arguing Hungary is the only Western country that has maintained a “fair, mutually respectful” relationship with all sides. Zelensky, however, dismissed Hungary as a venue, citing its efforts to block EU military aid to Ukraine.

“Putin agreed to European and U.S. security guarantees..”

He agreed there would/could be some. He never agreed to any specific ones.

“Lavrov’s remarks were a potent sign that Moscow’s maximalist demands in the war haven’t shifted despite a surge in diplomatic engagement in recent days.”

• Russia Insists It Has Veto Power Over Any ‘Security Guarantees’ (ZH)

Now nearly a week out from last Friday’s historic Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, the White House has had to temper its positive predictions on the peace process, after prematurely touting that a Putin and Zelensky bilateral meeting was on the horizon. By Wednesday the Kremlin had made it clear this is not yet the case. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued some non-committal statements, watering down what appeared an already vague commitment. A future direct meeting with the Ukrainian leader – a president which Moscow previously dubbed illegitimate – would have to be prepared “gradually… starting with the expert level and thereafter going through all the required steps.”

A separate Russian official has stated that “it shouldn’t be a meeting for the sake of a meeting” – highlighting that despite Trump’s strong diplomatic efforts, Russia remains ‘open’ but doesn’t consider the warring sides to have bridged key major gaps on peace terms just yet. On Thursday The Wall Street Journal underscored that there’s yet another key divide – the question of future security guarantees and how they will be monitored or implemented: Russia warned on Wednesday that it should effectively hold veto power over any action to assist Ukraine after a peace deal is reached, rendering planned Western security guarantees for Kyiv moot and delivering a setback to negotiations championed by President Trump.

…Lavrov’s insistence that Russia must have a say in how any security guarantees for Ukraine would be enacted contradicted the Trump administration’s assertion that Putin agreed to European and U.S. security guarantees at the Alaska summit on Friday. Lavrov’s remarks were a potent sign that Moscow’s maximalist demands in the war haven’t shifted despite a surge in diplomatic engagement in recent days. Western security assurances to deter against future Russian invasions are key to getting Ukraine to sign on to a peace deal. Russia has never wavered on insisting that NATO or Western forces never be allowed to patrol or have a presence in Ukraine. Moscow’s war justification from the beginning has been focused on the question of NATO expansion, and demanding permanent Ukrainian neutrality.

Strangely, while President Trump has this week assured Russia of ‘no US boots on the ground’ – the White House spokesperson at the same time suggested there could be some kind of pledged US or Western air support as part of future security guarantees. But the messaging has been contradictory as at the same time Trump has been pledging ‘minimal’ American involvement in any future security guarantees for Ukraine. Moscow will likely present the targeted Mukachevo plant as military or ‘dual use’ in nature… Geopolitical news source Moon of Alabama reacted as follows:

”While Russia is confidently prosecuting the war in Ukraine towards its inevitable end. Meanwhile the ‘West’ is still negotiating with itself about the conditions under which it will have to capitulate. Discussions continue about ‘security guarantees’ for Ukraine even as the only serious ones are those that Russia is willing to give. The confused arguments about ‘guarantees’ are reflected in the reports of them. Consider this nonsense: “A security guarantee could encompass a wide range of issues. In return for Russia ending its invasion, a security pact could include a pledge of U.S. air support for any European-led operations should Russian troops resume their assault.”
If Russia ends the war NATO-like ‘security guarantees’ are to be given to Ukraine as a reward?

Indeed, it’s as if Trump and his top officials still don’t understand the core problems, or at least purposefully ignore what remain the root causes to this war. Trump wants to see more rapid momentum and engagement come out of the Alaska summit, hoping for a Putin-Zelensky summit within days or weeks. But that’s very unlikely to happen, also given Zelensky – with the encouragement of the more hawkish European allies – has still not offered substantive compromise. He reportedly isn’t even willing to lift restrictions on the use of the Russian language in public discourse or media.

They will forever try to push against, and beyond, the red lines.

• Kiev’s European Backers Want F-35 ‘Security Guarantee‘ – The Times (RT)

Kiev’s Western European backers have asked the US to deploy F-35 jets to Romania as “security guarantees” to help end the Ukraine conflict, The Times reported on Wednesday. In addition, they reportedly want Washington to supply Kiev with Patriot and NASAMS interceptor missiles, as well as “permission to fly spy planes over the Black Sea.” US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told Fox News that he had ruled out deploying American troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia but that air support was possible. “They are willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably… by air,” he said.

Senior Western European and US military chiefs have since met in Washington to discuss the “logistics” of a security package, The Times wrote. NATO already runs what the paper described as “policing missions” over the Black Sea from the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in Romania, its largest European airbase. The facility was used by US forces during their invasion of Iraq and would most likely serve as a base for the F-35s, The Times wrote. European NATO countries also reportedly want guarantees that they would have access to US satellite and intelligence data, according to the newspaper.

