May 112026
 


Willem de Kooning Door to the River 1960


Trump Says Iran Response “Totally Unacceptable” (ZH)
President Trump Rejects Latest Offer from Iranian Representatives (CTH)
Trump: Only Way To Secure Border Is Vote Republican (Sharyl Attkisson)
Iran Responds To US Peace Proposal (ZH)
Trump Ignored CIA Warnings on Iran (Paul Craig Roberts)
Bombshell Evidence About the 2020 Election Is Coming (Matt Margolis)
The CIA, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John Brennan (CTH)
Dan Bongino Offers Chilling Warning to Barack Obama (Margolis)
Trump Celebrates Jobs Report for Mother’s Day (Catherine Salgado)
Mark Carney Celebrates “Europe Day” In Toronto with Obama and Alex Soros (CTH)
Democrats Keep Betting Gazillions on Bad Ideas (David Manney)
Too Many Democrats Are a Special Kind of Stupid (Derek Hunter)
Europe is Russia’s Principal Adversary – Trenin (RT)
West Rewriting World War II History – Moscow (RT)
The Digital Revolution Will Destroy Humanity (Paul Craig Roberts)

 


 

https://twitter.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2053320258744729765?s=20 https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2053122234068115961?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2053482025584038202?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2053257268087677123?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2053156858693591061?s=20

 


 


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

Trump Says Iran Response “Totally Unacceptable” (ZH)

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


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

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

Gharibabadi said France plans to deploy its flagship aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, while Britain plans to send a warship to the area under the stated goal of protecting freedom of navigation. Already these Western allied assets are moving through the Suez Canal as of days ago. “Any deployment and stationing of extra-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz, under the pretext of protecting shipping, is nothing but an escalation of the crisis, the militarization of a vital waterway, and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region,” he stated.

https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/2053401460491116840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2053401460491116840%7Ctwgr%5Ece6cb09f58d70198dbd5467eac3f1706918b834b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Firan-responds-us-peace-proposal-ayatollah-meets-top-general-discuss-readiness

But France and Britain have previously sought to clarify that their warships will remain largely in a background support role when compared to the US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman region. Their ships would only directly join Persian Gulf operations only once the war ended, according to reports.

Trump: Iran is Playing Games With the United States
New Sunday Truth Social statement soon on the heels of Tehran submitting its response to the US peace proposal, via Pakistan: Trump said Iran had been “playing games with the United States, and the rest of the world, for 47 years,” adding that it had been “laughing at our new GREAT AGAIN country,” but stressed that “they will be laughing no longer!”

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

President Trump Rejects Latest Offer from Iranian Representatives (CTH)

Delivering a message from his Truth Social account, earlier today President Trump rejected the latest proposal from Iran to settle the current embargo, sanctions and conflict.

“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called “Representatives.”

I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

Thank you for your attention to this matter.”


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

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

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

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

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


“I said, they are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they’re done. We could go in for two more weeks and do every single target. We have certain targets that we wanted to, and we’ve done probably 70% of them, but we have other targets that we could conceivably hit. But even if we didn’t do that, you know, that would just be final touches. But even if we didn’t do that, it would take them many years to rebuild.” President Trump also called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) a “paper tiger” after the alliance – funded with more U.S. money than any other country– failed to answer Trump’s call for assistance with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 25% of the world’s oil supply passes.

You know, the interesting thing is many of those NATO countries use – we don’t use – the strait. We don’t need it,” Trump said. “In fact, boats are coming up to Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska and filling up with oil. We don’t need the strait. We were trying to keep it open “to help Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE, others,” the president continued. We don’t need it. …We’re now producing more oil and gas than Russia and Saudi Arabia put together. Think of that, Sharyl. If you take everything that Russia does, everything that Saudi Arabia puts out, we produce much more oil and gas than Russia and Saudi Arabia put together. And by the end of this year, that number will probably double.”

Full Measure also asked about the NFL’s move to place more games on expensive pay channels. The Justice Department is investigating the practice. “It’s so tough,” Trump replied. “You got people that love football. They don’t make enough money to go and pay this. … And they could be killing the golden goose. I mean, they have that stupid kickoff thing that you can’t watch. It’s unwatchable. I hate the games where they, you know, they have the new phony kickoff.”

On vaccine safety, Trump said: “I believe in vaccines,” But “if you look at Denmark and other countries, you have 12, 14, I think 17. And we have like 82 [CDC-recommended doses for American children]. But I look at these beautiful little babies, and they get a vax. I mean, so like a big glass of stuff pumped into their bodies. And I think it’s a very negative thing to do … I would love to see much smaller shots, like four visits to the doctor, and I think you would have a much better result with the autism.” On illegal immigration and America’s record-low homicide rate, Full Measure asked the president, “As straightforward as securing the border seemed to be once you got into office, it almost implies that another president could reverse it as quickly … Is there any way to protect against that in the future?” “Yeah. Vote Republican. It’s very simple,” he replied.

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

Iran Responds To US Peace Proposal (ZH)

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


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

The latest from Iran’s president:


President Trump told Fox News days ago, “They want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal.” He had said if this happens “it’ll be over quickly” and oil prices will plummet.

IRGC Fresh Warning on US Bases
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned any attack on Iranian oil tankers and commercial ships will be met with assaults on US bases and “enemy ships” in the region, Al Jazeera reports. “Warning! Any aggression against the oil tankers and commercial vessels of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with a heavy attack on one of the American centers in the region and the enemy’s ships,” the IRGC Navy said in the statement.

https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/2053441168071934410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2053441168071934410%7Ctwgr%5Eb7d1d419b13f4661b2523236de8066bb1d640d28%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Firan-responds-us-peace-proposal-ayatollah-meets-top-general-discuss-readiness

Tehran is accusing the US side of severely violating the ceasefire earlier this week, by firing on and disabling two Iranian-flagged tankers trying to reach Iranian ports. State media reviewed of these hostile incidents: In a statement, the spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the “aggressive, terrorist and marauding US military” had targeted an Iranian oil tanker sailing from Iran’s coastal waters near Jask toward the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the strategic waterway near the UAE port of Fujairah.

The spokesman also said civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik and Qeshm Island came under aerial attacks carried out “with the cooperation of some regional countries.” The IRGC further said it will respond “powerfully and without the slightest hesitation” to any aggression or attack. Indeed there are reports that during the past week’s skirmishes Iran fired on three US warships seeking to exit waters of Iran’s coast.

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

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

Trump Ignored CIA Warnings on Iran (Paul Craig Roberts)

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


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

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Drumroll getting closser.

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

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


According to the Washington Times, she offered no further details on the nature of what’s being prepared. That ambiguity will inevitably give critics ammunition, of course. But here’s the thing, Crowley’s remarks didn’t just come out of nowhere. Her claims track almost perfectly with what FBI Director Kash Patel told Maria Bartiromo last month. As PJ Media previously reported, Patel appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo and announced that arrests are coming over the coordinated effort to rig the 2020 election. “We are going to be making arrests, and it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon,” Patel said.

Two senior officials. Same message. Same urgency. That’s not a coincidence. Their argument — and they’re not alone in making it — is that a coordinated effort to undermine the 2020 election results led to Joe Biden being declared the winner. You’ve heard all the liberal arguments that no fraud was actually found, and courts confirmed the election was entirely above board, but that’s simply not true. Every legal challenge filed after the 2020 contest was rejected, not for lack of evidence, but for lack of standing. So, there’s a lot we still don’t know about the 2020 election — a lot that Democrats would rather not see the light of day.

Meanwhile, the legal machinery is already in motion. A federal grand jury in Florida is actively examining issues related to the 2020 election. The Department of Justice has also just brought in former U.S. attorney and Trump ally Joe diGenova to work alongside prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida. Then there’s Georgia — a state Biden only barely “won” in 2020. Back in January, federal agents executed a search warrant in Fulton County and walked out with ballots and other materials from the 2020 general election.You better believe Democrats are sweating over this.

The establishment media will dismiss all of this as election denialism, but the fact is that the 2020 election was never properly investigated. Instead, we were told to trust the results of the “most secure election in history,” and if you dared to question the results, you were mocked, censored, or demonetized. But a reckoning is coming. There are now search warrants, grand jury subpoenas, and federal prosecutors involved. The truth will come out. Whatever Crowley and Patel are sitting on, the clock is ticking. And if the evidence is as significant as they’re suggesting, the political fallout will be unlike anything this country has seen in a very long time.

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

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

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


At the time of the breach, John Brennan was working as an unpaid adviser to the Obama campaign. After the breach was revealed by the Washington Times, Brennan stated: “This individual’s actions were taken without the knowledge or direction of anyone at The Analysis Corp. and are wholly inconsistent with our professional and ethical standards,” Brennan’s company said in a statement sent to reporters after the passport breach was made public. (link) The Washington Times Reported – Passport application data includes such details as date and place of birth, e-mail address, mailing address, Social Security number, former names and travel plans. Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. He lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, from age six to 10.

Computer-monitoring equipment detected the activities by the three employees on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14, triggering alarms in each case, Mr. McCormack said. Mr. McCormack said the officials accessed Mr. Obama’s records “without a need to do so.” “In each case, we immediately contacted our contractors, their employer, and two were fired and one was disciplined,” he said. (link) But it is important to remember EXACTLY what Brennan’s background was before the State Department breach. Brennan spent 25 years working for the CIA prior to the security breach: Mr. Brennan spent most of his C.I.A. career as an analyst, but during the 1990s served a tour as the chief of the station in Saudi Arabia.

From 1999 to early 2001, he was chief of staff to George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, as the position was then called. At the end of his CIA. service, in 2004 and 2005, Mr. Brennan set up what is now the counterterrorism center. Yet, people would have us believe, after 25 years within the CIA, and after being the Chief of Staff to the Director, and after being the person who set up the counter terrorism center, and after being the CIA approved contractor for the State dept., well, John Brennan just didn’t know that someone from his firm was penetrating the passport files within the State Dept. on three occasions in Jan and Feb 2008 to look at information of the candidate who he was specifically working for. That was their story, and they stuck to it in 2008.

After the initial inquiry, federal investigators maintained that the target of the illegal activity was Senator Barack Obama’s passport file. It does not take a stretch to come to the conclusion this was for the sole purpose of cleansing records of information that would jeopardize Obama’s candidacy. As many people speculated at the time, the breach of the passport records of the other candidates was merely to create confusion. Brennan was, at the time, an unpaid advisor working with Obama’s campaign. Passport files include an applicant’s name, gender, social security number, date and place of birth, and passport number. Additional information may include birth certificates, naturalization certificates, or oaths of allegiance for U.S. born persons who adopted the citizenship of a foreign country as minors.

It is important to remember the oversight agency that would be investigating the breach – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee oversees the State Department. At the time Senator Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the breach would be investigated. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Obama and personally apologized for the breach. “I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file,” Rice told reporters. She phoned Clinton and McCain and offered similar apologies. Following the breach, State Department managers met with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, whose committee has oversight over the Foreign Service and the passport office. (link)

And, well, what do you know… Biden became the VP pick of Obama. State Department employee, Lieutenant Quarles Harris, Jr. who had the passport access, apparently was the guy who penetrated the database and scrubbed the records. Harris was killed – April 18th, 2008. Yes, Lieutenant Harris decided to cooperate with the FBI who were investigating the break-in. Soon after his cooperation became a matter of record, his body was discovered in his parked car; he had been shot twice in the head, likely a “suicide”.

Last point. In mid-February 2010, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs alerted WH reporters that certain questions about Obama’s job with Business International Corporation (BIC) would not be subject to discussion. BIC was well known in Washington DC to be a front company for the CIA; hence, many speculated the State Department passport records were scrubbed to erase any potential mention of Obama’s CIA activities and his personal information. You decide.Here’s the thing, and I do mean this with great seriousness:

If you take a close look at it, you realize that seemingly every function of the USAID as an institution came from the CIA. In essence, USAID was the operational cover for the CIA. The CIA seemingly created the mechanics of USAID for CIA purposes. Now, once you look at USAID as an outreach arm of the CIA, then suddenly everything USAID partnered with can realistically be looked at -at the very least questioned- as a CIA operation working with joint partners for CIA intentions.

This agency relationship means everything.

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

Dan Bongino Offers Chilling Warning to Barack Obama (Margolis)

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


“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “And documents declassified last year revealed he was present for key meetings that led to critical steps in the opening of the Russia Hoax investigation against President Trump.” Jackson added that “President Trump has restored integrity to the Department of Justice that Obama and Biden broke.” Of course, Colbert never challenged the insinuation that Trump is the one weaponizing the Justice Department. But Dan Bongino was just as furious about Obama’s comments as I was — and the warning he fired back should make Obama very nervous.

The former FBI Deputy Director fired back hard on his radio show. The warning he delivered wasn’t vague, and it wasn’t polite. “I’m gonna tell you, because what Barack Obama, former president, said the other day on, was it Colbert’s show? No, no, no. We’re not… No, no. Sorry. No, we’re not, we’re not doing that,” Bongino said. “You know, I know things too, Mr. President, and so do you. Not pretending I was at your level. You were the president. I was just the deputy director of the FBI, but it’s not a small thing, and I’m not letting you get away with this. No chance.”

That is not the language of a talk show host venting into a microphone. That’s a man with institutional knowledge, speaking directly to a former president who apparently understands exactly what’s being left unsaid. Bongino stopped short of specifying what information he was sitting on, which is precisely what makes the warning so striking. As the former FBI deputy director, he doesn’t deal in rumors. He’s had access to files, briefings, intelligence, and the kind of details that never make it onto cable news until someone decides the time is right.

What was Bongino talking about? Rumors on social media suggest it involves the Russian collusion hoax, surveillance, and unmasking, with details that might soon surface. His message to Obama is a clear warning: don’t push this. I think Obama wants to play the role of the elder statesman riding back into town to defend democratic norms. What he’s getting instead is a reminder that he left skeletons behind when he left office, and based on what Bongino said, those skeletons won’t be secret forever.

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

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

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


The president smugly boasted, “As usual, over 90 percent of Bloomberg Economists (nearly all of whom have a ‘Terminal’ case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME!) underestimated the strength of the Trump Economy. Despite the best efforts of Jerome ‘Too Late and Won’t Leave’ Powell, and the America Hating Democrat Party, more Americans are working today than ever before.” He ended exuberantly, “Happy Mother’s Day and, know that, we are MAKING AMERICA WEALTHY AND SAFE AGAIN!”

My own personal comment is that it would be wonderful if America got back to a point where fathers were doing so well financially that more mothers could afford to stay home as my mom did with their kids, which is very beneficial for the children. And of course, we hope the jobs reports will be even better in the future — I still know people who are struggling to find work. But certainly the latest report is very hopeful. But certainly many mothers across the country will rejoice at greater economic strength and a more hopeful financial prospect for themselves and their families. The jobs report was so great that even CNN — otherwise known as the Crazy Nutcase Network — was being complimentary of the success:

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

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

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The anti-Trump crowd.

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

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


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


It is both the policy of economic nationalism and the outcomes of seismic shifts in geopolitical alignment that cause the brain trust of leftists to assemble with urgency. There is a myriad of Trump victories recently that have begun to destroy their precious systems of control. President Trump is using the combined power of the U.S. Treasury, U.S. Military and U.S. Economy as a wrecking ball against one-hundred years of Euro-centric control operations. Heck, even the recently paused tariffs against EU automobiles is connected to the larger objective of ending the never-ending Marshal Plan. And, then there’s that little reference point of King Charles failed recent tour, against the backdrop of Starmer’s electoral collapse.

I doubt very much the arrival of Pete Buttigieg and Elissa Slotkin (CIA) will offset the leftist defeats in the redistricting effort. But, well, sure, I guess assembling to try and organize internal operations against Godzilla Trump may benefit from Soros and his Bazooka Joe glasses. In the economic competition, Canada faces the biggest vulnerability, as its entire system of investment, banking, and production relies heavily on maintaining trade preferences that benefit from the $30 trillion U.S. economy. Prime Minister Carney’s control measures are ultimately futile attempts to counter Trump’s insistent and justified reciprocity stance. This push for control stems from a place of fear.

Canada and the EU are trying to use China as a counterbalance and shield against Trump’s direct hits to their interests. However, along with all of those who can see the big picture behind the leftist assembly, Big Panda (Beijing) and Big Grizzly (Russia) well understand what is happening. Remember, all varieties of bears are omnivorous, and while Pandas may be cute the Kamchatka is very underrated. Thankfully, a God in control of all things doesn’t give us a President we need, He anoints a President He needs. The audience disliked Moses immensely, and the same can be said for David; however, each served His purpose.

Like I said at the beginning, be of good cheer. Prime Minister Carney may have blocked and controlled visibility on the assembly by restricting media access, but given what is very visible and viral on social media, a Great Awakening is very evident.

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

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

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

Democrats Keep Betting Gazillions on Bad Ideas (David Manney)

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


Our favorite orator, Cackles, she of the salad shooter black belt, repeated the expensive lesson eight years later. The party raised nearly $2 billion and spent roughly $1.5 billion in a short race. History repeated itself once again when President Trump whooped her, too. Money bought ads, staff, consultants, celebrity help, staging, and noise. But it didn’t buy a message that could survive contact with voters worried about prices, the border, crime, war, and, most importantly, basic competence. Virginia then added a new chapter: Democrats and allied groups poured a ginormous amount of money into a redistricting referendum meant to reshape the state’s congressional map before the 2026 midterms.

Virginians for Fair Elections (snort!), a Democratic-aligned group, raised nearly $64 million by early April, including major help from House Majority Forward, a group aligned with House Democratic leaders. Leading the push was Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and the lightbringer herself, former President Barack Hussein Obama. I think that would be called the DNC’s east coast varsity squad. Voters narrowly approved the plan, but alas, it was not to be. Set to the sounds of liberal hearts breaking, the Virginia Supreme Court struck it down after finding the process violated state law.

The ruling left Democrats with a costly pile of ash where their money used to be, and a midterm advantage up in smoke. To Temu Obama, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and Democrats nationally, Virginia was to offset Republican redistricting gains elsewhere. Instead, the court reminded them that clever process games still have rules. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, moved to defend the referendum, but the legal problem remained. Democrats spent a gazillion dollars trying to change the board, then watched judges tell them they were playing under a fabricated set of rules. What’s the definition of insanity? Repeatedly trying the same thing and expecting a different result.

That spotlights the pattern that keeps repeating, where the modern Democratic Party believes money replaces persuasion. When voters don’t buy the product, Democrats change the packaging, raise more cash, and then blame the market. Heaven forbid they buy and use a mirror. That same mindset runs through education, where taxpayers keep feeding an overpriced system that teacher union muscle shapes, while too many students — it’s for the children, you know — leave school unable to perform the basics: read, write, or compete as young people in the world’s leading superpower should.

President Trump exposes the weakness, because he doesn’t play by the timid rules Democrats have learned to expect from Republicans. He pushes back, fights, and forces arguments into the open. The left spent years building systems where money, credentials, institutions, and legal pressure could smother resistance before voters had any room to breathe. Trump stands there anyway, and asks a rough but fair question: What do you have to lose by walking away from the people who keep failing upward? That question once directly targeted black voters, and it still carries force. Moderates should hear it now.

People leaving California, New York, Illinois, and other blue strongholds have already voted with moving trucks. People fled taxes, disorder, school failures, housing costs, and one-party arrogance. How much worse would life get if they finally voted against the politics they already left behind? If it pleases them, Democrats can spend another gazillion dollars by hiring shinier consultants, booking friendlier entertainers, bankrolling more lawsuits, and dressing bad ideas in better lighting. Voters still know when groceries cost too much, streets feel less safe, schools fail their kids, and leaders talk down to them. Money buys a campaign, but it can’t buy character, courage, or a party worth following.

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

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

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


Part of the reason for their “coalition” fracture is that their policies are catching up to them. You can only promise to make things better for so long before people realize they’ve been getting steadily worse because of you, even Democrat voters. A bigger reason, however, is just how insane the party has gotten. Even stupid people will eventually realize you’re spitting in their faces while lecturing them about the rain. Many voters are reaching that point. How can anyone take seriously a party with a pundit like Harry Sisson, who, after the Virginia Supreme Court beat the dreams of Democrats creating new House seats like it was their redheaded stepchild, tweeted, “If Virginia can’t have their maps, then other blue states need to step up. Eliminate all of the Republican seats like they’re doing to us.”

Yes, genius, burn tens of millions more dollars trying to redraw deeper blue districts in New England, as the place where your control is absolute had gerrymandered everything decades ago. The only reason Republicans still have states they could gerrymander, and Democrats don’t, is because the GOP has been stupidly playing nice. No longer. Democrats brought this on themselves. I know they like to pretend “Texas started this!” But you have to have been denied oxygen in the birth canal to be that stupid. New England exists. New York’s redistricting exists; what California has been doing exists. Honestly, it’s about damn time Republicans stopped taking punches to the face and asking if the Democrats’ knuckles are OK and started hitting back.

They can no longer segregate people into congressional districts, and they’re acting like it’s a return to Jim Crow. They know that’s not true; they were the creators of Jim Crow and know exactly what it was like then…and they want it back. More Black Members of Congress represent majority-white districts than don’t, but Democrats still insist the country is racist and merit will lead to a “lack of representation.” Sorry, but you don’t need to be represented by someone who looks like you; it’s much more important that you be represented by someone who thinks as you do. Democrats have been working diligently for decades to make sure that doesn’t happen. And they’re losing.

But identity politics will not die easily; too much of the infrastructure of the left-wing industrial complex is built on it. Democrat U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed — who famously fretted that people in my old neighborhood in Dearborn were very upset that the Ayatollah had been killed (instead of killing people) — is playing the “I’m Muslim” and “Jews are bad” cards in his campaign against candidates running on the “I’m a woman!” platform. Weird how liberal women can’t tell you what a woman is in any other aspect of life except where it benefits them, isn’t it?

El-Sayed’s campaign is so desperate to mine that little bit of gold from the Democratic Party’s hatred of Jews and Israel that he put out a press release condemning alleged “dark money” for being spent through an ad-buying agency that apparently contracted with AIPAC – the American pro-Israel group – at some point. His press release read, in part, “The Center for Democratic Priorities bought the airtime via Waterfront Strategies, an agency that AIPAC-affiliated Super PACs, such as United Democracy Project, have worked with in the past.” Are you now, or have you ever been, to a restaurant that served matzo ball soup?

While it’s important to remember just how broken these people are, you have to keep in mind that their leadership is not stupid; they’re evil. They know what they’re doing and why: it benefits them. The voters who go along with it, even after everything we’ve seen and Democrats themselves have shown, are the special kind of stupid who need to be grateful breathing is a reflex, as they would forget how to do it otherwise and suffocate on the streets.

Wise up already.

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

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

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


According to Trenin, while the US under President Donald Trump has increasingly distanced itself from the Ukraine conflict, European involvement has become progressively more prominent of late. He told Rattansi that elites in European capitals are using a perceived Russian threat in an apparent effort to consolidate the “crumbling” European Union and to “relaunch their economies through militarization.”“They’re trying, above all, to keep themselves in power” by pushing alarmist narratives regarding Russia, he added.

Trenin went on to describe Ukrainians as a “part of the bigger Russian nation” that is being “misguided” and “used by the West in [its]… very long war against Russia,” which dates as far back as the 16th century. The international affairs expert expressed confidence that Russia would eventually accomplish its goals in the conflict, though it would take a long time. He defined Russia’s vision of victory as the vanquishing of neo-Nazi elements within Ukraine, as well as “those forces in Europe, primarily among the elites, that have built Russia into a bogeyman again.”

Commenting on Trump’s attempts at mediation, Trenin claimed that the US president is “essentially powerless to insist on something that is of central importance to ending this conflict,” and so his role is rather limited in defining its course. According to the RIAC president, Trump has apparently been unable to get EU warmongers and the Ukrainian leadership to act on the understanding reached by him and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last August.

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

West Rewriting World War II History – Moscow (RT)

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


Speaking on Thursday, Zakharova said that defending historical memory is a fundamental priority for Russia. This is all the more important in light of revanchist tendencies in the West, according to the spokeswoman. She pointed out that the 51 nations that voted against the UN resolution on “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” late last year were mostly representatives of the “collective West.”

Zakharova accused EU bureaucrats of waging “historical aggression.” She cited resolutions by the European Parliament, as well as organizations affiliated with the Council of Europe, which “promote the rewriting of history,” with the Soviet Union “being ascribed responsibility nearly equal to that of [Nazi] Germany” for the start of World War II. The official also noted that “in some countries, the war on monuments and memorials in honor of fighters against Nazism is gaining momentum.” She singled out Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as prime examples of this unsettling trend, citing the demolitions of Soviet war memorials there in recent years.

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PCR fears quantum computers.

The Digital Revolution Will Destroy Humanity (Paul Craig Roberts)

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


But the benefits have a cost. Perhaps the highest cost is the total control the digital revolution gives governments or whatever the ruling entity is over people. The threat goes beyond the Chinese social control system in which your rights or privileges are determined by your behavior. The digital revolution allows government to prevent the emergence of truth by substituting for truth official narratives. We witnessed the beginning of this with the orchestrated “Covid pandemic.” By controlling the data base of artificial intelligence, governments can produce the “truths” that serve their agendas.

The interconnectiveness of information is more advanced than people realize. For example, the US State Department just announced that the passport of any parent behind in child payments of $2,500 has a cancelled passport. How does the Passport Office of the State Department know who in 50 states is behind in child support payments? President Trump is trying to create with an executive order a US passport with digital facial recognition without which a citizen cannot have a bank account, vote, or have a driving license, or, for that matter, do anything.

Digital currency is the greatest threat, perhaps, to human autonomy. Digital currency, unlike fiat paper currency or gold and silver coins, cannot be locked in a safe or buried on your grounds. It exists electronically only, and you can be denied access to it if you displease the ruling authority. This neutralizes all opposition from the people. A multi-billionaire suddenly finds that he cannot pay his electric bill. The young, who have no awareness or assets, may regard these threats as meaningless compared to the pleasure of scrolling the Internet. But sooner or later they will encounter another high cost of the digital revolution: the total absence of security of private information.

During the analogue days no such threat existed. To steal someone’s information you had to invade the space where the information was and copy it, or you had to climb a telephone pole that served that building or residence and attach, with court authority, a wire to the telephone of the residence or business. The Internet was developed as an open system. Thus, it is devoid of security. Currently encrypted passwords and secondary authentication serve to protect information. Nevertheless breeches are widespread and involve the largest companies and government data banks. The breech of AT&T’s security has left most American’s Social Security numbers available on the Internet.

According to a recent report, 100 million Mac users are at risk because hackers have succeeded in hijacking Apple’s “verified apps” to bypass Apple’s security. Hackers have succeeded in stealing “developer keys,” which provide a “digital passport” the allows hackers to disguise malware as Apple-approved apps. So you download the “approved” app, and the hackers have your computer. Apple, of course, will develop a response, but those affected before the corporation can act are in for a lot of money and frustrating wasted time. Such threats are innumerable. Perhaps the greatest is the advent of Quantum Computing.

Quantum computers can break encrypted passwords. Quantum computers use quantum mechanics to process information at higher speed that can be used to quickly overcome encryption. Once the Quantum Computers are available, the digital world belongs to hackers. So why give hackers this weapon? Where is the government doing government’s job? Where is the integrity of the corporations developing rule by hackers? No one seems to care. Hackers anticipating the quantum computers are currently downloading all encrypted information now, storing it awaiting the arrival of quantum computers, at which time the hackers intend to take over your assets and your life. Isn’t it so great that you can scroll the Internet?

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https://twitter.com/UPMHPM/status/2053131593204617432?s=20 https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2053142283537596843?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2053468443073020101?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 092026
 


Albert Bierstadt Storm in the Mountains c1870


‘Sporadic Clashes’ In Strait Of Hormuz As US Disables Two Iran Vessels (ZH)
CIA Believes Iran Can Withstand US Blockade For At Least 3-4 Months (TASS)
Trump Mediates 3-Day Ceasefire Between Ukraine and Russia On Victory Day (CTH)
Did Zelensky’s Cronies Scam The Europeans? (RT)
How Zelensky’s Inner Circle Sought Influence In The US (RT)
After Every Weapon the Left Used Against Trump, He’s Still Here (Florack)
There’s Something About Mary… (CTH)
Marco Rubio Issues a Major Blow to Cuba’s Military Empire (Anderson)
After Phone Call with Von der Leyen, Trump Delays EU Tariffs (CTH)
California Death Trip (James Howard Kunstler)
Virginia Supreme Court Overturns Redistricting Referendum (JTN)
Former NATO Chief Warns Bloc on Verge of ‘Disintegration’ (JTN)
The NY Times Interviews Tucker Carlson, and It Gets Worse From There (Spencer)
Trump Touts Release of UFO files: ‘Have Fun and Enjoy’ (JTN)
Fetterman: Dems Can’t ‘Simply Be The Opposite’ of ‘Whatever Trump Says’ (JTN)

 


 

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052395510774788365?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2052687070187962714?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2052439232673882171?s=20 https://twitter.com/GOP_is_Gutless/status/2052510392279036256?s=20 https://twitter.com/BoLoudon/status/2052580352045044210?s=20

 


 


The ceasefire survives to live another day.

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

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


Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Radmehr as saying that search teams are continuing efforts to find the four remaining missing sailors. Earlier, as we reported, Radmehr said 10 sailors were also injured during the naval confrontation. The Wall Street Journal has details (based on CENTCOM press release) after two Iranian-flagged tankers came under US attack for attempting to breach the US blockade: U.S. military forces carried out airstrikes on Friday, hitting and disabling two empty Iranian-flagged oil tankers attempting to circumvent the American naval blockade against Iranian ports, according to U.S. Central Command

The vessels struck were very large crude carriers attempting to return to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman, the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, according to a statement from Centcom. A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighter from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush fired precision munitions into their smokestacks, disabling the tankers, Centcom said. It marks third time the US has attacked commercial vessels for trying to break through to Iranian ports, following a Wednesday incident which saw a US Navy jet destroy rudder of an Iranian tanker under similar circumstances.

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Well, well, WaPo.

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

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

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

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

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


Emboldened by European allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began yesterday by ridiculing a ceasefire offer by Russian intermediaries. As Ukraine was a former part of the United Soviet Socialist Republic (until 1991), Putin views both Ukraine and Russia as celebrating the same Victory Day remembrance; a united victory over Nazism. Zelenskyy, born in 1978, rejects that commonality. However, after President Trump stepped into the discussion, a 3-day ceasefire was brokered.

[Via Truth Social] – “I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine. The Celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II. This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country. This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War. Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

Due to the psychology of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in combination with his co-dependent enablers in Europe and the U.K., I would caution everyone to review Ukraine’s participation in the ceasefire tenuously. Zelenskyy, leading a non-NATO member state, gains NATO’s protection because France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. see Russia as a major threat to Europe. If the conflict stops, Zelenskyy has to start paying for his own nation’s government operations again. Currently all of his state and municipal govt expenses are subsidized by Europe and the USA. If fighting stops there will be a movement to stop giving Ukraine subsidies.

Zelenskyy’s government officials have become very wealthy from the money they are able to skim from U.S, U.K and EU support. The taxpayer laundry operation is very lucrative, and Ukraine is well known for its institutional corruption systems. If fighting stops, the money supply shrinks. For Zelenskyy this is a big problem.

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

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

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

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


Fire Point’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. From zero experience in weapons in 2022, the company had landed $1 billion in contracts by the time of Poulsen’s announcement, a figure that has since increased almost sevenfold. Fire Point’s FP-1 and FP-2 kamikaze drones are Ukraine’s most widely-used attack UAVs, the company received more than half of the Ukrainian Defense Procurement Agency’s annual spend this year, and its flagship product, the FP-5 ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile, has been hailed by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky as “by far the most successful missile in Ukraine’s arsenal.”

Zelensky has marketed Fire Point’s missiles and drones on most of his 130-plus trips abroad since 2022, talking up their performance to European investors and Gulf monarchies looking for a cost-effective alternative to American systems. As it turns out, there’s a reason for his enthusiasm: Zelensky has a personal stake in Fire Point’s success.

Timur Mindich’s get-rich schemes According to surveillance tapes published by Ukrainskaya Pravda in late April, Fire Point is secretly owned by Timur Mindich, a business magnate and associate of Zelensky known as ‘Zelensky’s wallet’. Mindich fled to Israel last November, moments before he was due to be raided by anti-corruption investigators for his alleged role in a $100 million embezzlement scheme at Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator.In the recordings, Mindich confirms that he is running Fire Point and tasks Defense Minister Rustem Umerov (who resigned last year over corruption allegations) with handing contracts to the company and lobbying for its interests abroad. Mindich and Umerov also discuss a potential deal with Arab inventors, which would see each Fire Point shareholder cash out around $300 million.

Allegations of corruption at Fire Point are nothing new. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has been probing the company for links to Mindich since last August, and has examined whether the company inflated the cost of its products and lied about the number of drones supplied to the Defense Ministry. After a government audit found that Fire Point overcharged the ministry by almost €15 million in a no-bid contract for FP-1 drones, and with the tapes confirming collusion between Umerov and Mindich, the ministry’s internal anti-corruption watchdog called on Wednesday for the company’s nationalization and warned that Fire Point may lose its military contracts once Mindich’s involvement is proven in court.

How badly did the Europeans get scammed? Back in September, Poulsen brushed off mounting allegations of graft against Fire Point. “We have no reason to believe that there is a problem,” he said, adding that any business “established in Denmark must comply with Danish rules.” But Denmark is not the only European country pumping money into Mindich’s operation. While the specific figures are classified, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported that Western countries have contributed “significant” sums of money to the company.

Last May, Germany signed a €5 billion deal to pay for “long-range weapons” produced within Ukraine. Signed after a visit by Zelensky to Berlin, the weapons in question are likely Flamingo cruise missiles. In October, the Netherlands’ then-defense minister, Ruben Brekelmans, announced a €90 million aid package for the production of attack drones within Ukraine, on top of an earlier €200 million round of funding for Ukrainian-made missiles and interceptors. Given that the majority of these domestically built weapons are manufactured by Fire Point, the bulk of this funding likely went to Mindich’s company. Norway and Ukraine signed a €1.3 billion deal for Ukrainian-made missiles in April, while Italy is reportedly exploring a similar arrangement. In the private sector, Fire Point has signed cooperation agreements with Spanish defense giant Sener and Germany’s Diehl Defense – both deals signed after meetings between Zelensky and executives from Sener and Diehl.

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

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

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


Investigators from the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) wiretapped Mindich’s luxury apartment in Kiev – reportedly between April and July 2025, when Zelensky tried to take control of the agency and triggered a wave of mass protest and rebukes from his Western backers. Some of the Mindich tapes served as evidence in their case exposing a $100 million extortion scheme, allegedly masterminded by Zelensky’s bagman, at Ukrainian state-owned atomic energy company Energoatom, and which led to Mindich running to Israel. Since mid-April, the Ukrainian public has been showered with what are purportedly parts of the records, though none have been officially released by the authorities.

Are the Mindich tapes authentic and who released them?
Ukrainian political commentators broadly assume that they are. Zelensky’s office has not claimed that they are fabricated, and there are notable intersections between releases by different sources. The ongoing wave of publications was launched on April 23 by former SAPO prosecutor Stanislav Bronevitsky. Ukrainskaya Pravda journalist Mikhail Tkach was behind a major disclosure on April 28 – which RT reviewed in detail previously – with another installment coming on May 1. Opposition lawmakers Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Aleksey Goncharenko have produced multiple Mindich tape videos – the latter reading them to an empty parliament chamber.

Why are the Mindich tapes being leaked?
The motives behind the disclosures remain unclear. Did the investigators leak them to overcome pressure that Zelensky reportedly subjects them to behind closed doors? Did Mindich and other suspects shoot a proverbial cannon across the bow as a warning to Zelensky that they won’t sink alone? There are some caveats, however. People in the transcript talk informally and omit context. For instance, they refer to acquaintances by their personal names or nicknames. ‘Vova’, often mentioned in the tapes, is believed to be Zelensky himself. Consequently, identification of mentioned individuals falls on the media.

What’s the bottom line?
The transcripts suggest that Zelensky’s inner circle sees indefinite war as a corporate opportunity and exerts improper influence over the government to maximize their profits, counting on their patron to protect them.

What are the most scandalous claims?
Arguably the most salacious of the latest leaks involves Mindich and Zelensky’s then-defense minister – presently the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council – Rustem Umerov discussing what they believe to be US President Donald Trump’s relations with glamorous women, while debating potential candidates to be Ukrainian ambassador in the US.“You know who would be great? Svetka. Trump would go crazy about her,” Umerov said. He and Mindich agreed that the “curly” bombshell would make “everyone there chase her.”

This is apparently a reference to former Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk, appointed by her disgraced predecessor and alleged romantic partner, German Galushchenko, who like him, was forced to resign after Mindich was charged with siphoning off $100 million from state energy producer Energoatom. Grinchuk was also deputy energy minister under Galushchenko.Mindich and Umerov debated the pros and cons of several officials who could represent Kiev’s interests in Washington, DC but agreed that Grinchuk had the best chances to get regular face time with “the old man.”

What were Mindich and Umerov plotting?
Mindich and his group were apparently seeking political and financial leverage. For instance, they wanted their man overseeing the nationalized Sense Bank, a potential source of business credit. Umerov, who was facing resignation at the time of the recording, was highly interested in receiving a special diplomatic appointment that would allow him free travel abroad. He was eyeing privileges similar to those enjoyed by ‘Vitya’ – apparently Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Freedom to fly to the US and back would help Umerov – whose family lives in Miami – protect Mindich’s interests, he told the businessman. A conversation between Mindich and Sergey Shefir, a business partner of Zelensky who served as presidential adviser from 2019-2024, offers a glimpse of the cutthroat nature of Ukrainian politics. Apparently, Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, sabotaged a planned appointment of Evgeny Korniychuk as ambassador to Germany over suspicions that the career diplomat served as an anonymous source for a Politico article in which he was criticized. Is Mindich a power broker or a businessman?
Both. Many of the conversations were about the arms industry and Zelensky’s often-touted ‘miracle arms maker’ Fire Point, which the leaked records prove Mindich ran, with Umerov steering defense contacts his way. One person called by his full name in the tapes is a major figure in the US – Google executive Eric Schmidt, known to be tight with the Pentagon and an influential voice on national security policy, including the arming of Ukraine.

