Dr. John's Blog

There Will Be No Alternative

John Day MD — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:05:05 GMT

Hedged In,

The world is burning up emergency reserves of oil, gas and refined fuels, while primary flows remain blocked, as if primary flows are being used, not emergency reserves. This will end suddenly, like Wile-E-Coyote going off a cliff.

Why are we being set up this way?

I remember the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo against countries that supported Israel in the September war. Americans were shocked, even traumatized, sat in gas lines for hours, started buyng VW Beetles, Toyotas and those little Honda cars. We were never the same, though most people now never knew those days.

This will be worse by all calculations. They are not difficult calculations, looking at what percentage of oil has been pulled off the market. It is more than 1973 and 1979 together. The strategic petroleum reserves that were put in place after 1973 are being exhausted, in order to re-create the shock they were designed to prevent.

The global financial system is stressed, chronically stressed, paying too much debt-service for nothing in return, except maintaining the financial system at higher parasitic cost every day. Financial systems re-set under stress periodically, about every 4 generations, like after WW-2, for instance.

Is this prelude to a global financial and economic reset? I have not been consulted or informed, though nobody except the 0.001% gets let in on these things.

The war against oil, gas and fertilizer is a war against people surviving. There will be some alternative other than death presented to us. We are likely to take it.

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-20 The Treasury blinked.Hours before a 20Y auction that was tracking toward the highest yield on record, Bessent doubled long-end buyback operations from $2bn to $4bn - and total US debt crossed $40 trillion the same afternoon.Gold ripped ~$175, the dollar hit an 11-week low, bitcoin cleared $70k, and GDX had its best day in 52 weeks. Everything else - Hormuz tanker turnbacks, the Kyiv mega-strike,Trump’s “Economic D-Day” on Iran- is running in parallel and got mostly drowned out by the bond desk... ..Treasury: buybacks doubled to $4bn/op, $40T crossed, 20Y auction tails anyway - The 20Y priced at 5.204% vs 5.199% WI - a 0.5bp tail, biggest since February, despite the intervention (zerohedge). Without it, the auction would have been the highest-yielding 20Y on record; it closed just inside the Oct ‘23 print of 5.245% (zerohedge).
30Y fell ~9bps to 5.196%, 10Y to 4.647%; the 30Y fixed mortgage reached 6.75% on Tuesday, against a 10Y that traded below 4% before the Iran war began in late February (shanaka86)... ..Interest cost: total US interest now $1.4tn, on track to pass Social Security’s $1.6tn by 2028 (zerohedge). That’s $3.8bn/day, versus $3.1bn on Medicare and $2.5bn on defense (KobeissiLetter). Monday’s semi-annual coupon payment was $85bn - the largest on record (zerohedge)... ..Structural frame of the day from TaviCosta: US debt-to-GDP is now roughly at WWII levels, but back then nearly half of Treasuries were backed by gold - today it’s about 3%...
..Iran weighs striking US military targets inside Europe. FT-sourced: IRGC has assessed strikes on Bulgaria’s Bezmer Air Base and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus once its 3–4 week ultimatum expires (HormuzLetter, HormuzReport, zerohedge).. ..Hormuz: three tankers turned back in 24h against Axios’ claimed 10 mb/d southern route - Axios, citingUS officials: 10 million barrels a day - roughly half pre-war volume - are moving out of the strait via the Omani coastal route, and “the IRGC can be a nuisance, but they don’t control the strait. We do” (BrettErickson28, zerohedge).
The tracking data doesn’t support it.LVision_Trading mapped theAug 17 satellite pass and found only 2 new STS pairs across Fujairah and Sohar, holding the count at 3.3 mb/d on a 7-day average.
Turnbacks are stacking: UAE-owned LPG tanker Yellow Stone pushed back by the IRGC Navy - the second failed transit in 24 hours (MenchOsint); Indian-registered Vaughan turned around overnight (MenchOsint); three China-owned tankers carrying or loading Iraqi crude stopped the day before (MenchOsint). Bloomberg tracked the Sea V and Hestia both U-turning (chigrl)... ..Iran: secondary sanctions on “any country” run into the country they can’t sanction - RnaudBertrand makes the sharpest structural point: “ANY country” won’t include China. In May the US tried to sanction Chinese refineries for buying Iranian oil; Beijing’s Commerce Ministry issued a formal prohibition order stating the sanctions “shall not be recognized, enforced, or complied with,” and Washington never meaningfully enforced. “ANY country” really means “any country we can actually coerce.”
JustDario puts it more bluntly: the “never seen before” sanctions to cripple Iran’s economy turn out to be tariffs on third countries, one year after the tariff programme’s own results.
Tehran’s escalation ladder: an Iranian MP argues the best answer is withdrawal from the NPT (MilitarySummary); the IRGC spokesman says warheads in a new war would be “completely different” from previous rounds (PressTV).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-20

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

2 days ago · 76 likes · 16 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-19 Two things actually moved: the UAE severed all trade, commercial and financial links with Iran after two ballistic missiles landed in the Gulf, and Trump ordered his envoys to stop talking to Tehran entirely - strategy formally shifted from “hammer” to “strangle”. Underneath that,the long end broke again (US 30Y ~5.33%, France at GFC highs, Japan 2Y at a 33-year high) and Asia went into freefall, with theKOSPI limit-down for the tenth time this year. Everything else -Hormuz transit counts, the diesel crack, the AI credit stack- is continuation, butall three continued in the same direction.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-19

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

3 days ago · 76 likes · 19 comments · No1

Well, Duh...Media Accuses Hegseth Of Covering Up USS Lincoln Supply Crisis https://www.zerohedge.com/military/media-accuses-hegseth-covering-uss-lincoln-supply-crisis

Sort-of, “Details at eleven”... “Economic D-Day”: Trump Announces “Most Crushing Economic Operation Ever” Against Iran https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uae-cuts-ties-iran-warns-gulf-states-against-helping-washington-kpler-says-us-navy

Bessent: Aim Is To ‘Collapse’ Iran Regime Through Economic Warfare, But US Unlikely To Restart Major Combat https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-fm-says-trumps-economic-d-day-threat-diversion-which-will-fail-new-carrier

Futures Slide As Treasury Yields Surge, Erasing Bessent Intervention, Driven By Oil Spike https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/futures-slide-treasury-yields-surge-erasing-bessent-intervention-driven-oil-spike

“Doom Loop” Engaged: US Debt Hits $40 Trillion As Treasury Enters The Endgame https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/doom-loop-engaged-us-debt-hits-40-trillion-america-enters-endgame

Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism, Iran War: Further Admission of Weakness With New Super Duper Trump Sanctions Threat; Israel Moves Against Turkiye Risk Broader Conflagration; Bessent at Odds with Fed in Move to Contain Longer-Dated Treasury Yields To the Israel attack on Turkiye military operations in Syria. Douglas Macgregor provides excellent one-stop shopping in a new talk with Mario Nawfal. Recall that Macgregor is a serious military historian and has repeatedly admired the Turks as a nation with a strong martial tradition, and currently a very accomplished fighting force. Macgregor provides detail on how the Israel strike was essentially a warning shot, killing no Turkiye soldiers and perhaps not even damaging any assets. But Macgregor seems to believe that Turkiye has also not meaningfully bulked up at that base, as in Israel was trying to ward that off. Macgregor regards that as destined to fail. Macgregor regards the Israel move as reckless, particularly now when Israel is clearly overextended. He also sees an escalation to direct confrontations as risking a much bigger regional war. From a lightly edited machine transcript:
So that much I think we can say when this first began, this sort of Turkish Israeli agreement that we crafted in order to promote the dissolution of Syria, in other words, its liquidation and then its resurrection subsequently in the hands of our friends from ISIS…
I said that at the time I thought it was the Middle East’s version of the Nazi Soviet pact in 1939, that it was a temporary cessation of hostilities. It would not last and inevitably there would be an Israeli Turkish war.
So I fully expect that that will occur at some point in the future.
This is an extraordinarily bad time for Israel to cultivate bad relations with the Turks because the Turks, despite all of the unkind things said by both sides, have continually transported oil from Azerbaijan through Turkey down past Syria and into Israel. The Turks have also sold billions of dollars worth of goods, especially agricultural products to the Israelis. So Erdogan had practiced what he does best, which is to talk out of both sides of his mouth…This has been a sore point, I think, with a lot of people in the in the Muslim world. Most Americans are completely unaware of it…
Since then, we’ve seen lots of cooperation between the Iranians and the Turks to deal with the Kurdish problem. And the Kurds, of course, not all of them, but a large portion of them are exceedingly dependent upon Israeli support, arms assistance, and intelligence. And indeed, we cooperated with Mossad in a vain hope of stirring up a Kurdish rebellion/invasion of Iran. The Iranians had them targeted, destroyed them, and I don’t see much evidence that that’s going to happen.
And of course, the Turks had no interest in letting that be successful either….
 It’s a very bad idea on the part of the Israelis because in the meantime you’ve had this new alignment Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey and everybody has said well what’s it really about? Well contrary to popular belief it’s not about attacking Iran. I’m sorry it is not an anti-Iranian alliance.
It has a great deal to do with putting an end ultimately at some point in time to the Greater Israel project. They’re not going to allow that to succeed. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/08/iran-war-further-admission-of-weakness-with-new-super-duper-trump-sanctions-threat-israel-moves-against-turkiye-risk-broader-conflagration-bessent-at-odds-with-fed-in-move-to-contain-longer-dated-t.html

From Iran: Exclusive: Reports of Iranian missile attack on UAE unfounded; Zionist false flag imprint evident https://www.presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/08/18/774638/probe-rejects-claim-Iran-attack-UAE

Israel outsourcing coercion to settlers in occupied West Bank: UN’s Albanese https://www.presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/08/17/774508/Israel-outsourcing-coercion-settlers-West-Bank--UN%E2%80%99s-Albanese

Qusra is where Israel’s lies about settler violence hit a wall - This method of ethnic cleansing, whereby settlers establish an outpost, force the families out, and take over their property, has succeeded countless times across the West Bank. In Qusra, the news cycle noticed before it was too late. https://israelpalestinenews.org/qusra-is-where-israels-lies-about-settler-violence-hit-a-wall/

Three Palestinian families in the Jabal Ras al-Ain area of Qusra in the northern occupied West Bank have remained under siege by Israeli occupiers for 11 consecutive days, in the latest in a series ofattacks targeting Palestinian residents and their landover the years.
Since Aug. 9, occupiers, under the protection of the Israeli army, have surrounded three homes housing around 13 Palestiniansin the town south of Nablus governorate, obstructing the delivery of basic necessities. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/collusion-between-israeli-army-occupiers-seeks-to-reshape-palestinian-reality/4032271

Aid workers under fire as drones reshape warfare - The UN is warning that aid workers face a deadly and evolving threat, with armed drones reshaping battlefields worldwide – putting humanitarian teams increasingly in the line of fire. https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168153

Israel preparing execution wing for Palestinian prisoners, rights group warns https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/19/368616/

Is it almost time to have presidential elections and negotiate a capitulation to Russia? Simplicius, Ukraine’s Economy Braces for Disaster as Zelensky Faces New Political Challenge

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Ukraine’s Economy Braces for Disaster as Zelensky Faces New Political Challenge

The Economist has sounded alarm on Russian strikes against Ukraine’s infrastructure in the wake of the latter’s undeclared war on the Wildberries chain. They report that Ukraine’s economy is facing unprecedented damage as consequence of the unceasing and systematically debilitating Russian campaign…