Moscow has previously warned that any airfields, in any country, will be legitimate targets if they host jets participating in combat missions against Russian troops involved in the Ukraine conflict. Russia has also repeatedly warned that it will consider any NATO troops deployed in Ukraine as valid military targets – whether they are sent under the guise of “peacekeepers” or otherwise. Any such deployment risks a direct clash and “uncontrollable escalation” between Russia and the West, Moscow has said.

“..there are millions of people in the world who are ready to fight against Russia, especially given the financial compensation…This is realistic,” he said.”

• Ukraine Could Recruit ‘Millions’ of Foreigners – MP (RT)

Ukraine should recruit for its military “millions” of foreigners willing to fight against Russia, lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko has proposed. The MP was addressing Kiev’s frontline manpower crisis and the harsh ongoing conscription campaign, which he likened to the Nazi Gestapo. Speaking at a Ukrainian parliamentary session on Wednesday, Goncharenko, a member of the European Solidarity party led by former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, voiced outrage over the brutality of press gangs and proposed that Kiev could sidestep the issue by relying on foreign fighters. “We need to engage in foreign recruitment – there are millions of people in the world who are ready to fight against Russia, especially given the financial compensation…This is realistic,” he said.

Goncharenko earlier proposed dismantling Ukraine’s current military-managed recruitment system and replacing it with a civilian-run one. “Instead of all this, there are the shameful Territorial Recruitment Centers, which are already behaving just like the Gestapo,” he said, referring to the secret police of Nazi Germany that was notorious for its numerous atrocities. “This cannot continue. It must be immediately corrected, because otherwise, if the people stop believing in the state, we will lose the state,” he added. Russia has warned that foreign mercenaries fighting for Ukraine are treated as “legitimate targets” and has on numerous occasions struck bases where they have been deployed. In 2024, the Russian Defense Ministry said that more than 13,000 foreign mercenaries have fought on Ukraine’s side since 2022, and that nearly 6,000 had been killed.

Ukraine announced a general mobilization shortly after the start of the conflict, barring most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. In 2024, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and tightened mobilization rules to replenish mounting battlefield losses. The forced conscription campaign has regularly featured violent clashes between draft officers and reluctant recruits, thus triggering discontent in the country. On Wednesday, several media outlets cited what they described as a leaked Ukrainian military index obtained by Russian hackers suggesting more than 1.7 million Ukrainian troops have been killed or declared missing since the start of the conflict.

“He suggested that Ukraine’s refusal to discuss a settlement before receiving security guarantees is intended to preserve what he called the “neo-Nazi, Russophobic regime” in Kiev.”

• Ukraine Not Interested In Peace – Lavrov (RT)

Kiev is openly demonstrating it has no interest in long-term peace with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, pointing to recent remarks by Ukrainian officials. Following the summit in Alaska between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, and subsequent talks in Washington with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders, the US administration said a peace deal had become more feasible. The White House described the outcome of the talks as progress, noting there was “a light at the end of the tunnel.” At a press conference on Thursday, Lavrov confirmed that significant progress had been achieved during the Alaska summit. However, he underlined that Ukrainian officials continue to comment on a possible resolution “in a very specific way that shows they are not interested in a sustainable, fair, long-term settlement.”

He pointed to a statement by key Zelensky adviser Mikhail Podoliak, who recently stated that Kiev would acknowledge that some regions are “de facto” lost to Russia. However, once Kiev secures security guarantees it would seek to regain them and demand that the West impose sanctions aimed at weakening Russia and damaging its economy. According to Lavrov, such rhetoric demonstrates that the Ukrainian leadership, encouraged by its Western sponsors, are pursuing goals antithetical to the joint efforts of Trump and Putin to eliminate the root causes of the crisis. Instead of working toward a settlement, Lavrov argued, Kiev and its backers want to aggravate those causes further by forming anti-Russian military alliances. He suggested that Ukraine’s refusal to discuss a settlement before receiving security guarantees is intended to preserve what he called the “neo-Nazi, Russophobic regime” in Kiev.

The minister also accused Kiev’s European sponsors of trying to “disrupt” the peace agenda by ignoring Russia’s interests and demanding security guarantees for a country “that professes neo-Nazi values, grossly violates the rights of national minorities, legislatively tries to exterminate the Russian language in all spheres of life, prohibits the canonical Orthodox Church.” “I hope this recklessness will fail and we will continue to follow the course agreed upon by President Putin and President Trump,” Lavrov said.

“The central lesson of Washington was the EU’s dependence – and its public acceptance of subordination to American leadership. The White House gathering laid bare the infantilization of Western Europe.”