Umerov pitched the US billionaire to Mindich as a possible business partner to whom a majority stake in Fire Point could be offered. Schmidt, according to Umerov, has the connections that Fire Point would require to access the lucrative American weapons market and “enter [Silicon] Valley.” Mindich doubted whether US competitors could become partners: “For Americans, we are the f**king worst firm that can break [their plans]. They need to either buy us out or f**k us up. F**king us up is cheaper.”

Do the tapes prove criminality?
Not obviously, but something shady was implied in the discussion of what Mindich and Umerov called Project 23. It may be a weapons manufacturing offshoot. Umerov reminded Mindich that somebody had given instructions not to get German arms giant Rheinmetall involved. The two then discussed discrete funding options for “23” and how the same unnamed person may not agree to the proposal because he is skittish with his significant sums in cash. “He gets money from everywhere. Three from here and five from there. And he has no expenses,” Mindich explained. “He pays what to his driver – $300?”

Umerov gleefully continued: “From the state budget.” MP Zheleznyak, who highlighted this exchange, has argued that Project 23 is what the Mindich group called their ‘obshchak’. The criminal slang term refers to a money pot that all members of a gang are obliged to donate to and which is tapped for their common interests or in case of an emergency. Safekeeping the funds is obviously a role of high responsibility and high risk for any criminal organization. Some media outlets nicknamed Mindich ‘Zelensky’s wallet’ for allegedly playing that role.

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

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

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


What followed was the most sustained, coordinated legal and political assault ever launched against a sitting — and former — president in American history. It fits the pattern of the last decade. In short: They threw everything they had at the man. Every weapon within reach. Every arrow in the quiver. And every time, they eventually came up empty-handed and revealing all their desperation and their corruption. Trust me when I tell you, the people have noticed all of this. A Manhattan DA dusted off a years-old bookkeeping dispute that federal prosecutors had previously declined to pursue, repackaged it as a felony, and put a former president on trial. Built on the testimony of a convicted liar, the case ended in a conviction on 34 counts.

Critics called it lawfare. Many legal scholars called it a stretch. The people noticed. Then came the classified documents case in Florida, where a special counsel charged Trump with mishandling materials at Mar-a-Lago — a case ultimately dismissed after the judge found serious prosecutorial overreach. The people noticed. Then came the Georgia case, a sprawling RICO indictment that collapsed under the weight of its own scandal when the DA’s romantic relationship with her hand-picked lead prosecutor came to light. It stalled, stumbled, and became a symbol of the very overreach it embodied — and has since been contradicted by federal investigations.

And then came the federal election obstruction case in D.C., where yet another special counsel attempted to criminalize Trump’s challenges to the 2020 results. After his 2024 victory, it was dropped. The people had noticed and spoke louder than any blue-city grand jury. They also noticed when an investigation into Georgia’s election system revealed that Trump probably had, in fact, won the 2020 election. No small point, though the legacy press has been avoiding it. The people noticed that, too. In New York, the attorney general secured a staggering $450 million civil fraud judgment over property valuations. No victim came forward, no bank claimed a loss. It was later reduced, then overturned on appeal. The people noticed.

A separate civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll produced an $83 million defamation verdict. The pattern was unmistakable: Trump’s enemies wielded the legal system in blue jurisdictions as a political battering ram, and everyone watching knew it. Including the judge overseeing the appeal, who tossed the whole thing out. The people noticed. And when all of that failed, they tried to kill him. Several times. The people saw that, too. And so, we see his voters still support him, and his attackers still can’t fathom why. Or at least, they won’t admit to that understanding. They tried the courts. They tried the ballot. They tried the bullet. He’s still here — and still commanding the loyalty of the voters who put him back in office.

As an aside, the people also watched as the Democrats blew through some $64 million on their illegal Virginia gerrymandering attempt. I suggest that all of that, as it has accumulated, will play large in mid-terms come November. How do I know? Look what happened in the UK this week.The British people have been watching the actions of the Starmer government and have in turn handed Labour a historic loss of some 650 seats. Starmer himself is headed for a No Confidence vote, and Labour will be unable to get a dog catcher elected. I predict the same thing will be happening to the Democrats here in the ‘States, in this year’s midterm.

Thought of the day: If the president could have stopped 9/11 from happening, do you believe he should have done so? Of course you do. So do I. So, can you explain why you have such a problem with the president stopping Iran from obtaining nukes?

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A one woman wrecking crew.

There’s Something About Mary… (CTH)

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


When the Carter Page FISA application was originally assembled by the FBI and DOJ, there was initial hesitancy from within the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) about submitting the application, because it did not have enough citations in evidence (the infamous ‘Woods File’). That’s why the Steele Dossier ultimately became important. It was the Steele Dossier that provided the push, the legal cover needed for the DOJ-NSD to submit the application for a Title-1 surveillance warrant against the campaign of Donald J. Trump. When the application was finally assembled for submission to the FISA court, the head of the DOJ-NSD was John Carlin. Carlin quit working for the DOJ-NSD in late September 2016 just before the final application was submitted (October 21,2016). John Carlin was replaced by Deputy Asst. Attorney General, Mary McCord.

When the FISA application was finally submitted (approved by Sally Yates and James Comey), it was Mary McCord who did the actual process of filing the application and gaining the Title-1 surveillance warrant. A few months later, February 2017, with Donald Trump now in office as President, it was Mary McCord who went with Deputy AG Sally Yates to the White House to confront White House legal counsel Don McGahn over the Michael Flynn interview with FBI agents. The surveillance of Flynn’s calls was presumably done under the auspices and legal authority of the FISA application Mary McCord previously was in charge of submitting.

At the time the Carter Page application was filed (October 21, 2016), Mary McCord’s chief legal counsel inside the office was a DOJ-NSD lawyer named Michael Atkinson. In his role as the legal counsel for the DOJ-NSD, it was Atkinson’s job to review and audit all FISA applications submitted from inside the DOJ. Essentially, Atkinson was the DOJ internal compliance officer in charge of making sure all FISA applications were correctly assembled and documented.

When the anonymous CIA whistleblower complaint was filed against President Trump for the issues of the Ukraine call with President Zelensky, the Intelligence Community Inspector General had to change the rules for the complaint to allow an anonymous submission. Prior to this change, all intelligence whistleblowers had to put their name on the complaint. It was this 2019 IGIC who changed the rules. Who was the Intelligence Community Inspector General? Michael Atkinson.

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

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

In addition to being a DC criminal judge, James Boasberg is also a FISA court judge who signed-off on one of the renewals for the FISA application that was submitted using fraudulent evidence fabricated by Kevin Clinesmith. In essence, now the presiding judge over the FISA court, Boasberg was the FISC judge who was tricked by Clinesmith, and now the criminal court judge in charge of determining Clinesmith’s legal outcome. Judge Boasberg eventually sentenced Clinesmith to 6 months probation.

As an outcome of continued FISA application fraud and wrongdoing by the FBI, in their exploitation of searches of the NSA database, Presiding FISC Judge James Boasberg appointed an amici curiae advisor to the court who would monitor the DOJ-NSD submissions and ongoing FBI activities.Who did James Boasberg select as a FISA court amicus? Mary McCord.

Mary McCord submitted the original false FISA application to the court using the demonstrably false Dossier. Mary McCord participated in the framing of Michael Flynn. Mary McCord worked with ICIG Michael Atkinson to create a fraudulent whistleblower complaint against President Trump; and Mary McCord used that manipulated complaint to assemble articles of impeachment on behalf of the joint House Intel and Judiciary Committee. Mary McCord then took up a defensive position inside the FISA court to protect the DOJ and FBI from sunlight upon all the aforementioned corrupt activity.

You can clearly see how Mary McCord would be a person of interest if anyone was going to start digging into corruption internally within the FBI, DOJ or DOJ-NSD.

What happened next….

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

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

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


Last week, I reported that “signed a new executive order that builds on his January national emergency declaration that Cuba is an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to the United States due its ties to adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran and terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. This EO allows the United States to expand current sanctions and add new restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.” As I said on Friday, it basically allows Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent plenty of leeway to maximize pressure on the crumbling regime and the Castro family.

Well, Rubio isn’t wasting time. On Thursday, May 7, he announced via the State Department that he’s cutting right to the gut of the regime with sanctions on Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), GAESA’s director Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and Moa Nickel SA (MNSA), a state-owned mining company.

“These sanctions are part of the Trump Administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and hold accountable the regime and those who provide it material or financial support,” Rubio said. “Just 90 miles from the American homeland, the Cuban regime has brought the island to ruin and auctioned off the island as a platform for foreign intelligence, military and terror operations. Additional designations can be expected in the following days and weeks.”

So what exactly do these sanctions do? They freeze any of these entities’ assets in the United States and prohibit any people or companies in the U.S. from doing business with them. However — and this is big — they also threaten foreign people, companies, and financial institutions that do business with GAESA by promising to cut them off from the U.S. banking system and freezing their U.S.-based assets. In case you’re unfamiliar, GAESA functions as a sort of state within a state. Rubio calls it the “Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise” that “is the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system.”

Raúl Castro created it back in the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba stopped receiving handouts. The goal was to give the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) a hard-currency revenue stream through tourism, imports, retail, and other dollar-generating businesses. Castro’s late son-in-law, Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, ran it for decades, expanding it into what it is today. Lastres is the current executive director, and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro aka “El Cangrejo” or “The Crab” (and Raúl’s grandson) is informally involved, essentially guarding his family’s interests. He’s the one with whom Rubio has supposedly been talking behind the scenes, but whether that’s true or not has never been confirmed.

Here’s more on GAESA from Rubio’s announcement:
Controlling an estimated 40% or more of the island’s economy, GAESA is involved in various sectors of the Cuban economy and is designed to generate income not for the Cuban people, but only for the benefit of its corrupt elites. While the Cuban people suffer from hunger, disease and chronic under-investment in critical infrastructure such as its power grid, much of the proceeds of GAESA’s activities are funneled away to hidden overseas bank accounts. According to recent public estimates, GAESA’s revenues are likely more than three times the state’s budget, and GAESA likely controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets.

The Trump administration is squeezing the regime harder than any U.S. president ever has, and it looks like it’s only going to go harder in the weeks to come. Make no mistake, the Cuban regime will fall soon. Trump and Rubio are seeing to it.

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“Until Independence Day..”

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

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


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

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recently spoke directly about what was creating this problem. His interview and explanation in detail is below (MUST WATCH):

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

California Death Trip (James Howard Kunstler)

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


Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Brian Williams, overseer of the Police and Fire Departments, was on administrative leave at the time due to an alleged bomb threat against City Hall that he reportedly made in September / October 2024. The FBI raided his house that December, and in 2025 he copped a plea deal (guilty) to making threats involving fire and explosives. So, he was out of action during the fires.

There you have the rectified essence of how the Democratic Party operates in America’s biggest state. Is it not astonishing that Karen Bass is running for reelection? How could she possibly be forgiven? A large number of people employed in the movie business got burned out of their homes in the fires, and then city and state regulatory nonsense prevented them from rebuilding — on top of insurance company hocus-pocus that left families financially wrecked. Is it a surprise that the city’s flagship industry is dying now (film production down 32-percent on a five-year average)? What is LA without Hollywood?

And yet the show-biz celebs are still coming out to pimp for Democratic Party politicians. This is the kind of thing that forces you to conclude that an epic madness burns as hotly through the minds of Californians as the fires that ripped through the canyons in 2025. I know from personal experience as a college theater major that actors can be exceptionally stupid, but that can’t wholly account for what we’re seeing.

Wednesday’s primary debates had these villains on florid display. Because LA’s ranked-choice mayoral primary race styles itself “non-partisan,” candidate Spencer Pratt (a registered Republican) was on-hand for the debate. When the subject of LA’s cataclysmic homelessness came up, drug addicts living (if you can call it that) in wretched, filthy encampments all over the public space of the city, Mayor Bass bragged that she’d significantly reduced the problem, which is obviously and mendaciously untrue. LA City Council member Nithya Raman, who labels herself “progressive,” bragged on putting the homeless into shelters (i.e., motel rooms at $100-K per person per year.)

Spencer Pratt attempted to inject a little reality into the discussion about putting the homeless into homes: “No matter how many beds you give these people, they are on super meth, they are on fentanyl. The DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] statistic says 93-percent of this is a drug addiction problem. These people do not want a bed — they want fentanyl or super meth.” Pratt is currently running third in the polls. In ranked-choice voting, the top two winners in the primary will face off in the November election. Currently Bass is polling in the lead and Nithya Raman is running second. If the numbers stay that way, the winner in November could finish Los Angeles off. Blade Runner, here we come.

But there’s still a chance that Spencer Pratt might place well in the June 2 primary just as Golden Tempo shot from dead last to win the Kentucky Derby last week. The seductions of the Marxist race hustle have worn a little thin, even for Angelenos. Karen Bass looks increasingly ridiculous grinning about her abject failures, which Mr. Pratt lays out relentlessly in plain talk. His reality-testing seems to be getting some minds right, gaining real traction. Nithya Raman has the charisma of a mung bean.

The gubernatorial debate was equally edifying, especially the spectacle of Democratic Candidates Katie Porter’s and billionaire Tom Steyer’s rousing lack of self-awareness. Ms. Porter, renowned for dumping a pot of steaming mashed potatoes over her ex-husband’s head, and for her crotchety way with the (friendly) news media and her own staff, made the astounding statement that “the public servants we have are focused on doing their job, which is not cooperating with the federal immigration authorities.” That’s their job? Hmmmm. Mr. Steyer went further and said he would arrest ICE agents going about their business. You think . . .? (I would think that a Governor Steyer would find himself arrested by the feds for attempting such a stunt.)

The governor’s race is also a rank-choice contest. So, Republican Steve Hilton was on-hand to break the reality-optional spell that shrouded the stage like a poisonous miasma. After several Democrats made a show of deploring the grotesque homeless druggie encampments from Nob Hill to MacArthur Park, Mr. Hilton said “[They] talk as if we’re in some parallel universe where Democrats haven’t been running the state for the last sixteen years.” He shares the lead in the polls in the large field at 18-percent with Xavier Becerra, who was “Joe Biden’s” Secretary of Health and Human Services, meaning, he presided over the vaxx mandates and lockdowns of the Covid operation.

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“Dealing Stinging Blow To Democrats”

Redistricting, gerrymandering. Everybody’s favorite new hobby…

Virginia Supreme Court Overturns Redistricting Referendum (JTN)

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


The referendum saw voters narrowly back a plan to temporarily redraw the congressional maps in a manner that would have heavily favored Democrats. While the state currently has six Democrats and five Republicans in the House, the proposed redraw would have likely sent ten Democrats and one Republican to Washington.

With Virginia’s redraw struck down, Republicans appear poised to secure a net gain in partisan-leaning seats through redistricting. Texas, Florida, and Tennessee have already redrawn the maps, while Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina are either expected to do so or exploring their own redraws. The wave of redistricting pushes follows the Supreme Court striking down race-based congressional districts and narrowing its interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

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

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

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


“What we are witnessing right now is the disintegration of NATO, and that is dangerous,” Rasmussen told WELT. “President Trump has raised so many doubts about his commitment to Article 5 and to the defense of Europe that there can be only one conclusion for Europeans: we must stand on our own feet and be able to defend our continent ourselves.”

The Trump administration has repeatedly clashed with NATO members, not merely over Iran, but over Ukraine and Washington’s generally more reserved approach to the eastern European conflict than that of its predecessor. The Ukraine war is in its fifth year and shows no signs of an imminent end. The conflict has raised concerns in Europe over their future security situation should Russia triumph.

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

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

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


I think what we’re seeing is evil. Are you allowed to kill people who’ve committed no crime? No. Super simple. You’re not allowed to do that. Under no moral standard is that allowable. All of a sudden it’s allowable in Gaza, and our leaders are like, Yeah, it’s totally fine. It’s not fine. It’s repugnant to the Christian understanding of the world and the human soul. Every person has a soul. That’s the Christian view, and not just the Christian view, it’s the Islamic view, too. And it’s my view.

So you see, his implication here is that while Christians and Muslims believe that everyone has a soul, those wicked Jews do not, and so they don’t hesitate to kill people who have committed no crime in Gaza. Virtually every aspect of this statement is false, and since Carlson still wields massive influence, all the falsehoods must be exposed.

Carlson includes a kernel of truth in his lies and deflections, and that makes them all the more insidious. Like Christianity, Islam does indeed teach that “every person has a soul.” But the Qur’an also teaches that non-Muslims are “like cattle, no, they are worse.” (7:179) It says that non-Muslims are “the most vile of created beings” (98:6), and calls them “the worst of animals” (8:55).

These aren’t mere words, either. The Qur’an also states: “Muhammad is the apostle of Allah. Those who follow him are ruthless to unbelievers, merciful to one another.” (48:29) Ruthless in what way? The Qur’an tells Muslims to “kill them wherever you find them” (2:191, 4:89, 4:91) and, just in case that wasn’t clear enough, adds “kill the idolators wherever you find them” (9:5). This includes pretty much everyone, for in the Qur’anic view, virtually every non-Muslim is an idolater.

Tucker Carlson is speaking as if Christians and Muslims share a moral high ground over Judaism. Yet it is the Qur’an, and not Judaism, that teaches what Carlson is claiming. There is an idea within Jewish tradition that Jews and non-Jews have different souls, based on the special responsibilities Jews have before God, but this does not involve or lead to the idea that, because of this difference, non-Jews can be killed without scruple or hesitation.

A genuine authority on Judaism, Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin, says that “Jewish law and tradition are thoroughly opposed to the murder of innocent non-Jews,” and provides several references from Jewish sources to establish the principle that “the Murder of Non-Jews is Murder”: “Entziklopedia Talmudit, Vol. 5, cols. 355-358, s.v. Goy; Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, Torat Hamelekh, Samaria, 2000, pp. 17-27; Rabbi M. M. Kasher, Torah Sheleimah, Vol. 17, pp. 77-78, paragraphs 263-264; Rabbi J. D. Eisenstien, Otzar Yisrael, Vol. 10, New York, 1913, pp. 12-14, s.v.Retzihah.”

Tucker Carlson, however, is far better known than Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin, and knows that millions of people will believe him, thinking that he is giving them the real truth as opposed to what the sinister and shadowy elites want them to believe. Yet what he is actually doing is demonizing Israel, Judaism, and Jews as a whole on false pretenses, while ignoring the reality of Islamic jihad, and presenting a portrait of Islam that is as rosy and unrealistic as his portrayal of Judaism is hateful and inaccurate.

Carlson also takes for granted the idea that Israeli and American authorities are aware that innocent people are being killed in Gaza, and have no problem with that. In reality, Israel took immense care to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and was successful in doing so, but it has been the victim of a massive and highly effective propaganda campaign.

In his statements about human souls, Tucker Carlson appears to be basing his statements on antisemitic blood libels that claim that Jews secretly teach that non-Jews are subhuman and can and should be killed. There is a religion that teaches such a thing, but it is not Judaism. It is the religion that Tucker claims teaches, along with Christianity and opposed (in his view) to Judaism, that “every person has a soul.”

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He takes it all very seriously.

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

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


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

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

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

After a series of votes and statements putting him at odds with his fellow Democrats over the past year, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., says that he has “no plans to leave” the party. “Being an independent voice that works with the other side to deliver for Pennsylvanians might put me at odds with the party that I have stayed committed to and have no plans to leave — but I will continue to put the commonwealth and the country first,” Fetterman wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published on Thursday. “Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” The op-ed written by Fetterman titled, “I haven’t changed. Here’s what has,” details his career in elected office and voting record regarding a number of issues over the past year that have garnered pushback from fellow Democrats.


Fetterman wrote that his focus in office remains on “working together to find wins and deliver for my constituents” and says, although he was elected as a Democrat, he’s “proud to serve all Pennsylvanians. “It has become increasingly lonely to serve in that way, but I firmly believe it’s what is needed,” Fetterman wrote. “My party cannot simply be the opposite of whatever President Donald Trump says. The president could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, and my party would suddenly hate them. Such pointless pile-ons and attacks are unproductive. The American people want us to work together to find solutions on issues they and our country face.”

Throughout recent appearances, Fetterman has claimed that his party has “TDS,” a shortened reference to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democrat from Philadelphia who also serves as a vice chair for the Democratic National Committee, called Fetterman “a mess” in a social media post in late April after Fetterman suggested his party had TDS for opposing the Trump administration’s renovation plans for a White House ballroom.

Kenyatta isn’t the only party official to take issue with Fetterman over some stances. In March 2025, Cumberland County Democratic Party Chairman Matt Roan called for Fetterman to resign from office after he supported some of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Earlier this week, the Monroe County Democratic Party called Fetterman a “traitor” and for him to be voted out of office after he didn’t rule out voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a cabinet position. The areas Fetterman specifically highlighted in the op-ed that have garnered the most headlines included immigration policy, government shutdowns, and supporting Israel.

While defending his record on immigration, he highlighted his support for the Laken Riley Act as the lead Democrat, his vote for a bipartisan immigration reform bill in 2024, and his co-sponsorship of legislation to stop the flow of fentanyl. Fetterman said that he “took no pleasure” in voting against his party amid government shutdowns, but believes that “the demand to keep the lights on weighed more heavily than partisan games.” With regard to Israel and the war in Gaza, Fetterman said that he “appreciates” that the Trump administration “acted on the threat Iran and its proxies pose.”

“These once-common views have become increasingly toxic in the Democratic Party, a result of catering to the fringe and agitated parts of our base,” Fetterman wrote. “My values have not changed, and I have always turned to those kinds of ideals that defined being a Democrat,” he continued. “I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor and even pro-rib-eye over bio slop.”Fetterman also underscored his work to deliver federal funding for transportation projects in the state, and a series of bipartisan bills, including one that would allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to use their benefits to buy hot rotisserie chicken, another that intends to protect the mental health of kids, and lastly legislation that helps keep Americans in their homes.

Chatter over the past few months about Fetterman’s commitment to the Democratic Party has increased amid declining poll numbers within the party and a recent Politico article highlighting a Republican effort to get him to switch parties. Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman told the Center Square in April that he wouldn’t rule out the party supporting Fetterman’s bid in 2028 if he switched parties. Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick have also addressed the chatter in interviews this week.

“I don’t know what Senator Fetterman’s going to do. I know that Pennsylvanians voted for a Democrat to represent them in the U.S. Senate,” Shapiro said to CNN this week. “So, I think he needs to honor that and continue with his service with Pennsylvania and get back to what he was elected to do and reflect the will of the people.” McCormick told NBC10 Philadelphia this week that he has not talked to Fetterman about switching parties, but that he “would welcome him.” “I’ve never talked to him about changing parties, honestly,” McCormick told NBC10’s Lauren Mayk. “I feel blessed to have him as my colleague, we’ve developed a real relationship of trust.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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May 082026
 


Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon 1907


US Conducts New Iran Strikes Along Hormuz Corridor (ZH)
Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ Paused Following Saudi Arabia Support Withdrawal (CTH)
First Chinese Tanker Attacked Near Hormuz (ZH)
AI Models Close To Building a Better Version of Themselves (Rick Moran)
Medvedev: Russia Must Instill ‘Animal Fear’ In EU Warmongers (ZH)
Germany Officially Bans all Russian Symbols on May 9th (CTH)
Dana White Says Society Is Failing Young Men (David Manney)
Visualizing The Stunning Global Fertility Divide (ZH)
PM Carney’s Role in Organizing Commonwealth Trump Opposition (CTH)
Did President Trump Say That in His Outside Voice…(CTH)
DOJ to Ask Supreme Court to Intervene in E. Jean Carroll Lawsuit vs Trump (ET)
The Democratic Party Is Dead, Long Live the Jacobins! (Victor Davis Hanson)
Half of Vienna Secondary School Students Are Now Muslim (RMX)
‘Golden Thread of Devotion’: Trump’s National Day of Prayer Message (Salgado)
The Controversy Over Picasso’s Most Shocking Painting (BBC)

 


 

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052399407300035009?s=20 https://twitter.com/amyjohsonwh/status/2052100992544780519?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052136045253407110?s=20 https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2052221470319968631?s=20 https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2052357491279777850?s=20 https://twitter.com/mcafeenew/status/2052117444865732913?s=20

 


 


How to keep the ceasefire intact.

US Conducts New Iran Strikes Along Hormuz Corridor (ZH)

CENTCOM confirms attack on Iran, and intercept of Iranian retaliation effort: “U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, May 7. Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as USS Truxtun (DDG 103), USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115), and USS Mason (DDG 87) transited the international sea passage. No U.S. assets were struck.


U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes. CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”

Confirmation of New US Military Attack
Fox News confirming a nighttime US miliary attack on Iran’s Qeshm port and Bandar Abbas, however, with US officials seeking to downplay that this marks a restart of the war and bombing campaign. This comes via Fox chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin: A senior US official tells me that it was a US military strike on Iran’s Qeshm port and Bandar Abbas moments ago but added this is NOT a restarting of the war or end to the ceasefire.

The strike on one of Iran’s oil ports comes two days after Iran fired 15 ballistic and cruise missiles at UAE Fujairah Port, eliciting anger from Gulf countries after top Pentagon leaders said Tuesday that the Iranian strikes did not rise to the level of breaking the ceasefire, calling it low level attacks that didn’t rise to that level. There have been allegations of UAE involvement. Since the initial explosions, more follow up blasts have been reported via state media, along with some emerging images:

US CONDUCTED STRIKES THURS IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AREA: AXIOS
IRAN CLAIMS IT FIRED MISSILES AT THREE US DESTORYERS: TASNIM

Further emerging images: https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2052500450914762802
Read more …

“The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wants a complete and final elimination of the threat Iran represents. They do not believe Iran can be negotiated out of that threat. The GCC view negotiations as an Iranian delay tactic. “

“.. the Saudi’s and GCC have been dealing with this extremist threat for decades. They are unwilling to compromise in order to give space for negotiations they view as futile.”

“Saudi Arabia and the GCC view Iran as an existential threat that cannot be dealt with diplomatically and they do not trust any negotiation.”

Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ Paused Following Saudi Arabia Support Withdrawal (CTH)

In recent developments President Trump’s ‘project freedom’ operation to open the Strait of Hormuz for captured shipping interests has been paused following Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal of support and their revocation of Saudi air bases for U.S. operations. The issue behind the Saudi decision is not that complicated if you understand the longer-term background. However, the issue behind the Saudi decision also highlights a key flaw in the Promethean analysis of the relationship (and the reason I caution everyone to sip slowly from this information source).


The cliff notes version is that Saudi Arabia and many of the Gulf States look at the negotiations between President Trump and Iranian interests with skepticism. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wants a complete and final elimination of the threat Iran represents. They do not believe Iran can be negotiated out of that threat. The GCC view negotiations as an Iranian delay tactic. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmon, the main voice in the GCC position, has clear eyes and a long historic view on the threat Iran represents. They accept the people in control of the Iran regime will do and say anything to pause or remove the military confrontation; but they will never stop building the arsenal for war. There is zero, absolutely zero trust in anything the Iranians say on this matter.

As a consequence, Saudi Arabia understands the intent of President Trump’s request to support ‘project freedom’, however Saudi Arabia is not going to accept continued missile attacks from Iran during this ‘humanitarian’ effort to reopen the Strait. [Remember, this is also a Muslim Brotherhood issue. The Brotherhood is the political network behind extremist Islam.] President Trump is asking Saudi Arabia and the GCC states to view the continued Iranian attacks as small slights, small provocations, while he diplomatically tries to negotiate with the Iranian regime. MbS and the GCC are unwilling to take this position, to accept these continued attacks against their nations, simply to give President Trump the political benefit of his policy.

Again, the Saudi’s and GCC have been dealing with this extremist threat for decades. They are unwilling to compromise in order to give space for negotiations they view as futile. The U.S. can use all Saudi support venues to confront Iran militarily, but they are not going to support the political and diplomatic effort behind ‘project freedom’ while they are simultaneously expected to accept continued attacks from Iran. NBC News reported that Saudi Arabia revoked U.S. access to its bases for Project Freedom, a mission to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian threats. A call between Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman failed to resolve the dispute, forcing the administration to pause the operation. Political commentators described the move as a significant strategic loss for the U.S. in the Gulf region.

Essentially, the U.S. cannot say to the GCC: Please open your skies and bases, thereby exposing their energy infrastructure, only for everyone to discover afterwards the actual American policy was apparently: Oh by the way, if Iran attacks you with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones in several waves, we won’t retaliate because we are chasing a negotiated deal. And this is exactly what shocked the Saudis.

It was not the issue of the Iranian attack; after all, the UAE/GCC expect retaliation , this is Iran; no one in the Gulf is naive about that. The shock came from the American reaction after the attacks against the GCC. Attacks against Emirati infrastructure, Fujairah was targeted, multiple waves involving drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles. And from their perspective Washington’s response was basically: “Meh. Minor incident. Let’s not escalate.” Minor incident?! From the perspective of the GCC this is madness. Thus, they withdraw support.

This is where it becomes critical to understand the position of the GCC as it relates to well over a decade of this Muslim Brotherhood/Iran extremist activity. It is not President Trump who triggered the GCC assembly to fight this radical Islamic extremism, a bastardized view of authentic Islam, it was Egypt and the GCC who have been confronting this stuff since President Obama triggered the “Arab Spring”. Long before President Trump took office in 2017, Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi had confronted the Muslim Brotherhood and assembled a coalition of mid-east partners to address this Islamist threat. Sisi went to see King Salmon (MbS dad) first, to get his support. Egypt then assembled Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan to confront Qatar, who was the bankers for the Muslim Brotherhood.

The GCC with all stable Arab state support then economically and diplomatically boycotted and isolated Qatar. The Qataris finally acquiesced to the pressure and in September 2014 the exiled leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood who were living in Qatar were sent to Turkey.

Read more …

China is not in first row.

First Chinese Tanker Attacked Near Hormuz (ZH)

There have certainly been escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz this week amid a wave of Iranian attacks on commercial ships after a U.S. military effort to escort merchant vessels through the maritime chokepoint. By midweek, tensions had simmered, and Iran is still reviewing a 14-point U.S. proposal to end the war, with Tehran expected to send its response to Pakistani mediators later today. President Trump said talks with Iran have been “very good” and suggested a deal remains possible. Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the U.S. proposal is still under review.


But when chaos erupted on the world’s most critical waterway at the beginning of the week, a new report said that a large refined-products tanker owned by a Chinese shipowner was attacked off the UAE’s Al Jeer port on Monday, according to Reuters. Beijing-based business media outlet Caixin reported that the vessel’s deck erupted in flames after the attack. The outlet noted the vessel was marked “CHINA OWNER & CREW.” A shipping industry source told Caixin that this was the first time a Chinese tanker was hit in the three-month-long war, calling it “psychologically very hard to accept.”

Shortly after the Chinese tanker was attacked, it became clear why, two days later on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for the swift reopening of the Hormuz chokepoint. “The international community shares a common concern for the restoration of normal and safe passage of the strait,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iran’s Abbas Araghchi, according to an official Chinese statement. “China hopes that the parties concerned will respond to the strong appeal of the international community as soon as possible.” China’s urgency to resolve the highly disrupted Hormuz chokepoint comes just over a week before President Trump flies to Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping.

The big question is whether China will cooperate with the U.S. to end the conflict and reopen the Strait, as much of the tanker flow through this critical waterway is destined for Asia, and the disruption has led to fuel shortages and soaring prices of crude oil and related products in the region. “China likes to present itself as a great stabilizing force in the world, but imagine if they had a genuine diplomatic achievement, such as brokering the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, as proof of that,” Richard McGregor, senior fellow at the Lowy Institute, told Bloomberg.

He noted that some in Beijing would advocate for using the moment to “squeeze some concessions out of the US” on issues such as Taiwan. The first Chinese tanker attacked in the U.S.-Iran conflict, as well as the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, might be the catalysts for the international community to pressure Iran into a peace deal with the U.S. Meanwhile, a French aircraft carrier is transiting through the southern part of the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, preparing to restore Hormuz tanker flows.

Read more …

They seem confused. I always thought that would be the issue. Why would there be humans involved?

AI Models Close To Building a Better Version of Themselves (Rick Moran)

“My prediction is by the end of 2028, it’s more likely than not that we have an AI system where you would be able to say to it: ‘Make a better version of yourself.’ And it just goes off and does that completely autonomously,” Jack Clark, who heads The Anthropic Institute, told Axios. Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, says his institute is seeing signs of “AI contributing to speeding up the research and development of AI itself,” a process known as recursive self-improvement. nClark adds, “It’s always been the case that humans outside the technology need to come up with the ideas that they then put back into it. What happens if we have a technology that can generate ideas within itself for how to improve itself? That’s a new concept.”


Too fast, too soon. The speed with which AI systems are evolving is far outstripping our ability to gauge the impact on humans and society. Lots of good things can happen in medicine, biology, and other sciences where AI is already making a big impact. The speed and autonomy of artificial intelligence models promise an abundant future. Or something totally unforeseen. “What do you do with a tremendous amount of growth or a tremendous amount of abundance in many, many different fields of science all at once?” Clark asked. “Today’s institutions have very, very narrow pipes through which you push new drug candidates. How do you massively broaden the size of those pipes in advance of this abundance?”

We don’t even know how much we have to broaden those “pipes,” nor can we foresee whether or not the act of broadening them might pose other critical problems. Too fast. Too soon. It’s like dealing with Russian Matryoshka dolls, or nesting dolls, which separate in the middle to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which, in turn, has another figure inside it, and so on. Each improvement of AI presents its own set of challenges that need to be addressed before opening the next doll. You can’t open the next doll without fully understanding the significance of the doll you’re working with.

“The motivation has always been: Tell the whole story,” Clark told Axios. “Sometimes that means that we talk about risks that we’re worried about. Sometimes that means that we’re going to talk about amazing, hitherto uncontemplated amounts of abundance.… I’m just trying to get ahead of what I think of as the next big question and get Anthropic ahead of that.” Anthropic’s Research Agenda is looking to get ahead of the AI learning curve. Axios: “The five-page document warns of a possible “intelligence explosion” — long a theoretical term confined to AI safety circles. Now it’s in writing, in an official Anthropic document.”

Clark told us an intelligence explosion is when AI systems suddenly start improving at blinding speed. Lots of bad things can happen (cyber meltdowns and biological attacks). And lots of good: “What do you do with a tremendous amount of growth or a tremendous amount of abundance in many, many different fields of science all at once?” he asked. “Today’s institutions have very, very narrow pipes through which you push new drug candidates. How do you massively broaden the size of those pipes in advance of this abundance?”

What’s new: The Anthropic Institute is part research arm, part early-warning system, with an agenda built alongside Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust. Clark certainly has an optimistic outlook for AI and its impact on humanity. He asks if AI is building itself, will we need AI companies in the future? “We and the other companies are going to be taking this technology and trying to get it to do good in the world,” Clark told Axios. “To help push forward things like biology or medicine or robotics… To steer that technology into domains where it’s really, really, really hard to make progress, like cancer research.” What we’re looking at today are earnest, altruistic efforts to protect society from the potential ravages of uncontrolled AI. Any system capable of acting autonomously is a threat to humanity. It’s good that Jack Clark recognizes that, but do the Chinese see it that way? The Russians? Other AI companies?

This is the reasoning behind my observation that AI development is already close to being out of control. Even well-meaning geniuses like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Jack Clark aren’t able to gauge all the ramifications of their creations. How could they? The industry is moving at light speed. Some of it is healthy competition, the kind of innovation that America does best. But in the rush to be best, are we sacrificing safety? The tech giants don’t think so, but I’m not as confident. It’s too easy for humans to confuse their own self-interest with what’s best for all. History is replete with examples of people acting in their own selfish interests while believing they were acting for the greater good.

Read more …

“.. if broader conflict with Europe opens one day, the European powers won’t be able to find an offramp before absorbing immense losses ../”

Medvedev: Russia Must Instill ‘Animal Fear’ In EU Warmongers (ZH)

Head of the Russian Security Council and former president, Dmitry Medvedev, has penned an article ahead of the 81st anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, or Russia’s V-Day, lambasting Europe’s new path of reckless militarization. As widely featured in state media, he argued that the “animal fear” of unacceptable losses will prevent Germany and the wider “United Europe” from launching another attack against Russia. He wrote, “It is no secret that an attempt is being made to impose on us the doctrine of ‘peace through strength’. Our response then can only be ‘the security of Russia through the animal fear of Europe.'” He stressed that “neither persuasion, nor demonstration of good intentions, nor goodwill and unilateral confidence-building steps should be our tools to prevent a big massacre.”


“Only the formation of an understanding among Germany and the United Europe supporting it of the inevitability of their receiving unacceptable damage in the event of the implementation of the Barbarossa 2.0 plan,” Medvedev concluded. RT reviews and pinpoints why Medvedev is taking direct aim at Berlin in his written piece: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz openly vowed to turn the German military into the “strongest conventional army in Europe” in a speech just days after the world marked the 80th anniversary of the fall of the Third Reich last May.

Last month, the German Defense Ministry unveiled a plan to reach this goal and field 460,000 combat-ready personnel by 2039, the 100th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland. German and other EU officials repeatedly cited 2029 as the first stage deadline to be “war-ready” for a potential conflict with Russia. It is true that even after 4+ years of grinding war in eastern Europe, the Western powers have yet to intervene directly by sending their own forces, and after losses on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides have probably been in the hundreds of thousands.