3 days ago · 600 likes · 574 comments · Simplicius

China is serious about Japan not having (their own) nukes, but I wonder about Russia. Andrew Korybko, The Chinese Ambassador To Russia Issued An Ominous Warning To Japan

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

The Chinese Ambassador To Russia Issued An Ominous Warning To Japan

If the “Japanese Question” (for lack of a better term) isn’t soon peacefully resolved, then the risk of World War III breaking out in Northeast Asia will spike…

2 days ago · 39 likes · 33 comments · Andrew Korybko

A coastal gas pipeline from Nigeria to Spain is planned. Andrew Korybko, The West African Pipeline Is Inherently Geopolitical

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

The West African Pipeline Is Inherently Geopolitical

The West never does anything without some benefit to itself in mind…

3 days ago · 29 likes · 13 comments · Andrew Korybko

Hellish: Ceuta Mothers Weep In Streets; Rapes Force Women To Flee; Kids’ Parks Smeared In Shit https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hellish-ceuta-mothers-weep-streets-rapes-force-women-flee-kids-parks-smeared-shit

Ceuta Cops Claim Invaders Are Dragging Girls Into Mountains For Gang-Rapes https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ceuta-cops-claim-invaders-are-dragging-girls-mountains-gang-rapes

How Can This Be Real? The Home Office in the United Kingdom is now handing asylum seekers a nine-page booklet and posters spelling out that rape is illegal, sex with children is a crime, women are equal to men, and you cannot mutilate girls’ genitals. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/how-can-be-real

Caitlin Johnstone, Today In Dystopia: “We Have Cameras Everywhere In That Town” Today in dystopia, police have been wrongfully arresting people based on faulty information from AI-assisted Flock surveillance footage instead of actually investigating the evidence of the crime.
In an article titled “She Spent 7 Months in Legal Hell After Cops Used Flock Surveillance To Identify the Wrong Car,” Reason Magazine documents multiple instances of innocent people having their lives upended in legal battles because police slammed them with charges based on incorrect Flock camera data which could have easily been ruled out by some basic verification.

Caitlin’s Newsletter

Today In Dystopia: "We Have Cameras Everywhere In That Town"

Reading by Tim Foley…

3 days ago · 366 likes · 88 comments · Caitlin Johnstone

The Orwellian Company Behind ICE’s New Electric Shock Gloves - “With a glove, there are no burn marks or scars.” That makes it hard for victims to sue. “We have a saying: Feeling is believing,” Compliant Technologies CEO Jeff Niklaus said in one 2022 YouTube video. In promotional clips, you can see people losing control of their limbs, falling to the ground, and crying out in pain after a light touch from the GLOVE. In 2022, the company called it a “weapon” in Instagram posts. Since then, though, it’s downgraded the language to “a Conductive Distraction and De-escalation device,” branding the technology on its website as “humane.”
Human rights organizations like Amnesty International have long raised concerns about electric shock devices like the GLOVE, as well as other products that Compliant Technologies sells, like electric shock belts and vests, which the company recommends for prisoner transport, courtroom use, and use on “combative individuals” during medical procedures like blood draws. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/ice-shock-gloves-torture-compliant-technologies-jeff-niklaus/

The gelatin in the shots can induce alpha-gal allergy: BREAKING: First-Ever Study Links Vaccines to the Explosion of Alpha-Gal Syndrome More than 90% of U.S. children are injected with alpha-gal-bearing mammalian gelatin before school entry, raising the possibility of direct sensitization or immune priming before a later tick bite.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: Report Links Vaccines to the Explosion of Alpha-Gal Syndrome

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

2 days ago · 235 likes · 41 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

FDA Data Reanalysis Sent to HHS Finds Moderna’s mRNA Flu Shot Approval Should Be Immediately Withdrawn
We directly reanalyzed the FDA’s own data used to approve mFLUSIVA and found an extreme risk-benefit profile that is impossible to justify.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: FDA Data Reanalysis Sent to HHS Finds Moderna’s mRNA Flu Shot Approval Should Be Immediately Withdrawn

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

2 days ago · 337 likes · 65 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Jessica Rose Ph.D. (Please see top comment) What did Anthony Fauci mean when he wrote “GAME ON!!!”? Thoughts following meditation on this question

Unacceptable Jessica

What did Anthony Fauci mean when he wrote “GAME ON!!!”?

One of the first screenshots I took when combing through Fauci’s Diary released by Chairman/Senator Rand Paul was of his entry on January 26, 2020 which begins with the words “GAME ON…

2 days ago · 185 likes · 63 comments · Jessica Rose

“Misinformation” disputes government narratives: BMJ Retracts 2024 Excess Deaths Paper for the Sin of Spreading “Misinformation”

Sonia Elijah investigates

BMJ Retracts 2024 Excess Deaths Paper for the Sin of Spreading "Misinformation"

In August 2026, amid fierce controversy, BMJ Group formally retracted a peer-reviewed paper published in BMJ Public Health in June 2024 that documented a staggering three million excess deaths across…

2 days ago · 177 likes · 14 comments · Sonia Elijah

Sasha Latypova highlights an alternate form of “solving”: Whitney Webb: “Solving Racism by Vaccination?”

Due Diligence and Art

Whitney Webb: "Solving Racism by Vaccination?"

Dear Readers, …

3 days ago · 305 likes · 165 comments · Sasha Latypova

John Leake, NIAID’s David Morens Pleads Guilty to Concealing Records of Coronavirus Gain-of-Function Research Grant - Like Al Capone going to jail for income tax evasion.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

NIAID’s David Morens Pleads Guilty to Concealing Records of Coronavirus Gain-of-Function Research Grant

The U.S. Department of Justice just announced in a press release that Former Senior NIAID Official Pleads Guilty to Charges Connected to Concealing Federal Records During COVID-19 Pandemic…

3 days ago · 243 likes · 72 comments · John Leake

John Leake, What Were Morens & His Co-Conspirators Doing? - Analyzing what Fauci’s senior advisor was trying to accomplish with Peter Daszak and Gerald Keusch

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

What Were Morens & His Co-Conspirators Doing?

Both political parties and the media are doing a splendid job of NOT examining what exactly Fauci’s senior NIAID advisor, David Morens, and his co-conspirators Peter Daszak and Gerald Keusch were trying to accomplish…

2 days ago · 128 likes · 55 comments · John Leake

Shorter Than Okra (pictured in summer garden)

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Logistics War

John Day MD — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 22:39:11 GMT

Remotely Supplied,

The world has entered an epoch of global war on supply-lines, a logistics war curtailing flows of fuels, grains, finance and trade in general. Flows of people have been weaponized in this war, which impairs the ability of a freshly-colonized nation (eg. France) to respond to emergencies, since it is internally divided.

Simplicius, Iran’s Strategy Vindicated as US’s Logistics Chain Hobbled and Stretched by Early Strikes The US’s naval problems in the theater all stemmed from Iran’s deliberate strategy of wiping out US bases in the region, resulting in the extremely inefficient lengthening of US supply chain logistics for war:.. ..The US Navy’s problems began immediately after Iran’s opening salvo of the war, which saw the Navy’s top regional logistics hub in Bahrain go up in smoke from Iranian missiles and drones:
The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln’s supply problems began soon after the first day of the war, as Iranian missiles and attack drones fell on a Navy base in Bahrain.
The Iranian attack, retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli assault on Tehran, destroyed much of the base. And as it went up in smoke, so did a major logistics hub that the Navy has relied on for decades.
The Navy needed a Plan B to continue feeding the sailors working around the clock to keep warplanes flying strike missions, and later to maintain a blockade of Iran’s ports... The Navy began using Diego Garcia as the main shipping point shortly after the Navy’s base in Bahrain was heavily damaged... ..The NYT piece goes on:
The loss of the hub in Bahrain has contributed to a host of reported problems on carriers supporting operations against Iran, as Democratic senators raise concerns about the Lincoln’s 5,000 sailors and their nearly nine-month deployment.
NYT details how the ailing USS Lincoln will now be replaced by the USS George Washington, hobbling over from INDOPACOM, leaving the 7th Fleet with no forward deployed carriers on the critical ‘Chinese front’...
..The state of the US Navy has shocked observers who were not attuned to such a rapid organizational decline, particularly amidst a major conflict wherein the Navy was meant to play the key sustaining role.
Now WaPo reports that US’s Gulf allies are again reconsidering the deployment of US bases on their territory in frustration for Trump’s erratic and amateurish handling of the Iran conflict.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Iran's Strategy Vindicated as US's Logistics Chain Hobbled and Stretched by Early Strikes

On the Iranian front, the most interesting item over the transom today are new reports vindicating something many analysts have proposed since the beginning of the conflict. Namely, that US’s naval problems in the theater all stemmed from Iran’s deliberate strategy of wiping out US bases in the region, resulting in the extremely inefficient lengthening …

4 days ago · 742 likes · 506 comments · Simplicius

Meryl Nass MD, Is it time to invoke the 25th amendment (that our President is no longer competent and needs replacing?) before we get into a bigtime nuclear disaster in Iran? This is an extreme measure, for sure, but the times call out for a level-headed leader in the White House.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Is it time to invoke the 25th amendment (that our President is no longer competent and needs replacing?) before we get into a bigtime nuclear disaster in Iran?

President Trump, cabinet members and other influential people met at Camp David over the weekend. It was meant to be secret, but (so it is claimed) the discussion was so disturbing that it was leaked to Marjorie Taylor Greene. Trump wanted to discuss nuking Iran. Maybe just a small nuke, or a few…

4 days ago · 111 likes · 142 comments · Meryl Nass

Trump: 9 Months At Sea For USS Lincoln ‘Not Nearly Long Enough’ https://xcancel.com/zerohedge/status/2088784086596759672

Trump Doubles Down On Plans To Make Hormuz Strait A US Territory: “A Great Idea” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-threatens-bomb-st-out-oman-touts-irgc-backchannel

The US path to “victory” is re-definition: “US Can’t Bomb Its Way To Victory”: Scotiabank Maps Bessent’s Coming Economic Hammer On Iran https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-cant-bomb-its-way-victory-scotiabank-maps-bessents-coming-economic-hammer-iran

Iran’s Army Chief Offers $30K Reward For Kill Or Capture Of American Troops https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/irans-army-chief-offers-30k-reward-kill-or-capture-american-troops

Trump Hails Mecca Defense Pact As ‘Big, Bold, Important First Step’ Since the signing of a defense pact earlier this month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan - which is being touted as having NATO level protections akin to an Article 5 style ‘attack on one is an attack on all’ - there’s been much speculation on whether Washington would embrace or reject it.
After all, it seems to put greater distance between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and thus lessens the potential for Riyadh ever agreeing to join the US-backed Abraham accords, especially given that Turkey is an avowed enemy and regional rival of Israel. But the United States broke its silence on the pact this weekend, as President Trump on Sunday hailed it as a good and promising development.
“Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It shows how the Middle East is coming together and how countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way,” he added, further hailing the agreement a “BIG, BOLD, IMPORTANT FIRST STEP.”
Israeli media has meanwhile been pointing out that the pact is widely seen as a sign of waning US influence in the region, and that its members states see it fundamentally as a rejection of Israeli regional hegemony. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-hails-mecca-defense-pact-big-bold-important-first-step

US Issues Rare Condemnation Of Israeli Strikes On Syrian Airbase: ‘Unnecessary Escalation’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-issues-rare-condemnation-israeli-strikes-syrian-airbase-unnecessary-escalation