• “Daddy” Trump and Western Europe’s Oath of Allegiance (Bordachev)

American politics has always been part performance, part power play. Domestic and foreign policy alike are wrapped in spectacle, but the drama often conceals deeper realities. This week’s meeting between Donald Trump and Western Europe’s leading politicians in Washington was a vivid example. What looked like theatre – leaders lined up in the Oval Office, each playing their role – carried consequences of genuine strategic weight. The real subject of the summit was not Ukraine. Attempts to resolve that conflict continue, but its outcome will be determined far from Brussels, Paris, or Berlin. The central lesson of Washington was the EU’s dependence – and its public acceptance of subordination to American leadership. The White House gathering laid bare the infantilization of Western Europe.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is said to have previously described Trump as “Daddy,” and the metaphor has stuck. The Europeans behaved as children trying not to provoke a temper: flattering, nodding, adapting themselves to his moods. There were even reports of EU and British officials advising Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky on how to thank the American president, what words to use, even what clothes to wear. Absurd? Perhaps. But this is the political reality of the West today: the EU no longer behaves as a political entity with its own agency. Its leaders perform before Trump in hopes of appeasement. To be fair, Washington has never shown great delicacy in dealing with its allies. From De Gaulle to Schroeder, European leaders have often found their views brushed aside by American presidents. But the context is new.

Facing unprecedented competition with China and with its ability to skim rents from globalization fading, and under pressure from shifting energy and trade patterns, Washington no longer feels compelled to show even symbolic respect for Western Europe. The only alternative for the US would be full-scale self-isolation – a path floated in the last election but one for which Americans remain unprepared. On the contrary, despite its weakness, Europe now represents Washington’s last major platform for maintaining global influence. In the Middle East, even monarchies traditionally dependent on American defense are asserting independence. Across Asia, only Japan and South Korea remain fully loyal, though even they quietly maintain contact with Moscow.

Thus, the Americans must finish what previous administrations began: breaking Western Europe completely to their will. Trump, with his showmanship, has simply made the process more theatrical and humiliating. The Washington meeting crystallized this reality. The leaders of Britain, Germany, France, and Italy – the core of Western Europe – were required to stand on stage and sign a statement endorsing US policy on Ukraine. The heads of the EU and NATO joined in. Each leader searched for his or her own words of submission, and all found them. What looked absurd was in fact deadly serious. It was not about Ukraine’s fate – Kiev is merely a bargaining chip. It was about these European leaders publicly renouncing their autonomy. In practice, it was an oath of allegiance to Washington. From Russia’s perspective, three conclusions follow.

First, the EU and Great Britain cease to exist as independent actors. After the Cold War, it was briefly fashionable to speak of European strategic autonomy. As late as 2003, Germany and France opposed the US invasion of Iraq. Today, such defiance is unimaginable. Western Europe has become an appendage of the United States. Second, Russia’s strategy towards the region must change. For years, Moscow calculated that other European states, though dependent, could still act with partial independence and might support Russian interests under the right circumstances. Indeed, Russia’s most serious clashes with the West occurred when Western unity fractured. That assumption can no longer stand. Western Europe is now firmly absorbed into Washington’s orbit – a cog in a larger American machine. Third, Russia and China must reassess their approach. Beijing still regards the EU as a potential neutral partner in its rivalry with Washington. But the Oval Office spectacle shows this is an illusion. Treating Western Europe as independent risks undermining the strategic interests of both Russia and China. The same applies to India and other BRICS partners who maintain strong ties to states in the region: they, too, must rethink their assumptions.

“Faced with this reality, Western Europe has chosen a strategy of unrestrained flattery. Leaders believe that by praising Trump, they can slip their own disagreements into the conversation.”

• Trump Dominated and Humiliated the EU. Publicly (Lukyanov)

From a theatrical point of view, Monday’s Washington summit between US President Donald Trump and Western Europe’s leaders was a vivid spectacle. Each official played their role, some with greater skill than others. But behind the carefully staged performance, the real story emerged: the region’s inability to act as a political entity in its own right. Contrary to media spin, the meeting was not about Ukraine. Attempts to resolve the crisis continue, but its outcome will ultimately be decided not in Brussels or Berlin, but by non-European powers. The real lesson from Washington lay in the display of Western Europe’s dependence. Every move by these Western European leaders was aimed at one goal: not angering the American president. In the words of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump has become “Daddy” – a figure to be placated with smiles, tributes, and flattery.

Leaders compared notes on how best to manage his moods, even down to reportedly advising Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky on what to wear, what to say, and how to thank him. This might sound absurd. But that is the political reality of the transatlantic relationship. The EU no longer acts with autonomy. Its politics revolve around managing the temper of a man in Washington. Of course, Trump’s personality is unique, but it would be a mistake to reduce the issue to character. The essence is deeper: Western Europe has suddenly realized the scale of its strategic, political and economic dependence on the United States. Put bluntly, the half-continent can do very little without America – even in matters that directly touch its own interests. This dependency did not appear overnight. Ironically, it deepened under Joe Biden.