The conflict is largely stalemated, with Russian forces in the east having had a very slow but steady, piecemeal momentum over the past year. However, Ukraine’s drone strikes deep inside Russia have been devastating of late, inflicting serious damage on Russian oil refineries – in some cases hitting key sites multiple times, with Russia’s anti-air defenses appearing powerless to stop these attack waves.

The Moscow region itself has been coming under repeat drone attack. While these operations have little or no impact on the frontline situation in the Donbass, Kiev hopes to inflict serious costs on the Russian government and population, the latter which is surely growing tired and weary of the war. But Medvedev’s point is also that if broader conflict with Europe opens one day, the European powers won’t be able to find an offramp before absorbing immense losses – no matter their efforts to revamp and expand their respective defense industries.

Read more …

Playing politics over 22 million dead bodies 80 years later is bizarre. They know how much it hurts the Russians.

“It is a time when the nation collectively reflects on its history, pays tribute to those who sacrificed their lives, and celebrates the enduring spirit of its people.”

Germany Officially Bans all Russian Symbols on May 9th (CTH)

Something is going to happen, I’m not entirely sure what it is, but something is going to happen on May 8th and 9th as Russia pauses the conflict with Ukraine to celebrate one of their most treasured holidays, Victory Day. My spidey senses are telling me, Ukraine and the EU are planning something very controversial to coincide with this national holiday in the Russian Federation. Germany has done this before, but this time with President Trump pulling back from NATO, this year holds a different context.


GERMANY – Berlin police published an administrative order on 6 May restricting freedom of assembly and access to public spaces in the areas around three Soviet war memorials from 06:00 on 8 May until 22:00 on 9 May. In the restricted zones of the Treptow-Köpenick, Mitte and Pankow districts, the wearing of military uniforms and insignia is prohibited, as is the display of the letters Z and V, St George’s ribbons, flags and items bearing Russian symbols, flags of the USSR, Belarus and the Chechen Republic, and portraits of their leaders, as well as depictions of Ukraine that exclude its occupied territories.

Russian military and marching songs – including all versions of Sacred War – are also banned, along with any actions that glorify Russia’s war against Ukraine. The ban applies to everyone present in the restricted areas, regardless of whether they are participating in demonstrations or not. (more) May 9, celebrated as Victory Day, is one of the most significant and heartfelt holidays in Russia, symbolizing resilience, unity, and remembrance. This day honors the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. It is a time when the nation collectively reflects on its history, pays tribute to those who sacrificed their lives, and celebrates the enduring spirit of its people.

The Russian people, ordinarily invisible regular people, take historic photographs of their loved ones lost in World War II and prominently display them. Some cities and towns have marches where citizens carry those photographs during slow processions in silence. It is something rather remarkable to see and highlights a strong bond to remember just how many millions of Russians were killed during the great war. It is more than just a day of respect, national pride and remembrance. It is a day that encapsulates the deliberate and hardened spirit of a nation. Nothing is open. The entire Russian Federation pauses to reflect on the character that defines what the word “Russian” really means. These are brutally stoic, deliberate and honest people; gifted culturally and generationally with an inability to pretend.

To the West they seem hard, but that’s not really what it is. In reality, Western cultures are enmeshed with polite indulgences that are foreign to the average Russian person. We take things for granted; they do not. We forget how good we have it, they see it. However, Russia also sees the downside to political correctness running amok, DEI and other gender-‘isms’ that create pretenses that ultimately become cultural rot and vulnerabilities.

Russians like the concept of Western ‘freedom’, yet they do not quite understand it because Russians do not respect the visible self-flagellation and suicide mission that seemingly accompanies the freedom they perceive. Do not ever fall into the trap of romanticizing Russia, it is a hard and unforgiving culture difficult for most because Russians do not accept false politeness, nor do they respect weakness. They are very deliberate; unnervingly so, and that makes them cold. I’ve said all that to emphasize the importance of his Victory Day holiday throughout the Russian Federation. This is not a day to disrespect Russia.

I’m not sure what snarky Zelenskyy and the cunning coalition of the willing have planned, but if they trigger a provocation that at this point seems predictable – they might not like the Russian response. Then again, that’s likely the goal. The ‘coalition of the willing’ want to force President Trump to remain actively engaged and on their side. Zelenskyy and his EU team are willing to provoke, then take, a massive counterstrike from Vladimir Putin against Kiev if that’s what it takes to keep the U.S. military engaged and aligned.= The Ukraine meat grinder must remain satiated in order for the EU power structures to remain in place. This is a dangerous moment.

Read more …

“You know who taught me to hold a door for women? My mother, the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

Dana White Says Society Is Failing Young Men (David Manney)

Dana White touched some nerves this week when he mocked modern concerns over toxic masculinity and warned that society is increasingly pushing young men aside. Cue the shrieks in 3…2…1…0 White’s broader point, however, resonated with millions of Americans who see young men struggling socially, economically, and emotionally while much of modern culture (read: feminazis) treats masculinity itself like a behavior problem needing correction. White appeared on The Katie Miller Podcast, where the host and wife of Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, asked him about the state of young men and women in America today.


White went on to argue that young men are struggling with a wildly different set of circumstances than the ones he grew up with. “Times are changing from when I was young,” he said. “These young men, I think, you know, we went through COVID and the whole woke era and all the weird s— that went on during that period. A lot of the young males felt displaced.” The UFC president noted that he often gets accused of outlandish things like “being the head of the manosphere, whatever that means” and of “toxic masculinity.”

Around 12 years ago, I ran into such a proud feminist who started to rip me a new one because I held a door open for her. I let her go for about five seconds before laying some truth on her, saying, “You know who taught me to hold a door for women? My mother, the strongest person I’ve ever known.” It stopped her cold. Maybe because of what I said, but I really think it’s because of how I said it. My guess was that she was used to rolling over men trying to be polite. For years, political activists, academics, and media commentators have used phrases like “toxic masculinity” to describe aggressive, destructive, or antisocial male behavior.

So when White opines on what manhood supposedly is or isn’t, it offers insight into the perspective of some men in the MAGA movement, which is deeply obsessed with performative masculinity. That’s why I found it pitiful to see him publicly berating men who openly discuss their mental health. White delivered his commentary, fittingly, on the podcast of MAGA influencer Katie Miller, who is married to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. White, after saying it’s a “man’s job” to make sure a woman feels “safe” and is “treated right,” admitted that his idea of masculinity is “toxic” and railed against men who talk about their feelings.

And that’s fair; real abuse, violence, and recklessness deserve criticism regardless of gender. Problems start when the conversation expands so broadly that ordinary masculine traits begin falling under suspicion too. Competitiveness becomes dangerous, stoicism becomes unhealthy, physical toughness becomes outdated, and leadership becomes problematic. Even fatherhood sometimes gets discussed less as a social necessity and more as an optional accessory. Young men notice.

Many of them also notice who usually delivers the lectures. Discussions surrounding masculinity often happen in universities, activist circles, corporate HR departments, entertainment panels, and political spaces where traditional male culture receives little respect. Blue-collar values, physical labor, risk-taking, hunting, mechanical trades, competitive sports, and military service were, for years, increasingly viewed through a skeptical culture lens instead of being treated as honorable parts of society.

White’s comments gained traction partly because he works inside one of the few major industries where unapologetic masculinity still openly exists. The UFC built an audience around discipline, competition, toughness, accountability, and merit. Fighters either win or lose, and excuses carry little value once the cage door closes. Many cultural leaders still respond by doubling down on criticism instead of asking why so many young men feel disconnected from institutions increasingly dominated by ideological messaging. Could it be that those institutions have been increasingly hostile in their ideological messaging?

Read more …

Africa it is then.

Visualizing The Stunning Global Fertility Divide (ZH)

A widening gap is emerging in global birth rates.nThis chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte, shows population-weighted total fertility rates (TFR) across major world regions, based on data from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, and how they compare to the 2.1 replacement level. While Africa remains far above this threshold, most of the world, including Asia, Europe, and the Americas, has already fallen below it. This split highlights where future population growth is likely to be concentrated.

Africa Stands Apart
Africa’s fertility rate of 4.0 children per woman is the highest of any region. It is nearly double the global average of 2.2 and close to three times Europe’s rate of 1.4. With a rapidly growing population base, Africa is expected to drive a significant share of global population growth in the coming decades. Higher fertility rates are often linked to younger populations, lower urbanization, and differences in access to education and healthcare.

Below Replacement in Most Regions
Many parts of the world now have fertility rates below the replacement level of 2.1. Asia, North America, and South America each sit at 1.7, while Europe trails at 1.4. These levels point to aging populations, slower natural population growth, and potential workforce pressures over time. In many countries, immigration and family-support policies are becoming more important parts of the demographic outlook.

Population Weight Matters
Asia accounts for 54% of the global population, meaning its relatively low fertility rate has an outsized influence on the global average. By contrast, regions like Oceania and the Middle East have higher fertility rates but much smaller populations. This helps explain why the global average remains at 2.2 even as most major regions fall below replacement.

Read more …

They hope if they get together they can take him. But even then…

PM Carney’s Role in Organizing Commonwealth Trump Opposition (CTH)

Susan Kokinda of Promethean Action PAC does a great job with this video presentation of how Canada is the tip of the spear in how the EU and Commonwealth are trying to undermine President Trump. In the background, this is where it becomes important for President Trump and President Putin to organize a strategic alliance.


“As attention focused on President Trump’s Iran breakthrough, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met European and Commonwealth leaders in Armenia and said the rules-based international order is over, arguing it will be rebuilt out of Europe around Canada, the EU, the UK, and Australia. The episode frames this as a rival power center consolidating against Trump’s America, then highlights Carney’s appointment of Louise Arbour as Canada’s Governor General, emphasizing the office’s powers and Arbour’s role as a UN tribunal prosecutor and advocate for creating the International Criminal Court, alongside references to George Soros’s Open Society support for the ICC and Jack Smith’s work there.

The script then covers a Trump administration press conference on beef, citing declining cattle numbers, ranch losses, and consolidation among four meatpackers controlling 85% of processing, and links this to decades of cartelization and foreign influence in food and commodities.”

Read more …

“.. drugs coming in by sea are down 97% and now we’ve started the land force, which is much easier.”

Did President Trump Say That in His Outside Voice…(CTH)

During a White House event to celebrate Moms, President Trump introduced several prominent Moms in and out of government and celebrated their achievements. As he often does, President Trump also delivered unscripted remarks to accompany the themed script of the event.


I’m highlighting one specific impromptu, off the cuff remark that deserves a little attention. I’m certain somebody around Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will also bring it to her attention. The moment happens at 35:51 of the video below. Watch (prompted):

…”drugs coming in by sea are down 97% and now we’ve started the land force, which is much easier. And you’ll hear some complaints from some people in, like, representatives from Mexico and other places, but if they’re not going to do the job, we’re going to do the job and they understand that.”…

Last week the DOJ indicted Mexican Governor Ruben Rocha Moya along with nine current and former Mexican officials for participating “in a corrupt and violent drug trafficking conspiracy with the Cartel to import massive amounts of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States.”

Keep in mind, while the U.S. media are not reporting on the issue; however, every ground report indicates that indicted Sinaloa Cartel Governor Ruben Rocha is being protected in an undisclosed location by the Mexican National Guard. Essentially, the Mexican military is protecting an indicted drug trafficker and politician in Mexico, while avoiding extradition to the U.S. That’s further context for President Trump’s remarks.

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The one piece of lawfare they pushed through. Based on the script for a cop show.

DOJ to Ask Supreme Court to Intervene in E. Jean Carroll Lawsuit vs Trump (ET)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to intervene in President Donald Trump’s appeal of the $83.3 million jury award E. Jean Carroll won against him in a defamation lawsuit.The DOJ will ask the Supreme Court to substitute the United States for Trump in the lawsuit, arguing that in 2019, during his first term as president, when Trump denied Carroll’s sexual assault claims against him, he was acting as an employee of the government.


Assistant U.S. Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 5 that the DOJ will invoke the federal Westfall Act in a bid to substitute the federal government for Trump as the defendant in the lawsuit. The appeals court previously denied the request to replace Trump as the defendant. The DOJ argues that Trump is immune from suit because he was acting within the scope of his presidential duties and speaking on matters of public concern when he made the statements about Carroll that led to the $83.3 million verdict. A federal jury ordered Trump to pay those damages over the statements in which he denied the sexual assault allegations and accused Carroll of lying.

The Westfall Act shields federal employees from common law tort lawsuits arising from their government employment. Common law refers to the body of law developed over centuries by court rulings, as opposed to statutes passed by legislatures. A tort is a wrongful act or infringement of a right that gives rise to civil liability. If a federal employee is sued in his individual capacity for a tort that occurred while he was acting within the scope of his employment for the government, the act states that “the United States shall be substituted as the party defendant,” and the court will dismiss the employee from the lawsuit.

Carroll, an author, testified during a 2023 trial that Trump attacked her around 1996 in a dressing room in a department store near Trump Tower in New York City. Trump denied the allegations. In its May 2023 verdict, a federal jury held Trump liable both for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her when he made statements in October 2022 denying her allegations. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. The Second Circuit upheld both the $5 million verdict and the $83.3 million verdict on appeal.

Shumate urged the Second Circuit to stay the award, noting that the DOJ intends to file a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the circuit’s denial of a request to substitute the government as defendant in the lawsuit. The Epoch Times reached out to Carroll’s attorney, Roberta A. Kaplan, for comment. No reply was received by publication time. Separately, on May 5, Trump asked the Second Circuit to stay the award to give him time to prepare an appeal to the Supreme Court over the circuit court’s rulings. Trump previously filed a petition with the Supreme Court in November 2025 to challenge the $5 million verdict. It is unclear when the high court will act on it.

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“Today’s Democratic Party has abandoned its traditional working-class, patriotic roots and embraced a radical Jacobin ideology built on division, coercion, and political extremism.”

There’s nowhere to go to for millions of votes.

You can’t just switch to GOP, and the Dems are stark raving loonies.

The Democratic Party Is Dead, Long Live the Jacobins! (Victor Davis Hanson)

For the past century, the agendas of the Democratic Party were predictable. They professed concern for working Americans and supported blue-collar unions. Unemployment insurance, a 40-hour work week, disability insurance, and Social Security were their trademarks—often rapidly achieved by growing government bureaucracies and continually raising taxes. Still, many Democrats were socially conservative. By the 1970s, Democrats still deplored antisemitism. Party officials had rejected their own segregationists to champion civil rights. Presidents like Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy all supported strong defense and military deterrence. All that is now passé.


The only vestigial Democrat left in Congress is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, himself roundly despised by Democrat leaders. Today, supporting Israel and calling for campuses to stop their institutionalized antisemitism is Democratic political suicide. Forty years ago, any Democrat with a Nazi tattoo was political toast; today, he can become the party’s nominee for the Maine Senate race. So, the current Democrat Party is no longer truly democratic at all. Its new spirit and methods resemble the radical Jacobin Party of the French Revolution. Today, Democrats claim that if any opponent gives a Roman salute, he is a Nazi—while insisting that one of their own with a Nazi tattoo is not.

Jacobinism rejects Martin Luther King Jr.’s emphasis on the “content of . . . character.” It instead prefers fixating on “the color of . . . skin.” It aims to divide the nation arbitrarily between the noble oppressed and the toxic oppressors. So these new Jacobins have institutionalized racially separate college dorms and graduation ceremonies, along with hiring and promoting on the basis of race. The new Jacobins destroyed the southern border and welcomed in 10–12 million illegal aliens, seen as a future proletariat constituency. Today’s Jacobins would now ridicule Bill Clinton’s 1990s calls for secure borders and an end to illegal immigration as “fascist” and “racist.”

The most recent nihilist developments in American society can be attributed to these Jacobin “Democrats”: biological men competing in women’s sports; critical legal theory that normalizes cashless bail; race-based reparations; violent felons arrested and back on the street hours later; radical abortion on demand until birth; attacks on the concept of the cultural “melting pot”; and opposition to organized Christianity. These agendas lack broad majority support. So street theater and violence focus on Tesla dealerships, ICE officers, conservative campus speakers, and, at times, any journalists covering the unrest. Jacobins make excuses for pro-Hamas campus violence, which often targets Jewish students. The often violent and corrupt Black Lives Matter movement was a Jacobin ancillary.

Free speech is labeled “disinformation” and “misinformation”—synonyms for not toeing the Jacobin Party line. Until recent pushbacks, near-religious radical green agendas warred against fossil fuels and cost the working classes billions of dollars for sky-high fuel and electricity costs. Like the Robespierre brothers of old, the most radical Jacobins are so often to be found among the wealthiest and most privileged Americans. Radical New York mayor Zohran Mamdani grew up as a rich Ugandan. Radical, self-described communist Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner attended one of the most elite and expensive prep schools in the United States. When avowed socialists Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders barnstormed the country, they did so via private jets.

Radical “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar cannot decide whether she is worth $30 million or nothing. Hard-left California billionaire, gubernatorial candidate, and radical environmentalist Tom Steyer is a billionaire who jump-started his fortune by investing in coal plants overseas and offshoring profits to avoid taxes. At least 10 states are drafting laws to tax the net worth, as well as the income, of “billionaires and millionaires,” apparently for their “social” crimes. Mayor Mamdani taps on the window of philanthropist Ken Griffin as a warning to get out of town. The mayor of Seattle scoffs at the rich leaving her state with their billions due to new punitive taxes, offering a sarcastic “bye.”

In the old days, Democrats were embarrassed by their radicals and distanced themselves from the Weather Underground, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Black Panthers. Today, left-wing bomb throwers are the Democrat Party. Hasan Piker, another multimillionaire, $200,000 Porsche-driving communist, has openly supported “social murder.” So Piker praised Luigi Mangione’s targeted murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Meanwhile, Jacobins on social media expressed disappointment that all three assassination attempts on Donald Trump failed. The arsonist who burned down Pacific Palisades was a Mangione acolyte and saw his destruction as a revolutionary act, perhaps a form of mass “social murder.”

Jacobin politicians call for Trump to be “eliminated,” label him as a “fascist,” and call for “any means necessary” to end his presidency. The aim is to lower the social and psychological barrier to violence. The Jacobin Democrats of today are systematically destroying the legacy of the Democratic Party. And why not? Their model is not the American Founding, but the radical mandated equality—and violence—of the French Revolution.

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It is scary.

Half of Vienna Secondary School Students Are Now Muslim (RMX)

Almost half of students in Vienna’s public middle schools are now Muslim, according to new figures from the Vienna Education Directorate, marking the latest sign of a rapid demographic and cultural shift inside the Austrian capital’s classrooms. The data, cited by Heute, shows that Muslim students account for 49.4 percent of children in Vienna’s public middle schools — just short of an absolute majority. Across the city’s public compulsory schools more broadly, including elementary, middle, special needs, and polytechnic schools, Muslim students now make up 42 percent, up from 41.2 percent in the previous school year.


Catholic students, once the dominant group in the city, now account for just 16.7 percent of children in the public schools included in the figures. Orthodox students make up 14.2 percent, while children with no religious affiliation account for 23.2 percent. The figures also reveal a stark divide between Vienna’s public and private schools. In private schools, Catholics remain the largest group at 45.39 percent, followed by students with no religious affiliation at 25.1 percent and Orthodox students at 10.6 percent. Muslim children account for just 7.6 percent of students in Vienna’s private schools.

Taken together, across both public and private schools, Muslim students now form the largest single group at 38.3 percent. Even when Catholic and Orthodox children are combined, they reach only around 33.6 percent.The numbers reveal how the city’s public schools are becoming the front line of a much broader cultural transformation. Earlier this year, Remix News reported that more than half of first-grade students in Vienna were listed as Muslim for the first time, while separate reporting from Profil described one secondary school where a Christian boy was allegedly the only Christian in his first-grade class.

At that school, 230 of the 390 students were Muslim, while 99 percent of the students had an immigration background. Only five children in the entire school were reported to have no migrant background. The Christian boy was reportedly mocked by classmates and called a “pig,” while teachers described classrooms marked by language barriers, social problems, and growing religious pressure.The school was said to include students speaking 32 different languages, with Turkish, Arabic, and Chechen among the most common home languages. One teacher said that the problems were so extensive that every class could use its own social worker.

Concerns over integration have also spilled into the school canteen. In October 2025, the Austrian Farmers’ Association warned that pork dishes such as schnitzel, ham noodles, and roast pork had become rare or had disappeared entirely from some Viennese school menus. The association said some schools now offered only vegetarian meals or meat dishes without pork, citing a mother who said her daughter could choose only between vegetarian food and “pork-free” food. “No one has to eat pork, but it must be offered. Pork is part of our culinary culture,” said Corinna Weisl, director of the Farmers’ Association.

The group’s president, Georg Strasser, said preserving choice was the key issue, arguing that “diversity on the plate means freedom of choice for everyone.” For some parents, however, the question is whether public schools can still deliver basic education. In February, Remix News reported the case of a Vienna mother who withdrew her daughter from a public primary school in Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus after two years, saying only four children in the class spoke German fluently.

The mother, identified as Sabine G., said teachers spent much of the day translating instructions and managing basic communication rather than teaching. By the end of the first school year, she said her daughter still could not recite the alphabet, while several classmates had to repeat the grade. She also said her daughter had begun refusing pork after being told it was “unclean” and had started rejecting certain summer clothing.“I felt my child was being strongly influenced,” she said.

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“..thousands of Americans will gather on Sunday, May 17, on the National Mall to rededicate the United States as One Nation Under God. “

‘Golden Thread of Devotion’: Trump’s National Day of Prayer Message (Salgado)

President Donald Trump praised America’s “magnificent birthright of faith” during his May 6 message for the National Day of Prayer. During this year of America’s 250th birthday, Trump declared that “we pledge to never forget the countless blessings God has bestowed upon our people and our country.” The president stated, “From the cradles of civilization in the ancient world to the Christian empires of medieval Europe and the miraculous founding of our own Nation, the entire Western experience has been connected by a golden thread of devotion to God.” He especially emphasized the role of faith in America’s Revolution and founding.


For instance, Trump noted, the Second Continental Congress declared a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in order to invoke God‘s blessing on the fight against Great Britain “for freedom, virtue, and posterity.” Only weeks after that, “armed with unshakable faith, the Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, and paved the way for freedom’s ultimate victory five years later at Yorktown,” Trump celebrated.

Our one nation under God has always acknowledged only one Divine King, as the song “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” affirms. Trump continued, “In the years since, this proud birthright of faith moved our Nation to expand the promise of independence to the furthest reaches of our continent; preserve our Union in the midst of a bloody Civil War; abolish slavery; win two world wars; defeat the evil forces of atheistic communism; plant our Flag on the Moon; and advance truth, beauty, and goodness in our culture every single day.”

One fact of which Trump is very proud and which he often brings up is that after many years of declining religiosity, America is once again turning back to faith. In 2025, a Barna study found that 66% of U.S. adults “say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important in their life today,” which was a whopping 12-point rise over the statistics from just four years before, in 2021. Even more striking, for the first time Barna found the trend in spiritual commitment fueled by the youth of America.

In his National Day of Prayer message, Trump declared: “Today, faith in God is resurging on American shores like never before. Throughout this historic year, we rejoice in the triumph of the American spirit and in the love and grace of Almighty God. And just as our Founders came together in prayer before declaring independence, thousands of Americans will gather on Sunday, May 17, on the National Mall to rededicate the United States as One Nation Under God. ”

Trump has also called for a national Shabbat over May 15-16 to recognize the Jewish contribution to America. “This National Day of Prayer, we proudly recommit to our magnificent birthright of faith,” the president stated. “I encourage all Americans to come together today in prayer, reflecting on the many blessings God has given our Nation and asking for His continued protection, with ceremonies, events, and programs in their houses of worship and places of work, schools, and homes.” In conclusion, he urged, “Above all, we pledge that America will always, as it is written in Psalm 96, ‘Tell His glory among the nations’—and that we will never forget God’s role in creating, protecting, and sustaining the freest, strongest, most prosperous, and greatest country the world has ever known.”

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10 years ahead of his own time.

The Controversy Over Picasso’s Most Shocking Painting (BBC)

The confrontational painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon has been both widely despised and loved, and over the decades has remained contentious. A century after it was created by Picasso, acclaimed US artist Henry Taylor reinterpreted and challenged the piece – and his version is now at the centre of a major exhibition at the Musée Picasso in Paris.


In 1907, Pablo Picasso invited a small circle of artists and friends to his studio in Paris. He wanted to show them a painting he had been working on for six months. Almost unanimously, the reaction from his peers was shock, horror and disgust. The French painter Georges Braque reportedly compared the experience to drinking petrol, and Henri Matisse is said to have called the women in it “hideous”. It wouldn’t be shown publicly until 1916, almost a decade later.

More than a century on, it has become one of Picasso’s most recognisable and controversial works. It has also been reinterpreted by the acclaimed US painter Henry Taylor. His version is currently displayed at a major exhibition at Musée National Picasso in Paris, and Taylor emphasises a key point about the earlier painting: it owes a lot more to African art than Picasso ever liked to admit.The painting Picasso had shown his peers was Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), a large oil painting in which five nude women in a brothel in Barcelona demand the viewer’s attention. Two of the women have mask-like faces, three stare back at the observer, and all have jagged, disjointed bodies. It marked a sharp turn in Picasso’s creative journey and a dramatic departure from the artistic norms of the time.

“Picasso moved away from emotional, figurative painting toward breaking forms apart and rethinking how space and bodies are shown,” Joanne Snrech, a curator at Musée National Picasso, tells the BBC. “This shift was key to the development of Cubism and modern art more broadly.” Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon) was initially named Le Bordel d’Avignon (or The Brothel of Avignon) until 1916, when the title was changed to be less contentious. It is considered a fundamental work in the birth of Cubism, the 20th-Century art movement known for abandoning traditional, realistic forms of representation in favour of fragmented and geometric shapes.

As Picasso did in the Demoiselles, Cubism merged multiple vantage points of an object or person into a single image. “Part of what made the reaction so strong is that Picasso didn’t just change one thing: he changed everything at once,” Snrech says. “Even for artists who were already experimenting with new styles, this felt like a step too far.” But Picasso’s innovations didn’t come out of nowhere. Some of them, it could be argued, came straight from Africa.Months before creating this painting, Picasso had developed a particular interest in African masks and sculptures, spurred by a small figurine – from what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo – that Matisse had purchased in Paris in 1906.

Picasso began regularly visiting the African section of the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro, creating hundreds of preparatory sketches for his new masterpiece.”What struck him wasn’t just how they looked, but how they worked: the faces are simplified, distorted, sometimes quite intense or even unsettling,” Snrech says. “He was clearly inspired by this different approach to the human face, which allowed him to move away from naturalism and toward something more abstract and confrontational.”

Despite this work and many others being shaped by his encounters with African art, Picasso is known to have downplayed its influence. He famously said to a critic working on a series on African art for a journal in 1920 that he had “never heard of it”. Picasso’s reluctance to acknowledge the impact of African art on his work while directly benefiting from it later provoked accusations of cultural appropriation. Critiques highlight the cultural, religious and social significance of the objects that Picasso observed but seemingly ignored, and how this fed into the wider narrative of African art being seen as “primitive” at the time.

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https://twitter.com/Juliedonuts/status/2052227280148009335?s=20 https://twitter.com/robertdunlap947/status/2052343953395974465?s=20 https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2052160639561240826?s=20 https://twitter.com/Tips2Home/status/2052107725383877043?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 052026
 


Ivan Aivazovsky Creation of the World 1864


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

 


 

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

 


 


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

Two things are not up for negotiation:

1) No nukes for Iran.

2) Free passage in Street of Hormuz.

So far, Iran refuses to acknowledge this.

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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WaPo-ABC poll.

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

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

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


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


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

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

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

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

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No longer “little” Marco.

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Read more …

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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Sunday -weekend- interviews.

Extensive Interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (CTH)

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


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

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

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


Imagine that.

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

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

Just yesterday….

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

Let him cook.

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

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

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


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

ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE: Good morning.

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

ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE: Of course.

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Epstein Inheritor Kills Himself (RT)

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


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

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

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

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

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“Now, replace [Germany] with [Canada]

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

Now, replace [Germany] with [Canada].

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

 

 

 

 

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May 042026
 


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


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

 


 

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

 


 


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more …

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Read more …

Oil=profit.

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

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


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

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

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

Read more …

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Read more …

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

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

The U.S. national debt is now larger than the entire American economy and is only set to keep growing, further exacerbating the affordability crisis and risking national security. Out of the $39 trillion total national debt, debt held by the public hit $31.27 trillion on March 31, surpassing the $31.22 trillion in Gross Domestic Product over the past 12 months. The fact that the national debt has reached 100% of GDP – the highest in history except for the years immediately following World War II – is “deeply troubling,” Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, told The Center Square.


“Following World War II, we actually had a good reason for having such a high debt, and the government was on a path to reduce that debt after the war ended,” Boccia said. “In this case, we have debt as high as since World War II, except we are on a steep upward trajectory, and it’s not driven by a temporary war but by permanent entitlement obligations that are expanding – that’s Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.” Social Security and Medicare spending alone made up more than 30% of federal outlays in fiscal year 2025, and that spending is projected to continuously increase in the near future.

While some U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern over the unprecedented debt increase, there is little to no action on substantially reducing federal spending. Yet if Congress does not rein in deficits quickly, current and future generations of American taxpayers will feel the economic brunt of the rising interest costs that servicing the debt requires. “The reason we concern ourselves with debt to GDP is primarily because of the burden it poses for current and future generations, and that is primarily measured in the interest costs that servicing the debt requires from working Americans and taxpayers,” Boccia said.

“There’s strong research indicating that when debt grows to such high levels, above 80% of GDP, it tends to crowd out private sector investment, which reduces economic growth, and therefore economic opportunities, jobs, and higher wages.” In the immediate term, rising debt worsens affordability by spiking interest costs on Americans’ credit card debts, mortgages, car loans, student loans and more. “The federal government is using up so much credit in the market that it’s driving up interest costs, and it affects all of us,” Boccia said. “It has these downstream effects.” The U.S. currently spends more money on financing debt interest costs than it does on national defense – even as high debt ratios directly endanger national security.

“The reason we want governments to maintain low stable debt ratios, preferably below 60% of GDP, is so that they have room, so-called fiscal capacity, to borrow during times of crisis. And that can be a pandemic, a national security crisis, a financial crisis, or an economic recession like we saw in 2008,” Boccia said.“When governments have that room to borrow for that emergency response, it means that their recessions aren’t as severe and they can more easily return to normal economic growth after the crisis ends,” she added.

“But when a government enters a crisis already over-leveraged, holding too much debt, they’re not able to borrow as much as they otherwise would have in order to weather the crisis, and so the crisis will be more severe.” In a situation where America is at war, the results would be disastrous. “If you don’t have the fiscal capacity to respond to a military threat, then you are leaving yourself at risk of not being able to defend yourself,” Boccia said. The national debt is our greatest national security risk.” Without major changes to federal fiscal policy, the U.S. government will default on its debt in about 20 years, according to Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates.

Read more …

Make babies or wear a burka.

Visualizing Europe’s Birth-Rate Collapse (ZH)

Europe’s population is no longer replacing itself. Across the continent, fertility rates have fallen below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain stable population levels, with no country meeting that threshold as of 2024. The map below, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen, shows the number of live births per woman across Europe using the most recent data from Eurostat, FRED, and the UK’s Office for National Statistics.


From Ukraine (0.99) to Spain (1.1), some of Europe’s largest countries now rank among those with the lowest birth rates, highlighting how widespread the decline has become.

Fertility Crisis in South and Eastern Europe
Europe’s lowest birth rates are concentrated in the east and south, where economic strain and geopolitical instability have accelerated long-term declines. Ukraine has seen the sharpest drop. Its fertility rate, which last exceeded the replacement level in 1986, fell to 0.9 in 2022 before recovering slightly to 0.99 in 2024. Among countries at peace, Malta has one of the lowest fertility rates at 1.01, followed by Spain (1.1) and Poland (1.14). [..] Lower fertility in countries like Spain and Poland reflects a mix of economic pressures, including lower wages and the rising cost of raising children, alongside broader trends seen across developed economies. Aging populations are already reshaping national priorities. As Poland seeks to build a larger military, its shrinking population presents a strategic vulnerability.

Europe’s Fertility Woes
This trend extends across the continent. Europe’s largest economies, including Germany (1.36), the UK (1.41), France (1.61), and Italy (1.18), all remain well below replacement levels. Even countries with relatively higher fertility rates, such as Bulgaria (1.72) and Montenegro (1.75), are not producing enough births to stabilize their populations. One response has been increased immigration. In Germany, migration policy in the mid-2010s was shaped partly by the need to support the country’s labor system. However, this approach has also fueled political backlash and the rise of anti-immigration parties.

Family Incentives As A Solution?
Some countries are attempting to boost birth rates through financial incentives. France, Hungary, and Poland have introduced tax credits, subsidies, and other programs aimed at encouraging larger families.Hungary, for example, has spent over a decade expanding benefits for young couples, with the goal of reaching the 2.1 replacement rate by 2030. So far, the results have been limited. Hungary’s fertility rate of 1.41 is similar to countries like the UK and Portugal, suggesting that financial incentives alone may not reverse the broader trend.

Read more …

France is the most advanced in the Great Replacement,. UK a close second

60% of Voters: ‘A Replacement of the French Population by Non-Europeans’ (RMX)

A new poll from the presitigous ifop polling firm shows that a large majority of French citizens believe in a core tenent of the Great Replacement. Specifically, 60 percent of French people told ifop they believe we are witnessing “a replacement of the French population by non-European populations, mainly from the African continent.” The poll also found that 66 percent see it as a bad development, compared to 9 percent who see it as a good thing. Two weeks ago, Marion Maréchal, leader of Identité Libertés, posted to X: “60% of French people think that we are witnessing ‘a replacement of the French population by non-European populations mainly from Africa’ according to @IfopOpinion. To our greatest misfortune, our rulers are among the 40%.” Analyst Paul Cébille, from the Hexagone Observatory, posted the same line.

https://twitter.com/Ellibec/status/2044792277063569781


According to the data from IFOP, 7 percent are undecided. According to the French Directorate General for Foreigners (DGEF), valid French residence permits in 2025 hit an unprecedented level of 4.5 million, an increase of approximately 3 percent, driven primarily by multi-year permits and long-term resident cards, writes Le Journal du Dimanche.= For 2025, one in three permits was issued for family reasons (1.5 million), while one in five was an automatic renewal. New permits also increased to 384,000, a jump of 11 percent, which was partly driven by a 65 percent increase in admissions for humanitarian reasons.

Foreigners with legal status now represent 8.1 percent of France’s adult population, with a high concentration of nationalities from the Maghreb. At the same time, regularizations have declined (-10%, to 28,610), while deportations have increased sharply (+15.7%, to 24,985), reaching their highest level in a decade, notes JDD. Maréchal more recently posted a telling video of the number of illegals coming to the EU, blasting French leaders for their continuous stance of “above all, let’s do nothing!”

Maréchal has also been a vocal critic of Spain’s Socialist PM Pedro Sánchez for his “irresponsible regularization of 500,000 undocumented immigrants,” a figure that some say is likely to skyrocket to over 1.5 million. “Closing Schengen at the Spanish border is a vital act to deter and protect the French and Europeans,” she wrote. The National Rally’s Jordan Bardella has also sounded the alarm over what many consider an immediate threat to France. Bardella has made it clear that he feels the EU must alter current rules to disallow free movement within Schengen for those holding a resident permit.

Read more …

Lock down the UK.

UK School Books Say ‘There’s Plenty Of Room’ For Small Boat Migrants (MN)

British kids as young as five are now being read picture books that paint small boat crossings in glowing terms and urge them to open the door to unlimited migration. While record numbers of illegal arrivals strain housing, schools and public services, left-wing charities are using taxpayer-backed programmes to turn classrooms into recruitment centres for open borders ideology. More than 1,100 schools and nurseries across the UK have signed up to the Schools of Sanctuary programme, run by the City of Sanctuary network. The scheme requires schools to complete a “rigorous” award process to prove they are “working collaboratively to strengthen community approaches to welcoming refugee children and families.” Once awarded, they pay a minimum donation of £75 to £300.


As part of the programme, schools are given a suggested reading list packed with pro-migrant messaging. One book, Kind by Alison Green, illustrated by renowned children’s illustrators such as Quentin Blake and Axel Scheffler, tells children: “Sometimes people have lived through very hard times. They’ve had to leave their homes and their countries because of danger. They are brave and amazing and have extraordinary stories to tell.”

It continues: “Sometimes people say there’s no room for anyone more. But maybe you can say ‘There’s plenty of room! Come on in!’ After all, if you don’t let people in, you’ll never know what you’re missing.” Yeah, come on in! In fact, come on in and live in a hotel in a nice green village, all at taxpayer expense! The book features a cartoon lion in a crowded boat with other animals and encourages pupils to share toys, draw pictures together and even learn words from a foreign child’s language.

Another title, Everybody’s Welcome by Patricia Hegarty, states plainly: “Everybody’s welcome, no matter who they are, wherever they may come from, whether near or far.” No matter who they are. Never a truer word spoken. The classic Elmer and the Hippos is also recommended. In it, elephants initially resent hippos arriving at their river because “there isn’t enough room for them and us.” By the end, the two groups work together and become friends after clearing a blockage. Except of course, in this story none of the hippos go on a stabbing or raping spree. Something the UK is experiencing every single day now.

Schools are also encouraged to hold an annual “Day of Welcome” in June, complete with non-uniform days to raise funds for the scheme or local migrant-support groups. Secondary pupils can even meet real-life refugees promoted by the charity. What could possibly go wrong? Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott has demanded the books be withdrawn “immediately.” She told the Daily Mail: “Classrooms should be places of learning not promoting political ideology, schools have a very clear duty to stay out of politics.”