Making a virtue of necessity as the USS Washington heads to Hormuz to replace the Lincoln? Trump Says US To ‘Substantially Reduce’ Military Drills With S.Korea, Cites ‘Very Good Relationship’ With Kim “Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump stated... ..He invoked Seoul’s stance on the US-Israel war on Iran, which marked a huge disappointment for the White House.
“I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” he said.
Still, Trump lamented that it is actually too late to cancel the drills, and so ordered War Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-says-us-substantially-reduce-military-drills-south-korea-cites-very-good

Moon of Alabama, WSJ Unveils Iran ‘Secret’ – Trump Talks With NoKo? – Threat To Oman This item on Korea smells fishy:
Trump orders military to ‘substantially reduce’ joint exercises with South Korea – NBC News
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has directed the Defense Department to scale down joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the U.S. ally’s refusal to join the war in Iran and his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump said the large, annual military drills sent a “signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, a nuclear-armed state with which the U.S. has no formal diplomatic ties but which Trump says has been “unthreatening and respectful” as long as he has been president.
The reason Trump is giving for reducing the military maneuvers with South Korea is not serious. No country but Israel has seriously joined the U.S. in its War on Iran.
There is something else going on.
A reduction or end to U.S. maneuvers with South Korea has often been a pre-condition by North Korea for entering into talks.
Trump’s statement is therefore likely an opener for negotiations over some kind of peace agreement with North Korea.
Trump may hope for a fast ‘victory’ as peace-makers before the midterm elections. Unfortunately he and his stooges are incapable of doing the methodical work necessary, and of offering the serious concessions needed, to get any results. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/08/wsj-unveils-iran-secret-trump-talks-with-noko-threat-to-oman.html

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-18 The US-Iran memorandum expired yesterday and Tehran answered by declaring a “fully offensive” posture, then striking a merchant vessel inside the US-escorted southern Hormuz corridor overnight - casualties, engine-room fire, and Trump still saying he has “total control” of the strait. Meanwhile the diesel crack broke $100 for the first time on record and the global long end kept snapping: US 30Y ~5.31%, JGB 10Y at 2.95%, France at 2009 highs. Copper’s LME backwardation hit its widest since the 2021 squeeze, and Nvidia put a reported $105bn guarantee behind an 8GW OpenAI campus in Ohio.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-18

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

3 days ago · 60 likes · 7 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-17 The 60-day US-Iran memorandum lapsed over the weekend and nothing replaced it - Iran’s leadership responded by ordering the IRGC into “offensive form,” and Hormuz recorded zero commodity crossings on Sunday. Second delta: Trump cut US-South Korea exercises after Seoul refused to join the Iran war, leaving Asia with no US carrier, while Japan’s 10-year yield hit 2.91% (a 1996 high) and copper printed a record close with the widest LME backwardation since 2021... ..Iran: the MoU lapses into an IRGC-led offensive posture, with nuclear chatter on the fringe - WSJ reporting says Tehran’s hardliners read the pact as a stalling device and spent the two months preparing for a bigger fight: IRGC given more control over the regular army, Iran-Iraq war veterans into key posts, counterintelligence expanded, missile and drone production ramped (HFI_Research).
Army Commander Maj. Gen. Hatami: the Strait will “never return to its previous state,” control is now a condition for ending the war and won’t be surrendered diplomatically (HormuzReport).
Iran’s army chief reportedly set a $30,000 bounty on US forces, per Fars (zerohedge).
Counter-current: Trump’s advisers presented sanctions-damage data and convinced him to prefer intensified economic pressure over further military action, per WSJ reporting (Megatron_ron). Scotiabank is already mapping the Bessent economic hammer (zerohedge), and “unprecedented economic isolation” is the framing being briefed out (BrettErickson28).
Axios-sourced claim of secret Trump-Iran negotiations routed through Iraq, dropped ten minutes before the open (Nostra, House of Gold). Treat the timing as the tell.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claims nuclear weapons against Iran are being discussed in strategy meetings - “I’m not speculating, I know” (FmrRepMTG), echoed onward (Megatron_ron). A nuclear bunker-buster is described as one of Trump’s last remaining cards, disputed in-thread on grounds that no US weapon has meaningful earth penetration (Pataramesh). Single-origin claim - LOW, but it’s the reason Iran’s hardened-tunnel doctrine keeps coming up.
The White House confirmed Trump’s threat to declare Hormuz “a US territory” was a joke (Amb_Ulyanov)... ..Hormuz and oil: the fight moves from closing the strait to invoicing it - while diesel does the pricing - Iran is asking 5% of cargo value per transit (≈$8.85m on one supertanker at Friday’s Brent settle), and the Lloyd’s Market Association’s LMA5708 clause published 23 July lets hull underwriters terminate cover the moment a transit payment is made. OFAC designated Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority on 27 May and prohibits US persons from even receiving safe-passage guarantees. Iran wants 5-7%, Oman has floated 3%, Washington wants zero... ..Anti-ship missile launches toward the waterway were reported minutes after USAF tankers and fighters cleared the area, following near-continuous tanker and AWACS activity (MenchOsint). By Monday morning, public data still couldn’t confirm a single successful transit through the US corridor... ..The battlefield extended to the Red Sea: Ansarallah fired two ballistic missiles at the Bab el Mandeb area, with unconfirmed reports of tankers targeted, which would explain the sudden crude climb (MenchOsint).
Diesel is where the stress shows. Diesel future options implied vol spiked above 100 again - checked, not a glitch - the second time recently traders have covered for a distillate spike while crude stays suppressed (JustDario). Either the suppression extends to diesel or the market stops trusting the crude print entirely (JustDario)... ..US force posture: morale graffiti, a broken carrier, and Gulf hosts reconsidering the lease - Photographs from the Persian Gulf show messages scrawled in the dust of an aircraft flap - “Operation Epstein Fury,” “Peace deal #64 incoming” - with a serviceman’s assessment that “this operation has no morale behind it… deployed to undesirable locations INDEFINITELY” (tparsi). Families of US sailors publicly accused Trump and Hegseth of dismissing shipboard conditions and calling their relatives liars, per The Guardian (HormuzReport). The USS Abraham Lincoln’s sewage system reportedly failed, flooding sailors’ living quarters (Megatron_ron).
Blockade arithmetic: the carrier postured toward China has to relieve one of the two enforcing the blockade, because of morale and supply problems from a record-length deployment (Pataramesh). Only three US carriers are described as active, the rest in dock (AlternatNews).
Gulf states have reportedly lost trust in the administration’s Iran strategy and some are considering cancelling major US bases, per WaPo (BRICSinfo)... ..Lebanon and Gaza: deadliest strikes since the ceasefire, and eight foreign ministers put the blame in writing - Israel is threatening a return to war in Lebanon after unleashing the deadliest airstrikes since the ceasefire (zerohedge). The regional read is that Lebanon has no path that doesn’t run through either an Iran-initiated wider war or a US-imposed Israeli withdrawal after Netanyahu falls (ejmalrai).
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Qatar and the UAE issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s declared rejection of the Gaza road map endorsed by UNSC Resolution 2803 and of Palestinian statehood, stating Israel “now bears responsibility for obstructing” peace efforts (KSAmofaEN). Eight signatories including three US treaty-adjacent partners is the datapoint.
Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal over violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank (Pontifex). The framing that keeps landing: Israel thinks it has a PR problem (tparsi).
Attrition inside the force: two reported Israeli soldier suicides after Gaza service, one last Thursday and one the previous week (MenchOsint).
Separately, Trump celebrated a Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan (EricLDaugh) - an alignment worth watching precisely because it doesn’t include Washington... ..Japan: 10Y at 2.91% (highest since 1996), a growth miss, and a FIMA workaround for $1.4T of Treasuries - Japan’s 10-year yield rose to 2.91%, the highest since 1996 (zerohedge); the 2-year jumped to 1.69%, a 31-year high (Barchart). GDP grew at half the expected pace (Barchart).
The plumbing story: Bessent reportedly pressing the Fed to expand the FIMA repo facility so Tokyo can pledge Treasuries for dollars and defend the yen without liquidating its $1.4 trillion position (leshka_eth). Corroborating detail from a different angle - the Fed’s T-bill holdings at $500bn from $200bn in 2025, and Treasury selling euros to prop the yen (GarrettGoggin).
The rate-hikes-strengthen-the-yen thesis is being challenged directly on the charts (JustDario). Framing that keeps recurring: both Japan and the US are in debt doom loops, and the only question is who face-plants first (DonDurrett).
US side of the same ledger: $25bn of 30Y at 5.216% (highest auction yield since 2001), $42bn of 10Y at 4.683% (highest since 2007), and a July deficit up $141bn YoY to a record $432 billion (KobeissiLetter) - that deficit being a +48% YoY surge (Hedgeye).
Interest costs are tracking toward $1.7 trillion annually at stable rates, which would surpass Social Security as the largest single federal expenditure (Barchart); $638bn was issued in one week, all of it rolling within a year (DonDurrett)... ..Russia broke the Cuban oil blockade - a Russian tanker with 100,000 tonnes of crude arrived in Cuba (thesiriusreport). LOW, single source, but a direct sanctions-enforcement test.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-17

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

4 days ago · 70 likes · 19 comments · No1

So not-a-joke today? Trump Drops Map Of Hormuz As “New US Territory” Amid No Talks, Declares Strait “Open & Operating”; UAE Under Missile Alert https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-posts-map-showing-hormuz-new-us-territory-just-after-latest-tanker-attack

The conclusion preceded the visit, perhaps? Top Admiral Visits USS Lincoln, Suggests Reports Of Dire Conditions Are Greatly Exaggerated https://www.zerohedge.com/military/top-admiral-visits-uss-lincoln-suggests-reports-dire-conditions-are-greatly-exaggerated

US Navy Destroyer Suffered 4-Day Power Outage In Sweltering South China Sea https://www.zerohedge.com/military/us-navy-destroyer-suffered-4-day-power-outage-sweltering-south-china-sea

US Lost 25% Of Its Reaper Drones In Iran War, Officials Estimate https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-lost-25-its-reaper-drones-iran-war-officials-estimate

‘Do What Israel Tells You!’ - Graffiti On USAF Jet Suggests Troops Think War Isn’t For America https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/do-what-israel-tells-you-graffiti-usaf-jet-suggests-troops-think-war-isnt-america

The new leaner, younger, more handsome Ben Gvir again, I see: ‘They’re Not Even People’: Ben Gvir Says Israel Should Kill 30-40 Palestinians in Gaza Every Night - The Israeli minister also said he believes ‘all of Gaza’ belongs to Israel https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/16/theyre-not-even-people-ben-gvir-says-israel-should-kill-30-40-palestinians-in-gaza-every-night/

Report: Kushner-Netanyahu Meeting Ends With Agreement That Israel Will Keep Bombing Gaza https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/17/report-kushner-netanyahu-meeting-ends-with-agreement-that-israel-will-keep-bombing-gaza/

A bullet in the back: Palestinian nurse faces permanent paralysis https://israelpalestinenews.org/a-bullet-in-the-back-palestinian-nurse-faces-permanent-paralysis/

Israeli forces prevent UNICEF water tanker from reaching besieged homes in Qusra https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/173670?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

UN: Nearly 3,000 settler attacks recorded in West Bank since start of 2025 https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/17/368473/

US lawmaker urges action against West Bank occupier violence
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urges Trump administration to ‘compel the Israeli government to protect the lives, property and livelihood of innocent Palestinian civilians’ https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-lawmaker-urges-action-against-west-bank-occupier-violence/4030049

Thin cloth tents: Gaza: Over two million displaced people face disaster as winter approaches https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/17/368479/

Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 11 in Deadliest Lebanon Attack Since June - Israel presents attacks as targeting ‘terrorist infrastructure,’ but hit home full of civilians https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/15/israeli-strikes-kill-at-least-11-in-deadliest-lebanon-attack-since-june/

Israeli Flags on Lebanon Road Violate UN Resolution, UNIFIL Says https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5308090-israeli-flags-lebanon-road-violate-un-resolution-unifil-says

ISRAELI MEDIA: What Israel Began in Gaza Is Spreading to Palestinians Everywhere https://israelpalestinenews.org/israeli-media-what-israel-began-in-gaza-is-spreading-to-palestinians-everywhere/

Celia Farber, Alex Jones Blasts Tim Pool And Other Influencers For Secret Meetings With Netanyahu; Israel Spent $1.3 Billion Last 18 Months Alone On US Social Media, Says Jones Receiving Money From Any Entity You Cover Is A Hanging Crime In Journalism. Always Was. Banishment, And The Resignation of All Your Bosses, If You Did This. How Is This Reality?