With his rhetoric of “unprecedented transatlantic solidarity,” the former president made Western Europe carry much of the political and economic burden of the conflict with Russia. The United States reaped the economic benefits, while the costs were shifted to the Old World. Trump has simply made this arrangement overt. He openly treats the Europeans not as partners, but as tools. In his eyes, the EU exists to finance American priorities and later to handle the technical details of a post-settlement Ukraine. Western Europe’s “position” counts for little if it differs from Washington’s. The recent trade talks proved the point: negotiations went America’s way, and his guests accepted it. Faced with this reality, Western Europe has chosen a strategy of unrestrained flattery. Leaders believe that by praising Trump, they can slip their own disagreements into the conversation.

But the approach is self-defeating. Trump regards praise not as persuasion but as recognition of self-evident truth: if you admire me, I must be right. Join me, and keep applauding. Brussels reassures itself that this humiliation is temporary, the product of one unusual leader. When Trump leaves, normality will return. But the illusion will not last. For over two decades – since the presidency of George W. Bush – Washington has been steadily shifting its strategic focus away from Europe. This course has been consistent across parties and presidents. It will not change after Trump. And given the current willingness of EU leaders to grovel, future US presidents will expect no less.

“A close economic and political partnership with Russia, unwanted or not, is indeed the most likely future for whatever is by then left of Ukraine.”

• Ukraine’s Future – A Steppe Corridor – A Neutral, Transit-oriented State (MoA)

While Russia is confidently prosecuting the war in Ukraine towards its inevitable end. Meanwhile the ‘West’ is still negotiating with itself about the conditions under which it will have to capitulate. Discussions continue about ‘security guarantees’ for Ukraine even as the only serious ones are those that Russia is willing to give. The confused arguments about ‘guarantees’ are reflected in the reports of them. Consider this nonsense: “A security guarantee could encompass a wide range of issues. In return for Russia ending its invasion, a security pact could include a pledge of U.S. air support for any European-led operations should Russian troops resume their assault.” If Russia ends the war NATO like ‘security guarantees’ are to be given to Ukraine as a reward? How is that supposed to compute? Russia started this war to prevent a further extension of NATO into Ukraine. Why should it end the fighting if, in consequence, Ukraine would end up as a quasi-member of that pact? All the ‘security guarantees’ talk is just obfuscation of the attempt by some European leaders to prolong the war by further dragging the U.S. into it:

“Days before the [sanctions] deadline expired, Putin invited Witkoff to Moscow and offered a proposal, seen by the White House as sufficient grounds to set up last week’s Alaska summit meeting. There, Putin succeeded in convincing Trump that an immediate ceasefire to allow for complex peace negotiations was not required, allowing Russia to continue its attacks on Ukraine, without the risk of new U.S. sanctions. The move alarmed European leaders, who raced to Washington on Monday to back up Zelensky during a meeting at the White House. After the meeting, they appeared satisfied by Trump’s openness to security guarantees. If Putin does not accept the terms, that could make the Kremlin the obstacle to Trump’s peace deal, insulating Ukraine from having to choose between untenable concessions of territory and inviting Trump’s ire.“

Russia is not going to allow any of this: “[O]n Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov struck a blow at another major part of Trump’s peace effort, downplaying expectations for a swift bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian president, and further blocking the prospects for any deal on security guarantees for Ukraine. He said Russia would only agree to the measures if it had an effective veto over future efforts to defend Kyiv.” Russia will simply stick to its plan: Russia’s conditions to end its war would essentially subvert Ukraine’s sovereignty, neuter its military and seize territory in eastern Ukraine that it has not captured in battle. Moscow wants to also permanently bar Ukraine from NATO and other international groupings and prevent it from hosting foreign troops — terms that would force Ukraine into a close, unwanted economic and political partnership with Russia.

A close economic and political partnership with Russia, unwanted or not, is indeed the most likely future for whatever is by then left of Ukraine. Some Ukrainians, like the former presidential advisor Alexander Arestovich, do understand that: “The key task for Ukraine today in all these Alaskan tales is to preserve political independence in the long term… Ukraine has only one way to preserve it: acknowledging the shared symbolic capital with Russia and Belarus, adopting a neutral status, and building good-neighborly relations with Russia and Belarus while maintaining political independence and the unique role of a “crossroads of worlds”- between Russia and Europe. Economically, the most promising role is that of a “steppe corridor” – between Russia, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the EU.

In short, this is about a fundamental shift in project orientation – from a narrow, nationalist one to a broad, transit-oriented one. In a sense, this could be called a “Great Return” – to Ukraine’s natural historical and cultural role. By way of analogy – modern Kazakhstan. … In conclusion, the fundamental challenge for Ukraine lies not in tactical maneuvers but in recognizing the strategic perspective: the necessity of reimagining its role as a neutral, transit-oriented state in order to preserve independence in the emerging geopolitical order.

Tulsi may well be the most effective member of the Trump admin so far.