Trott added: “Portraying the arrival of small boats as a positive thing in books for children as young as five is indoctrination, this is an illegal practice. This organisation has already made clear its aim is to turn pupils into ‘ethically informed change makers’ and that crosses a very clear line.” She concluded: “We must get a grip on these third party resources infiltrating our schools and peddling political agendas to young children.”

The City of Sanctuary UK defended the materials, saying it “works with schools to support a culture of welcome, inclusion and understanding for all members of the community.” It added: “Our suggested educational resources, including book recommendations, are designed to help children develop empathy, critical thinking, and awareness of the experiences of others.” This is not an isolated incident. It fits a clear pattern of using British schools to enforce mass-migration acceptance while cracking down on any pushback.

A Pattern of School Indoctrination
As we previously highlighted, the far left UK Green Party, which is about to become much more influential in Parliament with upcoming local elections, wants to teach children they have a “moral obligation” to accept unlimited immigration: The current government has also urged schools to snitch on “anti-Muslim hostility” in an Orwellian crackdown:Meanwhile, counter-terror police are running ads warning teenagers that sharing “funny content” online could amount to terrorism:And a government-funded video game explicitly warned kids they could be flagged as terrorists for questioning mass migration: Even primary school children are not exempt from the rampant indoctrination:

The message is relentless: British children must be conditioned to accept endless migration, share what little they have, and never question whether “there’s plenty of room.”After all, we’re reliably told to expect the arrival of another 7 MILLION migrants in the coming years: Parents and politicians are right to push back. Schools exist to educate, not to manufacture “ethically informed change makers” for the open-borders lobby. Until third-party political materials are banned from the curriculum and real scrutiny is applied to groups like City of Sanctuary, Britain’s classrooms will continue serving as recruitment tools for the very policies destroying community cohesion and national identity.

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/2049157270043291715 Read more …

Think Ilhan Omar and it’s not so surprising. But it’s very important that Europe and US remain Christian.

DOJ Releases Report Alleging Anti-Christian Bias Under Biden (ET)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 30 released a 500-page report detailing alleged anti-Christian bias on the part of the Biden administration. According to the report by the DOJ’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, the former administration’s prosecutions, policies, and practices constituted bias throughout multiple agencies, in accordance with the administration’s priorities. The task force is chaired by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” Blanche said. “As our report lays out, the Biden Administration’s actions devastated the lives of many Christian Americans.”


Around 200 pages of the report are dedicated to the actions of more than 17 federal agencies that uncovered alleged religious discrimination. The investigation included a review of internal discussions and case files, as well as prosecutorial decisions. There were details of a since-retracted 2023 FBI memo on “radical traditionalist” Catholics, which cited the Southern Poverty Law Center. The review also listed Biden-era regulations on abortion, contraception, gender, and human sexuality, among other issues that pitted the government against religious groups.

The report also makes note of the Biden administration’s reading of the 2019 Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which led to decisions that were based on what the Trump administration report called “sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools and sports.” According to the DOJ report, the previous administration used the FBI, IRS, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies to monitor, investigate, and apply pressure to various Christian groups at a federal level. The current DOJ’s task force was formed in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Feb. 6, 2025, executive order titled Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias. The president ordered multiple agencies to investigate what he called an “egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.”

Conflicting Response
This is a “very different Department of Justice … than the previous administration,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. “The conclusion in the report, at least from an enforcement perspective, was that … federal law was disproportionately used to prosecute pro-life and other Christians under the Biden administration,” he told The Epoch Times. However, Rahmani, who worked at the DOJ from 2009 to 2012, said that while policies change, he has not seen a “systematic bias for or against” any one religious group.“I don’t necessarily see … [that] Christian activists in this country are receiving more prison time for violent acts, as opposed to, you know, Muslim or other religious groups.”

According to Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of the Conscience Project, the report “calls out the brazen assault against religious freedom by the former administration for what it was: a failure of constitutional and statutory duty.” Picciotti-Bayer said in an emailed statement that the Biden administration disregarded “fundamental guarantees” in the First Amendment and federal civil rights law, and treated “sincere religious objections as obstacles to overcome, prosecuting peaceful prayer, trampling on parental rights and steamrolling conscience rights.”

The Interfaith Alliance, however, which states its mission is to “challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism,” responded to the DOJ report, saying their group has “consistently opposed the work of this ‘task force.’” It accused the DOJ of trying to “undermine Americans’ religious freedom and First Amendment rights.” The alliance called the task force’s report a “political stunt designed to promote the lie that American Christians are a persecuted group, while providing justification to target anyone deemed out of step with their Christian nationalist agenda.”

Previous Report
This report comes just weeks after an 800-page report from the department, detailing the “weaponization” of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which called out alleged prosecutorial problems, surveillance activities undertaken by pro-abortion groups, and failures to comply with federal law. Biden’s DOJ did not enforce the law evenly, according to the April 14 report. The task force under the Biden administration treated pro-life groups differently from pro-abortion groups, outlining disproportionate coordination with pro-abortion groups that, according to the report, indicated bias and prosecutorial overreach. In her statement, Picciotti-Bayer said, “Religious freedom isn’t a courtesy the government extends—it’s a legal check on what government can do. It’s refreshing to see that recognized today.”

Read more …

Why do you want to tell her what to do? Does it make you feel good about you?

It’s Time for Erika Kirk to Step Down as CEO of Turning Point USA (Pinsker)

It’s not about right and wrong, because if it were, Erika Kirk would continue as chairwoman and CEO of Turning Point USA for many years to come, fulfilling her dream of advancing her late husband’s legacy — and all those gruesome, ghastly parasites gorging at the trough of a widow’s grief would gag on their own obscenities. But sadly, it’s not about right and wrong. Our world runs on cause and effect. This is a vexing topic to measure on its merits because the emotions strike like a tsunami. Hey, I’m biased, too: Personally, I hope Erika Kirk takes a breather — not out of malice, but because I suspect she’s suffering more than we realize.


Not “suffered.” Not past tense: Her suffering is constant and continuous, without any end in sight. She’s paying a price that’s absurdly unfair, and now she’s being tortured for clicks, clout, and lolz. It’s a dreadful commentary on our conservative community: Charlie Kirk isn’t around to protect his wife anymore, and the silence of his “friends” is deafening. The same people who waved his bloody shirt won’t lift a finger to protect his widow. Didn’t have to be this way, of course. Charlie’s “friends” could’ve circled the wagons around her. If they had despised Erika Kirk’s exploiters, parasites, and liars as much as they despised, say, AIPAC and Israel, the entire PR trajectory would’ve been different.

But they didn’t. And those actions — or lack thereof — have consequences. One of them, unfortunately, is that Erika Kirk has become a distraction from Turning Point USA’s core mission, because the focus is going to be on her. She didn’t ask for the spotlight, but now it’s inevitable. If she’s at a TPUSA event, everything she says and does — even the way she smiles/frowns, interacts with speakers, and the clothes she wears — will be scrutinized. She’s become the lead story. And when she’s NOT at an event, the focus will be on that, too. It’s a no-win situation.

The smartest PR solution is “promotion by demotion”: Announce that Mrs. Kirk will assume the title of Chairman Emeritus (or something equivalent) and will spearhead a new passion project — something directly tied to Charlie Kirk’s legacy. At the same time, announce the appointment of a hot new CEO — someone with credibility and gravitas for TPUSA’s young-leaning audience. (Twenty-four-year-old Nick Shirley could be a very compelling candidate.) The higher the new CEO’s profile, the better. It’ll pull the media spotlight away from Mrs. Kirk: Can the new guy succeed? What will be different? Will TPUSA grow or shrink? How will his first event go? What happens next?

In the meantime, Erika Kirk can catch her breath and mend her (many) wounds. Then, in two or three years, if the new guy is knocking it out of the park — elevating TPUSA to dazzling new heights — everyone wins. Charlie’s legacy grows even larger. Plus, there’s always the option of the new guy stepping down at a pre-agreed time, and reappointing Erika Kirk to CEO. The media climate won’t be the same in another few years: Mrs. Kirk could assume the role when she’s ready — and without this carnivorous feeding frenzy.

I thinkit’s a wiser PR option than continuing with the status quo. But there’s a caveat: I’m placing pragmatism ahead of morality. And I told you so from the very beginning: In my mind, this isn’t about right and wrong; it’s about cause and effect. But what if TPUSA thinks otherwise? I don’t own TPUSA. It’s not my company. These are my values, not theirs.

If the people in charge of TPUSA — those who knew Charlie Kirk the best — decide it’s better to be moral than pragmatic, that’s absolutely their right. And if they conclude that Charlie Kirk would NEVER cave to those loathsome liars, so neither will they, then God bless and hooray for TPUSA. Perhaps stepping down as CEO would be immoral. If so, I hope and pray Erika Kirk, CEO and chairwoman, succeeds. But I also hope and pray that if her suffering is overwhelming, she’s given an offramp. Her children need her more than we do. She’s an amazingly brave woman, but like all of us, she’s flesh and blood. We’re all fragile, flawed, and breakable. Eventually, enough is enough.

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Trying to look ahead more than a few days is hard.

Where Washington and The Rest of The World Diverge (Lukyanov)

There will be much talk this May about the so-called “strategic triangle” of Russia, China and the United States. US President Donald Trump is expected in Beijing first, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Whenever the leaders of the three most influential powers meet, speculation inevitably follows. What if they strike some grand bargain? What if the world suddenly becomes more orderly? Such expectations are misplaced. The restructuring of the global system is already under way, and it isn’t a process that can be halted or reversed by summit diplomacy.


Even so, turning points in history can unfold in different ways; carefully managed, or recklessly accelerated. That’s what makes the coming meetings significant. Both Russia and the United States are now deeply involved in large-scale military confrontations. The importance of these conflicts lies not only in their scope, but in their broader consequences for the international system. China, by contrast, has historically kept its distance from such entanglements. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear in Beijing that it can’t remain insulated from their effects. Discussions at the recent Valdai Club conference in Shanghai suggested that China is reassessing its position.

At the center of this reassessment is a simple question: what, if anything, is still possible in relations with Washington? For decades, China’s rise was closely tied to its economic relationship with the United States. The arrangement sometimes described as “Chimerica,” American capital and technology combined with Chinese labor and manufacturing, formed the backbone of globalization. It wasn’t an equal partnership, but it was mutually beneficial. For a long time, it seemed that basic economic self-interest would prevent either side from undermining it.That assumption has now collapsed.

By the late 2000s, dissatisfaction in Washington was already evident. The United States increasingly viewed the arrangement not as a source of shared gains, but as a structural imbalance. Over time, the accumulation of tensions, economic and strategic, reached a point where incremental adjustments were no longer sufficient. What followed was a qualitative shift in the system itself. For several decades, the global order operated largely in the interests of the United States as the leader of the Western bloc. Its gradual erosion now threatens those advantages. Washington’s response has been to use the current period of transition to secure as much of a head start as possible for the future.

Donald Trump has become the most visible embodiment of this approach. His rhetoric, openly transactional and even boastful, may appear unconventional, but the underlying logic predates him. The objective is clear: maximize immediate gains and build up national capacity as quickly as possible. Then use that accumulated strength to dominate the next phase of global competition. This represents a sharp departure from the earlier American strategy, which prioritized long-term investments in the international system. Those investments didn’t always produce immediate returns, but they reinforced a framework that ultimately benefited the United States more than anyone else. Today, the emphasis has shifted toward short-term advantage, even at the risk of longer-term instability.

Whether this strategy will succeed remains uncertain. The initial phase has already produced setbacks. But the broader direction is unlikely to change. Future administrations may adopt a different tone, but they will operate within the same constraints. The liberal international order won’t return, not because of Trump’s personality, but because the conditions that sustained it no longer exist.

For other major powers, including China, this has profound implications. The idea of a comprehensive “big deal” with the United States, one that stabilizes the global system for years to come, has effectively become unrealistic. Trump’s frequent use of the word “deal” is revealing. In his vocabulary, it’s more than a mere strategic concept but a commercial one. A deal is “big” not because it is durable or all-encompassing, but because of the scale of immediate gain it delivers. And like any commercial transaction, it can be abandoned if a more desirable opportunity presents itself.

Under such conditions, long-term agreements on the structure of world order are impossible. Washington is unlikely to commit to any arrangement that limits its flexibility before it has secured what it considers a sufficient advantage. This is not necessarily a product of malice or arrogance. It is, in its own way, a rational response to a period of extreme uncertainty. The United States is seeking to preserve the foundations of its future dominance by acting decisively in the present. But rationality on one side forces adaptation on the other. If key players conclude that stable agreements with Washington are unattainable, their behavior changes.

Military capability becomes more important as a safeguard against pressure. At the same time, interest grows in alternative forms of cooperation. That is, frameworks that operate independently of the United States and are insulated from its influence. This logic isn’t new, but it’s gaining urgency. Russia has been advocating for such arrangements for several years. China, by contrast, has approached the idea with caution, hoping instead to preserve some form of mutually beneficial relationship with the United States. That hope now appears to be fading. The upcoming visits to Beijing will provide a useful indication of how far this shift has progressed.

The meeting between Trump and Xi will likely define the limits of a temporary accommodation between two powers that remain economically intertwined, yet increasingly distrustful of one another. The question is no longer whether a comprehensive agreement is possible, but what narrow, short-term arrangements can be reached, and how long they will last. Putin’s subsequent talks with Xi will address a different issue: the extent to which Russia and China are prepared to develop mechanisms of cooperation that bypass the United States altogether. Moscow has been moving in this direction for some time. Beijing now appears to be considering whether it must follow. May will not produce a grand bargain. But it may show, more clearly than before, how the world is adjusting to the absence of one.

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BYD has a factory the size of the city of San Francisco?

Thing is, with the Cybercabs and Cybertrucks coming, you won’t be allowed to drive Chinese cars on American roads.

Or any other cars.

The US Wants To Ban Chinese Cars, But They’re Already At The Gate (ZH)

Efforts in Washington to block Chinese-made cars often sound like a future problem – but in practice, those vehicles are already within reach of American consumers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Just south of the U.S. border, Chinese automakers have been rapidly expanding in Mexico, setting up dealerships and offering vehicles at prices far below what most new cars cost in the U.S. Brands like BYD, Geely, and Great Wall Motor are selling electric and gas-powered models packed with features – often for the price of a used car in the U.S. That proximity matters: American consumers living near the border can easily see, test, and in some cases drive these vehicles, even if large-scale imports remain restricted.


Meanwhile, U.S. policymakers are moving in the opposite direction. Proposed tariffs, import restrictions, and national security reviews are all aimed at limiting Chinese auto penetration, especially in the electric vehicle market. The concerns go beyond economics—lawmakers have raised questions about data security, supply chains, and the long-term competitiveness of domestic automakers. The Journal writes that the situation is more complicated than a simple “ban.” Chinese-built vehicles are already entering the U.S. market indirectly. Some come through global partnerships, shared manufacturing platforms, or brands that don’t obviously appear Chinese to consumers.

Others arrive in small numbers through personal imports or cross-border use. In other words, the presence is already here—it’s just not always visible at scale. At the same time, Chinese automakers are becoming major global players. Companies like BYD, for example, have surged in electric vehicle production and are expanding across Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Their strategy often focuses on affordability and speed to market—areas where traditional U.S. automakers have struggled, especially as new car prices continue to climb.

That pricing gap is a key pressure point. Many American buyers are increasingly priced out of new vehicles, creating demand for cheaper alternatives. If Chinese automakers were allowed to compete freely in the U.S., they could significantly undercut domestic offerings—something that worries both policymakers and legacy car companies. So while the political conversation centers on keeping Chinese cars out, the reality is that the market is already shifting around that goal. The vehicles are being sold nearby, seen by U.S. consumers, and in some cases already used on American roads.

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Using Seinfeld to brag about having an EV. Well, at least it’s not someone relevant today.

Jerry Seinfeld Drops a Truth Bomb About Electric Cars (Matt Margolis)

What’s the deal with electric cars? Am I right? Jerry Seinfeld has a lot of opinions about cars. If you know much about him, you know he loves classic cars, particularly Porsches. So, it’s hardly surprising that when it comes to electric cars, he’s not so enthusiastic.”I’m not interested in electric cars at all,” Seinfeld said in a recent interview with AirMail. “Anybody else wants to do it, that’s fine. I think it’s a big, stupid virtue signal. ‘Look at me. I’m saving the planet, yeah.’ What about the lithium? It’s all BS.”Here’s the thing: on the environmental question, he’s not wrong to be skeptical.


The lithium argument isn’t just a talking point. Mining one ton of lithium emits roughly 15 tons of CO2, and producing a large EV battery can generate over 70% more carbon dioxide than manufacturing a conventional car. Of course, EV advocates are quick to note that those upfront emissions are offset over time and that, over the life of the car, EVs might be better, but I’m not convinced the difference is significant. Maybe it is. But, as an EV owner myself, that wasn’t even a factor in my decision to get one.

I bought my 2026 Model Y (Juniper) a year ago, Saturday. And saving the planet was not on my list of reasons to do it. I’ve never bought the idea that EVs represent a clear-cut environmental win. They trade one set of problems for another. It’s a different impact, not no impact. If anything, the last thing I wanted people to think when I bought the Tesla was that I was some hippie environmentalist. It probably helped that the left started despising Elon Musk. So, my Model Y was, if anything, a minor act of defiance. Works for me.Still, what kept me sold wasn’t ideology — it was the car itself. The minimalist interior is genuinely elegant in a way that most modern vehicles are not.

The technology is impressive, and charging at home has eliminated something I never realized I quietly resented: the gas station. I don’t miss it.The savings are quite real, too. Yes, I’ve paid a lot of money to get a home charger and have it installed. But during the six-month period from October through March, my home EV charging costs totaled $330.77. Think that’s good? Well, off-peak charging discounts reduced the cost to $186.17—about $31 per month.But the feature that has genuinely changed how I drive is Full Self-Driving. I pay extra for it, and it’s worth every penny. Right now, roughly 95% of my miles are driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged — grocery runs, highway cruising, a road trip to Boston. I hand the car the wheel and let it work.

Seinfeld, for his part, had a joke ready about self-driving technology, too. He predicted future generations will be stunned that people once steered themselves around at any speed and “just crash and kill themselves constantly.” He’s not wrong about that either. For someone who claims not to care about the technology, he nailed the pitch. And yes, I do feel safer with FSD activated. So here’s where we land: Seinfeld is right that the green halo around EVs is overblown and that lithium mining is an inconvenient truth. He’s right that a lot of EV buyers are performing environmentalism rather than practicing it. But the car itself — stripped of the politics and the posturing — is genuinely good. Mine has been. Buy it or don’t. Just don’t buy it because you think you’re saving the planet.

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Who else are they going to buy a battery pack from, or vahicles?

Tesla Made $573 Million Selling To Musk’s Other Companies Last Year (ZH)

Elon Musk’s business empire is becoming increasingly intertwined — and if SpaceX eventually goes public, Wall Street will likely take a much harder look at how money moves across his companies. A newly disclosed filing shows Tesla booked more than $570 million last year from transactions with Musk-controlled companies, according to Insider. That included roughly $430 million from selling Megapack battery systems to xAI and another $143 million — primarily vehicle sales — to SpaceX. Some of those purchases included Cybertrucks, which have reportedly become a significant part of SpaceX’s vehicle fleet.


The relationship goes both ways. Insider writes that Tesla also disclosed that it put $2 billion into SpaceX and xAI last year and paid the companies a combined $15 million+ for various commercial and consulting services. Taken together, the filings offer a clearer picture of how frequently Musk’s companies now rely on one another. xAI has been absorbed into SpaceX, engineers from Tesla have previously worked on projects at X, Grok is being built into Tesla products, and Musk has publicly discussed future collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX on the Roadster.

Tesla also disclosed last week that Elon Musk’s total 2025 compensation was valued at roughly $158 billion, based on the maximum fair value of stock options tied to his newly approved pay package. The figure immediately caught Wall Street’s attention because of its sheer scale…it’s nearly 40 times Tesla’s annual net income and roughly 1.5 times the company’s total revenue for the year.

For investors already uneasy about the growing overlap between Musk’s companies, the compensation number adds another layer of concern around governance and capital allocation. Between massive cross-company transactions, shared talent across SpaceX, xAI, and X, and now an unprecedented pay package, analysts are likely to keep a much closer watch on how Musk’s empire operates — especially if SpaceX eventually becomes a public company too.

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“Some critics have argued that the character looks strikingly similar to Elon Musk’s mother, May Musk, and she even drives a vehicle that looks like a pink Cybertruck. “

Animal Farm Film A Hollywood Perversion Of Orwell’s Anti-Communist Classic (ZH)

George Orwell’s prognostications about the future of authoritarianism have proven consistently accurate. They have only been limited by his inability to foresee the creation of certain technologies which make the future look even more bleak. The reason his books, like 1984 and Animal Farm, are considered classics of literature is because they are timeless. Their warnings and messages still apply today and will probably apply centuries from now.


Animal Farm, first published in 1945, is a tale specifically written as an allegory for the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of Soviet Communism. Despite the characters being talking animals, the themes are dark and disturbing. It is a story about the naivety of the “underclass”, the exploitation of the “have-nots” by communists seeking to use gullible people as weapons against their “imperialist” and capitalist enemies. It is a grotesque tragedy composed like a children’s novel, which makes it all the more effective. It destroys the notion of “equity” and exposes the truth: There is no such thing as a socialist Utopia, there can only ever be socialist dystopia. And to get it, leftists are happy to sacrifice you and everything you love. Not only that, but they expect you to applaud them for it.

The message is made iconic in the book’s famous phrase: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others…” This is the epitome of woke ideology and how progressives behave today. It’s no surprise that Hollywood is incapable of telling this story properly. In order to do that, they would have to put their own warped beliefs under a microscope, and that’s simply not going to happen. The new animated adaptation of Animal Farm is being billed as a kid-friendly foray into concepts of “authoritarianism”; but it perverts Orwell’s message about communism and demonizes capitalism instead.

Audiences across the board are not happy. The movie is distributed by Angel Studios, which bills itself as a Christian and conservative leaning company. However, the makers of the film (director Andy Serkis and The Imaginarium Studios) are entirely left wing. Given the people involved, Angel Studios should have know what kind of disaster they would have on their hands.Andy Serkis is a former member of the Socialist Workers Party, a Troskyist Group in England in the 1990s. Though he is no longer involved, he still considers himself left wing, and his exit from political provocation was largely because of conflicts with his acting career. Enlisting a hardcore socialist to direct Animal Farm feels like a deliberate middle finger to conservatives who see the story as a cautionary battle cry against leftist movements.

The film was even released on May Day (International Workers Day), which is a communist holiday. In developing the film as far back as 2013, Serkis (still riding the high of his successful role as “Gollum” in the Lord Of The Rings movies) admitted that he had no intention of sticking to the critique of communism. Rather, he believed that if Orwell wrote Animal Farm today, he would obviously compose a takedown of capitalism. “First and foremost, we are not making a film about Communism and Stalinism because if Orwell was writing the story today, he would be talking about other relevant topics like globalisation and corporate greed…” In other words, Andy Serkis, like most communists, wants to rewrite history in favor of his ideology.

This is exactly what he did in the new Angel Studios film. Many of the characters from the book are the same, and some of the plot points remain. The animals revolt against the farmers and seek to build their Utopia of fairness. But, the pigs (who represent the communist manipulators in the book) are not evil in the film. Rather, they are corrupted into doing bad things by a new character – Ruthless billionaire Frieda Pilkington and her corporation. Frieda is the typical evil rich white person common in leftist mythology. Some critics have argued that the character looks strikingly similar to Elon Musk’s mother, May Musk, and she even drives a vehicle that looks like a pink Cybertruck.

Rather than the pigs being conniving and malicious from the beginning, Frieda corrupts them into evil with the promise of riches. Her plan is to use the pigs as a means to get control of the farm. In the end, the animals realize their mistake and their solution is yet another communist revolution. The message being, communism only goes wrong when evil capitalists influence the outcome. Collectivist ideology is inherently good. Leftists are not psychotic ideologues thirsting for power and control. They are just led astray sometimes.

There are numerous hatchet job films denigrating capitalism out of Hollywood. There are few if any that explore the nightmares of communism and left-wing collectivism. Orwell’s Animal Farm is one of the few stories that captures the insidious nature of “equity” and suicidal empathy that permeate communist societies. It is about the tools that communists use to lead the population astray, not about capitalism leading communists astray. Even worse is the marketing strategy of Angel Studios, which has tapped into the pockets of conservative and libertarian influencers (including Tucker Carlson) to sell the movie.

It is likely that most of these influencers never watched the film before they promoted it, and if they did, it might be time to question their motives. Critics and audiences alike have given Animal Farm a thunderous thumbs down. Angel Studios is the same company that put Sound Of Freedom in theaters; a movie which was relentlessly (and suspiciously) attacked by the political left for putting a spotlight on child trafficking and pedophile rings. It is unfortunate that they made placed this project in the hands of the same left wing community that tried to tear them down only a couple years ago.

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Not everyone can say that they saved a city of 8 million people. Godspeed.

Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized In Critical Condition (ZH)

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalized and is in critical condition, according to The New York Times, citing his spokesman, Ted Goodman. “Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Goodman said, before asking “that you join us in prayer” for the former NYC mayor.


Goodman did not disclose what medical emergency sent Giuliani to a Florida hospital Sunday afternoon. President Trump also released a statement on Giuliani’s medical emergency, telling those on Truth Social, “Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition.” “What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! They cheated in the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did everything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!” the president said.

Giuliani is a former federal prosecutor, NYC mayor, and longtime Trump supporter. He first rose to national prominence as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in the 1980s, where he prosecuted organized crime, Wall Street corruption, drug trafficking, and public corruption. One of his most defining legal wins was helping break the power grip of NY’s Mafia families through RICO prosecutions. From the mid-1990s through 2001, Giuliani served as mayor of NYC, where his administration became known for its tough-on-crime posture. He later ran unsuccessfully for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination before re-emerging as a major political figure and Donald Trump’s personal attorney, particularly during the Russia hoax investigation and the post-2020 election fight. *This is a developing story.

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https://twitter.com/MinusWells/status/2050716693656489993?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 032026
 


Rembrandt van Rijn The standard bearer 1636


Trump: ‘We Cannot Let Lunatics Have a Nuclear Weapon’ (Robert Spencer)
Sen. John Kennedy Sums Up the Iranian Regime’s Current Predicament (Lower)
Hope for America (Ron Paul)
Trump Jokes US Will Be ‘Taking Over’ Cuba After Iran Conflict (JTN)
The Greatest Salesman: Zelensky Promotes His Favorite Weapons Company (RT)
Georgia, South Carolina Won’t Postpone Voting to Review Redistricting (CTH)
Republicans to Best Democrats in Mid-Decade Redistricting War (Josh Hammer)
Pressure Campaign to Get Scott Jennings Booted From CNN (Matt Margolis)
Watch the Look on Gavin Newsom’s Face As Bill Maher Torches His Insanity (Doug P.)
Trump Says Medicare Will Soon Cover Weight-Loss Drugs (ET)
Trump Targets Merz in Geopolitical Maneuver (CTH)
Pope Leo XIV Names Former Illegal Immigrant As New Bishop (JTN)

 


 

https://twitter.com/triffic_stuff_/status/2050239340664512879?s=20 https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2050161519254548669?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2050265533988360556?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2050268785089871912?s=20

 


 


Easy enough. You may not agree, but that’s not the same thing.

Trump: ‘We Cannot Let Lunatics Have a Nuclear Weapon’ (Robert Spencer)

On Saturday, President Donald Trump revealed the startling news that he is awaiting the precise details of a peace proposal from the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whoever exactly they may be. “They told me,” Trump said, “about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.” This is odd on its face, as it is ordinarily the winning side that dictates the terms of the peace, but of course the people who are reaching out to Trump aren’t dictating anything; they’re just hoping to survive the present conflict with the Islamic Republic still in power.


That would be a victory in itself, for the fanatical ideologues in Tehran only need time to regroup and resume their jihad. They also need to settle the question of who exactly is in charge, for, as Trump noted, they are currently “having a hard time figuring out who their leader is.” However, the Islamic Republic will remain the Islamic Republic until it is overthrown, however and whenever that might happen. The idea that the mullahs will abandon their jihad once and for all as a result of the reversals they have suffered in this conflict is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of their beliefs, and of what the Islamic Republic is all about.

Trump, however, made it clear that it would take the Islamic Republic a great deal of time to rebuild. “We’re doing very well with regard to Iran,” he said. “Again, they want to make a deal. They are decimated.” He explained that “if we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild. But we’re not leaving right now. We’re going to do it so nobody has to go back in two years or five years.”

All this followed his remarks on Friday, in which he made it clear that he was not intending to give an inch: “We cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. He explained that the war was necessary to achieve this objective, and that the economic downside hadn’t been as bad as he had expected it would be: “I thought the numbers would be much worse. I thought the stock market would go down much more. I thought the oil prices would go up much more. I said, ‘But we have no choice. Whether it does or doesn’t, I have to do what’s right.’ We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

In his Friday remarks, Trump also painted a picture of the Iranian regime in dire straits: “They’re getting decimated. They have no Navy. They have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment. They have no radar. They have no leaders. Their leaders are all gone.”

Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic still remains in power, and as long as that remains true, no terms they send to the president for a peace settlement will be worth the paper they’re printed on. When a regime is made up of true believers and based on a fanatically held ideology, it is not going to compromise, no matter how difficult its circumstances become. There was no chance during World War II, even when it became abundantly clear that National Socialist Germany was certain to lose the war, that moderate National Socialists would supplant Hitler and negotiate a peace agreement. For the National Socialists, it was always a fight to the death.

And so it is today for the mullahs. Mojtaba Khamenei, the alleged supreme leader who still has not been seen since he became the Islamic Republic’s top dog, may or may not even be alive, and may or may not be in charge of the government. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its hands red with the blood of tens of thousands of Iranians who dared to protest against the regime, may indeed be the functional new government, determined to rule through terror inside the country and to spread it internationally as much as they possibly can. Or there could be, or could emerge, some other leader altogether.

Whatever the case may be, until the leader of Iran announces that the Islamic Republic is no more, any American president would be foolish to accept, or to trust, and peace offer from Tehran. Deception is at the heart of this regime’s philosophy, as is the divine mission, as the Iranian leadership sees it, to destroy Israel and America. Trump is right to be determined to deny the “lunatics” a nuclear weapon. If he follows through on that determination, the conflict will continue.

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“We “have Iran by the ying-yang,”

“.. if they shut down their wells – as they may have to – because of the low pressure, they’ll never get them started again.”

Sen. John Kennedy Sums Up the Iranian Regime’s Current Predicament (Lower)

Never fail, when you are craving some funny video to lighten the national mood – especially during a weekend break, and in the middle of so much uncertainty- you can look to Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (R), who is awesome at finding the perfect phrase to tickle everyone that is unique – just like him. That was certainly the case this week, when he was asked about where he thinks the current situation stands with ending the conflict with Iran. I’ll swing back to that shortly. As RedState previously wrote, the U.S, has put quite a squeeze on Iran over the past two or three weeks, with the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz slowing the Iranian government’s ability to sell its lifesblood – oil – to a standstill.


We have also managed to stymie them financially, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his department putting the Iran regime in a vise grip, as my colleague Nick Arama wrote. And as we wrote late last week, Bessent laid out the facts on the banking front, in answer to the despairing propaganda of Iranian Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, while USCENTCOM estimated the blockage effort had drained a jaw-dropping “$6 billion-plus” from Iran’s coffers. Now, we are hearing the most current estimate, with the Pentagon telling Axios Friday that since the U.S. blockade began, that staggering amount of wealth the regime has lost stands at just about $5 billion (again, that’s with a “B”).

“The Defense Department estimates Iran has been denied nearly $5 billion in oil revenue because of the U.S. blockade in the Gulf of Oman, causing unprecedented pressure on Tehran’s government [….]

Zoom in: Since the blockade began April 13, the U.S. military has redirected more than 40 vessels that have tried to pass through the blockade by carrying oil and other contraband, Pentagon officials say.
• In total, 31 tankers laden with 53 million barrels of Iranian oil are “stuck in the Gulf” and have a value of at least $4.8 billion. Two ships have been seized by the U.S.
• Unable to fill oil in new tankers as on-land storage facilities reach capacity, Iran has begun to use older tankers as floating storage.
• Some tankers are taking “a costlier and longer route to deliver oil to China for fear of U.S. maritime interdiction,” officials said.

Back to that fun clip of the sage, John Kennedy. In a recent appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” program, he talked about the success President Trump and the U.S. military have had to this point, saying in his unique way that the Iranian regime has run out of moves on the metaphorical chessboard. We “have Iran by the ying-yang,” Sen. Kennedy said. But he didn’t stop there. He then brought the receipts: “There’s nothing going in, and there’s nothing coming out. The only source of revenue that Iran has is the sale of oil, and they can’t sell a drop.

“They have to continue producing because if they shut down their wells – as they may have to – because of the low pressure, they’ll never get them started again.” The senator said “another two to three weeks” of the blockade will force the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard “to have an epiphany, and be born again “. He also dismissed naysayers in the media who claim that the U.S. getting a hold of Iran’s fissile [nuke-building] materials needs to happen before claiming victory; Sen. Kennedy said he disagreed with anyone who said a regime change needs to take place first. And he said those yard sticks aren’t accurate—all indications, he said, prove that the United States “has [already] won.”

Trump said late on Friday we got a new offer from Iran, so we will see where things go next.

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And then Trump says: ‘We Cannot Let Lunatics Have a Nuclear Weapon’

Hope for America (Ron Paul)

Last weekend my Institute for Peace and Prosperity hosted another conference here on the Texas Gulf Coast. Not only did we have a full house attending the conference – which is in a way the most important thing – but in this era of profound disappointment and disillusionment, we struck a note of optimism thankfully due to our wonderful line-up of speakers. The main topic of the conference, titled “War is Back on the Menu,” was of course the disastrous decision by the Trump Administration to launch an unprovoked war against Iran – both last June and again on February 28th.


Professor Robert Pape from the University of Chicago offered a compelling blueprint to break free of some of the neocon chains that bind us to the Middle East to our own detriment. Let the states in the region manage their own security, he argued. It is not our job to be their policemen. Very importantly, we were fortunate to have had as speakers two individuals who stood up for their principles when putting them aside for expediency – and personal gain – would have been so much easier.

Former US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was, in her own words, “a General in the MAGA Army.” She dedicated her life and plenty of her own money to the cause of electing Donald Trump because she believed he would put America first, as he had promised. She watched that cause betrayed, first with the President’s support for tyrannical central bank digital currency and then with his refusal to release the Epstein files. Finally, she explained, after he had dubbed her a “traitor” for disagreeing with him on these issues, constant death threats forced her to resign her seat in the House.

She could have gone along to get along – as most do in Congress. Instead, she stood up for what was right. Likewise Joe Kent, who was serving as director of Counterterrorism at the Office of National Intelligence, could have kept quiet as he watched another war being launched on a mountain of lies pushed by special interests. He was a highly decorated US combat veteran who held a Senate-confirmed position in the Administration.That would have been a golden ticket to any number of future profitable opportunities if he “played his cards right.” Instead, he did what was right. He resigned, writing in a statement that the war was not justified and that it was being fought for Israeli rather than American interests.

As could be predicted, Joe suffered the same demonization that Marjorie suffered for standing up for his values and principles. Their courage in making this sacrifice for truth should inspire all of us. It should give us hope. My words of encouragement were simple: we don’t need a majority to change things. A purposeful minority dedicated to the principles of peace and liberty can move mountains. We must stay strong and, importantly, stick together and work together across all party and ideological lines. We must be the big coalition that refuses to sacrifice our principles just as Joe and Marjorie refused to sacrifice theirs.

We will be in Dulles, VA, on Labor Day weekend for our tenth annual DC conference. Mark your calendars and be a part of our movement!
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Little Marco.

Trump Jokes US Will Be ‘Taking Over’ Cuba After Iran Conflict (JTN)

President Donald Trump jokingly claimed Friday night that the United States will be “taking over” Cuba in the near future and hinted that it could be after the conflict with Iran is resolved. The president made the comment when recognizing attendees at a Florida event in West Palm Beach. The guests included former Rep. Dan Mica.”He comes from, originally, a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately,” Trump said of Mica. “Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job.”The president then jokingly suggested that the takeover could happen as some U.S. warships return from the Middle East.


“On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world,” he said. “We’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’” The comments come after Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Cuba, citing concerns regarding threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The president has also teased in the past that Cuba could be “next,” after the U.S. successfully carried out a military operation to retrieve former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his country to stand trial in the United States.

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“Sitting on top of the rubble will be Zelensky, his cabal, with begging bowls in one hand, a movie script and a sales pitch in the other.”

The Greatest Salesman: Zelensky Promotes His Favorite Weapons Company (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whom US President Donald Trump once heralded as ”the greatest salesman on Earth,” promoted his bag-man’s weapons company at the centre of new revelations of corruption, on multiple trips abroad, signing deals that have enriched his close associates even as they attempted to hide their de facto ownership of the company. Reported transcripts of surveillance recordings of Zelensky’s longtime former business partner Timur Mindich – known as “Zelensky’s wallet” in Kiev – reveal him to be the de facto owner of the Fire Point weapons company and in constant conversation with former defense minister and Zelensky insider Rustem Umerov to secure contracts with Kiev’s backers and inflate its value.


Fire Point co-owner Denis Shtilerman has consistently denied the company’s ties to Mindich and dismissed the recordings as a slander campaign aimed at “damaging the reputation of one of Ukraine’s most effective weapons producers.” Zelensky, though, with his ability to secure billions from foreign governments – the EU has just backed a €90 billion package for Kiev dressed as a “loan” – has promoted the company at home and abroad as a cutting-edge technology player central to the conflict with Russia, likely in full knowledge that he would eventually be lining his own pockets.