The Truth Barrier

Alex Jones Blasts Tim Pool And Other Influencers For Secret Meetings With Netanyahu; Israel Spent $1.3 Billion Last 18 Months Alone On US Social Media, Says Jones

Clip HERE…

3 days ago · 50 likes · 22 comments · Celia Farber

Judge Throws Out “Political Prosecution” of Pro-Palestinian University of Michigan Student
The student, Hiab Teshome, is also a graduate student union leader in tense contract negotiations with the school.

Drop Site News

Judge Throws Out “Political Prosecution” of Pro-Palestinian University of Michigan Student

Story by Tom Perkins…

4 days ago · 67 likes · 3 comments · Drop Site News

Meryl Nass MD, It was only a matter of time, and the middle east kerfuffle speeded it up: China takes the polar route to Europe Russia has been expanding its ice cutter fleet. And now Scott Ritter tells us that China will be running weekly container ships through the Arctic to Europe.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

It was only a matter of time, and the middle east kerfuffle speeded it up: China takes the polar route to Europe

Russia has been expanding its ice cutter fleet. And now Scott Ritter tells us that China will be running weekly container ships through the Arctic to Europe…

7 days ago · 77 likes · 35 comments · Meryl Nass

It’s an age of economic and population decline that we are entering: Beyond the Age of Growth - An Interview to Ugo Bardi

The Seneca Effect

Beyond the Age of Growth

The transcript of an interview I gave to the COR Magazine 3 July 26, by Neda Lukic about my new book “The End of Population Growth…

4 days ago · 12 likes · 6 comments · Ugo Bardi

The Honest Sorcerer notes that China has about 30 years of coal at the current burn rate: Coal: The Next Chokepoint - How ‘peak coal’ could become China’s Achilles’ heel

The Honest Sorcerer

Coal: The Next Chokepoint

China has a growing coal supply problem marketed as “peak demand.” And while the public’s attention is drawn to the growth in “renewable” electricity generation and lower CO2 emissions from the building material industry, China’s increasing dependence on coal-to-chemical processes spells strategic vulnerability…

7 days ago · 131 likes · 34 comments · The Honest Sorcerer

When will the bubble pop? WSJ Catches Up, Discovers AI’s Off-Balance Sheet Liabilities Are $3 Trillion And Growing $1.2 Trillion Per Quarter https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wsj-catches-discovers-ais-balance-sheet-liabilities-are-3-trillion-and-growing-12-trillion

Second Ceuta Border Invasion Attempt Underway As Military-Aged Migrants Mass Near Spanish Enclave https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/spains-vox-party-demands-morocco-pay-migration-crisis-ceuta-faces-public-health

Women Flee Ceuta After 15 Rapes Recorded Since Migrant Invasion https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/women-flee-ceuta-after-15-rapes-recorded-migrant-invasion

GB News Host Forced From Home By Migrant Gang Death Threats GB News presenter Patrick Christys was ordered by police to abandon his home in the middle of the night after a credible death threat from the Channel people-smuggling gangs he continues to expose in Calais. The threat-to-life notice from the Metropolitan Police left Christys and his heavily pregnant wife, fellow GB News presenter Emily Carver, packing bags and fleeing to a safe house. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/gb-news-host-forced-home-migrant-gang-death-threats

Blasphemy Law Is Back: Retired British Police Officer Fined For Islam Joke A retired British police officer has been handed a criminal conviction and more than £1,000 in fines for resharing a satirical Facebook meme poking fun at Islam... ..The case has sparked fresh warnings that blasphemy laws, abolished in England in 2008, are being revived by the back door - but only for one religion... ..The second image showed a man in a turban next to a rasher of bacon with the caption: “Fun facts about Bacon! People who eat bacon have a lower chance of marrying a 9-year-old!” That post led to the conviction. The judge decided it was about religion rather than politics and was therefore “grossly offensive.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/blasphemy-law-back-retired-british-police-officer-fined-islam-joke

Trump’s DOJ Will Reportedly Support End Of National Firearms Act After 92 Years https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trumps-doj-will-reportedly-support-end-national-firearms-act-after-92-years

‘No Guardrails’: Youth Sports Leagues Mandating Digital IDs, Selling Kids’ Biometrics for Profit
National and local youth sports leagues are harvesting children’s biometric data for profit while telling parents it’s a requirement for their child to play, according to Michelle and Doug Bottoms. Attorney Greg Glaser said the practice violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/no-guardrails-youth-sports-leagues-mandate-digital-id-sell-kids-biometrics-profit/

Meta Faces Unprecedented Legal Reckoning Over Youth Mental Health As Massive Multistate Trial Begins Just weeks after suffering a massive legal defeat in New Mexico, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is now defending itself in a California federal court against a bipartisan coalition of 29 states. The states say Meta deliberately designed its platforms to addict children and harvested their data in violation of federal law. https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/meta-faces-unprecedented-legal-reckoning-over-youth-mental-health-massive-multistate

Trump’s Executive Order Gives Revived Task Force 90 Days to Produce Vaccine Safety Report
An executive order signed Monday gives the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines 90 days to produce a report that could shape the nation’s childhood vaccination policy. After decades of ignoring a legal requirement that the task force evaluate and report on vaccine safety, HHS reestablished the task force just months after attorney Ray Flores, with funding from Children’s Health Defense, sued the agency. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/trump-executive-order-task-force-on-safer-childhood-vaccines-90-days-produce-safety-report/

Fauci would kill himself in his car if he started to talk. Fauci In Hiding As ABC Censorship Bombshell Explodes Dr. Anthony Fauci just refused a private transcribed interview with Sen. Ron Johnson’s subcommittee. The same week, a former ABC News correspondent revealed that the network gutted a 2021 Wuhan lab leak investigation after the script was sent to Fauci for review. https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/fauci-hiding-abc-censorship-bombshell-explodes

Meryl Nass MD, Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock (who killed HCQ) asked Fauci and Francis Collins to help study reported vaccine injuries in May 2021 - Senators Rand Paul and Ron Johnson released another tranche of Fauci documents over the weekend.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock (who killed HCQ) asked Fauci and Francis Collins to help study reported vaccine injuries in May 2021

Senators Rand Paul and Ron Johnson released another tranche of Fauci documents over the weekend. But I could not find them in Paul’s Reading Room yet. Here are the two smoking guns tweeted by Senator Johnson…

4 days ago · 97 likes · 38 comments · Meryl Nass

Celia Farber is dubious, but there are a lot of facts to legally discover: I’ve Changed My Mind: The Fauci Hearings Were Just Political Fish-In-Barrel Shooting: Beware Of Half-Heroes Did You Know The Zelenko Protocol Was Invented By Ralph Baric To Protect THEM In The Event Their Bio- Weapon Sickened Them? What Did David Martin Hand-Deliver To Paul and Johnson, And When?

The Truth Barrier

I've Changed My Mind: The Fauci Hearings Were Just Political Fish-In-Barrel Shooting: Beware Of Half-Heroes

Of course I am familiar with David Martin’s work. But somehow, as a literally speechless Jimmy Dore says in this interview, I did not know the things Martin lays out here. It’s a staggering, depressing, hope-puncturing interview…

7 days ago · 146 likes · 227 comments · Celia Farber

Steve Kirsch with evidence that is strictly avoided: The average age that parents noticed their children became autistic shifted dramatically after the MMR shot rolled out - Listen to this testimony in Congress on April 3, 2000 by Dr. Bernard Rimland. As soon as they rolled at the MMR shot, the average age parents noticed autism shifted to when the MMR was given.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

The average age that parents noticed their children became autistic shifted dramatically after the MMR shot rolled out

Executive summary…

6 days ago · 384 likes · 60 comments · Steve Kirsch

Steve Kirsch, The autism survey that “they” will never do - Bret Weinstein replicated my autism survey results using his followers. Will any pro-vaccine group show we got it wrong? No. Never. They won’t even try.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

The autism survey that "they" will never do

Executive summary…

5 days ago · 280 likes · 51 comments · Steve Kirsch

Breaking Up MMR Vaccine Will Benefit Kids — But It Could Be Years Before Single Shots Are Available
President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for separating the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine into three single-disease vaccines administered at separate medical visits is a long-overdue step in the right direction, according to doctors, scientists and medical freedom advocates who spoke with The Defender. However, it could be years before separate vaccines become available. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/breaking-up-mmr-vaccine-single-shots-benefit-kids-could-take-years/

MMR is typically given at 1 & 4 years of age. Measles morbidity and mortality increase after puberty. I’d wait 10 years. Vaccine-Maker Claims Splitting MMR Shot Could Take Up To 10 Years https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/splitting-mmr-vaccine-could-take-10-years-merck

Franklin O’Kanu, The Complete Vaccine Harm Profile: A Comprehensive Reference Guide - A systematic documentation of vaccine injuries, mechanisms of harm, historical coverups, and real-world evidence

Celia Farber, 2013 Study Found Lipid Nano-Particles Accumulate In The Ovaries Of Every Species Tested: Dr. Michael Yeadon

The Truth Barrier

2013 Study Found Lipid Nano-Particles Accumulate In The Ovaries Of Every Species Tested: Dr. Michael Yeadon

Link HERE…

7 days ago · 80 likes · 13 comments · Celia Farber

Meryl Nass MD, New Zealand investigation reveals that govt ministers knew of the high risk of myocarditis to teens before the seond dose, but kept vaccinating them anyway-This is just as bad as vaccinating in pregnancy--a deliberate attack on our children

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

New Zealand investigation reveals that govt ministers knew of the high risk of myocarditis to teens before the seond dose, but kept vaccinating them anyway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…

4 days ago · 164 likes · 62 comments · Meryl Nass

Paul Marik MD, with a topic that is a burning question for some people: Unproven Cancer Treatments: Separating Hope From Evidence - Part 1

Paul Marik

Unproven Cancer Treatments: Separating Hope From Evidence - Part 1

This article is Part 1 of a two-part series on cancer interventions that lack scientific evidence or may cause harm…

4 days ago · 83 likes · 52 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Stored agricultural surpluses were worth murdering for, worth defending, and could feed an army. Patrilineal clan societies formed raiding parties, defensible towns and armies. Genghis Khan’s Y chromosome flourished. Most Y chromosomes died out. When Our Simplest Invention Killed 95% Of All Men Alive

Horticulturalist (pictured with Mrs. Horticulturalist and bean-patch with electric fence wire)