• DNI Gabbard Reduces Staff 40%, Eliminates $700 Million in IC Spending (CTH)

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has announced a major shift in reducing the role of the Intelligence Community and eliminating the politization of intelligence information. As we have discussed on these pages for several years, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created shortly before the Obama administration took power, and subsequently the fledgling organization was weaponized for domestic influence operations. DNI Tulsi Gabbard takes a major step in addressing this problem. In the era shortly after 9/11, the DC national security apparatus was constructed to preserve continuity of government and simultaneously view all Americans as potential threats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were created specifically for this purpose. What Barack Obama and Eric Holder did with that new construct was refine the internal targeting mechanisms so that only their ideological opposition became the target of the new national security system.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard announced a long-overdue transformation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to refocus on executing its core national security mission with integrity in the most agile, effective, and efficient way. This will reduce ODNI by over 40% by the end of fiscal year 2025 and save taxpayers over $700 million per year and better enable ODNI to focus on fulfilling its critical role of serving as the central hub for intelligence integration, strategic guidance, and oversight over the Intelligence Community. ODNI was created after the horrific Islamist terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, exposed systemic failures across the Intelligence Community (IC). Its purpose was to integrate intelligence from and provide oversight over all IC elements (currently 18) in order to ensure the intelligence provided to the President and policymakers is timely, accurate, and apolitical.

Unfortunately, two decades later, ODNI has fallen short in fulfilling its mandate. “Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence,” said DNI Tulsi Gabbard. “ODNI and the IC must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the U.S. Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the President and policymakers. Ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable are essential to begin to earn the American people’s trust which has long been eroded. Under President Trump’s leadership, ODNI 2.0 is the start of a new era focused on serving our country, fulfilling our core national security mission with excellence, always grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people.”

ODNI 2.0 eliminates redundant missions, functions and personnel, and makes critical investments in areas that support the President’s national intelligence priorities, and focuses on rebuilding trust, exposing politicization and weaponization of intelligence, holding bad actors accountable, saving American tax dollars, and focusing on our core mission: protecting the safety, security, and freedom of the American people. Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01. DHS came along in 2002 and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed. When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.

The preexisting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dept of Justice (DOJ) were then repurposed to become two of the four pillars of the domestic national security apparatus. However, this new construct would have a targeting mechanism based on political ideology. The DHS, ODNI, DOJ and FBI became the four pillars of this new institution. Atop these pillars is where you will find the Fourth Branch of Government. We were not sleeping when this happened, we were wide awake. However, we were stunningly distracted by the economic collapse that was taking place in 2006 and 2007 when the engineers behind Obama started to assemble the design. By the time Obama took office in 2009, we sensed something profound was shifting, but we can only see exactly what shifted in the aftermath. The four pillars were put into place, and a new Fourth Branch of Government was quietly created.

As Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard has begun to take down the political surveillance system. Yesterday, it was announced that Tulsi Gabbard fired twenty of the “according to those familiar with the matter” people. Another ten from the group “who spoke on the condition of anonymity.” And seven of the “officials close to the issue.” Her work continues.

https://twitter.com/JesseBWatters/status/1958328737017254066

All kinds of small-town politicians come up with rules and regulations that they insist apply to the entire world.

“..it came as no surprise that the administration stood (and still stands) firm alongside Cupertino in protecting Americans’ rights against British predations — with echoes of 1776.”

• Tulsi Stares Down UK, Scoring Another Big Win for American Consumers (Green)

The United Kingdom has a problem with the U.S.: It’s that pesky Bill of Rights and our refusal to surrender our rights to Britain’s censorship and due-process-busting domestic spying schemes. Enter, stage right: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. I reported earlier this week that 4chan’s notorious internet pranksters hired a couple of big-name law firms, after Britain threatened the American-based company with a £20,000 fine, followed by hefty daily fines, if the group failed to impose Britain’s censorship rules on 4chan’s users everywhere in the world — including in the U.S. 4chan’s representation called the actions of Britain’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) an “illegal campaign of harassment against American technology firms.”

But Britain’s censorious Online “Safety” Act of 2023 isn’t the only foreign threat to American freedoms. They also have their Orwell-inspired Investigatory Powers Act, which pitted His Majesty’s Craptaculent Government up against one of the biggest companies in the world: Apple. Back in February, Britain ordered Apple to create a backdoor in its iPhone operating system, allowing British authorities to snoop on the entire contents of anyone’s iPhone, anywhere in the world — without a warrant, without notification, without nothin’. Arguably worse, under the Investigatory Powers Act, Apple was forbidden to even tell British users that their privacy was compromised by force of law. Apple calls its end-to-end iPhone encryption — that means nobody can see your data but you — Advanced Data Protection (ADP), and they weren’t about to have some Limeys break it for a billion users around the world.