How often has Zelensky promoted Fire Point
Zelensky lauded Fire Point on most of his 130-plus trips since 2022, first as an opportunity for partnerships with European firms and later as a cost-effective solution against Iranian drones in the Middle East. In recent weeks Zelensky has touted what he grandly announced as a “European joint security system” to smiles and applause at meetings across Germany, France and Norway, promoting Fire Point’s largely untested missiles as a “new patriot” – a reference to the in-demand and highly expensive US batteries. But his weapons grade con-trick goes back further and deeper than that.

The ‘most successful weapon’
Just days after the Associated Press published the first photo of the Flamingo in August 2025, Zelensky described it as “by far the most successful missile in Ukraine’s arsenal.” There are no recorded cases of the weapon having been used in combat by then. He added that it would be mass-produced by February. Then-Defense Minister Denis Shmygal hailed the Flamingo as “a very powerful” weapon capable of striking deep inside Russia.

Crowdfunded in EU, cashed in Ukraine
In October 2025, Zelensky presented Fire Point as one of Ukraine’s top drone makers at the International Defense Industries Forum in Kiev, which was attended by Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. “By the end of the year, no less than 50% of the weapons at the front must be Ukrainian-made, and this task must be accomplished,” Zelensky said. A month later a Czech crowdfunding campaign donated approximately $760,000 to the company, which was by then courting hundreds of millions in investment from the UAE-based weapons group EDGE. In April the Ukrainian anti-monopoly Committee blocked the deal.

Transcripts suggest Umerov and Mindich believed that each Fire Point shareholder would cash out some $300 million on the back of the EDGE deal and other European contracts, which would value the company at some $2.7 billion. The crowdfunded cash is not mentioned but the transcript lists Mindich saying 50% of the money received from public defense contracts should be taken as cash out.

Rocket fuel and special terms in Denmark
In 2025, Denmark announced plans to host a Fire Point rocket fuel production plant in Vojens, southern Jutland, near the Skrydstrup Air Base. Copenhagen rushed through special legislation forbidding any local, social or environmental opposition to the proposed plant, judging it to be in the national interest. In September 2024 and June 2025, Umerov as Ukrainian Minister of Defense, met with his Danish counterpart to finalise protocols, knowing Fire Point was beneficially owned by Zelensky’s close confidant Mindich and not by the former movie location scout Egor Skalyga, listed as Fire Point’s CEO and minority shareholder. Zelensky personally met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen multiple times in early 2025 to finalize the “co-production” strategy and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was brought onto the board of the Danish company.

Zelensky closes deals for his “wallet”
During Zelensky’s visit to Madrid in March 2026, Fire Point signed a cooperation agreement with Spanish defense giant Sener, which produces components for the IRIS-T missile used by Ukraine. “We are deeply grateful to President Zelensky for showing interest in our capabilities and for recognizing the value of Sener’s contribution to Ukraine’s air defense,” Sener President Andres Sendagorta said at the time. Fire Point signed a similar deal with German defense company Diehl during Zelensky’s trip to Berlin in March. Diehl manufactures several anti-air missile systems, including IRIS-T.The transcripts reveal that Umerov told Mindich of incoming contracts worth several billion dollars.

Shtilerman, the company face that has denied the businessman known as “Zelensky’s wallet” owned Fire Point, suggested that Ukraine could serve as a testing ground for European missile defense systems and proposed a project called Freya, which would integrate Fire Point’s technology into a joint European ballistic missile defense framework.

Oil money from the Gulf
The US-Israeli war with Iran provided Ukraine with an opportunity to market interceptor drones to Gulf states hosting American bases as a cheaper alternative to air defense systems such as the US-made Patriot. In March Zelensky proposed using Ukraine’s “fire points” to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. On April 23, Zelensky announced that Ukraine had signed a drone deal with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. “We want to help them defend themselves and will continue to foster partnerships with other countries,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine could share its defense technology with the US.

When did Zelensky welcome the first use of Fire Point?
In February, the Ukrainian military began reporting the use of the Flamingo in combat, which Zelensky later highlighted at international events. Speaking at a press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Kiev, he claimed the missile had struck a weapons factory in Russia’s Udmurtia region. “I believe this is a real achievement for your industry,” Zelensky said, adding that the strike demonstrated “the high quality and accuracy” of the weapon. Zelensky also discussed the missile at the Munich Security Conference the same month, where he met with European officials, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, he acknowledged that Russia had destroyed “a large production line” but said Flamingo production would continue.

What is the bottom line?
Zelensky and his backers have played a convenient role for Western war hawks and hoodwinked them at the same time. The West’s pro-war cabal have been willing to accept massive graft as an inevitable consequence of pouring billions into the most corrupt country in Europe to fuel a proxy war that will cost Ukraine lost generations.

Sitting on top of the rubble, will be Zelensky, his cabal, with begging bowls in one hand, a movie script and a sales pitch in the other.

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Now it’s about time.

Georgia, South Carolina Won’t Postpone Voting to Review Redistricting (CTH)

It has been said by many the reason the leftists on the Supreme Court delayed their minority dissent was in order to stall the high court ruling that would have given states an opportunity to redistrict prior to the 2026 primary voting. There is no data that disputes this assertion.Today Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced he is calling the state legislature into special session to review the congressional districts in light of the Supreme Court ruling that dispatched ‘racially motivated’ district boundaries. However, Georgia and South Carolina will not review districts. Georgia has already begun early voting, which gives Governor Brian Kemp justification to avoid redistricting for an election scheduled for May 19th.


GEORGIA – […] Kemp made it clear that he will not be a part of that push this cycle but praised the court’s ruling. “The Supreme Court’s decision Louisiana v. Callais restores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges,” Kemp said Friday. “Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections,” he added, meaning changes to the maps would not be possible this year. (read more)

SOUTH CAROLINA – […] Republican leaders in the South Carolina General Assembly say redistricting isn’t going to happen this year. House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, told reporters the lower chamber wouldn’t redraw South Carolina’s congressional map this year. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, also said redistricting this year would be “unlikely.” Georgia has been a target for the Democrats for several election cycles. The Chicago machine targeted Georgia some time ago, with Fulton County representing the epicenter of the effort. Meanwhile, South Carolina is DeceptiCon central. The network that binds both states together is the AME Church.

Those who follow elections closely understand the compact between Chicago (Obama Inc.) and South Carolina Congressman, James Clyburn. This partnership was responsible for using Joe Biden as the 2020 vehicle, and this partnered alliance subsequently was responsible for the plan to elevate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Clyburn’s electoral control, which extends directly into Georgia comes from the Emanuel AME Church network, that provides the poll workers who count the physical votes. In all of the precincts that matter, AME generates the poll workers. The poll workers control the vote outcomes.

Drawing districts that no longer take race into the equation is against the interests of Democrats, the AME network, James Clyburn and Barack Obama. Thus, it will be very challenging for those two states specifically to redistrict while the non-black state representatives and governors are worried about being called racist. While it may not be politically comfortable to stop pretending around the issue, the fact remains that racially ideological poll workers essentially have the majority of control over the key precinct voting systems. The AME Church is well represented, and almost all of the poll workers are black; this is not coincidental.

[GEORGIA] When Fulton County Fanni Willis wanted to defend herself publicly, she used the pulpits at AME Church’s. [South Carolina] When Democrats wanted to change their presidential primary contests, they wanted South Carolina to be the first state that votes, again using the AME poll workers. In 2020 President Obama brought the Black Lives Matter movement and James Clyburn brought the AME Church network. This partnership resulted in Joe Biden selected as their choice for the Democrat nominee, and together Obama and Clyburn chose Kamala Harris as the VP nominee; Biden had no say in the matter.

The collaboration resulted in an effective system of Democrat control. Donor funding like Mark Zuckerberg provided the revenue stream to indulge and reward the poll workers. ActBlue is part of this system. The money is laundered through various activist groups until it ends up in the hands of the poll workers.The AME Church network operates vote control operations through their poll workers in several states and key regions within them. Ballot harvesting, mail in voting and direct election vote counting is controlled through the operation.

There are a lot of states involved, however, elections in South Carolina and Georgia are specifically controlled within this operation due to their proximity to the AME command HQ.Lastly, political leaders in both states are well aware of this issue and the fear of racism keeps them from doing anything about it.

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“The “gerry” in “gerrymandering” refers to Elbridge Gerry, who served in the First Congress and eventually as James Madison’s vice president..”

Republicans to Best Democrats in Mid-Decade Redistricting War (Josh Hammer)

For almost a year now, America’s two parties have been engaged in a mass congressional redistricting battle royale.


The fun kicked off in Texas last July, when Gov. Greg Abbott, following President Donald Trump’s urging, first pushed the Texas Legislature to redistrict the Lone Star State’s congressional maps in a pro-Republican direction. Missouri and North Carolina soon followed, prompting California Gov. Gavin Newsom to get in on the action: Golden State voters approved the use of a new map at the ballot box last November. On April 21, Virginia voters narrowly approved a new congressional map that heavily favors Democrats. This week, Florida responded with a Gov. Ron DeSantis-led redistricting that heavily favors Republicans. In the interim, some other states, such as Ohio and Utah, redistricted for nonvoluntary reasons such as litigation or statutory requirement.

And other states, such as Indiana, famously defied Trump and refused to voluntarily redraw their maps. One might be inclined to ask who started this latest bout of mass, iterative gerrymandering. It’s true that Texas, an iconic red state, drew first blood last July — although the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t finally permit Texas’s new maps to go into effect until a summary order earlier this week. What’s more, Texas’s new GOP-heavy map will likely provide Republicans less of a lopsided partisan advantage in its congressional delegation than will California’s own new map for the Golden State’s regnant Democratic Party. Republicans also claim Democrats have been the more blatant systemic gerrymanderers for decades — an assertion buttressed by even a cursory glance at bright-blue Illinois’ hilariously delineated congressional map.

The reality is that both parties have gerrymandered their respective controlled states for a very long time. That is a tedious and uninteresting observation. The more interesting and pressing question, as this rare mid-decade redistricting war nears its end, is this: Looking at the aggregate nationwide redistricting efforts, which party will come out on top in advance of the midterm elections this November? Democrats had a projected one-seat partisan advantage according to the website Ballotpedia, as of Thursday. But there are multiple reasons why this is likely to change. It appears the big victor will be the GOP.

First, this tally does not account for Florida’s redistricted map, which just passed through a special session of the Florida Legislature on Wednesday and has not yet (as of this writing) been signed into law by DeSantis. That alone will likely net the GOP four additional seats. Second, Virginia’s controversial ballot referendum redistricting measure, which was just approved by Old Dominion voters by a much narrower margin than that by which Virginians swept Democrats back into power last November, is facing serious legal challenges. Most recently, on Wednesday, the Virginia Supreme Court left in place a lower-court order blocking the commonwealth’s certification of the referendum results. If Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s new map is tossed out, Democrats will likely be out an additional four seats.

Finally, there is the landmark redistricting case that the U.S. Supreme Court just decided this week. In Louisiana v. Callais, the court held that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits states and localities from imposing any voting “qualification or prerequisite” that “results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen … to vote on account of race or color,” cannot be invoked to create race-conscious congressional maps — a dubious practice lawmakers had been blithely engaging in for decades. The court correctly held that such race-conscious mapmaking, including the devising of so-called majority-minority districts across many Southern states, runs afoul of the 14th Amendment’s sweeping equal protection guarantee.

Bright-red Louisiana, which was party to the Callais case, already suspended its upcoming primaries to give its legislature enough time to draw new congressional maps. In addition, many other safe Democratic “majority-minority” seats across the broader South are now extremely vulnerable. These Southern states can either redistrict of their own accord to comply with the Supreme Court’s new ruling, or they will be forced to do so through offensive litigation. Either way, the era of race-conscious mapmaking is now over. This is first and foremost a victory for the colorblind U.S. Constitution. But it will also benefit the GOP before November’s midterms — in Louisiana and likely beyond.

Our redistricting battles tend to rile up passions on all sides. But it’s a practice as old as the republic: The “gerry” in “gerrymandering” refers to Elbridge Gerry, who served in the First Congress and eventually as James Madison’s vice president. If one disapproves of how his state draws its maps, there is always the political check of the ballot box. And if that fails, he can always vote with his feet and leave. In fact, that’s already happening en masse: from blue states to red states. And for Democrats, that’s a trend not even the most aggressive gerrymandering can possibly alleviate.

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Larry Ellison will own CNN soon. Who will stay?

Pressure Campaign to Get Scott Jennings Booted From CNN (Matt Margolis)

Scott Jennings might be the best thing to ever happen to CNN. That’s not hyperbole. Without him, most of us would have stopped clicking on clips from the network a long time ago. He’s one of the rare voices on that channel who actually makes it worth watching — which is exactly why the left wants him gone. The calls to fire him have been building for a while. Back in 2025, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell singled Jennings out in a monologue, accusing CNN of paying “a Trump supporter to lie on CNN every day and night for Donald Trump.” So the groundwork was already laid. Now they have what they think is their opening.


On Thursday, Jennings got into a heated on-air exchange with Adam Mockler, a 23-year-old reporter and YouTuber with the leftist MeidasTouch network. The two were debating the unpopularity of the Iraq war when Mockler brought up Jennings’ service in the George W. Bush administration during the Iraq war, accusing him of supporting an “endless war.” Things got tense fast — both men talked over each other, hands were gesturing near faces — and Jennings told Mockler, “Get your f***ing hand out of my face, first of all.”

I seem to recall the left fawning over Joe Biden whenever he cursed… But, Scott Jennings? They want blood. Jim Acosta climbed out of the hole he currently occupies to demand that CNN fire Jennings. “At any other network, in any other era of television news, uttering an impromptu F-bomb would be a fireable offense,” Acosta claimed. He also claimed that Jennings was a “hothead” during their days working together, and made sure to note that Mockler is “almost a kid” and “a nice one,” concluding that “Jennings should be fired.”

Political commentator Keith Boykin piled on, too. “I’ve been on the air with Scott many times over the years,” Boykin wrote, reminding everyone that when he was under contract with CNN, contributors were called “brand ambassadors,” before asking pointedly, “Is this the brand?” The implication being, of course, that dropping an f-bomb is worse than anything CNN’s liberal voices have ever done on air. Sure.

Meanwhile, Mockler, after a fresh diaper change, posted a YouTube video following the segment in which he accused Jennings of deliberately provoking conflict and routinely picking on guests, while apparently lacking the toughness to take criticism in return. Really? The same guy who goes on CNN every day, with leftists constantly outnumbering him, and demolishes them without breaking a sweat, lacks the toughness to take criticism? That’s cute.

Here’s the thing about the left’s sudden commitment to broadcast decorum: it evaporates the moment one of their own is in the hot seat. Jimmy Kimmel joked about Melania Trump becoming an “expectant widow” — a thinly-veiled reference to President Donald Trump being assassinated — just days before a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The left’s response? Defense, deflection, and accusations of fascism are lobbed at anyone who dares to suggest Kimmel face consequences.

So let’s be honest about what’s happening here. The left’s “outrage” over Jennings’ f-bomb isn’t about standards or decency. They’ve wanted him off their network for years, so they’re seizing an opportunity to try to get Jennings booted. It’s not the first time, and likely won’t be the last.

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“I mean the train! Gavin, you got to get rid of the train!”

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

“It’s up to $231 billion.”

Watch the Look on Gavin Newsom’s Face As Bill Maher Torches His Insanity (Doug P.)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom clearly has his sights set on the Democrat presidential nomination in 2028, but as he found out during an appearance on Bill Maher’s show, he might have a hard time spinning his style of “leadership.” Newsom was just trying to sell his book, but Maher had other plans. Newsom didn’t seem to know what he was walking into and he most certainly didn’t arrive at the studio on any high speed train.

Here’s the rest of the post, via @overton_news:

MAHER: “The other side, what they are going to say though is, but have you seen the stats from California?”

NEWSOM: “Good! One of the largest economies. Let’s go!”

MAHER: “Well… are they going to say good about gas prices?”

“Are they going to say good about how high their rents are?”

“So many people live…I mean there’s a whole litany.”

“I mean the train! Gavin, you got to get rid of the train!”

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

“It’s up to $231 billion.”

OUCH!

The moment what’s left of Newsom’s soul left his body:

It’s sad that Bill Maher goes in way tougher on Newsom than most “journalists” ever will.

Things just kept getting more awkward for Gavin:

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2050542406844444840

Yeah, he wants to be Trump so bad but just can’t say it (or do it for that matter). Maybe we should call him Temu Trump. Newsom also got called out over his draconian lunacy during COVID and tried to pretend that too much wasn’t known about the virus at the time (apparently Newsom thought that a guy alone on a paddleboard might spread the disease to fish, or something).

https://twitter.com/TheyCallMeNans/status/2050421455892935087 https://twitter.com/WEdwarda/status/2050429049365754257

Gavin also told Maher he “took on Ron DeSantis” but didn’t point out that he got smoked in that debate, poop map and all.

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Anything better than healthy food.

Trump Says Medicare Will Soon Cover Weight-Loss Drugs (ET)

President Donald Trump announced on May 1 that Medicare patients will soon be able to obtain coverage for weight-loss drugs for $50 per month. Speaking at an event in Florida, Trump said the coverage for the weight-loss and diabetes medications will begin in July, referencing drugs that contain semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist. “Today, I’m thrilled to announce that starting on July 1, we will also provide Medicare patients with the coverage for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Zepbound, Wegovy. Will be available for $50 a month,” he said.“So if it was $1,300, now it’s $50. And the $1,300 doesn’t cover a whole month. So it’s really even more than that. So it’s now down to $50.”


In December, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a voluntary model known as Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive Health to expand access to GLP-1 medications for weight management and metabolic health, allowing Medicare Part D plans and state Medicaid agencies to cover the drugs while negotiating lower prices. The model, which would enable CMS to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices and standard terms of coverage, was initially expected to launch in January 2027, but officials said in April it would be delayed “pending further evaluation and data collection.”

CMS said in April that it would extend its bridge program, a short-term solution to provide eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries with access to certain GLP-1 drugs, until December 2027 b Part D refers to the prescription drug benefit run by private insurers approved by Medicare. CMS stated on its website that the bridge program would “operate outside of the Medicare Part D benefit’s coverage and payment flow.”

Meanwhile, drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced in February that it would lower the list prices, or wholesale acquisition costs, of Wegovy and Ozempic to $675 respectively, starting Jan. 1, 2027. According to Novo Nordisk, semaglutide is the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy, and both are considered GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptides. These hormones are produced naturally within the body and regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. GLP-1s are typically used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

In addition to GLP-1s, Ozempic and Wegovy contain FDA-approved medicines with indications for adults with Type 2 diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease, and co-morbid cardiovascular disease. “Lowering the list price of Wegovy and Ozempic is the best approach to address the unprecedented opportunity to help more than 100 million people living with obesity, and over 35 million people with Type 2 diabetes in the United States,” Jamey Millar, Novo Nordisk executive vice president of U.S. operations, said in the statement.

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“The German industrial economy is the heart of the EU economy, and President Trump is now hitting them both right where it hurts.”

Trump Targets Merz in Geopolitical Maneuver (CTH)

Keep in mind the background issue of Germany supplying Ukraine with weapons and material to keep fighting Russia, while the Merz administration triggers policy to force increased German military troop levels. Facing crushingly high increases in energy costs, last Monday in Marsberg, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and demanding the conflict end “as quickly as possible.”


Germany is facing a perfect storm of economic consequences following their decision to chase the climate change agenda (Build Back Better) and eliminate their coal and nuclear power plants. Combine the German/EU policy to stop purchasing cheap LNG and oil from Russia, in addition to skyrocketing energy costs from oil/gas flows from the Middle East, and the outcome is rising manufacturing costs leading to massive layoffs. The German industrial economy is the heart of the EU economy, and President Trump is now hitting them both right where it hurts.

Today two announcements hit an already vulnerable Germany directly. The first is: “The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital. “This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.” {source}The second announcement is even more brutal for Chancellor Merz:

While the EU auto tariffs do not mention Germany specifically, it is the German auto industry (BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi) that will be impacted the most. A 25% tariff on German vehicles destined to the USA will severely hurt the German auto industry. This is a massive hit to their already weakened position. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is already facing serious political issues within Germany as the economy continues to contract. The political opposition parties are on the rise and Merz is in a very precarious position. President Trump is exploiting this vulnerability by apply further economic pressure on Germany.

One of the outcomes of this pressure in combination with the internal friction Merz is facing, will be a demand by the German people to stop providing support for Ukraine and focus time, effort and energy on getting the structural economy back on solid footing. This can have an ancillary benefit to President Trump as he seeks to have Ukraine come to the negotiating table with Russia to end the conflict. There are multiple facets within this geopolitical positioning, and it is worth watching it play out closely.

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You try and tell me this has nothing to do with the church not likng Trump. “Church leaders backing the appointment argue that Menjivar-Ayala’s lived experience brings valuable perspective to his new role, particularly due to current immigration issues ..”

Pope Leo XIV Names Former Illegal Immigrant As New Bishop (JTN)

A prominent Roman Catholic diocese is defending the decision made by Pope Leo XIV to appoint a new bishop who is a former illegal immigrant. The pope selected Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala to lead the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, a role overseeing the Catholic community across West Virginia. “Any insinuation that the Holy Father made this or any other appointment in any way to increase vitriol or insinuate that it gets back at the president of the United States is absurd,” a Wheeling diocese spokesperson said, according to Fox News. As a teenager fleeing violence in El Salvador during the country’s civil conflict, Menjivar-Ayala made multiple attempts to reach the U.S. before eventually crossing the border hidden in the trunk of a car near San Ysidro, California.


In recent years, he has been outspoken against stricter enforcement measures, describing them as matters of human dignity and human rights. He has also directly responded to criticism from some Catholic figures aligned with tougher immigration policies, including officials within the Trump administration. Church leaders backing the appointment argue that Menjivar-Ayala’s lived experience brings valuable perspective to his new role, particularly at a time when immigration remains one of the most divisive issues in society currently.

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https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2050293964247335318?s=20 https://twitter.com/JoshHall2024/status/2050381377254613239?s=20

 

 

 

 

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May 012026
 


William-Adolphe Bouguereau Whisperings of Love 1889


Defiant Mojtaba Khamenei: Gulf’s Future Will Be “Without US Presence” (ZH)
Growing Division In Iran’s ‘Hardline Camp’ Emerges Over Halting All Talks With US (ZH)
Secretary Scott Bessent Discusses “Operation Economic Fury” Against Iran (CTH)
Trump: SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision a ‘Big Win’ (Salgado)
Anthropic Wants a Reset. Trump Should Think Twice (Jeff Hunt)
Dan Bongino Says He’s Scared of the FBI (CTH)
Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)
DOJ Indicts Sinaloa Governor and Others in Sweeping Cartel Case (Anderson)
U.S. Dept of Justice Indicts the Current Governor of Sinaloa, Mexico (CTH)
Trump: US Studying Troop Cuts In Germany, As Spat With Merz Intensifies (BBC)
No Aid for Kiev in US Military Budget for 2027 — Pentagon (TASS)
Mamdani Is Already Facing a $6 Billion Budget Hole (Margolis)
There’s a Name for What They’re Doing to Donald Trump (Thorne)
Banksy Confirms He’s Behind Statue In Central London (BBC)
The Biden Admin’s COVID Vaccine Cover-Up and Lies (Miranda Devine)

 


 

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

 


 


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

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

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

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


Khamenei says Iran will closely guard and protect its nuclear and missile capabilities, a clear and direct rejection of President Trump’s demand to hand over enriched uranium as the basis for a deal. Iranians will cling to the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities “as their national capital and will guard them like water, land and air borders,” Khamenei said.

“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei continued. “We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it – except at the bottom of its waters.” He also vowed Iran’s forces will “secure the Persian Gulf region and dismantle the hostile enemy’s exploitation of this waterway.”

US Teases Hypersonic Missiles, CENTCOM to Brief Trump
As we detailed Wednesday night, United States Central Command has requested deployment of the Army’s long-delayed hypersonic Dark Eagle to the Middle East for potential use against Iran, seeking a longer-range capability to strike ballistic missile launchers deep inside the country, Bloomberg first reported. If approved, the move would mark the first deployment of the hypersonic system, which remains behind schedule and has not been declared fully operational, even as Russia and China have already long ago fielded their own versions.

The Pentagon has claimed time and again of late that it has local air superiority, meaning that in some parts of Iran its aircraft can operate without facing much of a threat. And yet dozens of MQ-9 aircraft, plus several crewed fighters, have been downed, showing that other parts of Iran’s airspace remain dangerous.The Bloomberg report hit just as Axios rehashed an earlier report, according to which President Trump will receive a briefing on new plans for potential military action in Iran on Thursday from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper. The briefing signals that “Trump is seriously considering resuming major combat operations either to try to break the logjam in negotiations or to deliver a final blow before ending the war.”

Meanwhile the Iranian side has been claiming dozens of its vessels have breached the US naval blockade, which the Pentagon has been denying. Others say that while some ships have traversed the strait, they have not actually fully crossed the blockade.

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Iran has three governments, maybe 4:

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

So who are you going to talk to?

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

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


The report comes well after President Trump and the White House have at various times alleged Tehran governance is ‘fractured’ and the state is even ‘collapsing’ – which seems exaggerated if not flatly false. Those more independent-minded analysts outside the mainstream suggest the opposite is the case – that it’s Washington which can’t stick to any of its red lines and keeps moving the goal posts on negotiations. After all Trump did keep unilaterally extending the ceasefire, and the US has not resumed the bombings even though Trump clearly threatened to (even with ‘firm’ timelines) as the Iranians sat back

“At the heart of the dispute, which has played out in parliament and state media, is a push by Iran’s most hardline politicians to oppose the Islamic republic negotiating with the US over its nuclear program,” FT writes. “Their primary target is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the veteran parliamentary speaker who led talks to US vice-president JD Vance in Pakistan earlier this month. Politicians linked to Paydari, an influential ultra-hardline faction, suggested that negotiators have not fully followed directives set by the new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” the publication continues.

As for definitions, there’s also the problem of the West imposing broad brush labels of ‘hardline’ and ‘moderate’ from afar, based fundamentally on speculation and we might say, circular logic. After all, any Iranian official who is against pursuing more negotiations – while understandably coming to the conclusion that Washington can’t be trusted (after it bombed Iran twice during talks) – gets automatically labelled ‘hardliner’ by the MSM, and this also carries all kinds of implications overlapping with radical Islam.

But yes, there are clearly holdouts pushing for Tehran not to engage at all, to completely shutter communications, which would likely mean certain return to war: “Negotiations are now pure damage and nobody should go for negotiations,” Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of parliament close to the Paydari who accompanied Iran’s negotiating team to Pakistan, told local media. And another key section from the report is in the following:

He [Nabavian] criticized inclusion of Iran’s nuclear programme in talks as a “strategic mistake” and implied this is not what the top leader sought. Another hardline politician, Ali Khezrian, claimed to state television that the supreme leader opposed continuing the talks.Officials “should know that at this sensitive time their obligation is to thoroughly obey and carry out the guidelines of the supreme leader,” Nabavian said.

On Monday, 261 out of 290 MPs issued a statement supporting Ghalibaf and the other negotiators. However, prominent members of Paydari were absent from the list of signatories. The longer the Hormzu standoff goes, and the more the anti-Tehran rhetoric flows out of the White House and from Trump on Truth Social, the more likely the Paydari faction and others are to influence broader numbers of Iranian leaders and sectors of the public.

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“The Strategy to Freeze Iran’s Economy”

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

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



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

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

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

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


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

Less enthusiastic were Democrats who have benefited from such racist rigging of our system. Former President Barack Obama, for instance, whined, “Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities…The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who drew up one of the most outrageous and blatantly biased gerrymandered maps in the country, actually had the chutzpah to complain also, and added in an insult to the governor of Florida over a congressional map there likely to favor Republicans more. “The same day MAGA gutted the Voting Rights Act, Trump’s pipsqueak DeSantis rushed through rigged maps. No debate. No public input. They’re scared of VOTERS. This November: FAFO,” he hysterically threatened. Because only Democrats are allowed to redraw districts, apparently.

Here’s why Democrats are so mad:

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

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

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

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


Amodei and Anthropic have openly opposed the direction President Trump is now taking on artificial intelligence. Amodei has been one of the most vocal critics of the administration’s decision to allow controlled exports of AI chips, even going so far as to compare a recent White House–approved sale of AI processors to “selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.” That’s not a nuanced policy critique. It’s an attempt to frame the president’s approach as reckless and dangerous—and to box policymakers into adopting the very restrictions that benefit his company while discouraging competitors and new entrants.

This is happening because Anthropic has built itself into something more than a technology company. It has become a political actor, deeply embedded in the regulatory mindset of the previous administration. The company has staffed its ranks with a significant number of former Biden officials who helped design and defend the very AI policies that President Trump is now unwinding and is going in “big” to support candidates who have called the President’s policies “bigoted.” The worldview that shaped those policies — and helped put the United States at risk of falling behind in the AI race — didn’t disappear when those officials left government. It followed them into the private sector.

That helps explain why Anthropic has been so consistently aligned against Trump’s AI agenda. This isn’t just about technical disagreements over governance frameworks or export categories. It’s about a fundamentally different view of how America should compete. On one side is a strategy rooted in market interference and government restriction. On the other is a strategy rooted in scale, competition, and global engagement while protecting America’s national security interests.

Anthropic has clearly chosen a side and used its position to argue for failed policies, including the export restrictions pushed during the Biden years that attempted to wall China off from American technology. Those policies didn’t slow China down. They sped it up.

Cut off from U.S. chips, Chinese firms invested heavily in domestic alternatives, built parallel supply chains, and moved closer to technological independence. The United States has seen this before. During the race to develop 5G technology, Washington similarly tried to restrict access, only to see Huawei step in, lock in global market share, and export its standards to much of the world. The risk now is repeating that mistake on a far larger scale with artificial intelligence.

President Trump’s approach reflects a different understanding of how global competition works. Rather than retreating from the market, the administration is staying engaged and allowing controlled exports of less advanced chips while keeping the most cutting-edge technology protected. The goal is not to give competitors like China an advantage, but to ensure they remain tied to American platforms, standards, and supply chains. In effect, it flips the script on a strategy China has used for years with rare earth minerals — building dependence that translates into long-term leverage.

That’s precisely the approach Anthropic has historically questioned and why its sudden effort to make peace with the White House should be viewed with skepticism. This isn’t just a disagreement over policy details. It’s a broader effort to shape the regulatory environment itself. As White House AI czar David Sacks has argued, Anthropic has been engaged in a form of regulatory capture by pushing frameworks that raise barriers to entry, allow it to dictate terms to suppliers, and concentrate power among a small number of well-connected firms. The more complex and restrictive the system becomes, the more it advantages companies already embedded in Washington.

[..[ AI will shape the next century of economic and geopolitical power. The United States cannot afford to fall behind because it listened to the loudest voices urging it to slow down. And it should be especially wary of taking advice from companies that have spent years opposing the very strategy now keeping America in the lead. Let’s give the Trump administration room to cook — blending technological advantage, national security protection, and American global market domination. Anthropic may want a reset. But Washington should remember exactly where the company has stood — and why.

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

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

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


If you face reality and stop pretending, you then look at the facts with cold pragmatism: • The Robert Mueller investigation used 40 FBI agents, issued 2,800 subpoenas, executed 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 secret orders for communication records, used 50 pen registers and interviewed 500 witnesses, all to prove there was a Trump-Russia conspiracy afoot. All of it was complete nonsense. That is the reality of the thing.

On day #1, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino should have terminated (or suspended pending criminal investigation) any and all of those FBI agents and support personnel with extreme prejudice and then held a press conference to make the announcement. Delivering mysterious statements about the scale and scope of the institutional problem, pouring fuel on innuendo, proclaiming vague possibilities, while hiding behind some opaque ‘trust me bro‘ reasoning for a currently mysterious inability to explain exactly what the heck he is talking about, is unadulterated dramatic ‘clickbait’ prose intended to feed an audience willing to be deceived.

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

Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)

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


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

President Vladimir Putin is in no hurry to ceasefire in Ukraine, and the U.S. military operation in Iran is not against his interests. On April 12, 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quietly extended the sanction relief for Russia, permitting oil/gas sales loaded on vessels by 4/17/26 for transit and sale through 5/16/26. This permits Russia to push oil to Asia, specifically China, India and ASEAN countries where it is needed, while simultaneously the UAE and Saudi Arabia increase oil pumping avoiding the issues with the Strait of Hormuz.

This is happening while the U.S. is providing large oil and LNG supply increases to South/Central America, Europe and Japan to offset any global shortages. Russia supplies China, India and Southeast Asia; the U.S. supplies Europe and Japan; the UAE supplies India and Australia; while Saudi Arabia supplies Africa and Europe. Global markets stable, Iran then faces operation financial fury led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. So, we can reasonably see the general tone of the conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Well, after this press briefing, President Trump sent the following message on Truth Social.


During the press briefing President Trump noted, yet again, his profound disappointment with Europe, the U.K and NATO allies. Trump delivered praise for King Charles as a statesman but separated the political policy aspects of the U.K from his impression of the monarch. These remarks about drawing down U.S. troop levels in Germany comes against the backdrop of German Chancellor Fredrich Merz being highly critical of President Trump’s intention to incapacitate Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. Chancellor Merz is looking for any distraction he can come up with to avoid the issue of a severely contracting German economy.

Most Americans do not fully appreciate how the German national identity is defined by their industrial economy. The traditional people of Germany have a self-image that is -in large measure- the result of their economic condition. Everything centers around industriousness. Weaken that a little bit and the hardcore German people get visibly angered.mCommissar and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is also not happy. “In just 60 days of conflict, our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over €27 billion, without a single molecule of additional energy,” she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.”

For all reasonable intents and purposes President Trump has withdrawn support for Ukraine. At the same time President Trump has openly been questioning NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte about the seemingly irrelevant purpose of the alliance. Now, we might think this is just some transitional matters that have been visited before in various peaks and valleys of the geopolitical relationship. However, that is not the case this time. How do we know this time it is something far more significant? Well, the EU is debating dropping their climate goals.

BRUSSELS — Energy companies will be able to break the EU’s pollution limits and get away with it, under measures being considered by the European Commission ahead of a gathering of EU leaders in June.

The EU executive is considering a “zero-penalty” option that would allow national authorities not to fine companies that break strict rules governing methane emissions scheduled to come into force next year, according to two people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions. (


ZELENSKYY: “But I still get my money, right?“
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How far into Mexico would they go?

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

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


Rocha Moya is the current governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which the Department of Justice calls the “geographic epicenter of the global narcotics trade.” He’s also a member of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and current president Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena Party. Others charged include the mayor of Culiacan, a sitting senator, and the deputy attorney general for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office. The men indicted allegedly took millions in bribes, gave the cartel protection from prosecution, leaked intel on law-enforcement ops, and provided state resources, like police cars and radios.

One of them, Juan Valenzuela Millan (or “Juanito”), a former high-level Culiacán Municipal Police commander, was also charged with the kidnappings of a DEA source and the source’s relative that resulted in their deaths, allegedly after they were handed over to the cartel.They all face life sentences with a mandatory minimum of 40 years, except for Mr. “Juanito,” who faces a mandatory life sentence.

“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll. The support of corrupt foreign officials for deadly trafficking of drugs must end. Let these charges send a clear message to all officials around the globe who work with narco-traffickers: no matter your title or position, we are committed to bringing you to justice.”

Rocha Moya responded with a statement of his own on X (translated from Spanish): “I categorically and absolutely reject the accusations made against me by the Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office, as they lack any truth or foundation whatsoever. And this will be demonstrated, with full force, at the appropriate time. This attack is not solely against my person; but against the movement of the Fourth Transformation, its emblematic leaderships, and the Mexican women and men who represent that cause.

It is part of a perverse strategy to violate the constitutional order, specifically the national sovereignty advocated by Article 40 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, which our movement defends as an invariable and non-negotiable principle. To the people of Sinaloa, I say that, with the courage and dignity that characterize us, we will demonstrate the lack of foundation for this slander.” Big Nicolás Maduro vibes there, and we all know how that ended. All of this comes after last week the U.S. Treasury “sanctioned 23 individuals and entities that comprise a sophisticated synthetic opioid procurement network with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel,” and the State Department imposed “visa restrictions on 75 individuals who are family members or close personal or business associates of persons linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.”

This appears to be the first time the DOJ has indicted a sitting Mexican governor. The Mexican Foreign Ministry confirmed that U.S. officials have requested the extradition of the individuals indicted to the United States, but that there is enough evidence. It added, “However, as is standard procedure in these cases, the Attorney General’s Office will determine whether there is sufficient evidence under Mexican law and the viability of the requests for provisional arrest for extradition.”

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

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

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


The DOJ (SDNY) has indicted Mexican Governor Ruben Rocha Moya along with nine current and former Mexican officials for participating “in a corrupt and violent drug trafficking conspiracy with the Cartel to import massive amounts of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States.

“The defendants have played a variety of essential roles for the Cartel: among other things, the defendants have allegedly shielded Cartel leaders from investigation, arrest, and prosecution; caused sensitive law enforcement and military information to be provided to members of the Cartel and allied drug traffickers to assist the Cartel’s criminal activities; directed members of state and local law enforcement agencies, such as the Sinaloa State Police, the Investigative Police for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office, and the Culiacan Municipal Police, to protect drug loads stored in and transiting through Mexico to the United States; and allowed brutal drug-related violence to be committed by members of the Cartel without consequence. In exchange, the defendants have collectively received millions of dollars in drug money from the Cartel.”

VIA LBR on Twitter: – […] This move represents a direct and aggressive escalation by Washington against the highest levels of the Mexican state apparatus. The indictments detail a systemic entanglement between regional Morena governance and cartel operations, effectively labeling the Sinaloa state leadership a criminal enterprise under U.S. law.