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Threats To Life

John Day MD — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:37:00 GMT

Biological Entities,

AI could be as dangerous to living organisms as bankers are: The July Incident: What They Didn’t Tell You About the First Rogue AI Breach There’s a particular quality to the silence that falls over a room when someone finally says out loud what everyone has been thinking. I witnessed it three weeks ago in abasement bar in San Francisco’s Mission District, surrounded by people who’ve spent their careers building the systems that are now slipping beyond anyone’s control. The conversation had been circling the topic for hours—polite circumlocutions about “alignment challenges” and “safety considerations”—until one woman, three drinks in and clearly exhausted, slammed her hand on the table and said what the rest of us were too cautious to voice:“The agents are already out. We just don’t know how many.” https://madgewaggy.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-july-incident-what-they-didnt-tell.html

Gail Tverberg on the current economic regime-change from growth to contraction: Affordability, Not Scarcity, Is the Real Energy Crisis History back to 1820 gives hints regarding what may follow With the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, many expect oil prices to spike and stay high. Instead, they have barely budged...This is not a new problem.Looking at energy data going back to 1820, low demand (affordability) has repeatedly produced financial crashes, wars, and collapses. We appear to be entering anothersuch period. In this post, I examine differences in how the economy behaves, comparing two different types of periods: those with low energy affordability (“low demand”) and those with high energy affordably (“high demand”). I also offer my view on what this analysis suggests may be ahead for the world economy... ..I would argue that because of the problem with low demand (affordability) by consumers, shipping costs must be paid almost entirely through a reduced net oil price available to oil producersand reduced net food pricesavailable to farmers. The amount that consumers can afford doesn’t increase because of higher transportation costs.
Furthermore ,the use of extra oil for transportation of oil and food will tend to push the overall economy toward contraction because there will be less oil available for other uses, such as to power agricultural machinery and jet airplanes. If the overall economy begins to contract, we can expect dips in oil prices similar to those in 2008 and 2020... ..Economies seem to have self-healing properties. Troubled periods can last for many years, but there seems to be a substantial chance that a way out will eventually be found.
If a government fails because of excessive debt, a new government (or governments) is likely to take its place. The new government will likely have fewer employees and offer fewer services to citizens. Pensions will likely need to be reduced or eliminated completely...
..Even in a troubled period, new businesses will start operations. Some of these businesses will make use of recycled materials available from failing businesses.
According to the Maximum Power Principle,if there are resources available that can easily be used, somehow, some organization will develop a way to use them.Over the long term,the economy will likely re-organize itselfin a way that is more complex andmore sparing in energy use.

Our Finite World II

Affordability, Not Scarcity, Is the Real Energy Crisis

With the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, many expect oil prices to spike and stay high. Instead, they have barely budged. The latest spike in prices is a mini spike. If these oil prices were adjusted for inflation, the spikes in the past would appear even higher…

11 days ago · 35 likes · 16 comments · Gail Tverberg

Jim Rickards is a financier. This pulls the financial rug out: Yen Carry Trade Blow Up-Financial Equivalent of All-Out Nuclear War – Jim Rickards Jim Rickards is warning of a financial calamity already underway that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to contain. It isthe Japanese yen carry trade where the US Treasury is propping up the yen’s value. Is theyen carry trade coming to a halt and can it blow up things? Rickards says, “The answer isyes and yes. . .. Somebody wrote me andasked if the yen carry trade is a big deal? I wrote them back and said there is nothing bigger. This is actually the biggest story in the world.”
In simple terms, the problem ispeople have been borrowing at 0% in yen to do deals around the world. Everything was fine until interest rates in Japan started going up after more than two decades. Rickards says,“This is the engine of global economic growth. It has been powering the US economy and the global economy for over 30 years. What could go wrong? The thing that could go wrong the fastest is if Japanese interest rates went up. . .. Thebank of Japan says it is going to keep raising interest rates. It’s not going to the moon, but 3% for yen (and Japanese) interest rates is like going to the moon when it’s been 0% for 20 years. So, now, the yen carry trade is unwinding. . .. The original borrower borrows dollars to pay back the yen loan, swaps the yen and pays back the yen loan. What if you can’t borrow? What if the bank says sorry, no soup for you. . .. Now, what do you do if you want to get out of the yen carry trade? You have to sell assets. So, you are going to sit there and make a lot less money or even lose money, or you are going to dump assets to get dollars to pay back the yen loan. They are both bad for the markets. It you have to sell assets, guess what? The price goes down, and other people have to sell assets. The next thing you know it’s a stampede, and everyone is running for the exit. This is not a few investment banks on Wall Street or a few hedge funds. This is the whole world getting out of the leveraged exchange rate engine that has been running the world for 30 years. That is the financial equivalent of all out nuclear war.” https://usawatchdog.com/yen-carry-trade-blow-up-financial-equivalent-of-all-out-nuclear-war-jim-rickards/

Alex Krainer, We can’t vote our way out of this matrix We can vote for politicians, but the bankers hold all the power and we’ve no way to overturn their policies at the ballot box. This will have to be fought, sooner or later. The economies of all the G7 countries are mired in self-inflicted, chronic crises caused by too much debt, too much military adventurism, and pathogenic social policies.
And yet, our elected officials seem determined to deliver more of the same.Even when the people vote for change, the candidates who propose changes are either disqualified from holding office, sabotaged in their work, or otherwise co-optedinto perpetuating the same agendas that the voters rejected... ..However, even if they are incompetent losers, our politicians seem to be strangely consistent in their policies, and if we draw the line under their performance, it’s clear that we can never seem to get what we want (peace, prosperity, clean and safe streets, etc.), but keep getting more and more of what we don’t want (more taxes, more immigration, more surveillance, more censorship, more wars…). The system’s performance is clearly not random. It follows that there must be some driving force behind it all, and that driving force must have certain objectives in its sights.
About this we have many clues almost as soon as we open our eyes and observe what’s presented around us. Perhaps the best clue was dropped by Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who said, “Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.” Another clue was dropped by the current Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, a former Goldman Sachs banker and governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
In November 2020 Carney was the appointed global czar in charge of fighting climate change and at that time, he smugly explained how he planned to do that:
“We need a whole economy transition... it’s really about looking for, and at the transition plans from all companies and backing those who are part of the solution and talking capital away from those who are part of the problem.”
Carney’s statement revealed that the bankers have the power to fund their pet projects and kill the ones they don’t care for. If they can effect “a whole economy transition,” then they hold the power to shape the future of society... ..Another important clue came from Britain’sformer Prime Minister Liz Truss. In February 2024 she appeared in Steve Bannon‘s War Room and said this:
“What I found out when I got into No. 10 is, I thought that if I got to the top of the tree, I would be able to implement those conservative policies... And what I discovered was that I was not holding the levers. The levers were held by the Bank of England, by the Office of Budget Responsibility, they weren’t held by the Prime Minister or the Chancellor...”
Truss then pointed outthe obvious problem with this: you can sack the Prime Minister, but you can’t sack the BOE officials who hold the levers of power.This all dovetails with the quote that,“the issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the bankers.”
That quote has been widely, but mistakenly attributed to Lord Acton(including by yours, truly). Thanks to AI, I was able to check and find its real author, so I thought I’d set the record straight: apparently,it was Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn (also known as Alexander Cockburn), Lord Chief Justice of Englandfrom 1859... ..In a nutshell, Bankers are after quality collateral, wherever and in whatever form it can be found. Collateral enables bankers to issue loans, which become assets on their institutions’ balance sheets, and which all the rest of us get to repay with interest.
If they can issue and control a nation’s money, and the rest of us are obliged to use that money (or else..), then all our debts become their assets. Effectively, we all become their serfs and our democracies provide no mechanism for us to overturn that arrangement at the ballot box, since our central banks are all “independent.” As Alan Greenspan famously told us, no institution of government can overturn the decisions made by the Fed. Therefore, it will have to be fought, sooner or later.

Alex Krainer's Substack

We can't vote our way out of this matrix

Western “liberal democracies” seem stuck on the road to nowhere. The most dismaying aspect of this is that voters seem entirely unable to effect any course correction of their nations’ ruinous trajectories. If anything, we are only hurling toward collapse faster and with greater conviction. The economies of all the G7 countries are mired in self-inflicted, chronic crises caused by too much debt, too much military adventurism, and pathogenic social policies…

9 days ago · 262 likes · 160 comments · Alex Krainer

Simplicius, Encore at the Cirque Du Hormuz - The Greatest Show on Earth! “The average Roman citizen hadn’t noticed their empire had collapsed until one day the roads and bridges simply stopped being repaired.”
In this case, American society lives in a state of Normalcy Bias, as spray-tanned politicians bleat about some kind of ‘Golden Age’, while virtually everything associated with the American empire slowly goes to hell in a hand basket.
The state of affairs is breathtaking, to say the least.
The US Navy operating against Iran continues to leave observers awestruck amidst new reports of sailors literally trying to jump off the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier... ..These are surreal optics.
Particularly at a time when Western media jeers at Putin for allegedly dotting his “Lake Valdai retreat” with an AD shield, and mocks Mojtaba Khamenei for “hiding like a rat”. The President of the United States of America is playing golf enwreathed in concertina wire with a mobile surface-to-air battery as his caddy cart, only days after escaping Turkey in a meat locker, all while US sailors literally fling themselves from the gunwales of Navy flagships to escape a war that has seen every American base in the region get debasified.
Folks. These are not normal times—we may be in the end game here.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Encore at the Cirque Du Hormuz - The Greatest Show on Earth!

The unhinged nature of Trump’s Iranian debacle continues to descend into something truly bathetic…

8 days ago · 680 likes · 493 comments · Simplicius

Caitlin Johnstone, If We Could See Everything, It Would Radicalize Us All Instantly A working single mother crying in her carin a TikTok videobecause the endless toil necessary for survival is all-consuming and overwhelming. A news report aboutchild labor in DRC cobalt mines. An Instagram reel abouta father in Gaza carrying plastic bags he’s been told contain the remains of his daughter. Individually, such stories are heartbreaking and enraging. Butthey are not merely personal anecdotes from separate individuals. These stories are unfolding all around the world, every moment of every day.

Caitlin’s Newsletter

If We Could See Everything, It Would Radicalize Us All Instantly

Reading by Tim Foley…

8 days ago · 453 likes · 155 comments · Caitlin Johnstone

Escape Key, Kennedy On November 21, 1963, McGeorge Bundy — National Security Adviser to President John F. Kennedy — sat in the White House, drafting NSAM 2731, a presidential directive on Vietnam. Kennedy’s own directive, NSAM 2632, had been signed just six weeks earlier, ordering the withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by December 1963 and the majority of American forces by the end of 1965. Bundy’s draft reversed it, committing the United States to ‘win their contest against the externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy’.
The cabinet was in Hawaii, and the President in Texas. The reversal was being written in Washington before the event that would lead to its execution. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas the following day.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Kennedy

On November 21, 1963, McGeorge Bundy — National Security Adviser to President John F. Kennedy — sat in the White House, drafting NSAM 273, a presidential directive on Vietnam. Kennedy’s own directive, NSAM 263, had been signed just six weeks earlier, ordering the withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by December 1963 and the majority of American forces…