Britain’s hope was that Apple would quietly corrupt user privacy without anyone being the wiser, but rather than destroy user privacy, Apple did what I called “the best wrong thing.” Instead of giving London the key to every iPhone in the world, in February the company warned British users that they would soon lose ADP and their privacy, too. Apple explained that it would no longer offer ADP “to new users and current UK users will eventually need to disable this security feature.” That’s a terrible thing to have to do, but at least UK users weren’t lied to about the security of their cloud and on-device storage. “We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK,” the company explained, “given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy. Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.”

President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook have worked closely together in the past, despite some yuge political differences. So it came as no surprise that the administration stood (and still stands) firm alongside Cupertino in protecting Americans’ rights against British predations — with echoes of 1776. Trump sicced Tulsi on the Brits. Wisely, after months of wrangling behind closed doors, the Brits finally caved. “Neither the U.S. nor U.K. governments have made any formal announcement about the matter,” Apple Insider reported, but “given the secretive way the U.K. has tried to handle the matter, there may not even be any confirmation on that side of the Atlantic.” We don’t yet know what went on between Trump, JD Vance, Gabbard, and their UK counterparts, but we can see the result.

“Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the U.K., alongside POTUS and VPOTUS,” Gabbard posted to X yesterday, “to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.” “As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.” With that out of the way, Apple might be able to re-enable ADP for UK users, although that part remains unclear at the time of this writing. Regardless, Americans got a big win today, courtesy of Cupertino and the Trump White House.

It’s time for Kash to come with concrete facts. People have only so much patience.

• FBI Director Kash Patel Outlines Current Status of FBI Reform Effort (CTH)

FBI Director Kash Patel appeared on Fox News Business with Larry Kudlow to discuss the current status of several FBI efforts, including the targeting of international terrorists. Within the interview, Director Patel notes there is an ongoing review of any/all information that surrounds the weaponized use of the FBI under previous leadership. Kudlow narrows in on the FBI raid to Mar-a-Lago, and digs down for details as to whether Patel is investigating the targeting of President Trump post 2020 election. In recent joint appearances with Kash Patel, there appeared to be frustration by President Trump as the Director waxed philosophically about the excellence of his agency while the American electorate looked on with great suspicion. Shortly thereafter came an announcement that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey would be joining the FBI leadership team as a Co-Deputy Director. The current appearances by Director Patel follow the announcement of Bailey’s addition to the team.

Martin would appear to have a broad agenda. Letitia, Schiff, Jan 6…

• Matt Gaetz Interviews Ed Martin On Adam Schiff, Jan 6 Committee (CTH)

Matt Gaetz is one of the few members of congress who reviewed the activity of the J6 Committee after it was disbanded. In this interview, Matt Gaetz discusses the activity of the J6 Committee with DOJ Working Group leader, Ed Martin. Ed Martin is now tasked with assembling all of the various information from open source, classified and declassified documents while reviewing them for potential criminal violations. Gaetz asks Martin whether any of the J6 activity is positioned to be a part of Ed Martin’s criminal activity review.

I chewed quite a bit on the term “Previous History”. As in: what other kind is there?

• Previous History Indicates that War Is Our Future (Paul Craig Roberts)

Our time is much like Europe during 1912-1914 and 1938-1939. War is brewing, and unlike the earlier periods today the countries likely to be involved, with the exception of Russia, China, and Iran, are not trying to avoid it. Between 1912-1914 the French President Poincare, Russian Foreign Minister Izvolski, later Russian ambassador to France, and Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov were deeply involved in a conspiracy to cause a war between Russia and France (with British approval and involvement) on one side and Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other. Poincaire’s goal was to recover Alsace-Lorraine for France. The Tsar’s ministers wanted Constantinople in order to control the straits that are the entrance from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean. Harry Elmer Barnes tells the story based on the notes the conspirators wrote to one another over the years the conspiracy was prepared and put into operation.

For telling the truth, Barnes, a top of the line American historian, lost his position at Columbia University. The official narrative was that Germany caused the war, a claim for which there is zero evidence. But assigning historical blame to Germany kept attention off the French-Russian conspiracy. As Barnes own fate proved, it did not pay for a historian to tell the truth. The road to professional success was to create a narrative that justified the winners. And the “winners” were actually winners because the Germans were deceived, having foolishly trusted US President Wilson’s “Fourteen points.” The German emperor, a cousin of the British king and Russian Tsar, did everything he could to avoid war, and Germany was the last to mobilize. The country responsible for war is never the last to mobilize.

Both the Germans, the British, and possibly the Tsar were disadvantaged by being unaware of the French-Russian conspiracy for war. The assassination of the Austrian Archduke and Austria’s punitive response to Serbia, was turned by propaganda into the cause for war. Most likely, the assassination was a part of the French-Russian war plot. Regardless, a dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia ended up causing a war that killed millions of people in the major European powers and enabled Lenin to overthrow the Russian government. France got Alsace-Lorraine, and Russia got a revolution. Austria-Hungary was destroyed along with the German monarchy. The result was the Versailles Treaty that ensured World War II. The flower of the British leadership class was destroyed along with British financial strength. Turkey remained in control of Constantinople.