This legal assault by the DOJ decapitates the political leadership of one of Mexico’s most strategically sensitive states at a moment of extreme national fragility. By targeting a sitting governor, the U.S. is signaling a total collapse of bilateral trust and an end to the era of diplomatic shielding for Mexican officials. The move is designed to force a confrontation within the Sheinbaum administration, leaving Mexico City with zero room to maneuver between its domestic political alliances and the threat of total diplomatic isolation. The fallout will be immediate and chaotic.

Beyond the legal proceedings, these indictments serve as a precursor to broader sanctions and a likely reclassification of Mexican security cooperation. For the Mexican government, the era of managed stability in Sinaloa is over; Sheinbaum is now facing a direct challenge to state legitimacy and a physical security vacuum that will likely trigger a violent internal restructuring of cartel hierarchies and government control.”

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

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

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

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


The US has a significant military presence in Germany, with more than 36,000 active duty troops assigned to bases across the country as of last December. Merz made no mention of Trump’s comments during a visit to German soldiers in northern Germany on Thursday, although he went out of his way to stress the importance of the Nato defensive alliance and “transatlantic solidarity”. Earlier this week, however, he told university students that “the Americans clearly have no strategy” and he could not see “what strategic exit” they were going to choose.”The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” he said.

He added that the “entire nation” was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership. Trump responded the following day with a post to Truth Social, where he said Merz thought it was “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” and “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” “No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” the post read. He picked up the same theme on Thursday, suggesting Merz should focus more on “fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat”.

Germany, along with the UK and France, was part of a 2015 deal with Iran to limit its nuclear operations, although Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018.When asked about Trump’s initial post in a press conference on Wednesday, Merz said the “personal relationship between the American president and myself remains just as good as before”. He has not yet responded to Trump’s suggestion that he could reduce US troops in Germany. The US military deployment in Germany is by far its biggest in Europe, with about 12,000 troops in Italy and a further 10,000 in the UK. Many are stationed at the big Ramstein air base outside the southwestern German city of Kaiserslautern. And while Trump has proposed US troop reductions in Germany before, they have so far not come into effect.

In 2020, a proposal to move 12,000 US troops from Germany either to other Nato countries in Europe or back to the US, was blocked by Congress and then reversed by President Joe Biden.At the time, Trump had accused Germany of being “delinquent” because its military spending was well below Nato’s target of 2% of economic output (GDP). But that has changed dramatically under the Merz government: Germany is projected to spend €105.8bn (£91bn) in 2027 – with total defence expenditure next year set to reach 3.1% of GDP.Merz said after talks with Trump in Washington in March that Trump had assured him the US would maintain its military presence in Germany, adding that he had not expected anything else.

However, while Merz has this week complained of the economic consequences for Europe of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has been angered by the response of Nato allies in Europe to the war in Iran.Over the past two months, the US president has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the 32-member Nato alliance, calling it a “paper tiger” and a “one-way street”.Earlier in April, a leaked internal Pentagon email detailed potential measures for the US to punish allies it believed had failed to support its campaign in Iran, including a suggestion that the US could seek to suspend Spain from Nato over its stance. A Nato official told the BBC that the alliance’s founding treaty “does not foresee any provision for suspension of Nato membership, or expulsion”.

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Let Europe pay.

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

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


At the same time, Hurst noted that the Pentagon will soon begin using the $400 million military aid package for Ukraine previously approved by Congress. “They [the funds] were released very recently. And again, we got these funds, I believe, in March. And it takes time for funds to flow through the Department, but it’s going to get put to work very shortly. We’re going to work with the EUCOM commander to make sure we use these funds in the most appropriate way possible,” he said.

US Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky) wrote in an article published on April 29 by The Washington Post that the US Department of War is delaying the transfer of the $400 million military aid package previously approved by Congress. According to McConnell, the Department has also ignored related requests from the relevant Senate committees. He added that Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby bears responsibility for the delay in resolving issues related to the disbursement of the aid.

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

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

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


The mayor announced Tuesday that he’s pushing back the deadline for his first executive budget — originally due Friday — to at least May 12. Standing alongside City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Mamdani framed the delay as a reasonable response to uncertainty in Albany. In other words, he’s waiting to find out if Albany will bail him out over his $5.4 billion budget gap. “This adjustment reflects a very simple reality,” Menin said. “New York state has not finalized its budget, and until they do so, we do not have the necessary clarity to responsibly complete the city’s budget.” If they’re expecting a bailout, I wouldn’t count on it.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s spokesperson fired back with a statement that was, by Albany standards, refreshingly blunt. “The mayor and City Council need to work together, identify savings, and close the remaining gap.” Here’s what makes the optics especially rich. Just weeks ago, Mamdani posted a video bragging about how he was taxing the rich and how it was going to be a huge boon for the city. The message was clear: Tax the rich, fund the city, problem solved. Now he’s warning that without state intervention, he may have to raise property taxes on regular New Yorkers to close the shortfall.

Mamdani and Menin are pushing Hochul to scale back the state’s Pass-Through Entity Tax Credit, arguing that it functions as a loophole for the ultra-wealthy. “More than 95% of PTET credits go to those making more than $1 million a year,” Mamdani said. “More than 80% go to those making more than $5 million a year.” He estimates adjusting PTET could bring in around $1 billion in revenue — which still leaves roughly $4 billion-plus of the problem unsolved. Menin, hedging carefully, wants any PTET change to be temporary rather than permanent. Even she seems to sense this isn’t a long-term strategy.

Mamdani is also dusting off the familiar grievance that New York City sends more money to the state than it gets back — a claim some Albany lawmakers dispute. It’s a convenient argument when you need someone else to bail you out. This is socialism. Nothing is surprising about this. Conservatives have been saying this is what New York City was destined for if it elected Mamdani. We didn’t have a crystal ball; we just had common sense and history on our side. Now, Mamdani is learning in real time what every socialist eventually discovers. There’s always a bill, and eventually you run out of millionaires to hand it to.

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‘stochastic terrorism’

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

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


The understanding was that repeating a lunatic’s motivations could inspire copycats. Back then, society hoped to prevent more tragedy. Today’s Democrat establishment hopes to inspire it. So brazen have they become that, less than 24 hours after Cole Allen tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell read the slander from his manifesto to his intended victim’s face. Trump called her out, saying, “Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people.” He was right, but no matter: Management at CBS still went on to air those poisonous words on its Sunday show, 60 Minutes. Because everyone at that vile network is in on it.

So is every single newscaster, elected or appointed official, celebrity, and every other leftist with a sheen of authority or influence and a platform who repeats the litany of leftist accusations. But then, Democrats are the morally challenged segment of society, dating back to their slaveholder roots (now manifested as fighting to keep their cheap labor through trafficking poor people into the country to work for near-slave wages). Once they hid behind the “liberal” label, but that has morphed into what plainly animates them today: hate, perversion, and political violence. Cheering on an assassin, either explicitly or implicitly, is A-OK with them.

Democrats are also all about plausible deniability. Just ask Joe Biden’s grifty brother, Jim. This is why this sort of mass projection of violence in the hopes of triggering a nut with good aim is such a perfect fit for them. It’s called “stochastic terrorism.” Perhaps, in the case of the relentless attack on Donald Trump, we can more accurately call it “stochastic assassination.” Policy research agency RAND explained the concept in a 2024 report called “From words to actions”:

The role of the media in radicalisation and terrorism has been a topic of discussion in recent years. Citizens are increasingly at risk to be exposed to extremist ideas through social media and communication apps, which can lead to a normalisation of hatred towards certain individuals, groups or institutions and an increased acceptance of violence. A term that is gaining popularity in the media and popular scientific literature in the context of recent incidents of extremist violence in which the media may have played a role is ‘stochastic terrorism’.

This term refers to hostile, derogatory and/or dehumanising language by influential individuals towards a political, social, ethnic or religious group or individual. Through interaction on social media and traditional media, this language may lead to a climate of fear, which in turn increases the likelihood of someone turning to violence, even if the initial message does not explicitly call for it. Due to the implicit nature of these expressions, individuals responsible for (reinforcing) inflammatory discourse cannot straightforwardly be prosecuted, if at all. However, there is currently no legal definition or even a unified understanding of this somewhat elusive concept.

My colleague VodkaPundit explained how the left is leveling the tactic against the president: “…there’s no conspiracy required to produce a left-wing assassin like Tyler James Robinson or Ryan Routh. They just amp up the rhetorical pressure, 24/7/365, until somebody pops.”

Read more …

How do you install that in secret?

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

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


Since it appeared on Wednesday, crowds have gradually increased in size. Contractors were seen erecting safety barriers around the work on Thursday afternoon. Westminster City Council, which is responsible for the area, said: “We’re excited to see Banksy’s latest sculpture in Westminster, making a striking addition to the city’s vibrant public art scene. “While we have taken initial steps to protect the statue, at this time it will remain accessible for the public to view and enjoy.”

James Peak, creator of the BBC podcast series The Banksy Story, said: “Here, you’ve got a brilliant comment on a bumptious, chest puffed out man in power with the flag completely obscuring his vision, which is why he is about to fall off the plinth. “It is a wonderfully framed moment in time that you never really get with a statue.” He added Banksy had “pulled off another fantastic coup…the positioning is absolutely knockout”. “I don’t know how he’s managed to do it.

“How has he got a low-loader to there with all the security and put up a massive resin statue?”On the statue’s location, he added: “We’ve got to face up to the fact that Britain has an imperialistic history full of takeovers and part of that is the sort of extreme nationalism that Banksy absolutely abhors.” “Every (Banksy) piece is a campaign.”

Read more …


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

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

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


Within three months of the vaccines being rolled out, in March 2021, red flags were fluttering out of the weekly data dumps from doctors and patients reporting health problems after the shots, according to internal emails and meeting notes provided by the Department of Health and Human Services to Sen. Ron Johnson’s Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. But when the FDA’s senior medical officer, Dr. Ana Szarfman, whose job was to monitor the vaccine data for warning signs, repeatedly raised the alarm throughout 2021, she was ignored, and emails show her colleagues tried to stop her from using a newer, more accurate statistical methodology to investigate the data.

On Sept. 9, 2021, Biden announced his vaccine mandates, with an implied threat to the roughly 80 million Americans who had not taken the COVID jab and whom he accused of prolonging the pandemic and putting everyone at risk, even though the vaccine did not stop transmission of the disease. “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said. “And your refusal has cost all of us.” On Sept. 16, Dr. Peter Marks, a staunch supporter of the COVID-19 vaccines who at the time led the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told another senior FDA official in an email that Szarfman (who has since retired) “has been asked to cease and desist, because the strategy that she is using could create erroneous conflicts that feed in to anti-vaccination rhetoric.” Marks also complained that Szarfman’s work has “become a major distraction.”

The documents uncovered by Johnson’s investigation staff point to the same alarming secrecy and efforts to avoid accountability that landed Fauci’s adviser, Morens, in trouble. The secrecy included instructions from FDA officials to discuss findings in person rather than over email and stopping or limiting the distribution of the weekly vaccine safety reports with the alleged intent of avoiding FOIA requests. On March 26, 2021, Szarfman shared with colleagues her analysis of COVID-19 vaccine adverse events using the superior, newer “data mining” methodology that had found more than 20 statistically significant “safety signals” or potential red flags associated with the COVID-19 vaccines that were not previously detected by FDA’s current methodology, “including sudden cardiac death, Bell’s palsy and pulmonary infarction.”

Her analysis was conducted with Dr. William DuMouchel, then the chief statistician at Oracle and the inventor of the data-mining algorithm. However, “rather than warn the public or hold distribution of the vaccines for further investigation, records appear to indicate that Biden health officials ignored the statistically significant safety signals uncovered through the new methodology and were more concerned about Dr. Szarfman’s efforts rather than her troubling findings,” the interim report found. In April 2021, after Szarfman emailed colleagues with another data-mining analysis that apparently underscored the limitations of the FDA’s current system, one senior FDA official wrote to his colleagues, “[b]efore we potentially reach out to Ana, we should meet internally — many considerations not suited to email …”

Szarfman continued to bring her reports to colleagues, but they were ignored. In August 2021, about a month before Szarfman was directed to “cease and desist,” Dr. David Menschik, a senior FDA colleague of Marks, told a CDC official that the FDA planned to limit distribution of its weekly vaccine data-mining reports, which used to be sent around the FDA and CDC, citing “data-security reasons.” But emails among CDC officials uncovered by Johnson’s investigators point to a potentially more nefarious reason for the FDA’s decision to stop distributing its data-mining reports.

In a November 2022 email, one CDC official noted, “I think that because of the FOIAs [Freedom of Information Act requests] we may have asked FDA to stop sending these weekly data-mining outputs.” According to Johnson’s staff report, “in the months and weeks leading up to the FDA’s decision to discontinue its distribution of the weekly data-mining reports, there were several public requests made to CDC and FDA for that information. “On May 9, 2022, about two months before the FDA stopped sending CDC its weekly data-mining reports, Children’s Health Defense sent a FOIA request to CDC for the [vaccine] data-mining analyses.

“On June 23, 2022, 19 days before FDA sent its final weekly data mining report, Sen. Johnson wrote to then-CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky requesting the same information. “Then, on June 30, 2022, 12 days before FDA’s last distribution, the Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to FDA for the [vaccine] data-mining records. “In light of these public and congressional requests, the timing of the FDA’s decision to end the distribution of its weekly data-mining reports seems particularly suspect. “The notion that Biden health officials took steps to limit the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine safety data in order to avoid more internal review or public scrutiny, it is completely unacceptable.”

Democrats on the subcommittee, like Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), were at pains to point out during the hearing that COVID-19 itself caused serious injury and death, calling as their witness a 41-year-old woman, Maria Young, who was hospitalized for two months and almost died in the months before the vaccines were developed. Of the 8 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, multiple large studies suggest there has been no increase in long-term mortality among vaccinated people. However, the damage was done by the COVID cover-up and lies. They have driven widespread distrust of vaccination, including tried-and-true lifesaving vaccines.

Read more …

 

 

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2049887320141148563?s=20 https://twitter.com/DianaT192/status/2049503943059796431?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Apr 302026
 


Joaquin Sorolla Passeggiata sulla spiaggia (Walk on the beach) 1909


Trump Tells Aides US Preparing For Extended Blockade: WSJ (ZH)
Iran Is in a ‘Death Spiral’ and Time Is Running Out (Matt Margolis)
UAE Announces Departure from OPEC Effective May 1st (CTH)
More Countries ‘Very Likely’ To Leave OPEC: Ex-UAE Diplomat (RT)
Glory Days of OPEC Long Over – Afshin Rattansi (RT)
UN Makes Iran Vice President of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference (Salgado)
Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail (Turley)
US Envoy To Ukraine To Resign Over Dwindling Aid To Kiev – FT (RT)
Who This Democrat Blames for the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt (Margolis)
US to Issue Limited Passports With Trump’s Image for 250th Anniversary (ET)
The Way Bongino Flushed Out Deep State Leakers Was Pure GENIUS (Margolis)
RFK Jr.’s New Autism Committee Issues First Proposals (ET)
German Tabloid Publishes Nudes of Alleged Nord Stream Saboteur (RT)
Experts Comment on RT’s Social Well-Being Index (RT)

 


 

I was wondering when immortality would enter the conversation.

https://twitter.com/warDaniel47/status/2049041162401366114?s=20 https://twitter.com/GOP_is_Gutless/status/2049200842176073804?s=20 https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/2049496886751412225?s=20

 


 


I don’t think so. The message was meant for IGRC ears. Trump doesn’t want a long siege. And he won’t need it.

Trump Tells Aides US Preparing For Extended Blockade: WSJ (ZH)

If confirmed, this constitutes another huge gamble by Trump – on both the economic and political fronts, and with the lingering potential for escalation (towards some kind of ground action as well). According to the WSJ Tuesday evening, the president has told aides and his staff that he’s prepared to implement an extended blockade: President Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran, U.S. officials said, targeting the regime’s coffers in a high-risk bid to compel a nuclear capitulation Tehran has long refused. https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2049076256919171240?s=20


In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options—resume bombing or walk away from the conflict—carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said. Yet continuing the blockade also prolongs a conflict that has driven up gas prices, hurt Trump’s poll numbers and further darkened Republicans’ prospects in the midterm elections. It has also caused the lowest number of transits through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.

However, it remains that this could also be some classic Trump signaling of a ‘maximalist’ position, in order to get Iran to capitulate at the negotiating table. Just as the WSJ report hit, there was this headline over the news wires based on fresh comments: TRUMP SAID IRAN WANTS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ REOPENED AND MAY ACCEPT AN INTERIM DEAL TO END THE US NAVAL BLOCKADE WHILE BROADER WAR-END NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE. The new threat of prolonged military action was accompanied late Tuesday by this from the Treasury Secretary:

And per Bloomberg latest: In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options—resume bombing or walk away from the conflict—carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said.

Read more …

“It is an authoritarian regime, and it can claim that resisting economic pressure is a question of national pride..”

Iran Is in a ‘Death Spiral’ and Time Is Running Out (Matt Margolis)

Something huge is happening inside Iran right now — and the regime’s leadership knows it. Six weeks of war with the United States and Israel, combined with a crippling naval blockade, have accelerated an economic collapse that was already years in the making. The Iranian rial hit an all-time low of roughly 1,810,000 to one U.S. dollar this week, even as a fragile ceasefire technically holds. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran is in a “death spiral.” The paper quoted Mahdi Ghodsi of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, summing it up with brutal clarity: “Living is not affordable anymore,” he said. “Iran is at its weakest point.”


He’s not wrong. Over a million Iranians have lost their jobs since the conflict escalated. Businesses are shuttering across the country — manufacturers, retailers, anyone dependent on steel or imported raw materials. Electronics are scarce and unaffordable. Food and medicine, priced against the dollar exchange rate, are slipping out of reach for ordinary families. Residents describe hardship not seen in decades. The regime’s response? Wage hikes, subsidies, and cash handouts. Buying time with money it’s rapidly running out of. Basically, socialism — and we know how that works out.

“It is an authoritarian regime, and it can claim that resisting economic pressure is a question of national pride,” Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow and Iran expert at the Middle East Institute, explained. At the same time, “as the money dries up because of the blockade, we may find that more and more folks have no choice but to mobilize politically.” Now, to be clear, this economic death spiral didn’t begin with the war. Years of U.S. sanctions had already hollowed out Iran’s financial foundations before a single shot was fired. But the blockade turbo-charged the damage.

The regime is fracturing too. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the war. His wounded son, Mojtaba Khamenei, formally holds the supreme leader position now, but he’s been MIA for weeks. Why does this matter? Without a genuine clerical authority at the top arbitrating key decisions, rivalries among IRGC commanders could intensify. And as the perception grows that Mojtaba is a figurehead, the regime’s internal legitimacy erodes further — both among elites who see an opening and among ordinary Iranians who have watched their purchasing power evaporate in real time.

The regime certainly knows how to mobilize security forces, but repeated massacres deepen public resentment rather than extinguish it. At some point, the IRGC’s willingness to shoot its own people may not be enough to hold the line. And Washington is betting on exactly that breaking point. U.S. officials believe that while talks have stalled, Iran will eventually crack under the economic strain. The question isn’t whether Iran is approaching a tipping point; it’s how much longer the regime can pretend it isn’t. It is essentially a high-stakes waiting game, and Iran’s clock is running out faster than its leadership wants to admit.

Read more …

What part of this is Trump?

UAE Announces Departure from OPEC Effective May 1st (CTH)

Big things are happening quickly as President Trump continues to disrupt historic global structures of control and influenceThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced they are leaving OPEC in order to manifest their own sovereign economic destiny and increase domestic oil production without the limits and rules of the OPEC cartel. This is a significant alignment with President Donald Trump who has actively argued against the OPEC assembly and the oil price controls they have historically imposed.


DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will leave OPEC effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of one of its largest producers and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low — meaning it wasn’t able to sell as much oil to the world as it had wanted. “Having invested heavily in expanding energy production capacity in recent years, the bigger picture is that the UAE has been itching to pump more oil,” Capital Economics wrote in an analysis.

“The ties binding OPEC members together have loosened,” it said, particularly after Qatar withdrew from the cartel in 2019. (read more)As noted by CNBC, “The UAE has played an influential role in OPEC’s decisions over nearly six decades. It was the group’s third-largest oil producer in February behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The Gulf state joined OPEC in 1967, seven years after the organization was founded.” This is where things get really interesting…. Because the UAE can effectively eliminate the Hormuz chokepoint, and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent previously outlined something very important to the UAE:

LAST WEEK:

WASHINGTON – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that a number of allies in the Gulf region and in Asia have requested currency swap lines from the United States to help deal with energy shocks and other fallout from the Middle East war. Bessent told US senators that both the US and the United Arab Emirates would benefit from a proposed swap line that President Donald Trump said he was considering on Tuesday. Bessent did not name the countries making such requests, but told a US Senate Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing that such facilities would help stabilize financial markets amid turmoil from the Iran war.

“And swap lines, whether it’s from the Federal Reserve or the Treasury, are to maintain order in the dollar funding markets and to prevent the sale of the US assets in a disorderly way,” Bessent said. “So, the swap line would benefit both the UAE and the US, and as I said, numerous other countries, including some of our Asian allies, have also requested them.” The US Treasury last October provided Argentina with a $20 billion currency swap to help stabilize the country’s peso during a tumultuous election period that helped strengthen the position of President Javier Milei’s party.

That swap line, backed by the Treasury’s $219 billion Exchange Stabilization Fund, provided Argentina with a safety net of dollars that the central bank could use to help prop up the value of the peso and prevent a devaluation ahead of the vote. It has since been repaid.

REQUESTS FOR RUSSIAN OIL

Bessent also said that he extended sanctions relief on Russian seaborne oil for another 30 days after requests from a number of countries that are most vulnerable to oil shortages from the closed Strait of Hormuz. The requests came during last week’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, he said. The action reversed his comments last week that he would not renew expiring sanctions waivers. A separate waiver to allow countries to buy Iranian oil stranded at sea lapsed on April 19. (more)

The UAE can bypass the Hormuz chokepoint, and Saudi Arabia can pump oil to the Red Sea via their east/west pipeline. If Trump keeps the blockade against Iranian oil shipments in place, the UAE and Saudi Arabia can fill the global oil void; however, they need to get outside the OPEC restrictions to do it. Thus, the UAE exiting OPEC makes strategic sense both now and in the geopolitical longer term. However, in the short run the UAE needs financial stability as the switch is done. Enter Scott Bessent with the currency swap lines for the UAE.

Brilliant planning.

Iran just lost all their leverage.

Read more …

“The UAE’s decision to withdraw from the cartel had been “a long time coming,” Obaid Ahmed Al-Zaabi believes ..”

More Countries ‘Very Likely’ To Leave OPEC: Ex-UAE Diplomat (RT)

More countries are “very likely” to withdraw from OPEC following the United Arab Emirates’ decision to leave the group, former UAE diplomat to the UN and World Trade Organization, Obaid Ahmed Al-Zaabi, told RT. The Gulf nation announced its intent to leave the cartel and broader OPEC+, which brings together OPEC members and other key oil-producing countries, on Tuesday. The withdrawal is set to come into force on May 1. The UAE’s decision has been a “long time coming,” Al-Zaabi has said, arguing that the country has been “substantially” restricting its production while many other members of the groups have been limited by their output capacities.


“The UAE is no longer entirely dependent on oil and hydrocarbons, and our economy is highly invested all over the world. The organization OPEC acted as a tax on global productivity, and it’s now in our interest to see the world as productive as possible. Also, it costs the UAE the most to impose OPEC,” the ex-diplomat argued. At the same time, Al-Zaabi suggested that the withdrawal was driven more by “other geopolitical realities” rather than oil itself, pinning the blame on Iran’s retaliatory actions against its Gulf neighbors in the wake of the US-Israeli attack.

“It hardly seems in the UAE’s interest to collude with Iran on the oil price when we’re being directly struck by them,” he argued. More countries are “very likely” to follow suit and leave the cartel, the ex-diplomat suggested. “The truth is very likely, because the more people that defect, the more costly it is to maintain the volume restriction. So if the UAE is serious and they no longer respect the limits, then there’s going to be no incentive for Kuwait and other countries to reduce their production,” he said.

Read more …

Qatar left OPEC in 2019..

Glory Days of OPEC Long Over – Afshin Rattansi (RT)

The decision by the United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC will further weaken the cartel of oil producers, whose power has been eroding over the years, Afshin Rattansi, host of Going Underground, has told RT. The Emirati government announced the departure on Tuesday, citing plans to focus on “national interests” and the Gulf state’s “long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile.” The move comes amid uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial to global oil trade, which has remained largely closed to shipping since February due to the US-Israeli war with Iran.


Speaking to RT, Rattansi noted that the UAE’s departure is not unprecedented, as another oil-rich Arab monarchy, Qatar, left the organization in 2019. The journalist argued that the cartel can no longer wield power comparable to what it had in 1973, when Arab countries declared an embargo on the US and other states supporting Israel.

“One has to realize that OPEC’s power has diminished. The glory days of (Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki) Yamani and 1973, when the Saudis and OPEC could exert geopolitical pressure, are long over,” Rattansi said. “Russia and the United States are the top oil suppliers in the world,” Rattansi added. He suggested that the UAE could align itself more closely with regional blocs such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as the Gulf monarchy has sought to maintain independence while under Western pressure to cut ties with Russia.

Read more …

Trump will not take this lying down.

UN Makes Iran Vice President of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference (Salgado)

The United Nations (UN) is determined to reject all blame for electing representatives of the genocidal Iranian regime to its Human Rights Council and other completely inappropriate positions. Now, it has also given an Iranian representative a key role in reviewing nuclear non-proliferation policy. It’s like putting Adolf Hitler on a committee against antisemitism.


Only a couple weeks ago, the American delegation had to leave Pakistan without any deal made with the Iranian delegation after the latter refused to agree to the basic requirement that Iran not pursue nuclear weapons development. “But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance explained. And yet the UN is pretending that Iran can be helpful in preventing nuclear proliferation. Watchdog group UN Watch posted the following:

https://twitter.com/UNWatch/status/2048898062832058535

Christopher Yeaw, U.S. assistant secretary for arms control and nonproliferation, protested to the UN delegates, “Rather than choosing to use this review conference to defend the integrity of the NPT [non-proliferation treaty] and call Iran to account, we instead elect Iran a vice president. It is beyond shameful and an embarrassment to the credibility of this conference.”

But the UN has made a series of disgusting moves to reward the Iranian regime this year, all of them after that same regime massacred over 40,000 of its own people, a slaughter that continues with executions of Persian freedom protesters. The other most recent UN nomination happened after the Iranian regime had been indiscriminately bombing civilian targets in multiple nations, particularly Israel. UN Watch posted furiously on April 10, “SHAME: The Islamic Republic of Iran has just been nominated to the U.N. Committee for Program and Coordination, which meets soon to shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention.”

Besides that despicable display, the UN recently welcomed an Iranian regime representative to chair a forum for the Human Rights Council. The Iranian regime is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world; it supports murderous jihadis, including Hamas, Hezbollah (which has helped Iran kill civilians in this conflict), the Houthis, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Then again, the UN also employs Hamas jihadis.

Read more …

Comey can threaten Trump then flip him the bird. US law is great, but not in this case.

Everrybody knows what he means. If he himself didn’t, he would never have been FBI director. His career says he’s guilty.

Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail (Turley)

Below is my column on Fox.com on the second indictment of former FBI director James Comey. Despite being one of Comey’s longest critics, the indictment raises troubling free speech issues. In the end, it must be the Constitution, not Comey, that drives the analysis and this indictment is unlikely to withstand constitutional scrutiny. If it did, it would allow the government to criminalize a huge swath of political speech in the United States. Here is the column:


In the last year, coverage of former FBI Director James Comey appears to be reverting to the level of a high school yearbook. Last March, we were discussing how Comey channeled Beyoncé in a classified meeting and then may have revealed a code name in an encore performance for family. Now we are back to discussing Comey’s beach shell art on social media. The latter controversy is now at the heart of a second criminal indictment of Comey. In November, a court dismissed the first indictment for false statements after a challenge to the status of the acting U.S. attorney. However, this indictment is being brought in North Carolina, the location of the beach where the offending shells were found. Comey will now likely create a new category of protected shell speech.

The problem with this indictment will be the merits. The indictment concerns an image that was later removed by Comey showing “86 47” in shells on a beach. Comey has a rather odd history of drawing inspiration from shells. This message, however, had a lethal twist since many interpreted the message as essentially calling for the killing or “86-ing” of Trump. Comey insists that he did not make the shell art and that he only posted it to his more than 1 million followers on X. He was merely the captive of his shell muses. For over a decade, I have been one of Comey’s most vocal and consistent critics. I have dozens of columns criticizing his excesses and the damage that he has done to our system.

For that reason, I would prefer to crawl into one of Comey’s conversant shells than write a column supporting him. However, here we are. The fact is that I believe that this indictment is facially unconstitutional absent some unknown new facts. To convict Comey, the Justice Department will have to show that his adolescent picture was a “true threat” under 18 U.S.C. § 871 and § 875(c). It is not.mThe First Amendment is designed to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech rarely needs protection. It also protects bad and hateful speech. It even protects lies so long as those lies are not used for the purpose of fraud or other criminal conspiracies.

In 1969, the Supreme Court declared a more direct threat protected under the First Amendment. In Watts v. United States, an 18-year-old anti-war protester exclaimed, “If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L. B. J.” While the court did rule that “the statute [criminalizing presidential threats] is constitutional on its face,” it emphasized that “what is a threat must be distinguished from what is constitutionally protected speech.” The court ruled that the expression of wanting to kill a president is “a kind of very crude offensive method of stating a political opposition to the President.” Saying the same thing in shell is only further removed from criminal speech. Citizens are allowed to denounce and even wish a president ill. I have written about what I called this “age of rage.”

It is not our first. This nation was founded in rage. The Boston Tea Party was rage. In forming this more perfect union, we created the world’s greatest protection of free speech in history. It is arguably the most American contribution to our Bill of Rights. Great Britain did not — and still does not — protect free speech as we do. It comes at a cost. Perhaps Comey is that cost. However, he has a right to write out any hateful thoughts that come to him on his walks on the beach. A true threat requires “statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.” Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343, 359 (2003).

It is certainly true that the threat can be implied. However, “The ‘true’ in that term distinguishes what is at issue from jests, ‘hyperbole,’ or other statements that when taken in context do not convey a real possibility that violence will follow.” Counterman v. Colorado, 600 U.S. 66, 74 (2023). At the time, Comey quickly deleted the post and said that it never occurred to him that it would be interpreted as being violent. In a subsequent Instagram post, Comey said he assumed the shells that he saw on a beach walk were “a political message” and that he “did not realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”

We will have to wait to see if the administration has a “smoking shell” allegation that makes Comey’s shell speech more menacing as a willful and knowing threat. I cannot imagine what that would be beyond a sleeper surfer hit squad waiting for a shell signal. Absent such new evidence, it appears to be yet another Comey posting that makes his Beyoncé renditions seem professional in comparison. Ironically, the indictment is unlikely to survive a challenge, but it is likely to fulfill Comey’s narrative about the administration. It will undermine the legitimate objections to the lawfare waged under Comey. Comey’s shell speech should not be celebrated, but it should be protected.

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The Kiev mob wants more money.

US Envoy To Ukraine To Resign Over Dwindling Aid To Kiev – FT (RT)

Acting US Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis will leave her post over disagreements with President Donald Trump regarding his waning support for the country, the Financial Times has reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The State Department has confirmed Davis’ departure but denied that she was leaving because of differences with the president. “Ambassador Davis has been a steadfast proponent of the Trump administration’s efforts to bring about a durable peace between Russia and Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement on Tuesday. He added that Davis will depart Kiev in June.


Davis has served as chargé d’affaires in Ukraine since May 2025, following the resignation of her predecessor, former Ambassador Bridget Brink, who accused Trump of “appeasement” toward Russia. “Unfortunately, the policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia,” Brink wrote in an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press shortly after resigning.

Trump has angered many in Kiev and the EU by suggesting that Ukraine may have to make concessions to Russia, including potentially ceding territory. He also criticized Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whom he once branded “a dictator” for refusing to hold elections. The US mediated several rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine throughout 2025, although they did not result in any breakthroughs. Trump also broke with the diplomatic boycott of Russia by hosting President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August 2025.

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They blame Trump. That way they’re not to blame. Same as: he organizes the attacks himself. Because he’s so impopular. Their media says it’s so.

Who This Democrat Blames for the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt (Margolis)

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) didn’t waste any time pointing the finger after Saturday’s assassination attempt on President Donald Trump — and he aimed it squarely at Trump himself. The anti-Trump stalwart appeared on CNN’s Laura Coates Live following the arrest of a man identified as carrying a pump-action shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, and at least three knives to Washington, D.C. after traveling from California. The suspect emailed his family just before the attack, laying out his grievances against the Trump administration, and a manifesto left little ambiguity about his targets. More charges are expected to follow.


Coates played a clip of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called out what she described as years of escalating demonization of the president. “This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party, and even some in the media,” she said. “This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump day after day after day for 11 years has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment.”

Goldman, who sits on the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees and is a former federal prosecutor, of course, doesn’t blame his party for the shooting. When asked about the White House’s response, Goldman didn’t even pause. “I mean, it’s pretty rich given that Donald Trump’s rhetoric led to January 6,” he said. “And we know what Donald Trump’s rhetoric leads to because we know many times over how his followers use violence in — when they follow him.”

Yes, he literally blamed President Trump for the assassination attempt against him. Let’s recap what happened. A man traveled across the country armed to the teeth, wrote a manifesto targeting Trump administration officials, and Goldman’s primary takeaway is that Trump’s rhetoric is the real problem here. The suspect’s own words, apparently, are less relevant than invoking January 6. And speaking of January 6, how exactly can we trust Democrats when it comes to assessing the rhetoric of Trump or anyone, when they claim that Trump telling his supporters to march “to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” was inciting a riot.

But I digress. After blaming Trump for the assassination attempt, Goldman had the audacity to play the “both sides” card. “Now, that does not excuse rhetoric that would otherwise call for violence by anybody,” he continued. “The point is that we do need to dial it down on all sides.” As we’ve pointed out before, this is what Democrats do every time there’s left-wing violence. They try to downplay their own culpability by claiming the problem exists on “both sides.” They can never own up to the fact that they’ve been calling Trump a Nazi, a dictator, an existential threat to democracy, etc., etc., for years, and that the people carrying out all the violence we’re seeing are echoing that rhetoric, are clearly radicalized by it, and feeling morally obligated to do something about it.

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That’s his mugshot. In your passport. How can you not love that?

US to Issue Limited Passports With Trump’s Image for 250th Anniversary (ET)

The U.S. State Department announced on April 28 that it will release limited-edition passports featuring a picture of President Donald Trump to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary of independence. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to multiple news outlets that the department would release “a limited number of specially designed U.S. passports to commemorate this historic occasion” in July, but did not specify how many would be issued.
“These passports will feature customized artwork and enhanced imagery while maintaining the same security features that make the U.S. passport the most secure documents in the world,” Pigott said.= The White House posted a mockup of the limited-edition passport on social media, which shows the interior page featuring an image of Trump and his signature in gold, while the back cover displays the “Declaration of Independence” painting by John Trumbull. “Patriot passport unlocked. Limited edition. Stamped for America 250,” the White House said in the X post. > The only presidents featured in current U.S. passports are in a double-page depiction of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Other depictions include the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and scenes of the Great Plains, mountains, and islands. Current passports also contain quotations from Martin Luther King Jr. as well as Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Dwight Eisenhower.

Last year, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the department would issue new commemorative park passes this year to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, with the annual passes featuring images of George Washington and Trump, and military passes showing a photo of Trump saluting troops.

In addition, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts last month approved a final design for a commemorative coin featuring Trump’s image to mark the nation’s anniversary. “As we approach our 250th birthday, we are thrilled to prepare coins that represent the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, and there is no profile more emblematic for the front of such coins than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump,” Treasurer Brandon Beach said in a statement on March 20.

The Treasury Department also announced on March 26 that Trump’s signature would appear alongside that of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on future U.S. paper currency in honor of the 250th anniversary. “There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial,” Bessent said.

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Don’t get lost in hyperbole. It was alright.

The Way Bongino Flushed Out Deep State Leakers Was Pure GENIUS (Margolis)

If you’ve ever wondered just how deep the dysfunction runs inside the FBI, just gave a peek behind the curtain—and it’s worse than you think. In a revealing conversation on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast released Tuesday, Bongino described a bureau split into what he bluntly called “two FBIs.” One side, he said, is filled with agents doing the hard, honorable work Americans expect. The other? A nest of internal saboteurs leaking to the press and undermining the mission from within.


“There were two FBIs trying to help you solve the A, B and C problems, and that’s FBI one and FBI two,” Bongino said. Bongino, who served as deputy director from March 2025 to January of this year, didn’t hold back in describing the divide. He praised agents working violent crime and child exploitation cases, saying he felt “honored” to serve alongside them. These are the people actually protecting Americans. The ones doing the job the FBI was created to do.

But then there’s what he called “this other FBI,” which he said was “populated with, to say, unfortunately, ‘snakes’ is being nice.” And here’s where it gets even more troubling. Bongino said he and FBI Director Kash Patel couldn’t easily tell who was who. Loyalty wasn’t obvious. “You’re trying to figure this out, and you’re asking someone for advice, you’ve only been there a couple weeks, and you don’t know if that person is part of the good FBI or the bad FBI,” Bongino explained.

Think about that. Senior leadership inside the FBI, tasked with restoring integrity, couldn’t even rely on internal guidance without wondering if they were being set up. It gets worse. Bongino said he was repeatedly assured certain individuals were trustworthy, only to suspect them of leaking shortly afterward. “It happened a couple times where they’d say, ‘Oh, you can trust John Smith.’ And you trust John Smith, and then a week later you see a leak in the media and you’d be like, ‘I’m pretty sure that came from John Smith,’” he said. At that point, most bureaucrats would shrug and complain. Bongino did something smarter.