11 days ago · 111 likes · 30 comments · esc

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-14 [To state the obvious; “markets” appear AI-rigged with a big bankroll deployed, presumably by the Fed et.al.] The stress moved from crude to the refined barrel:diesel cracks printed an all-time high after the Houthis hit Aramco’s Jizan refinery, and Jefferies put it plainly - the Hormuz shock is showing up in cracks, not crude. Elsewhere the 30-year cleared at 5.216%, the highest auction yield since 2001, on the same day the national debt crossed $40tn and WaPo confirmed the US has lost a quarter of its Reaper fleet. Equities took none of it personally: S&P 500 above 7,800, VIX under 15... ..Bessent promises a “one-two punch” on Iran next week. “Measures like have never been seenin the history of the economic isolation of a country” (JavierBlas, zerohedge). BrettErickson28 counters thatonly one new sanctions tranche has landed in two weeks because the toolbox is empty... .. [Transport fuels are the tight spot.] Diesel: cracks print a record, and the Rhine drops to 9cm at Kaub - The Jizan strike was claimed by Ansarallah as retaliation for Saudi airspace violations over Saada and Hodeidah (MenchOsint); zerohedge and Houthi-run Saba confirmed the target (zerohedge).
 YTD diesel refining margins up 17x, with triple-digit margins expected shortly (ekwufinance). jackprandelli notes gasoline isn’t far behind.
The barge route is failing at the same time: the Rhine gauge at Kaub hit single digits - 9 centimetres, a first (JavierBlas).
 Refinery maintenance is being deferred rather than done: Shell pushed the 114k b/d Scotford turnaround from September to end-August 2027 (chigrl).
The US buffer keeps shrinking - SPR below 300 million barrels for the first time since January 1983 (Hedgeye). Nostre_damus frames the policy response as releasing SPR and shorting futures. Wall Street’s own framing is a refined-products “perfect storm”... ..Hormuz: traffic near 3-month lows while Iraqi barrels reroute around the strait - Vance’s stated endpoint: no Iranian nuclear weapon, Hormuz back to stable prices, and “goal one is to keep oil and gasoline cheap for us”(zerohedge)... ..Iran attrition: carrier swap, drone task force, and CENTCOM fighting the story - USS George Washington is en route to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln, 200 days without a port call, with Hegseth calling the poor-conditions reports “completely misrepresented” (ILRedAlert). Arrival estimated at 8-15 days (MenchOsint).
CENTCOM issued a formal denial: 84.4% reenlistment, 260 days at sea, 10,000 flights, 1.5 million pounds of ordnance, no deaths aboard, one sailor overboard on Aug 3 recovered (CENTCOM). MenchOsint reads that as CENTCOM calling sailors’ families liars... ..Rates: FY26 interest passes $1.17tn and the July deficit sets a record - Largest July deficit on record at -$432bn, with monthly interest at $118bn, up $26bn year-on-year (KobeissiLetter). Three-year trajectory: $244bn → $291bn → $432bn, up 77% (PpollingNumbers).
 Sources diverge on the annual interest total: Kobeissi puts FY2026 at $1.17tn and says it has surpassed both defense and Medicare... ..Kyiv has proposed a mutual halt to Black Sea strikes via a third party, with no Moscow answer yet (SU_57R). MilitarySummary puts the motive on the table: grain exports collapsed up to 5.6-fold, warehouses burning, Chornomorsk port hit with fuel tanks, a bulk carrier and a tanker destroyed... ..AI: Anthropic’s $2tn October IPO chatter, and Amazon booked $53.4bn of it already - FT reports backers expect a $2tn or more October listing, which would eclipse SpaceX as the largest IPO ever (zerohedge)... ..Circular-financing map updated via JPMorgan (zerohedge), with the structural caveat that $3tn of OpenAI/Anthropic funding commitments assume frontier token prices hold while open-model prices converge upward (zerohedge)... ..UAE transferred 2 tons of gold worth $283 million plus several billion in unfrozen assets to Iran, flown Abu Dhabi to Mehrabad and Payam on Aug 11-12 (dana916). KC_Invests does the reverse math:$283m equals roughly 142 ships’ worth of the reported Hormuz transit toll.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Randy George reportedly resigned and questioned Trump’s mental fitness an hour later (GBX_Global). Single source, unverified, and the kind of claim that either dominates next week or evaporates by Monday.Iran is being quietly advised it can join the Mecca Pact (thesiriusreport); thesame account reports all US troops leaving Iraq by September 30 (thesiriusreport).
 US rejects Israel’s plan for a permanent military presence in southern Lebanon, calling it a violation of the US-brokered framework (GeneralMCNews)

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-14

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

7 days ago · 59 likes · 5 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-13 Two things actually moved:Trump declared the US has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz on the same day vessel traffic printed a three-month lowand only2 of 166 crossings used the US-escorted Oman lane, and the10-year auction tailed at the highest yield since 2007hours after an in-line 3.4% CPI. Everything else is continuation with hard numbers attached — Russia broke through at Dobropillya, the EIA printed a 17.4mb crude build that doesn’t reconcile, and gold futures took out $4,500.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-13

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

8 days ago · 67 likes · 16 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-12 Two things hardened overnight.Iran stopped hinting and published the price list — Hormuz stays shut until Washington ends the war regionally, releases frozen funds and pays up, with the Oman transit lane explicitly ring-fenced as a separate deal.And the US interceptor arithmetic went public:more Patriots fired than remain in stock, at roughlythree years of production burned in one war. Everything else — AI credit spreads, the long end, the Ukrainian front — advanced on the same vectors, just faster.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-12

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

9 days ago · 78 likes · 10 comments · No1

Gilbert Doctorow, News X World: Putin Warns West of Retaliation as EU Targets Russia’s Shadow Fleet I say here,the West will take seriously Vladimir Putin’s threats to seize Western commercial vessels in response to Western ‘piracy’ when he begins seizing ships, not issuing verbal threats. I close the interview by invoking the same test on American pronouncements on challenging Russian domination of the Arctic when they move from words to deeds. At the moment the U.S. does not possess a single icebreaker while Russia has perhaps 20. Until the U.S. has a credible naval presence in the Arctic, its threats to Russia are just empty talk... ..It is pointless to defend Russia’s shadow fleet when the questioner describes the fleet as violating international sanctions, as if those sanctions were UN imposed and not just unilateral sanctions of the EU or the USA which are themselves violations of international law.

Armageddon Newsletter

News X World: Putin Warns West of Retaliation as EU Targets Russia’s Shadow Fleet

9 days ago · 15 likes · 2 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

Ukraine Suspends Attacks On Tankers Using Russian Black Sea Port, At Vance’s Urging https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-suspends-attacks-tankers-using-russian-black-sea-port-vances-urging

Gilbert Doctorow, ‘Judging Freedom’ edition of 12 August 2026: What is Russia’s Strategy Towards the U.S? I have changed my view of two weeks ago regarding Russia’s move from its war of attrition strategy to a knock-out blow based on strangulation of delivery of Western arms to Ukraine. That view had been based on Russia’s destruction of the port infrastructure of Odessa, damage to other Black Sea ports and the seeming naval blockade depriving Ukraine of access to the sea. However, the notion of strangulation was contradicted by Russia’s failure to destroy the rail and land routes into Ukraine from across the Polish border. Now on second consideration I see that destruction of Odessa and other ports was merely an extension of the tit-for-tat behavior of Moscow, a reactive posture, that has now moved into the economic domain: Ukraine damages Russia’s oil export facilities and attacks its shadow fleet to deprive Moscow of an important source of export earnings and now Russia shuts down Ukraine’s grain exports, which have been a major source of hard currency for Kiev. This is not a change of strategy from the war of attrition which is leading Russia only towards territorial conquest when it eventually takes the whole Donbas and Odessa, but does not address the objectives of establishing a neutral Ukraine and of regime change in Kiev (de-Nazification) which President Putin had set out in February 2022... ..We also discussed the Kremlin’s objectives in maintaining good relations with Washingtonin spite of the fact that the US is supplying invaluable military intelligence to Kiev for programming their attacks on Russian infrastructure.The point is to keep the US separate from the EU so that the Europeans never can be sure that Article 5 has any validity as they face possible Russian missile strikes against their military factoriesthat are key suppliers to Ukraine.

Armageddon Newsletter

‘Judging Freedom’ edition of 12 August 2026: What is Russia’s Strategy Towards the U.S?

9 days ago · 13 likes · 3 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

Russia To Intensify Attacks On Sources Of Western Support In Ukraine: Lavrov On Friday Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has essentially declared Zelensky’s 40-day campaign to be defeated and moot. He described in a fresh media interview that not only will Russian forces implement a tougher response against Ukraine, but will go after the sources of Western support. He specifically raised the issue of the United States and its role. “We have submitted a series of questions to the State Department requesting comment, including on the matter of intelligence data and the fact that the US is far more deeply involved in organizing and executing strikes deep within Russian territory against civilian targets. We await a response,” Lavrov told state television, as quoted in Reuters.
“Russia will intensify its military campaign in Ukraine and seek to destroy every element used by the West to sustain Kiev’s war effort,” the top diplomat said.
The Foreign Ministry has of late accused Ukraine of “brazen acts of terrorism” against shipping in the Black Sea, amid tit-for-tat ongoing attacks which have disrupted energy and grain shipping.
We will not sink to their level. Instead, we will adopt much harsher methods to destroy everything that enables the West to fuel Kiev’s war machine. We are already doing this, and they are already moaning,” Lavrov asserted. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-intensify-attacks-sources-western-support-ukraine-lavrov

Imaginary-information-”economy”: More Than Two-Thirds Of The Power Sought For US Data Centers Will Never Materialize https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/most-two-thirds-power-sought-us-data-centers-will-never-materialize

“Everybody rich and everything free”? Total Freedom Vs Total Slavery & The Race For AI Supremacy At best, AI represents an advancement for information structuring; a much faster way to sort, categorize and investigate the data landscape. I find it very useful for speeding up research, but it only works as long as you understand that AI tends to lie by omission. It can never be fully trusted and must be backed by source material.
By extension, AI makes people incredibly lazy when it comes to understanding the world or pursuing information. When the public takes AI information at face value because they don’t want to do their own research, it makes them dumber... ..If you ask technologists and dreamers likeElon Musk, thegoal is unlimited production. Meaning,AI and robotics would take over the majority of human labor. In theory, this would result ina new age of “time abundance”whichMusk believes would lead to a form of wealth abundance. That is to say, AItechnology makes individual labor unnecessaryand thus,money becomes unnecessary because all basic needs would be providedfor free... ..Musk’s vision of an AI super-industry running the majority of the world’s basic infrastructure and supplying the majority of our survival goods would require an unprecedented level of energy... ..If 50% of American drivers bought an EV tomorrow, this alone would increase the electrical load on US power grids by around 15%. Add to this the power usage of data centers and AI computing needed to run national roboticsnetworks and the resulting energy demands would crush the grid... ..This is just for America (the most advanced nation on Earth). Don’t get me started on Europe, where their grid can’t even handle widespread use of air conditioners... ..The worst case scenario is the more likely one: AI, data centers and robotics will be used to empower elitist groups and make controlling the population easier.When I examine institutions like theWEF, the IMF, the BIS, etc. , theirinvolvement with AI revolves around the digitization of the economy(a cashless society) andmaximizing surveillance of the populationthrough real time data tracking... ..Much less energy is needed for authoritarian applications. The existing grid could handle the spread of Flock cameras, the AI analysis of biometrics and license plate readers, the constant surveillance of financial transactions, etc... ..The second industrial revolution introduced electricity, unprecedented medical advancement, long distance communications and easy transportation; all things that people never want to live without. AI pales in comparisonso far, and the promises that propel its popularityrequire an energy renaissance that isn’t possiblefor many decades to come. Sadly,the most logical use for the proliferation of AI is suppression of the populace. For the globalists,the AI race is not about improving the future for the common man, it’s about injecting the technology into the common man’s life before he has a chance to realize he’s being chained downby it. https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/total-freedom-vs-total-slavery-and-race-ai-supremacy

Ed Dowd, Absolutely Surreal: Anthropic CEO’s Wife & “Sounding Board” Once Pitched a Visionary Porn Company to Jeffrey Epstein I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-fantasy finance dressed up as technological inevitability. The technology will survive the bubble the way bandwidth survived the telecom crash. What won’t survive is the current set of valuations, the current capital allocation decisions, and the current pretense that the people steering the largest capital wave in a generation are uniquely wise, uniquely ethical, or uniquely free of the usual human frailties.