Barnes, like David Irving, bases his history on official documents, whereas most historians create a career for themselves by justifying the winners and aligning with the rising political, social, and economic forces. Izvolski arranged for Russian gold to be poured into bribes of French newspapers to silence war opponents, to make a case for war, and to bring Poincare into the French presidency. Russia also bribed leading Serbian politicians to engage in intrigues against Austria-Hungary. We are watching the same thing today, only we don’t know it. The media don’t tell us. They too are bribed. When we look at the American Witkoff and the nominal Russian Dmitriev, what is their real role? Could they be bribe makers whose job it is to produce outcomes that make their principles appear successful? One can hear the patriotic American’s disbelief: “Our country, never!”

But we know of the Clinton’s collection of bribes that have enriched their family. We know of the Hunter-Joe Biden collection of bribes and payoffs. Was the letter Trump’s wife had delivered to Putin about the alleged Ukrainian children the product of an Israeli bribe to get the focus off of Israel’s extermination of Palestinian children? As the realities of what is really underway are not exposed to the light of day, the populations in the US and Europe really have no idea what is going on. Commentators, depending on who is paying them, either spread optimistic hopes or allege Trump is selling out Ukraine. The reality is different.

The reality is that the world is headed into war because of (1) the US foreign policy imperative of American hegemony, and (2) the apparent problem the Russians have of putting themselves in the hands of their hopes instead of acknowledging reality. When a country’s foreign policy doctrine requires the prevention of the rise of any country that can serve as a constraint on its unilateralism, and there are rising countries, there can be no peace. In 1939 the British government gave a guarantee to Poland similar to the NATO guarantee the West wants to give Ukraine. The immediate consequence was World War II.

“Independents and moderates understand instinctively what this means: a government so cynical it ignores its own laws in order to draw maps that guarantee one-party rule.”

• Scandal Threatens to Unravel Newsom’s Gerrymandering Power Grab (Margolis)

A group of California legislators is calling for the feds to step in after credible allegations that Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies are orchestrating a brazen scheme to gerrymander California congressional districts. As we’ve previously reported here at PJ Media, Newsom has been promising to fight back against Texas Republicans’ controversial mid-cycle redistricting plan, which, of course, was done to offset Democrats’ blatant gerrymandering in blue states, which has inflated their representation in Congress. The problem is that California’s constitution flatly forbids mid-cycle redistricting, and the process for changing the system is no simple matter. Voters have already weighed in twice — in 2008 and 2010 — to strip politicians of their gerrymandering toys and hand the pen to an independent commission.

But now Newsom is bulldozing those safeguards voters established to boost his national profile before he runs for president. He plans to yank control away from the Citizens Redistricting Commission and back into the hands of his loyalist Democrats. Newsom looks less like a “progressive” reformer and more like a backroom operator addicted to power grabs. That’s why Assembly members Carl DeMaio, James Gallagher, Leticia Castillo, Heath Hadwick, David Tangipa, and State Sens. Tony Strickland and Marie Alvarado-Gil just fired off a formal request to the Department of Justice. Their letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi calls on the DOJ to investigate “corruption and violation of federal law” tied to Newsom’s redistricting scheme.

“We write to request that the US Department of Justice consider opening an immediate investigation into allegations of corruption and illegality involving members of the California state legislature and their current redistricting scheme,” the letter states. “As you may be aware, California state legislators — upon the Governor’s demand — have initiated an unprecedented and unnecessary mid-cycle redistricting effort. Article 21 of the California state constitution expressly prohibits such an effort and public opinion is solidly against the idea of mullifying the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and handing the power back to politicians to manipulate the lines of their own districts.” The letter continues:

“In recent days alarming allegations have surfaced that may explain why state legislators are proceeding forward with such a blatantly unconstitutional and politically unpopular proposal. Specifically, various media outlets are reporting that several members of the state legislature may have not only engaged in drawing the lines of these maps to benefit themselves politically but may be providing their vote for these proposals on the condition that the maps are drawn to benefit themselves. As just one example, KCRA reported that one powerful senator “had one of the new, targeted districts drawn specifically for him in exchange for his support of the redistricting plan.” This kind of backroom dealing and possibility for vote-trading by politicians is the very reason why California voters passed ballot initiatives in 2008 and again in 2010 to take redistricting powers away from the Governor and state legislature.

But here’s the key part right here: “We believe that the backroom dealings may rise to an unlawful level of bribery and vote trading. It is quite possible that federal laws could have been violated in the scheming surrounding these backroom deals over maps. Aside from possible criminal misconduct, we are also concerned with numerous potential violations of federal law related to the process of redistricting and the proposed maps being approved by the state legislature. Public confidence in the integrity of our state legislature is of paramount importance. As such we ask that you review this matter and determine whether a federal investigation is warranted at this time.”