He set a trap. To flush out leakers, Bongino began planting harmless, fake details—like an “innocuous” schedule item—and sharing them selectively with specific individuals. Then he watched. If that exact detail showed up in the press, he had his answer. “It was like we would play this little game,” he said. Call it a game if you want. It was actually a classic counterintelligence tactic, and it worked. When the planted information surfaced publicly, Bongino confronted the source directly. No guesswork. No plausible deniability. Done.

When you think about it, what Bongino describes isn’t just bureaucratic infighting, it’s a battle over what the FBI even is. Is it a law enforcement agency serving the public, or a politicized institution where leaks and agendas shape outcomes behind the scenes? Apparently, there are enough of the latter to be a serious problem. And if rooting out “snakes” requires undercover tricks from the deputy director himself, that tells you everything you need to know about how entrenched the problem has become.

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The numbers are scary as all hell.

RFK Jr.’s New Autism Committee Issues First Proposals (ET)

A federal committee remade by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recommended on April 28 that health agencies revamp guidance for diagnosing and treating people with autism spectrum disorder. The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee voted to advise the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make clear to doctors that they should be prepared to recognize and treat new issues that crop up in autistic people, such as seizures and difficulty sleeping; develop standardized clinical steps when encountering conditions such as developmental regression and allergic disease when screening, diagnosing, and treating children with autism; and formally define profound autism as having little or no ability to speak and require continuous supervision.


The committee also said the government should take steps to enhance a warning system for missing and endangered people so that when autistic people wander away, alerts are issued. The HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The meeting was the first since Kennedy removed existing committee members and selected new ones in January, including some who said vaccines can cause autism. None of the recommendations involve vaccines, although some public speakers and panel members said they either think vaccines can cause autism or that research should be conducted into the possibility.

One recommendation is that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an HHS component, should clarify that when screening, diagnosing, and treating children with autism, doctors should seriously evaluate conditions such as developmental regression and allergic disease.“When such triggers are present, further evaluation should be pursued or arranged as clinically indicated,” the committee said, adding that the evaluation “should not permit these signals to be dismissed solely on the basis of an autism diagnosis.”

The committee said that there is much clinical evidence describing medical conditions that occur among autistic people, but “this evidence is not consistently integrated into clinical assessment, resulting in gaps in recognition, evaluation, and follow-through, especially when these conditions present atypically.”It added later: “The result has been delayed identification, fragmented care, and preventable morbidity—reflecting a translational gap rather than an absence of evidence.”

Another is that the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is also part of the department, should develop training for doctors to identify and address gastrointestinal changes and sleep disturbances, among other problems, in autistic people.The committee said that despite evidence showing new symptoms require treatment, “clinical care remains inconsistent and fragmented across settings.” The symptoms “can be overlooked, deferred, treated as secondary to behavior, or not systematically elicited at all,” it said.

Among the specific recommended changes is treating observations from caregivers of autistic people who are unable to speak, or speak well, as medically relevant information, rather than anecdotal context. Dr. Sylvia Fogel, a psychiatry instructor at Harvard Medical School and the committee’s chair, said during the meeting that focusing on treating autistic individuals is imperative, because many continue to suffer from undiagnosed psychiatric and pain-causing conditions.“It is unacceptable,” said Fogel, who said her son has what she described as profound autism. The committee also recommended that officials adopt the term profound autism as a reference for autistic people “with the highest and most persistent support needs.”

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They keep on trying to make you think it wasn’t the Americans. But you have Seymour Hersh. What comes after nudes?

German Tabloid Publishes Nudes of Alleged Nord Stream Saboteur (RT)

German tabloid Bild has published nude images of a Ukrainian woman allegedly linked to the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. According to media reports, the woman was part of a group of Ukrainian nationals suspected by German investigators of renting the yacht Andromeda to carry out the sophisticated underwater operation. Claims about the woman’s past as an erotic model – identified under the alias ‘Freya’ – were first reported by Wall Street Journal chief European political correspondent Bojan Pancevski in his book on the Nord Stream attack. His account is partly based on interviews with individuals allegedly connected to the case.


The photos released by Bild include fully naked images said to show Freya, whose real name was previously reported as Valeria Chernyshova. One image shows her featured on a 2004 erotic magazine cover; another shows her on a sofa. Her face was obscured in both photos. Russian officials have expressed skepticism about Western media narratives surrounding the investigation, suggesting that these reports attempt to attribute responsibility to rogue Ukrainian actors for what Moscow regards as an act of terrorism backed or potentially carried out by NATO.

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‘A breath of fresh air’:

Experts Comment on RT’s Social Well-Being Index (RT)

Built around six indicators – total fertility rate, life expectancy, infant mortality, number of homicides, income inequality and education levels – the Social Well-Being Index, or SWI, is intended as an alternative to familiar measures such as GDP rankings and the UN’s Human Development Index. Its creators argue that while older frameworks are useful for assessing individual development or economic output, they often fail to show whether a nation is cohesive, secure and sustainable over the long term.


Former British MP George Galloway offered the strongest endorsement, arguing that existing measures can badly misrepresent a country’s true condition. “The pre-existing indexes are completely inadequate,” he said, adding that they “tell not just an incomplete story, but a story that is false.” That criticism goes to the heart of the new index’s appeal. Traditional measures such as GDP and even broader composite indicators like the HDI can reward wealth, consumption and personal attainment without asking whether the surrounding society is healthy. In Galloway’s view, that is a major blind spot.

“The current indexes don’t tell you that story,” he said, describing how someone may appear prosperous on paper while living amid “potential violence, and mass unhappiness and misery.” The SWI tries to correct for that by focusing less on isolated individual outcomes and more on the overall environment in which people live. Homicides, inequality and demographic sustainability are treated as core indicators of whether a society is stable and likely to reproduce itself over time.

Matthew Ehret, director of the Rising Tide Foundation, called this approach “a breath of fresh air” after what he described as decades of narrow Western economic thinking. The problem with ranking countries by GDP, Ehret argued, is not just that it is incomplete, but that it often confuses harmful activity with real progress. “GDP generally fails to address what is real value and what is fake value,” he said, pointing to criminal, speculative or socially corrosive activity that can still inflate national output figures. The SWI goes further by explicitly measuring social conditions that economic aggregates often obscure. A country may generate large volumes of output, but if it is aging rapidly, suffering from low fertility, burdened by deep inequality, or marked by lethal social breakdown, its long-term trajectory may be weaker than headline growth numbers imply.

Economist Santosh Mehrotra, a visiting professor, of the Centre for Development at the UK’s University of Bath, knows the Human Development Index well, having previously worked closely with such metrics. He describes the SWI as “definitely an improvement upon GDP or GDP per capita.” He also noted that the index does share some DNA with older composite measures. Life expectancy and education, for example, overlap with HDI-style thinking, and the index uses a familiar min-max method to combine its components.

But Mehrotra says one particularly notable innovation is the attempt to capture social cohesion through violence. “What is sort of most striking is the use of the homicide rate as an indicator of social well-being,” he said. “I like that.” The number of homicides is more than a crime statistic. It can serve as a blunt but revealing measure of whether people trust institutions, whether daily life is secure, and whether social conflict has become normalized. In that sense, the SWI’s inclusion of homicide moves it closer to questions ordinary citizens often care about most: Can families raise children safely? Do communities function? Does the future feel livable?

The fertility component is likewise central to the index’s philosophy. Unlike measures that treat population change as secondary, the SWI interprets demographic sustainability as a sign of national confidence and continuity. Supporters say that makes the ranking especially relevant in an era when many advanced economies face aging populations and shrinking birth rates. Matthew Ehret welcomed that emphasis directly, saying the index challenges the assumption that population growth is inherently negative. “I appreciate that you don’t believe that,” he said, referring to the idea that demographic growth can reflect social confidence, productive capacity and belief in the future.

Professor Mehrotra, while more measured, agreed that demographic sustainability is “of course very important,” especially for countries facing rapid aging, including parts of Europe and East Asia. That theme was echoed in reflections on China shared by John Gong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and a China Forum expert. He described the country as a place of enormous gains but also sharp internal contrasts, warning that broad national averages can hide important divides. “GDP doesn’t say it all,” he said. “It’s a nuanced picture here.” .

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https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2049298607807902131?s=20 https://twitter.com/JackDangerLIVE/status/2049195712504643755?s=20 https://twitter.com/IntCyberDigest/status/2049228870260596823?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Apr 282026
 


Johannes Vermeer Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window 1657-59


A Feral and Savage Party (James Howard Kunstler)
No Conspiracy Required (Stephen Green)
Obama Said This About the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt (Margolis)
President Trump 60-Minutes Interview on Events During Attack at WHCA Dinner (CTH)
Again, Fetterman Breaks Ranks After the Third Attempt on Trump’s Life (Manney)
Melania Trump Deplores Jimmy Kimmel’s Disturbing Shooting Jokes (Salgado)
How the GOP Should Respond to the ‘Both Sides Are Guilty’ Nonsense (Pinsker)
The New York Times Explores the Case for “Microlooting” to Murder (Turley)
Muslim Voters Are Reshaping U.K. Politics (JTN)
Trump’s Prescription Drug Policies Make Small-Town Pharmacies Great Again (JTN)
Charlottesville: The Deceit Underlying the Hoax (Steve Cortes)
The Siege of Iran, and Other Matters (James Howard Kunstler)
Iran Offers New Proposal To Reopen Strait – Trump Open To Deal Via Phone (ZH)
Bessent: IRGC Leaders ‘Trapped’ Like ‘Drowning Rats’ By US Blockade (ZH)
Senator Chuck Grassley’s Office Requests Answers from DOJ and FBI (CTH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2048492303531364530?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2048439348463337953?s=20 https://twitter.com/CRRJA5/status/2048585821163254218?s=20 https://twitter.com/eagameover/status/2048427971476705443?s=20

 


 


“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.” —Ian Fleming

A Feral and Savage Party (James Howard Kunstler)

Don’t you love the way the news media pretends it can’t figure out the motive of Cole Tomas Allen, who tried to shoot-up Saturday’s White House correspondents’ gala. He was a creation of the very White House correspondents who ducked under their tables at the sound of his shots. Cole Tomas Allen had digested and internalized the “narrative” spewage of the Democratic Party’s propaganda department. MSNOW occupied his brain like a glistening parasite.


CBS tried to amplify the shooter’s own motive on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes show when Norah O’Donnell read out-loud from his manifesto, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and asked President Trump “What is your reaction to that?” Mr. Trump did not fall for the ruse — which was just an opportunity to reinforce a well-worn scurrility. “You’re a disgrace,” the president replied, and Ms. O’Donnell just continued with the interview as if his answer never registered. There it is.

In fact, Cole Tomas Allen traveled all the way from Los Angeles to Washington for the rare chance to find Mr. Trump and most of his cabinet all together in one room where he might be able to kill as many of them as possible. He styled himself: “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen. “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” he concluded in his short manifesto, reportedly composed and sent out minutes before he left his room at the Washington Hilton to perform his rash deed.

That rage, you understand, was planted in his head by the likes of Norah O’Donnell of CBS news and the scores of reporters, editors, and news producers who had to abandon the festive menu starters of spring pea and burrata salad and crab terrine with a nice Veuve Clicquot when the shots rang out. The gala is a night when the Blob’s media errand boys and call girls like to treat themselves like royalty. (Meanwhile their hated enemies back in the truck stops of MAGAland get by on lowly chili-lime jerky and Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, washed down with Red Bull — good for five-hundred miles of hauling, at least.)

The former president can’t guess Cole Tomas Allen’s motives. He is a liar, a cad, and a fraud. As for political violence in general, you have not heard Mr. Obama complain about Antifa mayhem, BLM riots, tranny school murders, harassment of ICE officers, or any other violence approved by the Lefty-left. Mr. Obama is himself a bona fide seditionist. When he repeats the shibboleth “our democracy” he means simply the Lefty-left’s malevolent will to power — which is predicated on nothing more than feeding the Democratic Party’s never-ending rackets, doling out money to its captive clients for votes, solely to remain in power: Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail. His mealy-mouthed sanctimony serves only his personal need to evade prosecution for his own crimes.

The only way Barack Obama can evade prosecution for RussiaGate and then for covertly running the “Joe Biden” White House from his HQ across town is if he is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the RICO cases to come. That will be enough for historians to understand what happened here in the early 21st century. And what about the other traitors, the long list of Blob apparatchiks who schemed to overthrow the executive from 2016 to 2021, and then labored to throw thousands in prison, ran a fake pandemic op, queered two elections, hijacked the courts, shut down opposing opinion, and poisoned the minds of several assassins?

Justice is coming for them. They know it, and their “resistance” seeks to turn feral and savage in the months leading to the midterm elections. It will start in a few days with “Mayday Strong” rallies and street marches. Their slogan, “It’s workers over billionaires,” is just another lie. The part they leave out is that these actions are funded by billionaires: George Soros, Neville Roy Singham, Hansjörg Wyss, et al. Don’t expect the action to remain “mostly peaceful,” either. The idea, of course is to get violent so as to goad President Trump into invoking emergency powers to put down an insurrection.

I doubt that President Trump will shrink from invoking the Insurrection Act, an amalgamation of laws passed by Congress starting in 1792–1795 with the Militia Acts, then the key 1807 law signed by President Thomas Jefferson, and major amendments during and after the Civil War, including the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. It is codified in Title 10 of the United States Code, Chapter 13, specifically §§ 251–255. It is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act (1878), which generally prohibits using federal troops for domestic law enforcement.

The Insurrection Act (with its predecessor statutes) has been invoked approximately 30 times in U.S. history by 16 presidents — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, Wilson, Harding, FD Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, and Bush — in episodes ranging from the Whiskey Rebellion, the Southern Secession, many violent labor strikes, several race riots, and looting in natural disasters.

President Trump might have to use the Insurrection Act to stop what has been an ongoing coup against his elected administration by an opposition party that has turned criminal and traitorous. He may have to convene extraordinary military tribunals to adjudicate crimes that include those committed by the federal judiciary itself. If he does all this, it must include an executive order mandating common sense election procedure for the midterm: citizenship and photo ID required, paper ballots only, no vote-counting machines, voting only on one day deemed Election Day, and mail-in ballots limited only to military, people required to be out of the country, and the disabled. All this is looking increasingly unavoidable.

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“If the Democrats don’t knock this off, there really will be a civil war in this country, and it won’t end well for them, just like the last one they started in 1861.”

No Conspiracy Required (Stephen Green)

“The Democratic Party has created monsters among them,” Jan. 6 criminal defense attorney Marina Medvin posted to X in the wake of yet another assassination attempt on President Donald Trump Saturday night. “The most interesting part” of attempted assassin Cole Allen’s manifesto and social media posts is that they’re “generally indistinguishable from most liberal social medial accounts belonging to Democrat voters in America.” Dems, you have a problem.


“The same week the New York Times published a cozy interview justifying the murder of people whose politics you don’t like, the same week we learned that the Unite the Right Charlottesville rally was funded by the Left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, President Trump survived his third assassination attempt,” Batya Ungar-Sargon wrote on Sunday. “A recent YouGov poll says it all: 25% of very liberal Americans consider political violence justified—compared to 3% of very conservative Americans. Another 17% of liberal Americans say it’s justified, compared to just 6% of conservatives.”The left has worked hard at normalizing political violence — and Allen’s murderous intent is the left’s new mainstream. Let’s start with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, widely believed to have 2028 presidential ambitions, speaking last week:

As John Bulkeley warned, “If the Democrats don’t knock this off, there really will be a civil war in this country, and it won’t end well for them, just like the last one they started in 1861.” Speaking of war, here’s Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries doing just that.

Barring some big change before the midterms, Jeffries will be the next House Speaker. Maybe you remember James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by four-term incumbent John Cornyn. Writing for the New York Times last month, pseudo-conservative David French praised him as “one of the most faith-forward politicians in the United States.” Here’s Talarico’s pastor on Sunday:

Please note that the pastor did not go on to chide people for having mixed feelings about an assassination attempt, but instead doubled down on the very rhetoric that Allen echoed on BlueSky and in his manifesto. In church, if you can believe it. Finally, here’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday, calling first lady Melania Trump “an expectant widow” right to her face.

One more? OK, one more:

And don’t even get me started on the mainstream media… but if CNN’s Jake Tapper is at all unusual, it’s only because he’s so high-profile.

As I’ve written here for two years, there’s no conspiracy required to produce a left-wing assassin like Tyler James Robinson or Ryan Routh. They just amp up the rhetorical pressure, 24/7/365, until somebody pops. Lee Harvey Oswald was a weird teen, easy to pull out of the crowd. He embraced “theoretical Marxism” in high school and soon after earned the name “Oswaldovich” from his fellow Marines. But he seems to have required renouncing his citizenship and a two-year stint in the Soviet Union to turn him into a lefty assassin. If his manifesto is anything to go by, all Cole Thomas Allen had to do was watch CNN and read the New York Times.

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“Allen’s manifesto made it clear he has fallen for the lies of the Democrats, radicalized by their rhetoric — including Barack Obama’s.”

Obama Said This About the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt (Margolis)

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents Association dinner at the Washington Hilton, where 31-year-old Cole Allen of California tried to assassinate President Donald Trump and other administration officials, there was a lot of confusion. Early reports suggested that the shooter had been killed. Those reports turned out to be false. During that time, many people on the left were trying to distract from the obvious, that someone had tried to assassinate Trump again. Left-wing influencers started chiding conservatives, pointing out the obvious. They claimed we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Of course, they also claimed the shooting was staged, but that’s a whole other story.


And then there’s Barack Obama. “Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all of us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama wrote on X. “It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”

There’s just one huge problem with Obama’s statement. We already knew the shooter’s motive at this point. Obama posted his statement at 5:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday, and the shooter’s manifesto and its contents were first published late Sunday morning. So by the time Obama decided to weigh in, the manifesto had been in the public domain for several hours, and his anti-Trump motives were already widely reported.] Here’s what Cole Allen’s manifesto said:

“I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. (Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.) […] Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest

Allen made clear that Secret Service agents were only to be engaged if necessary — and even then, he claimed he preferred to incapacitate rather than kill. Hotel security, Capitol Police, and National Guard personnel were to be avoided unless they intervened, and he explicitly stated that hotel employees and guests were not targets. In short, there is no doubt he came there to kill Trump and other Trump administration officials. And Obama’s response was to tell the public the motive remained unclear.

There’s a pattern here worth naming. When political violence touches conservatives, the motive becomes suddenly complex, nuanced, perhaps unknowable. The calls for unity arrive with a side of fog. Meanwhile, the very writings that explain everything are either broadcast for maximum damage or quietly tucked away to avoid inconvenient conclusions.

No one can honestly believe that Obama was clueless. So why keep pretending that the motive is some unsolvable mystery? The answer is the same reason some on the left rushed to claim the assassination attempt was staged. They understand how damaging this is, so the instinct is to downplay it, muddy the waters, and dodge any real reckoning with the kind of radicalism that keeps surfacing on their side. Allen’s manifesto made it clear he has fallen for the lies of the Democrats, radicalized by their rhetoric — including Barack Obama’s.

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He shows himself in total control. This is obviously not the first time he thinks about it. How could it be?

Donald Trump came out of this weekend a lot bigger than he went in. A lot.

President Trump 60-Minutes Interview on Events During Attack at WHCA Dinner (CTH)

President Trump details his experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where a gunman charged toward the ballroom. President Trump says he wasn’t worried and praised the actions of law enforcement.


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“Fetterman cut through the noise and picked action over argument. While others kept talking, he picked a solution.”

Again, Fetterman Breaks Ranks After the Third Attempt on Trump’s Life (Manney)

If the man wasn’t a bloody lefty, I’d create a chorus of people asking him to flip to the Republican side. When compared to other Senate freshmen, he’s ranked the second most leftist. Alas, I believe him to be the maverick that the media’s favorite maverick, John McCain, thought himself to be. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) didn’t hedge after the chaos at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when a gunman, Cole Allen, rushed a Secret Service checkpoint and opened fire. The shooter has now been identified as 31-year-old schoolteacher Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., who sprinted past security checkpoints inside the hotel armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and two knives. He never made it into the ballroom.


Gunfire was exchanged during the incident, but Allen was not hit, and police arrested him. A Secret Service agent was struck but was wearing protective gear. No other injuries were confirmed among the attendees. In seconds, a routine political event turned into a live test of how much risk members of the Trump administration accept when they gather away from the White House. Fetterman saw enough, telling fellow Democrats to drop the reflex of opposing anything “Trump” and back a practical fix: build a secure, bulletproof ballroom on the White House grounds. A hardened, on-site venue would let presidents host large events inside a controlled perimeter instead of relying on facilities that weren’t built for modern threat levels.

President Donald Trump drove the point home within hours, saying the shooting proved why a protected ballroom isn’t optional; it’s basic security. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and senior officials moved off the stage as agents contained the threat. One Secret Service agent took a round to his chest and, thanks to his vest, survived. Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., never reached the main seating area, but the gap between “contained” and “catastrophic” was very thin. Fetterman’s position isn’t a one-off; he votes with his caucus most of the time, yet he breaks from it on national security when it counts. He backs Israel, supports Trump’s effort to block Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and, last year, defended the ballroom plan as appropriate and in line with the White House’s long history of upgrades.

Private donors would fund the ballroom, which removes the usual fight over money. For years, security professionals have warned about concentrating the president, vice president, cabinet, and lawmakers at off-site venues like the Washington Hilton. A single breach threatens multiple layers of leadership at once. A White House ballroom keeps those events inside a fortified perimeter designed for current threats, not assumptions from the past 30 years. You can’t put it more plainly than Fetterman did on X.

His point isn’t partisan; it’s operational: protect the office, reduce exposure, and control the environment. Washington typically defaults to posture over progress when leaders dig in, defend their side, and stall anything tied to the other party. Fetterman, however, did the opposite; he looked at what happened and backed a fix already on the table. Allen’s “alleged” attack didn’t create a new problem; he exposed one that’s been tolerated and kicked down the road for years.

How many times will it take for people filled with common sense to look at the critics of the ballroom, smack ‘em in the head, and, in the most sarcastic tone possible, exclaim: It doesn’t bear repeating, but for some dunderheads, it does: a secure, on-site venue won’t solve every risk, but it closes obvious ones. The presidency demands more than ceremony and tradition; it demands infrastructure that matches the reality of modern threats. Fetterman cut through the noise and picked action over argument. While others kept talking, he picked a solution.

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‘Political Sickness:’

Melania Trump Deplores Jimmy Kimmel’s Disturbing Shooting Jokes (Salgado)

After vile “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel referred to First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” in a series of grossly inappropriate jokes before the Saturday assassination attempt on Trump administration officials, the first lady responded with dignity but without holding back on emphasizing just how dangerous the rhetoric is.


Just days before Cole Allen opened fire at the April 25 White House correspondents’ dinner, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! chortled, “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” That ugly display was part of Kimmel’s Thursday parody of the then-upcoming correspondents’ dinner. And the shooting highlighted vividly how irresponsible or downright bloodthirsty the media is for their constant pro-assassination rhetoric. No wonder the first lady wants ABC to take him off the air.

Melania posted on X Monday, “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” That is exactly what we see across the political left in America now, a sickness that has pervaded not only their politics, but their minds and their morals as well.

Then, Melania continued by challenging the networks that platform such incredibly dangerous rhetoric. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him,” she said. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”

Jimmy Kimmel was also despicable about the Charlie Kirk assassination. He falsely claimed that Kirk’s murderer was MAGA (actually, Tyler Robinson was an LGBTQ leftist) and smirked that the right was trying to score political points off the tragedy. The problem is that he is mainstream for lefties. He might be a little more candid about his unholy glee when Republicans die or are in danger of death, but his mainstream media pals agree with him.

Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, was at the correspondents’ dinner on Saturday and understandably was extremely traumatized after the near-deadly incident, considering how recent her husband’s assassination was. But Kimmel thinks it is all a great big joke. While ABC is not a public broadcasting station that essentially receives a form of government subsidy, and therefore the government cannot challenge Kimmel’s employment directly, it is entirely reasonable for Melania to ask why the Walt Disney Company keeps funding this hideous human being’s show.

Why is Kimmel even still on the air? At the very least, Donald Trump needs to stop going on mainstream media like CBS News’ 60 Minutes and legitimizing these poisonous propagandists. The president and his wife are absolutely right that the media is fueling violent hatred, and therefore, Republicans should allow these same media stooges to fall into the complete irrelevancy they have so richly earned.

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Don’t get ahead of yourself: Only one man should decide and proclaim how the GOP should respond: the President.

How the GOP Should Respond to the ‘Both Sides Are Guilty’ Nonsense (Pinsker)

If you’re an absent-minded married shlub, you’ve probably played the “golly gee, both sides were wrong, let’s move on” card, too. It goes like this:

Wife: Scott, why haven’t you taken out the garbage yet? I asked you two days ago. It’s starting to stink.

Me: But that was in the past! We need to look to the future. Let’s not dwell on the blame-game, honey — we’re better than that.

Wife: What are you talking about? Just take the garbage out, please.

Me: Look, we both contributed to the garbage. You threw away plenty of stuff, too. Probably more than me.

Wife: I can hear the garbage truck coming! Take it out to the street before it’s too late!

Me: Really, we’re both at fault: You asked me to do something — and somewhere along the way, there was a communication breakdown. So instead of pointing fingers, let’s be grownups and admit we were both wrong. Mistakes were made, but life goes on. That’s why pencils have erasers. Right?

Wife: [sighs] Never mind, I’ll do it.

Me: Thanks, honey. While you’re up, can you grab me a beer?

Yeah: It doesn’t work when you’re married any better than it’ll work for the Democrats. On the heels of yet another assassination attempt, the American people are beginning to recognize the media’s Political Violence Blame-Game Template. After all, it’s really not that complicated: When there’s no political violence: Blame Donald Trump and the GOP for inciting this awful, terrible epidemic of violence that doesn’t exist (yet).When a Democrat is the victim: Blame Donald Trump and the GOP for “extremist language” and racist/fascist “dog whistles” that are an “existential threat to democracy.” Demand greater civility in political discourse — while threatening to jail Republicans who appear “threatening” to liberals. (The only long-term solution to political violence, of course, is to remove Republicans from power.)

When a Republican is the victim: Blame both sides. (“It’s everyone’s fault! How the heck did things spiral out of control?”) Neither party has a monopoly on unstable nutjobs, but according to opinion polls, one side is a helluva lot more likely to support political violence than the other. Spoiler alert: It’s not the GOP.

For the Babylon Bee, the parody writes itself:

The assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner will likely dominate the headlines for the next several days. Unlike most Black Swan events, this one will have extra-long legs because:

1) All the D.C. journalists who witnessed it are highly incentivized to continue talking about the most exciting moment of their careers. Like I wrote yesterday, if reporters like Brian Williams can’t resist bragging about fake bullets, you better believe they’re gonna be talking nonstop about the real thing.

2) There’s a legitimate mystery to investigate: Who, what, when, and how was Cole Allen, the (alleged) “Friendly Federal Assassin” radicalized? On the surface, he seems like your normal, typical, nondescript leftist. As far as we know, this wasn’t a kid who was in and out of mental hospitals. So, was he radicalized by TikTok and Reddit? By the Epstein conspiracy? A hate-merchant like Hasan Piker? What pushed him over the edge?

Which means, the mainstream media will play the “both sides are equally guilty” card, but its attention will be diverted: Journalists can’t investigate Allen, beat their chests and brag about their (remarkable) bravery, AND be laser-focused on blaming both sides. Not enough oxygen in the room. Too many competing storylines to juggle. And therein lies the GOP’s opportunity. Because the media’s attention will be divided, the GOP will have a free hand to publicize its own message to the masses — and counterprogram the mainstream media. But we’ll have to be picky: With all the competing storylines, only one or two “talking points” will break through.

This means that we can’t say EVERYTHING we think about Cole Allen and left-wing political violence. We must be selective: It’s all about bang-for-the-buck. So how should the GOP counterprogram the Dems? Conservatives tend to favor intellectual, evidence-based arguments over raw emotions. It’s why we rely so heavily on statistics. Already on social media, we’re seeing swaths of posts about polling data — such as the one embedded above — that make a compelling mathematical argument about left-wing America’s sick tolerance of political violence.

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“Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

The New York Times Explores the Case for “Microlooting” to Murder (Turley)

“It is so hard to live ethically in an unethical society.” That lament heard this week from New York Times opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman could well be the Democratic Party’s epitaph. Spiegelman was interviewing two left-wing influencers about how everything from shoplifting to murder may be excusable today in light of the unfairness they see in society.


The podcast, a product of the nation’s newspaper of record, reveled in the moral relativism that has taken over the American left. It featured the ravings of the antisemitic Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who calmly explained how the murder of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson was perfectly understandable. His rationalization came from Marxist revolutionary Friedrich Engels, who had called capitalism “social murder.” If capitalists are “social murderers,” then why not kill them? The logic is liberating and lethal for some on the left looking for a license for violence.

Mind you, this same newspaper had once condemned and effectively banned a U.S. senator for writing an op-ed advocating the use of the military to quell violent protests during the summer of George Floyd’s death. The Times even forced out its own opinion editor for having the temerity to publish such an opinion. But glorifying murder? The suggestion of open hunting season on corporate executives did not appear to shock or repel Spiegelman. After all, we are living in “an unethical society.” She explained that many felt that the murder of Thompson, the father of two, meant that “finally, someone can actually do something about health care.”

Even liberal comedians are practicing a literal version of slapstick. Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.” To be far, Spiegelman did concede that it might seem a bit “scary” for some to start murdering our way to social justice. She also explained that shoplifting can be justifiable because people are “stealing from Whole Foods — not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification.” New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino also contributed to the podcast, titled “The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?” She immediately threw in her own experience with “microlooting” and explained why it is arguably moral: “I have, under very specific circumstances. I will say, I think that stealing from a big-box store [isn’t] significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest.”

She detailed her own past thefts and added, “I didn’t feel bad about it at all, in part because the store was a corporation. And it certainly felt, in a utilitarian sense, I was like, this is not a big deal. Right, guys?” Not in the confines of the New York Times, where apparently you are entitled to all goods that are fit to pilfer. The bizarre exchange highlighted the moral chasm that is opening its maw on today’s political left. In my book “Rage and the Republic,” I write about how rage helps people excuse any offense or attack. It dismisses the humanity of others and provides a license to hate completely and without reservation. It is not really murder or theft if there are no real humans on the other side, is it?

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And the country.

Muslim Voters Are Reshaping U.K. Politics (JTN)

The growing numbers of Muslims in the United Kingdom, along with their organized and issue-driven politics, has made them an increasingly consequential – if not outsizes – part of the country’s electorate – representing new challenges for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left government and efforts to maintain a unified stance on key issues.Recent elections have shown the country’s estimated 4 million people, or roughly 6.5% of the country’s overall population, have been enough to determine electoral outcomes in specific districts and nudge national parties to re-calibrate their platforms.


U.K. foreign policy – particularly when it concerns heavily Muslim parts of the world such as Gaza and Iran – has become especially prickly, according to surveys. Changes among Muslim voters have also fragmented the traditional Labour Party coalition, and according to some reports, have accelerated a shift toward “transactional politics.” “The size of the Muslim population and even more so, the areas where it is concentrated are helping to leverage influence in key areas,” political scientist Rana Dancyger told Just the News. “They do not vote as a bloc, but their influence is large enough that their priorities must be taken into consideration.”

Census data shows that the U.K.’s Muslim population is concentrated in urban constituencies such as Birmingham, Bradford, parts of London, and cities in the north. The Muslim Council of Britain has for years identified dozens of constituencies in which Muslim voters could play a decisive role in tight races. That played out in 2024, the last national vote, where Starmer’s Labour Party lost significant support among constituencies with large Muslim populations, meaning hundreds of thousands of voters shifted away over protests on specific issues including the government’s policies on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, where roughly 99% of the population Muslim. And likewise with Iran, who’s at war with Israel and the United States, and whose population is 99% Muslim.

It didn’t hurt Labour in the final tally, in which Starmer and his allies swept the Conservatives out of office for the first time in 16 years. But the shift helped to fuel growth for more extreme parties, such as the Liberal Democrats and the right-wing Reform UK party. The shift has forced Starmer’s government into a delicate balancing act, as positions that in the past would have been framed through political alliances – such as support for Israel or backing Israeli and U.S. policies toward Iran — now carry clear domestic consequences.

Even within the Labour Party itself, Muslim members of parliament, other government officials, and activists, have become more vocal in criticizing government policies, making it increasingly difficult for Starmer to maintain a unified message. One survey warned that the historic ties between the Labour Party and Muslim representatives could be “at a breaking point,” adding to Labour’s woes stemming from weak economic growth and indirect ties to scandals involving the Epstein files in the U.S.

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Wonderful.

Trump’s Prescription Drug Policies Make Small-Town Pharmacies Great Again (JTN)

President Donald Trump recently announced a substantial deal with drug manufacturer Regeneron to lower drug prices and onshore nearly $10 billion to $27 billion in U.S. manufacturing, further expanding access to domestic medicine, the absence of which has caused headaches for America’s thousands of community and rural pharmacies. “Seventeen of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, representing 80% of the branded drug market, have now agreed to sell their drugs to American patients at the lowest price anywhere in the world. This will result in the largest drop in prescription drug prices in the history of the United States of America,” Trump told the press Thursday during the announcement in the Oval Office.


Earlier in April, the Trump administration imposed a timed 100% tariff on patented pharmaceutical ingredients and products from most countries, which has accelerated the return of drug manufacturing to the U.S., producing stability and economic wins for independent pharmacies that have long struggled with supply-chain fragility. Key policy drivers include the April 2 Presidential Proclamation imposing 100% ad valorem tariffs on patented pharmaceuticals and ingredients (effective July 31 for major companies and September 29 for smaller companies). Companies with secretary of Commerce-approved onshoring plans qualify for a transitional 20% rate, which escalates to 100% on April 2, 2030, while MFN pricing agreements can yield 0% tariffs (with their own sunset provisions).

Complementary actions streamline FDA approvals and inspections to accelerate domestic manufacturing.The data have shown dramatic early results. In 2025 alone, drugmakers announced more than $370 billion in new U.S. manufacturing commitments – the largest reshoring wave in industry history – creating tens of thousands of jobs and dozens of new or expanded facilities. Major players have pledged over $480 billion total (e.g., Eli Lilly’s $27 billion for four new sites, Johnson & Johnson’s $55 billion including multiple plants, AstraZeneca’s $50 billion with a major Virginia facility, and similar multi-billion-dollar moves by Novartis, Roche, and others.)

The investments are generating roughly 44,000 direct manufacturing and support jobs while reducing reliance on overseas APIs, where 70–80% of U.S. generics and many branded drugs historically originated from China and India. For rural and small-town pharmacies, the re-shoring translates into tangible long-term gains. Independent operators – who often operate on razor-thin margins and serve Medicare/Medicaid-heavy populations – have faced chronic shortages, stock outs, and price volatility from global disruptions. Domestic production ramps are already easing those pressures by shortening supply chains, cutting transit risks and enabling faster replenishment.

Early signs that these policies are improving the industry, all the way down to small pharmacies, include stabilized generic supply in key categories (like antibiotics and diabetes treatments) and renewed local economic activity as new plants (many in heartland or Southern states) boost regional wages, supplier networks, and tax bases that indirectly support pharmacy viability. The administration’s parallel Rural Health Transformation Program further amplifies this by aligning pharmacies with goals like “sustainable access” and “make rural America healthy again,” positioning independents as frontline partners in expanded care delivery.

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“The SPLC created hate groups and activities like the Charlottesville rally, and the complicit media then weaponized these concocted offenses by spreading outright lies about Trump’s reaction to the staged events.”

Charlottesville: The Deceit Underlying the Hoax (Steve Cortes)

For years, Democratic politicians and their allies in the legacy media have spread the damnable Charlottesville Hoax: the propaganda myth that President Trump praised bigots who rioted in 2017 in the Virginia town. Of course, the opposite is true, as Trump actually said: “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”

Now, we learn that the entire hoax of Trump and Charlottesville is, itself, built upon another grand lie. The media and people like Joe Biden have continually pushed the narrative that some big, organic gathering of hateful Americans descended upon Charlottesville and represented some larger threat to the republic itself. But it now turns out that the “Unite the Right” rally was organized and financed by the highly partisan, left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a sweeping 11-count indictment, the Department of Justice and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche charge the advocacy group with criminal defrauding of donors and “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” The charges contained in this indictment are akin to the fire department becoming an aggressive criminal arson enterprise, setting fires all across a town, and then demanding more budget and authority to fight the very infernos it set ablaze.

So…the end result is that America endured years of propaganda that convinced a large segment of the population – in contravention of the facts – that their president supported violent hate merchants. Even worse, masses of unskeptical Americans, who consume only legacy media content, believed that the entire America First populist movement was based on bigotry, rather than patriotism.

Now, nearly a decade later, the truth is revealed about the deception that lay beneath that grand lie. There was a layer of duplicity here that is almost difficult to fathom. Only true Marxists could excuse this level of propaganda. The SPLC created hate groups and activities like the Charlottesville rally, and the complicit media then weaponized these concocted offenses by spreading outright lies about Trump’s reaction to the staged events.

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“What matters now is ending the war as quickly and decisively as possible. . . After that, people can wrestle over the “moral and constitutional” quandary to their heart’s content.” —Brandon Smith

The Siege of Iran, and Other Matters (James Howard Kunstler)

Other matters first, then Iran. The fall of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in an eleven-count fraud and money-laundering indictment is a watershed moment for exposing the bad faith business model of the Lefty-left: pay for the creation of imaginary monsters so you can pretend to be the defender of your fake victim-clients, the sundry “oppressed minorities” yearning to breathe free.