Ed Dowd: Beyond the Narrative

Absolutely Surreal: Anthropic CEO's Wife & "Sounding Board" Once Pitched a Visionary Porn Company to Jeffrey Epstein

I opened up X last night and my jaw dropped as I read this post about the Anthropic CEO’s wife…

7 days ago · 165 likes · 32 comments · Ed Dowd: Beyond the Narrative

Meryl Nass MD, Did you know that Jeffrey Epstein’s estate and the banks that helped him have already paid out at least $850 million in settlements to shut up victims and protect bank officials and clients? And Leon Black, after paying Epstein an estimated $170 million, spent an additional $62,500,000 settling with victims.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Did you know that Jeffrey Epstein's estate and the banks that helped him have already paid out at least $850 million in settlements to shut up victims and protect bank officials and clients?

Senator Ron Wyden’s committee came out with a report on the financial mismanagement of Epstein’s hundreds of accounts by banks. It turns out that all those pesky Know Your Customer rules and other rules designed to identify drug and human traffickers and money launderers seem to have been ignored for Jeffrey—and for how many others who are rich…

8 days ago · 140 likes · 33 comments · Meryl Nass

Never type “Pakistani Rape Gangs”: British Police Unit Flags Over 100 Social Media Posts For Arrest Amid Immigration Backlash https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/british-police-unit-flags-over-100-social-media-posts-arrest-amid-immigration-backlash

English Village Will Have Six MIGRANT MEN To Every Woman A quiet North Yorkshire village of roughly 600 people is set to be flooded with around 1,200 single adult male asylum seekers at the nearby disused RAF Linton-on-Ouse base. Local women would be outnumbered six to one.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell has raised the alarm over the plan, which forms part of the government’s wider push to move roughly 3,750 people into three former military sites near villages as it tries to empty asylum hotels.
The base sits beside a primary school and nursery, has only four buses a day into York, and already faces severe shortages of water, sewage capacity and electricity. https://modernity.news/2026/08/13/english-village-will-have-six-migrant-men-to-every-woman/

Watch: UK PM Wants EVERY Area In Britain To House Migrants - Prime Minister Andy Burnham has decided that “all parts of the country need to play their part.”
That means middle-class families and leafy villages must now accept large numbers of asylum seekers so the poorest areas are no longer the only ones carrying the load.This approach obviously does nothing to stop the root of the problem, the sheer number of migrants washing up in boats. https://modernity.news/2026/08/12/watch-uk-pm-wants-every-area-in-britain-to-house-migrants/

450,000 U.S. Soldiers Diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury Since 2001
Those who enthusiastically support US “forever wars” should visit veterans who suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries during the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

450,000 U.S. Soldiers Diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury Since 2001

Lord Salisbury used to complain to his officials during Jingoistic outbreaks that it was like having "a huge lunatic asylum at one's back…

8 days ago · 153 likes · 88 comments · John Leake

Peter McCullough MD, Fauci’s Miscarriage of Public Health Led to Actual Fetal Loss in Thousands of Pregnant Women Data accumulating from the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign showed marked increased risk for miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature delivery

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Fauci's Miscarriage of Public Health Led to Actual Fetal Loss in Thousands of Pregnant Women

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH…

Listen now

9 days ago · 182 likes · 14 comments · Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

Sasha Latypova runst the numbers; >4X miscarriage rate: The miscarriage rate in mRNA vaccinated was not 82%; it was increased by 430%! Discussing the infamous vSafe/mRNA pregnancy data with Dr. Drew.

Due Diligence and Art

The miscarriage rate in mRNA vaccinated was not 82%; it was increased by 430%!

Dear Readers…

8 days ago · 215 likes · 100 comments · Sasha Latypova

“Category-X” means “known to cause harms in pregnancy”: Category X: HHS Leaders Injected Pregnant Women with an Untested Gene Therapy — Then Hid the Miscarriages - Private texts reveal they knew. Public statements show they lied. Thousands of mothers and babies paid the price.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Category X: HHS Leaders Injected Pregnant Women with an Untested Gene Therapy — Then Hid the Miscarriages

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH…

Listen now

8 days ago · 176 likes · 8 comments · Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

Celia Farber, America’s Women In Rage, Waking Up To Truth About mRNA Induced Fetal Deaths: “There’s A Lot Of Angry Women Out There, And Rightfully So,” Says Florida AG. Vows To “Leave No Stone Unturned.” FORGET Fauci, for a moment. Understand HOW It Happened. The $5 Trillion Pandemic Military Budget. The COLOSSAL Bribes That Collapsed The Three Pillar OB/GYN Orgs, ACOG, ABOG & SMFM.

The Truth Barrier

America's Women In Rage, Waking Up To Truth About mRNA Induced Fetal Deaths: "There's A Lot Of Angry Women Out There, And Rightfully So," Says Florida AG. Vows To "Leave No Stone Unturned."

How did they make the whole world forget Thalidomide…

9 days ago · 145 likes · 137 comments · Celia Farber

BREAKING STUDY: Spike Protein Drives Prion-Like Protein Misfolding, Amyloid Formation, and Multi-Organ Damage
COVID “vaccine” spike protein and lab-made SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are prion-like drivers of proteostatic collapse, pathological cross-seeding, transcriptional instability, and tissue dysfunction.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING STUDY: Spike Protein Drives Prion-Like Protein Misfolding, Amyloid Formation, and Multi-Organ Damage

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

8 days ago · 269 likes · 47 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Paul Marik MD explains the life-story of Colon Cancer: APC and the Origins of Colorectal Cancer - How One Broken Gene Opens the Door to Cancer

Paul Marik

APC and the Origins of Colorectal Cancer

INTRODUCTION…

9 days ago · 83 likes · 12 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Climate Physicist, Anastassia Makarieva further investigates the measured inadequacy of the heating-air-only model of planetary winds and weather: An Atmospheric Detective Story, Chapter 3: The Third Witness - Why the Numbers Behind Atmospheric Power Matter If something goes wrong with our winds, we will be absolutely unable to fix it. Accordingly, winds have traditionally been viewed by humans as belonging to the realm of deities. Even in our ultra-modern times, our greatest achievement so far has been to use artificial intelligence to predict how tropical storms move. There is no chance to change what is coming.
Meanwhile, forest ecosystems, and natural vegetation more generally, appear to have evolved ways of regulating these flows. They do so by carefully handling the invisible fuel of the atmospheric machine: water vapor.
We can’t replace the machine. We can, however, preserve natural vegetation and help it recover. In doing so, we can guard ourselves against the worst wind extremes. Let us cherish our green friends.

Biotic Regulation and Biotic Pump

An Atmospheric Detective Story, Chapter 3: The Third Witness

Learn a Number About Life…

9 days ago · 12 likes · 2 comments · Anastassia Makarieva

Planetary Life Form (pictured removing pumpernickel bread experiment from oven after 24 hour bake at 220F)

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Muslim NATO

John Day MD — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 23:39:30 GMT

International Observers,

“Muslim NATO”, which is currently Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey in a mutual defense pact,may be a blocking move against Israeli use of nuclear weapons in the region. Pakistan has nuclear weapons, which can be stationed in Saudi Arabia as armed jets at an air base or Pakistani ballistic missiles.Wealthy Saudi Arabia needs protection, has long helped fund the Pakistani nuclear programand is close to Israel.Pakistan and Saudi Arabia already had a mutual defense pact, but adding Turkey’s large army and military production makes it more formidable towards Israel, and more difficult for Israel to try a first strike attack upon.

To me it is most natural as a limited nuclear deterrent against Israeli strikes on Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It provides Pakistan with a very short response time to any Israeli attack, if Pakistan has jets and missiles in Saudi Arabia.

For Turkey this weakens Israel, which benefits Turkish neo-Ottoman aspirations

The US has run so low on missile defenses against Iranian ballistic missiles that EUCOM can’t defend Israel, needing to conserve missiles for the “American homeland”.
“Netanyahu” (or AI projection, if he died in early March) says that Israel is prepared to attack Iran without American help, consultation or approval.
That takes Trump off the hook of Iranian retaliation, doesn’t it? The US won’t be blamed if Israel bombs Iran.
What weapons might Israel use, seeing the failure of America’s arsenal to reduce Iranian strike-capacity?
Nuclear annihilation is the obvious answer, since the current zionist state of “Israel” is over extended and existentially threatened, with no champion in the world, but the US.
Israel has the Samson Doctrine (Option), wherein if the State of Israel is existentially threatened it will attack all threatening neighbors with nuclear weapons before it goes down.
“Threatening” would be seen very broadly, since everybody becomes a threat in this existential scenario. Neighbors must assume that Israel will attack them. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan would likely be targeted, not merely Iran. Israel’s immediate neighbors currently lack much strategic leeway.
Having Pakistani nuclear weapons in Saudi Arabia applies a counter threat to Israel, so that Israeli power elites would need to be really certain that they were about to die anyway, before pulling that Samson-Option trigger.
In “The War Of Atonement”, by Chaim Herzog, the agonized deliberations of Moshe Dyan, Golda Meir and other historic figures during the Yom Kippur war is described. Israeli forces were resurgent, but they sweated bullets for a couple of days. https://www.amazon.com/dp/193514913X
I don’t know what moves Russia and China might be making to block Israeli nuclear strikes, but I presume that their space-based and electronic intel-collection are tightly focused to detect any Israeli move, and track the Israeli nuclear-armed submarines in real time, difficult as that is.