If true, these accusations don’t merely flout the state constitution; they veer directly into federal criminal territory. Bribery, vote trading, the manipulation of congressional maps to benefit oneself politically: These aren’t just morally grotesque; they invite a Justice Department investigation for potential violations of election law. And for once, it’s not just Republicans raising the alarm. Independents and moderates understand instinctively what this means: a government so cynical it ignores its own laws in order to draw maps that guarantee one-party rule. Newsom may think he’s untouchable, but the demand for a DOJ probe suggests that the tide could be turning. If this investigation gains traction, the scheme designed to lock in permanent power for the left could unravel quickly for Newsom, for his allies, and for the illusion of accountability in Sacramento. The governor may soon learn that Californians don’t just oppose corruption; they’ve had more than enough of it.

“Today, it’s all provocative bulls**t all the time. No responsibility. No accountability. You just move on to the next. And it gets us views, it gets us clicks, but it’s not getting us to a better place.”

• Chris Cuomo Declares the Democrat Party ‘Dead’ (Margolis)

Chris Cuomo, the brother of NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, reflected on the state of the Democratic Party today during an interview with Benny Johnson on his podcast. There, he delivered a stark verdict: The Democratic Party is dead. Drawing on his personal political lineage, Cuomo pointed out a fundamental shift that has erased the party he once knew and fought for. “My brother’s a Democrat. I don’t know why, but he is. Uh, my father was a Democrat. I know exactly why he was, but his party doesn’t exist anymore,” Cuomo said. “And while I had disagreements with my father about different issues, I knew what principles were guiding him.” Cuomo recalled his father’s era, a time when the Democratic Party was distinctly focused on protecting the little guy and maintaining a balanced role for government.

“My father’s battle was against trickle-down economics and Reagan Republicanism,” he explained. “The Democratic Party that he fought for and the Republican Party that he fought against — neither exists anymore.” Cuomo described his father’s party as one that said, “Take care of the little guy, take care of the little guy, take care of the little guy. Stay out of our bedroom. Stay out of my heart. Just do all the government we need, but only the government we need. And we’re a secular society. Don’t put anything else on me.” According to Cuomo, his father’s Democratic Party embraced a capitalism that offered opportunity in a free market, rejecting socialism while supporting necessary public services like education and entitlements. He emphasized, “No Democrat ever argued for anything else. No Democrat would’ve argued for open borders. You know — none of this. My father would’ve done none of this.”

Discussing how politics has flipped since his father’s time, Cuomo noted that today’s left champions cultural elitism, dictating how people should speak and raise their children. Meanwhile, the Republicans have become anti-establishment champions for the little people trampled upon by the elites, a complete reversal from previous alignments. He said, “They flipped in terms of their operative animus and their constituencies out of convenience and time.” “So, my father’s party is no more,” Cuomo continued. “He believed that the opportunity to be part of a free market was exactly why his parents — illiterate, okay? Uh, unsophisticated, untrained except, uh, with a heart, you know, three sizes too big, filled with ambition and dreams — [came here], to be able to compete, you know? Without some feudal system on your head in rural Italy, where they were telling you who you could be and how you could be. [They believed that] was worth everything.”

When it came to the current chaotic and provocative political environment, Cuomo expressed deep frustration with the lack of responsibility and accountability. He lamented the constant push for controversy over constructive dialogue: “Today, it’s all provocative bulls**t all the time. No responsibility. No accountability. You just move on to the next. And it gets us views, it gets us clicks, but it’s not getting us to a better place.” Chris Cuomo is absolutely right about what the Democratic Party has become. It’s no longer even pretending to fight for the little guy. It exists to serve the coastal elites and their agenda. If Democrats ever cared about everydayAmericans, that was long ago and only for show. Now they thrive on outrage, scandals, and clickbait while ignoring the real problems facing the country. Cuomo’s blunt assessment simply confirms what millions of us already know: The Democratic Party has lost its way and turned its back on the very people it once pretended to represent.

Messerschmitt
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1958500458441429133

Judge Caprio died yesterday

The compassion of Judge Frank Caprio
pic.twitter.com/VrbYzWaGgR

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) August 21, 2025

Final video from “the world’s nicest judge,” Frank Caprio, who sadly passed away todaypic.twitter.com/CJfHuKTP7G

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 21, 2025

Swan

Little kids performing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake pic.twitter.com/wt1PDYSj08

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 21, 2025

Build a road to move a church
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1958480858978935039

200

One of the most fascinating facts about the ocean, is that there are whales alive today who were born before Moby Dick was written.

Some of the bowhead whales in the icy waters off of Alaska today are over 200 years old.pic.twitter.com/4x9n5Fc3BL

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 22, 2025

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