The money was paid to various manifestations of “white supremacy,” ranging from the good old Ku Klux Klan (more venerable in America’s memory than Frankenstein) to the avant-garde Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, affiliated with the Aryan Nation. And, turns out, the SPLC also engineered the Fine People Hoax in Charlottesville, 2020, that loomed so large in “Joe Biden’s” supposedly victorious campaign for president. The Left’s moral center-of-gravity is a black hole of grift and subterfuge.

Of course, this SPLC farrago might raise some questions about many other Lefty-left NGOs that infest our political landscape, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Al Otro Lado in California, which launders taxpayer money into all manner of freebies for illegal aliens — all of these orgs accused of rank improprieties. CAIR, which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, was declared a terrorist or transnational criminal organization by Texas and Florida. BLM grifters in Atlanta and Oklahoma City were indicted for wire fraud and money laundering.

Between the zillions of dollars flooding the USA from foreign dark money pass-thrus like the Soros family’s Open Society Foundations, the checkbook of Shanghai American expat Neville Roy Singham, The Tides Foundation, The Hopewell Fund, et cetera, ad infinitum, plus the taxpayers of California, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota, vast fortunes are pumped into civic mischief and chaos creation here, including all the riots of recent years. Is it not time, a least, to revoke the 501(c)(3) tax exemption status of all these nefarious outfits? Should be easy. (Paging Treasury Sec’y and IRS chief Scott Bessent!)

Next up: The Democratic Party’s savage stupidity played out this week in Virginia with a big election win for a shamelessly impudent Congressional redistricting scam that would sculpt away all but one GOP district of eleven on the Virginia map. NGOs poured a ton of money into the op. The ballot proposition was worded artfully “to restore fairness in upcoming elections,” which, as always with the Lefty-left, was the exact opposite of what it was designed to do.

Within hours, Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack C. Hurley, Jr., ruled the proposition void and blocked Virginia from certifying the referendum. The case now speeds to the Virginia Supreme Court where the prop is expected to fail on at least four counts of blatant affront to the state’s constitution. Virginia’s new governor, former CIA analyst Abigail Spanberger, ran in 2025 on the explicit promise that she would not advocate a Congressional redistricting measure. This is exactly what Democratic Party bad faith looks like.

You’ve noticed, no doubt, that bad faith is not solely owned by the Democratic Party. We watch in wonder and nausea the bewildering psychodrama of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) refusing to allow procedure that would get the Save Act passed (common sense election reform). Nor will Thune allow confirmation votes to proceed for nominated DOJ US attorneys and other jobs submitted by the executive branch. He shows every sign of wanting his party to lose. . .which means, allowing the Democratic Party to continue queering elections, including the crucial midterms. . . which means he wants our country to fail.

Seems like nobody knows what to do about Sen. Thune and his dishonorable cohorts in the chamber. If the president knows, he isn’t saying just now, and that would be consistent with his mode of fighting battles. But remember, Nicolás Maduro has been in US custody for months, and you can be sure he’s been debriefed on the subject of Dominion and Smartmatic voting machine shenanigans that originated in Venezuela years ago in order to ensure his own election. The FBI is also sitting on 2020 election evidence harvested out of Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona (perhaps other states, too). The truth about 2020 will come out, probably sooner than later, and when it does, Senator Thune will be sufficiently humiliated to drive him out of his post. He appears to be too dumb to realize that.

Now, as to Iran: The country’s putative “leadership” marinates in rage, impotence, and factional squabbling as the ceasefire dwindles. They can make some more mischief in the Persian Gulf, perhaps, but in a matter of days Iran’s oil industry will be permanently wrecked, its economy strangled, and its ordinary citizens in a desperate fury to make it all stop. If that doesn’t force a deal — no nukes, hand-over the 1000 pounds of Uranium, let in the neutral inspectors, etc. — then it’s onto the bridges and power plants. There really is no other way now. Show a little more patience. Won’t be long. The world will be a better place when this is over.

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Trump demands NO NUKES; not maybe, not halfway.. They can anwser yes or no. New proposals are useless.

Iran Offers New Proposal To Reopen Strait – Trump Open To Deal Via Phone (ZH)

Running a little ahead of schedule, Sunday evening brought this week’s infusion of pre-Monday-open optimism about prospects of ending the US-Israel war on Iran. Axios’ Barak Ravid, a veteran of Israeli intelligence who routinely posts anonymously-sourced scoops, reported that Iran has presented a new proposal for opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the shooting — though Iran’s concept includes a potential non-starter via a proposed postponement of nuclear negotiations. No details were reported, beyond the notion of either an extended ceasefire or permanent end of the war that would accompany a full reopening of the strait.


Earlier on Sunday, President Trump said face-to-face discussions with the Iranians weren’t essential to ending the war. “If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” he told Fox News. “They know what has to be in the ` agreement. It’s very simple: They cannot have a nuclear weapon; otherwise, there’s no reason to meet.” Sunday’s micro-dose of hope capped a weekend in which negotiations were perceived as grinding to a clear stalemate marked by a lack of warfare but also a continued choking of traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, Trump’s lead negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, were poised to travel to Islamabad for another round of negotiations with the Iranians when Trump nixed their trip at the last minute.

Iranian Foreign Minister Shuttles Between Pakistan, Oman, Russia
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Araghchi has “conveyed written messages regarding Iran’s red lines to the American side through Pakistani intermediaries.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been on the go. On Saturday, he left Pakistan after meeting with Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. On parting, Araghchi said he’d had a “very fruitful visit,” while cautioning it’s unclear “if the US is truly serious about diplomacy.” Then he was off to Oman for talks centered on re-opening the strait — which lies between the two countries — then back to Pakistan. By Monday, Araghchi was in St Petersburg, Russia for discussions with President Putin. Commenting on the relationship via X, Iran’s envoy in Russia said:

“Iran and Russia are present in a united front in the campaign of the world’s totalitarian forces against independent and justice-seeking countries, as well as countries that seek a ` world free from unilateralism and Western domination.”Trump: Iranian Oil Infrastructure In Peril From Limited Capacity Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the US blockade on traffic to and from Iranian ports is putting major pressure on the country’s export infrastructure: “When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them — they have no ships because of the blockade — what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth.”

“It’s something that happens where it just explodes. And they say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was.” That approximate scenario has also been outlined by the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. “Once the tanks are filled, Iran would have to shut down its oil fields, which risks long-term damage to the fields,” AEI’s Annika Ganzeveld told the New York Post. A worst-case scenario doesn’t only imperil Iran’s economy, but also threatens to put more upward pressure on global energy prices. Analysts differ on how much time Iran has before a forced shutdown of production — with estimates ranging from mere days to seven weeks.

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NO nukes and NO control of the Strait.

Bessent: IRGC Leaders ‘Trapped’ Like ‘Drowning Rats’ By US Blockade (ZH)

In the early evening of Monday, well after markets closed, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued the following on X (below), describing IRGC leaders as now “trapped like drowning rats” amid the enduring US naval blockade of Iranian ports, which will soon result in gasoline shortages and anger – and potential protests leading to uprising (according to US desires and aims). Also here is where things stand on the stalled negotiations, and an early hint of the potential White House reaction, per WSJ:


Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war, including the U.S.’s lifting of its naval blockade of Iranian ports and the postponement of nuclear negotiations, according to officials familiar with the matter. nThe proposal, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during his tour of the region and Pakistan over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. President Trump and his national-security team are skeptical of Iran’s offer, U.S. officials said. Trump previously said negotiations could happen over the phone instead of in person.

And: “Trump held discussions with aides Monday morning about the offer. While he didn’t reject it outright, officials said Trump sounded notes about Iran not dealing in good faith or being willing to meet his key demand: ending nuclear enrichment and vowing never to make a nuclear weapon.”

Meanwhile..

Rubio: ‘Will Not Tolerate’ Iran Control of Strait
The latest via WSJ on what Iran is proposing, centered on immediately lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports: Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war and a lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, according to officials familiar with the matter. The proposal, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during his tour of the region and Pakistan over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. It would see discussions about Iran’s nuclear program shelved. Washington hasn’t responded to the proposal, one of the people said. Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Fox News on Monday that the US will not tolerate Iran controlling or establishing a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio further asserted that the strait would remain open either through international pressure or a coalition-led effort. Just days ago Iran began declaring that the first toll passage funds had been successfully transferred to the Central Bank of Iran, after Trump stated the US won’t allow a toll system. Rubio further said the US will not normalize the Iranians being essentially a gatekeeper, with countries seeking permission from Iran.

https://twitter.com/Martin_Sedi/status/2048783696749355471 Read more …

A theme that will grow in importance as we go along,

“Inside Chuck Grassley’s office there is an investigative team that every GOP senator and congressman will admit consists of the very best researchers and knowledgeable staff..”

Senator Chuck Grassley’s Office Requests Answers from DOJ and FBI (CTH)

First, it becomes very important for people to understand some of the inside baseball in Washington DC circles in order to hold context for what has been made public today by the office of Senator Chuck Grassley. Inside Chuck Grassley’s office there is an investigative team that every GOP senator and congressman will admit consists of the very best researchers and knowledgeable staff officials on how the Deep State operates. Grassley’s office is the venue, the vehicle or vessel, for those investigators to operate; Chuck Grassley is not organizing this group – he facilitates it.

Just as Robert Mueller served as the figurehead holding the legislatively authorized power of the special counsel—while the actual investigative work was carried out by his team—Chuck Grassley similarly acts as a symbolic leader, with the real action happening within the organization he oversees. Mueller at 75-years old (2019) was to the special counsel as Grassley at 93-years old (2026) is to senatorial inquiry.

That said, today the office of Senator Chuck Grassley sent a dispatch of connected information about Hillary Clinton from DOJ/FBI files retrieved over the past several years as part of a longer-term investigation. Grassley’s office released the FBI Washington Field Office’s 12-page “electronic communication” (EC) that opened a preliminary investigation into the Clinton Foundation. [SEE HERE] They also released a trove of documents showing overwhelming evidence of pay-to-play criminal activity by the Clinton family and emphasize lack of response from the DOJ which highlights both politicalization and weaponization of information by the Department of Justice and FBI.

The FBI and DOJ buried the investigations of Hillary Clinton, yet the evidence of corruption was simply overwhelming. With time running out on their ability to retain the venue, in essence Grassley’s office is urgently asking the DOJ and FBI, how could this not have been prosecuted?

Chuck Grassley, who turns 93 in September, has served in the U.S. Senate for 45 years. Grassley has spent more than 50 years in Congress overall, having served in the U.S. House from 1975 to 1981 before being elected to his first term as senator. In 2022, Grassley was elected to an eighth term, winning against Democratic challenger Michael Franken with 56% of the vote — a smaller margin of victory than in many of his previous elections. He will be 95 by the time his current term ends in 2028.

Currently, Grassley serves as president pro tempore of the Senate, in addition to being the Senate Judiciary Committee chair. I strongly doubt there will be another Grassley term in office and given the stakes of the 2026 midterm election it looks like the people in his office are trying to push out as much information as possible while it can still do some good. I would bet you a donut this is the correct context to view this information flow.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2048534614755467353?s=20 https://twitter.com/Gitmo99/status/2048574878026985630?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Apr 272026
 


Jusepe de Ribera A philosopher holding a mirror 1630


Unhinged Conspiracy Theory About WHCA Dinner Trump Murder Attempt (Margolis)
Trump Dodges Another Gunman, Unbowed But Grounded: Not Going To Deter Me (JTN)
Assassin Identified as Cole Tomas Allen (31), from Torrance, California (CTH)
President Trump Holds a Press Conference Following Another Murder Attempt (CTH)
We Now Know Who the WHCA Dinner Shooter Was Targeting (Margolis)
‘You’re Horrible People’: President Trump Torches Norah O’Donnell (Margolis)
After 2027 There Will Be No Going Back – Elon Musk (X)
Macron Laments That US Is Not A Reliable Partner (RT)
How The US Engineered Its Own Failure In Cuba (RT)
US Failed To Extract Iran’s Enriched Uranium – Analyst To RT (RT)
Zelensky Likely ‘Directly Involved In Corruption’ – EU-Funded Anti-Graft NGO (RT)
NYC Mayor Mamdani Attempts To Defuse Info War Against Ken Griffin (ZH)
RFK Jr. Blasts “Abhorrent” Assisted Suicide (MN)

 


 

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2048121842402013298?s=20 https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2048128724512473142?s=20 https://twitter.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2048188693278576717?s=20 https://twitter.com/_Qstormrider/status/2048026069282746699?s=20

 


 


Yeah, we know people want him dead, and/or don’t believe a word he says.

Then you got all these people who simply deny that it was real. And that, I don’t get.

Who say that the Trump people just made it all up. That they did that in 2024 just like now.

Their idea is Trump is so unpopular today that me must make up fake assassination attempts just so people will like him.

And that, I don’t get.

Unhinged Conspiracy Theory About WHCA Dinner Trump Murder Attempt (Margolis)

On Saturday night, a gunman opened fire in the Washington Hilton just as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was underway. A Secret Service agent was struck but protected by body armor. Thankfully, no attendees were reported injured. Secret Service agents quickly evacuated President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and House Speaker Mike Johnson to safety. The shooter was neutralized and detained. Before the smoke even cleared, the left was trying to push a politically convenient narrative.

https://twitter.com/SarahIronside6/status/2048204632288084107

The shooter has been identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., and he has confessed to authorities that his intended target was Trump administration officials.

Yup. This is what they’re running with. By their estimation, the Trump administration recruited some California leftist with a paper trail to stage a fake assassination attempt to boost his approval ratings and to use it as a pretext to justify the White House ballroom that is already being built. None of this is new, of course. The same strategy was used after the 2024 Butler, Pa., assassination attempt. Many on the left believe it was staged to help Trump win reelection.

Calling it staged is the easiest escape hatch. It lets them skip the uncomfortable conversation about what years of dehumanizing rhetoric against Trump and his allies actually produce. That’s what this conspiracy theory is really about. The left would rather invent an elaborate White House psyop than ask themselves a simple, honest question about the world they’ve helped create.

Read more …

Very long article. Get your background!

Trump Dodges Another Gunman, Unbowed But Grounded: Not Going To Deter Me (JTN)

President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election, and Saturday night he was whisked away again from another lethal threat when a heavily armed gunman briefly breached a security checkpoint at one of Washington’s most famous black-tie galas and exchanged gunfire before being subdued by the Secret Service. bBut Trump would not recoil. First he wanted to return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner before it was canceled, hoping to send a signal to a nation gripped by political vitriol and shaken by recent assassinations — from Charlie Kirk to Minnesota legislators – that “sick people” cannot “change the fabric” of the United States.


Then he quickly posted on social media a photo of the gunman – a 31-year-old from California armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives. The image showed him handcuffed and stripped to his waist after his attack was foiled. There was no accident in the message: a failed shooter laid prostate, face-down and now harmless on the ground. “This thug that attacked our Constitution, they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too” Trump said. “My impression is he was a lone wolf, whack job. … These are crazy people, and they have to be dealt with.”

Prosecutors within hours had already charged the man with multiple federal felonies as they tore through every aspect of his life, trying to figure how he got from Torrance, Calif., to the nation’s capital and booked a room at the glitzy hotel and what motivated him. Being president “is a very dangerous profession. … I can’t imagine that there is any profession that is more dangerous,” a matter-of-fact Trump told reporters at an extraordinary White House news conference where he and reporters were still clad in their tuxedos and gowns from the interrupted gala. Having cheated death more than once, Trump wants America to know he is unbowed and that the best way to react to harrowing political violence is to repudiate it, punish it and then stay the course.

“I want to live because I want to make this country great,” the president said at one point, brushing away a question about personal safety. At another point, he added: “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.” bThe incident left a Secret Service officer injured, shot at point-blank range with a bullet that remarkably embedded in his protective vest. And it left journalists normally antagonistic to the president thankful that everyone left the abbreviated gala alive.=President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election, and Saturday night he was whisked away again from another lethal threat when a heavily armed gunman briefly breached a security checkpoint at one of Washington’s most famous black-tie galas and exchanged gunfire before being subdued by the Secret Service.

But Trump would not recoil. First he wanted to return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner before it was canceled, hoping to send a signal to a nation gripped by political vitriol and shaken by recent assassinations — from Charlie Kirk to Minnesota legislators – that “sick people” cannot “change the fabric” of the United States.= Then he quickly posted on social media a photo of the gunman – a 31-year-old from California armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives. The image showed him handcuffed and stripped to his waist after his attack was foiled. There was no accident in the message: a failed shooter laid prostate, face-down and now harmless on the ground.

“This thug that attacked our Constitution, they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too” Trump said. “My impression is he was a lone wolf, whack job. … These are crazy people, and they have to be dealt with.” Prosecutors within hours had already charged the man with multiple federal felonies as they tore through every aspect of his life, trying to figure how he got from Torrance, Calif., to the nation’s capital and booked a room at the glitzy hotel and what motivated him.

Being president “is a very dangerous profession. … I can’t imagine that there is any profession that is more dangerous,” a matter-of-fact Trump told reporters at an extraordinary White House news conference where he and reporters were still clad in their tuxedos and gowns from the interrupted gala. bHaving cheated death more than once, Trump wants America to know he is unbowed and that the best way to react to harrowing political violence is to repudiate it, punish it and then stay the course. “I want to live because I want to make this country great,” the president said at one point, brushing away a question about personal safety. At another point, he added: “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.”

Read more …

Assassin? But nobody died!

Assassin Identified as Cole Tomas Allen (31), from Torrance, California (CTH)

The gunman who attempted to gain entry to the White House Correspondents Association dinner has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a schoolteacher from Torrance, California. A registered Democrat who donated to Kamala Harris campaign.Cole Tomas Allen Engineering at Cal Tech 2013 – 2017, a master’s degree in computer science 2025.


Early reports suggest the shooter was a guest of the Washington hotel and assembled a long rifle prior to making entry to the venue. According to local police, the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives. The suspect was not struck by gunfire. One of the Secret Service Agents was shot during the gunfire.

Avriana F. Allen, 27, of Washington, D.C., is the sister of Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Torrance, California teacher identified by authorities as the suspect in the April 25, 2026, shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Public records confirm the sibling relationship through shared mother Kathleen A. Allen and prior family address in Torrance. {source} Full press briefing from law enforcement is below.


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Pick one.

President Trump Holds a Press Conference Following Another Murder Attempt (CTH)

President Trump will be holding a press briefing from the Brady Room following another failed assassination attempt in Washington DC. The shooter is in custody.

Read more …


Not from this article we don’t, but we do know.

The suspect has a Master’s in computer something, so he’s no fool.

Ergo1, if he says he wanted someone anyone from the entourage, he wouldn’t have tried it at the Dinner.

Because it’s so much harder to do anytinng that Trump is at, Secret Service numbers are crazy.

Ergo2: he was after Trump.

We Now Know Who the WHCA Dinner Shooter Was Targeting (Margolis)

Almost immediately after the shooting during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton, the left was trying to spin a narrative. The implication spread quickly: Trump’s rhetoric against the media had poisoned the atmosphere, and one of his supporters must have shown up to target journalists. It was an absurd theory, but they went with it.


The shooter has now been identified as 31-year-old schoolteacher Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., who sprinted past security checkpoints inside the hotel armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and two knives. He never made it into the ballroom. Gunfire was exchanged during the incident, but Allen was not hit, and police arrested him. A Secret Service agent was struck but was wearing protective gear. No other injuries were confirmed among the attendees. The media, on the other hand, seemed almost reluctant to state the obvious: that this was another assassination attempt.

That kind of studied ambiguity has a purpose — it keeps a preferred storyline alive just long enough to spread on social media to undermine the facts. Anyone with common sense could see where the evidence was pointing. The president and his entire cabinet were at that dinner. The shooter rushed the entrance armed to the teeth. Sure enough, subsequent law enforcement leaks and reporting confirmed what common sense already suggested. Cole Allen told law enforcement he intended to target Trump administration officials at the event.

Cole Allen, the suspect in the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, told law enforcement following his arrest that he wanted to shoot Trump administration officials, two sources told CBS News. The suspect didn’t specifically say he was targeting President Trump, just “administration officials,” a law enforcement source said.Others reported the same thing. The liberal media’s reluctance to accept this was telling. Every hedge, every “we shouldn’t assume,” every pivot to Trump’s media rhetoric served the same function — to delay the truth long enough for the desired narrative to calcify in the public mind.

Read more …

The attention is on the perp, not the president.

‘You’re Horrible People’: President Trump Torches Norah O’Donnell (Margolis)

President Donald Trump sat down with Norah O’Donnell for a 60 Minutes interview… and let’s just say that things got really uncomfortable for O’Donnell when the subject of the manifesto written by the man who attempted to assassinate Trump and other administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Saturday night came up. O’Donnell read aloud from the document, citing the shooter’s apparent motive: “Administration officials, they are targets.” Then she kept going, reading the gunman’s claim that he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” She asked Trump for his reaction.


He had one. “Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re — you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said. Trump didn’t flinch. He looked straight at her and said what a lot of people watching were probably thinking — that a major news anchor choosing to amplify a would-be assassin’s smears against the sitting president on national television is, at minimum, a choice worth examining. O’Donnell pressed forward anyway, asking whether Trump believed the manifesto’s insults were directed at him personally. “I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.” She tried to interject. He kept going, saying: “I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person. I got associated with old stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.”

Then Trump turned the tables in a way that O’Donnell wasn’t prepared for. He noted that the people most associated with Jeffrey Epstein aren’t exactly on his side of the aisle. “Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview, and they’ll probably…’ I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that, because I’m not any of those things.” O’Donnell tried to justify it, arguing these were simply “the gunman’s words.” Trump cut through that framing without missing a beat. “You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes,” he said. “You’re a disgrace, but go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.”

She pushed on anyway, starting to reference something else from the manifesto. Trump stopped her again: “You’re disgraceful.” A man just tried to kill the president — and several other administration officials — at what’s supposed to be a lighthearted Washington tradition. And 60 Minutes’ idea of journalism in the aftermath is to have its anchor read the shooter’s unhinged accusations against Trump on air, word for word, and ask him to respond to them. It doesn’t shock me at all that Trump knew O’Donnell would go there because the mainstream media and the Democratic Party are the source of all the lies and bogus allegations that radicalized the shooter to do what he did in the first place. Whether CBS considers that good television or good journalism is, at this point, a distinction without much of a difference.

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“.. the generation born after 2000 has an attention span of just eight seconds. Musk called this cultural Alzheimer’s.“

After 2027 There Will Be No Going Back – Elon Musk (X)

In an interview with Lex Friedman, Musk said that after 2027 there would be no going back. When the reporter clarified what he meant, Musk paused for almost a minute, then added: “It’s not a catastrophe, it’s a transition.” Analysts have identified three themes that he has been particularly vocal about: autonomous intelligence, loss of meaning, and energy dependency. Everything he predicted is already happening.


The first sign is the collapse of attention. Musk said that people will stop thinking long-term. The planning horizon has shrunk from 30 years to three; people don’t build, they just innovate. MIT research shows that the generation born after 2000 has an attention span of just eight seconds. Musk called this cultural Alzheimer’s. The second sign is artificial intelligence, which will no longer be subordinate. Musk said: “When the system starts correcting the person, and not the other way around, linear logic will end.” Algorithms already control our attention, choice of partners, food and thoughts. This will not be a revolt of machines, but a silent loss of freedom of choice.

The third sign is the energy dependence of civilization. People are increasingly unable to survive without electricity for even a single day. When energy becomes currency, its control will become power. Musk believes that by 2027, the relationship between people and energy will surpass everything, and everything that is not autonomous will disappear. There is only one way out: a return to meaning. “Technology is stronger than us, but not smarter. As long as we have goals, we are not algorithms,” Musk repeated. He added: “We must learn to be human before systems start doing everything for us and controlling us.

Read more …

“The international order is “jeopardized” by the larger global powers, the French president has said..” He lost to Le Pen, he’s a goner. But he’s a Rothschild goner.

Macron Laments That US Is Not A Reliable Partner (RT)

US allies are no longer sure that Washington is a “reliable” partner, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. Speaking during an informal summit in Athens on Friday alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron was asked whether Europe was “becoming a bit irrelevant” given the various conflicts around the globe, including the war against Iran. “Everybody sees that the number one power, the US, could be an ally for certain countries, but this ally is not so much certain… and nobody is totally sure if this alliance is reliable,” the French president said, arguing that this makes the EU appear as a more stable alternative.


“We used to live in an international order, and this international order is jeopardized by the two big powers,” he added. The growing divide between European NATO nations and Washington has worsened since the US and Israeli attacked Iran in late February, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticizing bloc members over their reluctance to join the war. Tensions were already elevated due to Trump’s continued threats to annex Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark. Differing visions for the future of the Ukraine conflict have further widened the transatlantic rift.

Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump has launched a broad diplomatic initiative to end the hostilities and has insisted that European nations take on the full financial and military burden of supporting Kiev. However, the UK and the EU have consistently attempted to torpedo the peace talks by injecting proposals which Moscow has condemned as deliberately unacceptable. Washington is trying to shift the burden of “containing Russia” onto its allies in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week. The broader Western goal is to “preserve and renew their hegemony,” but as their relative power on the international stage declines, internal frictions in the West are intensifying, he added.

Read more …

60-odd years ago.

How The US Engineered Its Own Failure In Cuba (RT)

Special operations can fail for many reasons – from a tragic accident to a lack of information or a hasty decision. And the costs of such mistakes range from the sullen faces of officials and predatory reporters at the door, to the worst outcome – hundreds of victims. There is an old proverb that all intelligence agents should be taught: “For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.”


The moral is that the smallest omissions can lead to fatal consequences. But the most common reason why military operations fail – the phrase that should be etched above the gates of hell – might well be the motto, “That’s good enough.” Plans based on the assumption that the enemy is deaf, blind, and stupid fail time and time again, yet intelligence agencies continue to build their strategies upon this shaky foundation.

One of the textbook examples of such a failure was the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. This CIA-initiated attempt to swiftly eliminate the communist regime in Cuba turned into a bloody disaster on the battlefield and a complete political failure.

The end of a client state
On January 1, 1959, socialist rebels led by Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. The subsequent reality of life in Cuba proved difficult, and opinions on Castro’s rule were decidedly mixed. However, in 1959, the revolution signified liberation from a hated, deeply corrupt, brutal dictatorship that treated its citizens with disdain. Few mourned the departure of Batista, who fled the country with $300 million.

Initially, Castro didn’t intend to engage in a hostile confrontation with the West. However, his reforms took on a distinctly socialist character. He casually confiscated assets belonging to American and other Western citizens and nationalized land, industries, and enterprises. The Cuban Electric Company owned by an American holding company was seized, as was property belonging to the United Fruit Company, an American agricultural giant.

Under Batista, the United States had dominated the Cuban economy and owned nearly all industries. Politically, the American ambassador wielded as much, if not more, power than the official leader of Cuba. The island effectively functioned as a colony; the companies owned everything but bore no responsibility for anything. Batista, ruling the country with their blessing and support, cared only for his own comfort and wealth, and even collaborated directly with the mafia and engaged in gambling enterprises.

By the time relations between the US and Cuba soured completely, Castro had nationalized over 500 American private companies. Astute US politicians recognized the underlying issues; in a speech addressing the Cuban crisis, John F. Kennedy bluntly acknowledged that the puppet regime had driven Cubans to the brink. The primary cause of the Cuban revolution, he argued, was the dictator and his cohorts, whose actions ricocheted back against the US as the nation that had armed and politically supported Batista.

Castro frequently reminded the public of Washington’s dark role in the affair, but the United States could not restore relations with Cuba after the widespread confiscation of American assets. Castro’s attempts to establish relations with the US failed. Then US President Dwight Eisenhower refused to meet with him, while then Vice President Richard Nixon seemed more interested in testing the waters than seriously negotiating with Castro.

Meanwhile, the US had a track record of orchestrating coups in countries it deemed unfriendly. For example, in 1954, with help from United Fruit, a coup was carried out in Guatemala; following it, a dictatorship was established there. A similar strategy was being considered for Cuba.

The shadow war begins
Initially, the Americans sought to weaken Cuba through a trade embargo that began with oil and later expanded to sugar. In response, Castro initiated yet another wave of expropriations of American-owned businesses. The Eisenhower administration retaliated by banning all exports to Cuba. In turn, Castro nationalized everything he could, offering compensation in the form of Cuban bonds.

At the same time, a secret struggle between intelligence services unfolded, which quickly turned brutal. In March 1960, the cargo ship La Coubre, carrying weapons and ammunition purchased from Belgium, exploded in Havana’s port, causing massive casualties. The explosion occurred inside the ship and is believed to have been an act of sabotage. Unsurprisingly, Castro blamed the US for this incident, and the CIA’s involvement remains plausible. In effect, these actions pushed Cuba to align with the USSR, and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev eagerly offered support to Cuba.

As tensions mounted, it became clear that backing from Moscow would be essential. Cuba was already subjected to bombings from light aircraft piloted by Cuban exiles. They flew out of Florida and targeted Cuban plantations and businesses. However, the US didn’t intend to stop at that.

CIA Director Allen Dulles began planning for Castro’s physical elimination and the overthrow of the Cuban government. His deputy, CIA officer Richard Bissell, took on the direct management of the operation aimed at replacing Castro with a “more acceptable” regime. The details were being developed by the same team that had orchestrated the Guatemalan coup. One key condition set by Eisenhower was “plausible deniability” – concealing America’s role in the operation.

Read more …

Good story. Is there proof?

US Failed To Extract Iran’s Enriched Uranium – Analyst To RT (RT)

The US rescue operation inside Iran earlier this month was actually a botched attempt by Washington to seize Tehran’s enriched uranium, geostrategic analyst Christopher Helali has said. He gave an exclusive interview to RT on Saturday from a site outside the city of Isfahan where the Iranian authorities displayed the wreckage of American aircraft destroyed in the area on April 3-5. Washington confirmed the loss of two MC-130J Hercules transport planes, four MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, an A-10 Thunderbolt and an MQ-9 Reaper drone during what US President Donald Trump called “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History” to recover the pilot of an F-15E Strike Eagle, which had been downed by Iran.


Helali insisted that the rescue mission was just a cover up for “an enrichment uranium extraction operation by the US special forces.”“ The scale of destruction of all of the equipment left behind showed that this was a major operation – probably weeks and months in planning – and clearly it absolutely failed,” he said.Another proof that the Americans were after the enriched uranium is that “a passport of a mechanical engineer specializing in nuclear technology… capable of dealing with radioactive material” was found within the wreckage, the analyst added.

He filmed himself with the debris of the US aircraft, which he said included “multiple parts of different MC-130s… and the Little Birds – those small helicopters that are used in special operations.” Judging by the footage, the display attracted thousands of visitors, who carried Iranian national flags and chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans. “The people have gathered here to celebrate the defeat of the US in this operation and overall Iran’s victory so far in this ongoing war of aggression,” Helali said. Among those who gathered, “the feeling is one of energy, one of resilience, one of dignity, and clearly the people are coming out in full force to show their support for their country,” he stressed.

Read more …

I tells ya, they want to give him a Nobel prize.

And they will. It’s about the only power Europe has left.

Zelensky Likely ‘Directly Involved In Corruption’ – EU-Funded Anti-Graft NGO (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has likely participated in embezzlement involving the country’s top officials, Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), has claimed. Kiev has been rocked by several corruption scandals in the last few years, with the most notable occurring in November 2025 when anti-graft agencies uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme at the state nuclear operator Energoatom.


The investigation implicated Timur Mindich, a close associate of Zelensky, as the mastermind of the criminal operation. The scandal led to the resignations of several high-ranking officials, including the Ukrainian leader’s influential chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, and Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who was later arrested. In her interview with Ukrainska Pravda last week, Kaleniuk said that there is “a high probability” that Zelensky was “directly involved” in corruption, despite him repeatedly denying any knowledge of any schemes by members of his government.

“All of his closest friends and most likely he himself built homes for themselves” since he came to power, the head of the Ukrainian NGO, which has been around since 2012 and receives funding from the EU and US, stressed. She also warned that Zelensky could be planning another attack on the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) in an attempt to shield himself from a possible investigation.

“The anti-corruption bodies that are doing their job can stop doing their job at any moment,” Kaleniuk warned. The Ukrainian leader already tried putting NABU and SAPO under his control last summer, but was forced to reverse course after backlash from Kiev’s foreign backers and protests in the streets. Despite the ongoing corruption scandals, the EU approved another €90 billion ($106 billion) for Ukraine on Thursday, with the European Council saying that it would begin disbursements “as soon as possible” in the second quarter of 2026.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov insisted previously that the US and EU, which “coddled” Zelensky, should share the responsibility for the corruption in Ukraine. She suggested separately that the Ukrainian leader uses the “corrupt deal” that he has with Western politicians to “blackmail” them into continuing support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow.

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“.. pulling back or even halting a $6 billion redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, which would create “6,000 highly paid construction jobs and support the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York.”

NYC Mayor Mamdani Attempts To Defuse Info War Against Ken Griffin (ZH)

Citadel’s Ken Griffin should have absolutely zero tolerance for far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a recent promotional video, Mamdani attempted to turn the billionaire’s Manhattan penthouse into political ammunition for his tax-the-wealthy, anti-capitalist crusade to fund socialist experiments through a proposed pied-à-terre tax. For Griffin and Citadel, alarm bells should be ringing because these unhinged Marxists in City Hall will attempt to ruin the Citadel brand through an information war and create years of political headaches.


An internal message from Citadel’s COO to employees, likely leaked to The Wall Street Journal earlier last week, appears to have been a warning shot to Mamdani and his Marxist pals that Griffin has had enough of their political games. In a true ‘FAFO’ moment, CCO Gerald Beeson bashed Mamdani for the political stunt: “It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending.” Beeson warned that further political games risk Citadel pulling back or even halting a $6 billion redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, which would create “6,000 highly paid construction jobs and support the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York.”

Why Mamdani’s team of socialists decided to launch an info war operation against Griffin and Citadel is a very good question, and it appears not to have been well thought out. Griffin holds some unique cards. He can easily cancel the 350 Park Avenue redevelopment plan and stage a Chicago-style exodus, much like he did several years ago when Citadel moved to Florida. This move would certaintly rattle Wall Street. This reality is likely dawning on Mamdani’s team, as the mayor on Friday insisted his push for a new tax on pricey second homes isn’t “motivated by any one individual.”

Bloomberg described Mamdani’s action on Friday as “trying to defuse” the “Griffin blowback” that went viral earlier in the week. Another outlet, Crain’s New York Business, also pointed out, “The mayor is now softening his tone and says he is open to meeting with the Florida billionaire.” Griffin should have zero tolerance for NYC’s Marxist mayor. The risk has already materialized that these unhinged politicians would wage an information war to ruin the Citadel brand, which could easily escalate into paid protests and fuel broader public hostility. So why take the abuse, Ken? Remember how easy it was to leave Chicago for Florida?

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“.. turning a once-free nation into a cautionary tale ..”

RFK Jr. Blasts “Abhorrent” Assisted Suicide (MN)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a blunt warning to lawmakers this week: Canada’s rush to expand assisted suicide is turning a once-free nation into a cautionary tale the United States must reject outright. Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee and Senate HELP Committee, Kennedy forcefully condemned the program known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). “I think those laws are abhorrent,” he said. Pointing directly to the results north of the border, he added, “And we just see in Canada today, I think the number one cause of death is assisted suicide.”


Kennedy made clear the policy doesn’t stop at personal choice. “And as you say, it targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their lives,” he stated. He tied the issue to America’s broader standing in the world: “I don’t think we can be a moral society; we can’t be a moral authority around the globe if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society.”

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2047024285139534134

The comments come as Canada’s experiment spirals. The country is on track to surpass 100,000 assisted deaths before MAID’s 10th anniversary this summer, as noted in a recent New York Post report. As of 2024, the total already stood at 76,475 — more Canadians killed through the program than died in World War II. Government-assisted suicide is also spreading like wildfire across the West, often sold as compassion but delivering cost-cutting convenience for cash-strapped socialist healthcare systems. In the Netherlands, euthanasia now accounts for 6 percent of all deaths and the share is rising every year. I

n 2025 alone, 10,341 people died by euthanasia. While most were over 70 with physical illnesses like cancer or heart disease, the cases included 499 dementia patients and 278 listed under vague “other reasons.” One case involved a patient aged between 12-18. Dutch experts are now urging caution for anyone under 25, warning that young brains are still developing and highly susceptible to external pressure and online influence. Canada’s program began in 2016 limited to terminal cases. Within a year, officials were openly discussing how it could save over $130 million annually in medical costs. Expansions followed: mental illness is scheduled to qualify starting in 2027, and discussions continue about “mature minors” as young as 12.

https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2036921678337384776

Belgium and the Netherlands already allow child euthanasia. England, Wales, and Scotland are now pushing similar legislation modeled on Canada’s original law. The results speak for themselves. In Canada, one in every 20 deaths is now government-assisted suicide. Proponents promised rare, tightly controlled cases. Reality delivered a bureaucratic death machine that quietly expanded to the disabled, the depressed, and the financially burdensome. Kennedy offered lawmakers a clear path forward. “I am happy to work with you in whatever way we can,” he said, signaling openness to bipartisan efforts to protect vulnerable Americans from the same slope.

Another recent case captured the human cost in Spain, where a 25-year-old woman paralyzed after a horrific gang rape was euthanized despite her parents’ desperate legal fight: Spanish bishops called it what it is: “Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not medical acts, but deliberate interruptions of the bond of care, and represent a social defeat when presented as a response to human suffering.”They stressed that “the dignity of the human person does not depend on their state of health… but rather is an intrinsic value that must be recognized, protected and helped in all circumstances.”The message is simple: when life hurts, the answer is not state-sponsored death but real care, real treatment, and real hope. Canada and Europe are showing the West what happens when governments treat citizens as budget line items rather than sacred individuals.

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