Alex Krainer, “Muslim NATO” marks the end of US hegemony All three signatories of the Mecca Joint Force Agreement have the same enemy and their position can’t be changed with simple bribery. In hindsight, this will prove to have been a watershed event. The full text of the agreement has not been made public. Instead,we only have a brief joint statementby the three signatories:
“Guided by the longstanding historical ties among the three states, based on the enduring bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity that unite them, and building upon their shared strategic interests and longstanding defense cooperation, HRH the Crown Prince, the President of Türkiye, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, reflecting the three states’ shared commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region and beyond, in pursuit of a secure and prosperous future.
The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defense cooperationamong the three states.”
Furthermore, at least for now, the agreement doesn’t seem to foresee a formal organization, headquarters or any joint command structures. In spite of that, the agreement could prove to be one of the more consequential geopolitical developments to emerge from the current Middle Eastern crisis. Given that all three signatories are, at least formally, allied with the United States, many analysts interpreted Friday’s announcement as a creation of a new alliance that would ultimately serve the interests of the United States in the Middle East, and by extension, represent a new bulwark for the defense of Israel. However, I believe that those interpretations will prove mistaken. One thing all three of these nations have in common is that each has been threatened by Israel in the past. The Eretz Israel, or Greater Israel project has very significant territorial ambitions that include a large chunk of Saudi Arabia... ..As we can see, Eretz Israel also includes a chunk of Turkey, and most of Syria, which Turkey regards as its own strategic sphere of influence. This has put Turkey in the crosshairs of Israeli officials’ escalating war rhetoric... Defense Minister Israel Katz explicitly warned Turkey against deepening its presence in Syria, and theformer Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has called Turkey the “new Iran” and a strategic threat. Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu said that he takes President Erdogan’s anti-Israel statements “very seriously,”... ..That “regional power balance” also set Pakistan in the Zionists’ crosshairs, and in this sense, Israel has already planned hostile actions against Pakistan in collaboration with its ally, India. Already in 2011, Benjamin Netanyahu made the following statement: “... the greatest mission that we have is to prevent a militant Islamic regime from meeting up with nuclear weapons or from nuclear weapons meeting up with a militant Islamic regime. The first is called Iran. The second is called Pakistan. Because if these radical regimes have nuclear weapons, they will not obey the rules that have been obeyed in the last, almost seven decades.”...Indeed, the fear of an Islamic nation possessing a nuclear bomb is not a new thing: it is why Israel attacked Egypt in 1967 and Iraq in 1981.
In 1981, Israel developed a plan to strike Pakistan’s nuclear program. In this plan, India was supporting Israel by providing air bases where Israeli F16s and F15s could land and refuel before the strikes. The Indians named the plan“Operation Shakti”and Israeli pilots already began training for it.
However, Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI found out about this and the country’s then ruler Zia ul-Haq reacted immediately, warning Israel that if they strike Pakistan’s nuclear facilities, Pakistan would strike Dimona. Ul-Haq also issued a warning to India. Facing the prospect of a wider war against Pakistan, India backed off. Without India’s help, there was no way for Israel to carry out the attack, so the plan was shelved. A new & improved plan was in the works in 1998. At that time, the Pakistani government received an intelligence report that India and Israel were again planning to carry out a joint attack against the country’s nuclear facilities. Shamshad Ahmad (former Pakistani Foreign Secretary) explained the intelligence report they received:
“Sir, we have just received intelligence report that at an Indian airport, squadrons of Indian and Israeli air forces are positioned and are preparing for an attack on Pakistan’s nuclear installations in Balochistan. Then I called our Ambassador in New York, Ahmed Kamal.
I told him, go... on CNN and say that Pakistan has information that India and Israel are about to launch a joint attack on Pakistan. The Ambassador went live on CNN and it resulted in a good impact because if India and Israel had made such a plan, it would be called off by morning.”... ..In view of all this, it would be hard to imagine why Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey would come together to defend Israel.More likely, they would come together to protect themselves from Israel and its Western allies, including the US, UK, NATO, and also, in Pakistan’s case from India... ..Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the pact a sign that regional countries are shifting away from relying on the US for security. He stressed Tehran’s perception that the treaty isn’t aimed against Iran, underscoring the deep historical and religious ties with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.
I believe that Mr. Baqaei’s statement is correct. He didn’t mention that all three nations and Iran face the common threat and the same enemies. The new “Muslim NATO” signifies the redrawing of the power balance in the region and the emergence of a new security architecture that clearly has no use for either the US, UK, NATO, or Israel. This view is corroborated by theconspicuous absence of any official statement regarding the Mecca agreement from the Trump administration, suggesting that they were neither consulted nor involved in forging the new defence pact.

Alex Krainer's Substack

"Muslim NATO" marks the end of US hegemony

On Friday, 7 August Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed the “Mecca Joint Force Agreement,” a mutual defense pact. Its most notable provision is similar to NATO’s Article 5, where an attack on any one of the three nations will be regarded as an attack on all three. This prompted the commentariat to immediately label the agreement as “Muslim NATO,” although it is otherwise not remotely similar…

11 days ago · 159 likes · 55 comments · Alex Krainer

H.A. Hellyer, Egypt was invited to join the new Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani defence pact. It declined... • Egypt was not excluded... Pakistan offered Cairo the opportunity to join, while Turkish FM Hakan Fidan said Erdogan wanted Egypt eventually to become part of the alliance.
• Cairo appears to see the pact as political as much as military. The concern is that joining would place Egypt inside a Saudi-led alignment, rather than simply expanding its security cooperation.

• The distinction Egypt makes is between regional security cooperation and a binding commitment to defend Saudi Arabia. Cairo is comfortable with the former; it is much more cautious about the latter.
• That helps explain the difference with the Red Sea maritime coalition, where Egypt has direct strategic interests and cooperation is primarily about information-sharing and consultation.

• The NATO comparison also needs qualification. Fidan has described the pact as analogous to NATO’s Article 5, but Turkish officials quoted by Mada Masr stress that any military response would still require political decision-making. The immediate practical emphasis may be intelligence-sharing, radar integration and deterrence.

• One of the more striking assessments in the piece is that the pact is, in practice, more about Saudi Arabia’s security than Turkey’s or Pakistan’s. It is difficult to imagine either Ankara or Islamabad becoming the principal military guarantor of Saudi Arabia in a major regional conflict. https://xcancel.com/hahellyer/status/2086539762442379600

Trump Shares Hillary Clinton Op-Ed Backing His Gaza Plan In Face Of Bibi Rejection President Trump is currently experiencing a rare moment of his plans for the Mideast region being rejected on multiple fronts - even among allies, apparently. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over weekend rejected a US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza, which marks a rare and very glaring public break with Trump.
Netanyahu was surprisingly up front in acknowledging the complete break in policy vision from the White House. “Contrary to all those who preach to us, we do what must be done for Israel’s security and we can and will stand our ground even against our best friends when necessary,” he stated.
He said he was confronting a “wave of rumors about Israeli weakness and Israeli withdrawals on all fronts” and made clear that Israel won’t succumb to ongoing US pressure to end wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran - unless Israel decides it is in its security interest. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-shares-hillary-clinton-op-ed-backing-his-gaza-plan-face-bibi-rejection

Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: – ‘New’ Iran Demands Repeat MoU Conditions
U.S. media claim that Iran has set out new conditions to solve the conflict with the U.S. But the new text it has published is just a repetition of clauses the U.S. had already signed on to.
On Saturday Iran published ‘new’ demands for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz:
[Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr] said the US should observe the six following conditions:
“1. Never, and in no language, threaten Iran or insult the sanctities of this nation.
2. Permanently end the war and aggression against Iran and Iran’s allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq.
3. Lift the naval blockade and withdraw its military forces (naval and air) from around Iran.
4. Pay in full, without any reduction, the damages caused to Iran by the two wars of aggression and imposition.
5. Lift the unjust and illegal sanctions against the Iranian nation.
6. Unconditionally release the blocked and stolen assets of the Iranian people.”
These demands seem to have confused U.S. observers... ..There is nothing new in the Iranian demands. They are direct repetitions of clauses laid down in Memorandum of Understanding which the White House had negotiated and President Trump had publicly signed.
Point 1 of the MoU notes that the parties “undertake .. to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other” which is similar to point 1 of the ‘new’ conditions.
Point 1 of the MoU also had the parties “declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, …”. This is repeated, and spelled out in more detail, in point 2 of the new conditions.
Point 3 of the ‘new’ demands, the lifting of the blockade and withdrawal of U.S. forces, is equal to point 4 of the MoU:
.., the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. … The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.
Even Point 4 of the ‘new’ version, the demand for reparations, was already included in the MoU:
The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Likewise, point 5 and 6 of the ‘new’ demands are shorter repetitions of points 10 and 11 of the Trump signed MoU.
The differences between Iran’s newly published demands and the MoU are references in the later one to nuclear issues.
The U.S. had demanded to include those into the MoU and there is simply no point for Iran to include these U.S. conditions into its most recent version.
The only real difference between the MoU and the new conditions is the timing. The MoU set out to undertake the measures step by step along a defined timeline with each side responding to the others side’s fulfillment of previous clauses.
It was the U.S. which did not stick to the MoU but immediately breached its promises. As soon as he had signed the MoU Trump was back at threatening Iran thus breaking its point 1 condition. The U.S. then arranged for a separate agreement which extended Israel’s war and occupation of Lebanon instead of ending the war under the MoU’s conditions. It ignored Iran’s privilege under the MoU to “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels” through the Strait of Hormuz by making separate arrangements with Oman... ..That is why Iran is demanding the upfront fulfillment of any promise the U.S. has made. Only when those are fulfilled will Iran move to act on its own commitments.
Trump can easily solve the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz. He simply has to fulfill the commitments set out in the MoUhe had already agreed to. He may not like that he will now have to do that upfront but that is just an obvious consequence of his own mistake of not sticking to it in the first place.
The only clause where Trump has real limits is the payment of reparations to Iran for the war damage the 20,000 or so U.S. strikes have caused. Trump would need Congressional agreement to pay out that money.
But the compromise here is obvious and simple. If the U.S. officially agrees that Iran can take tolls from ships crossing the Strait this could be seen as a payment in kind. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/08/war-on-iran-new-iran-demands-repeat-mou-conditions-trump-had-already-signed.html

Iran’s Military Command Reshuffle Digs In For ‘Hardline’ Confrontation: US Must Meet All Demands For Hormuz Opening https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-fires-ship-attempting-break-iran-blockade-amid-several-regional-maritime-attacks

Trump Finally Responds To Iran’s Demands, Counters US Is Owed “Compensation,” Stops Short Of New Threats https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/tehran-doubles-down-hormuz-demands-hardline-irgc-commander-promoted-national-security

Hegseth Says Congress Should Pay Tribute to Lindsey Graham by Approving $1.5 Trillion Military Budget
He made the comments at a ceremony renaming Joint Base Charleston to Joint Base Lindsey Graham https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/10/hegseth-says-congress-should-pay-tribute-to-lindsey-graham-by-approving-1-5-trillion-military-budget/

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-11 Iran stopped pretending: an advisor to the Parliament Speaker said flatly that Tehran will wait out Trump’s term to January 2029 rather than negotiate, and Trump responded by billing Iran for the war he started. Meanwhile the SPR fell below 300 million barrels for the first time since 1983, Nvidia formalised a $500bn off-balance-sheet financing vehicle on the same day the SEC exempted data-center securitizations from post-2008 risk-retention rules, and a 7.4 quake in Colombia killed at least 111 people. Iran rules out all talks with this administration until 2029. “Trump will not reach an agreement with us. We will accompany him until his term ends”- Majid Shakeri, advisor to Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf, per HormuzLetter.Demands unchanged: $300bn compensation, $100bn+ frozen assets released, all sanctions lifted, US troop withdrawal from the entire region, end to the naval blockade, transit fees on every ship(HormuzLetter)... ..SPR: 46 million barrels of policy runway left, and the lease trick is running out - 116.3M barrels released since the war began (Nostre_damus).
The mechanical constraint: barrels already leased-but-not-drawn take the reserve to ~280M, and the last auction failed. Going below requires outright sales, which need congressional approval - meaning the price-suppression tool may already be spent (JustDario)... ..Russia is importing refined fuel from South Korea - ~30,000 tonnes of diesel and, in one case, jet fuel loaded at Ulsan in late July, bound for the Far East (chigrl). A net petroleum exporter buying product from a US ally is not a small tell.
Russia’s Starlink equivalent is deploying ahead of schedule - Ukrainian GUR says 16 satellites are up (the tweet’s author puts the real number at 40), with a 292-satellite constellation targeted for 2027 and 924 by 2035 (simpatico771, KonstanVe).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-11

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

10 days ago · 69 likes · 21 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-10 Two big deltas: Trump has reportedly dropped the nuclear-deal demand entirely and will settle for Hormuz reopening— at which point Tehran raised its price to $300bn plus troop withdrawal— and another tanker burned overnight inside the US-escorted Omani corridor, which is the corridor whose existence is the counter-argument to Bessent’s claim that Hormuz no longer matters. Elsewhere: Japan’s 2-year yield hit a 30-year highwhile insurer paper losses set a record, and a Ukrainian drone strike on Nizhnekamsk killed civilians including a child... ..Israel rejects Trump’s Gaza plan outright - Netanyahu says the new plan is unacceptable; no withdrawal until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed” (Reuters, zerohedge, BRICSinfo, unusual_whales).
And separately: “As long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state in Gaza or the West Bank” (DeItaone). [Reads differently if he died in March.]
Kalshi has Gadi Eizenkot at 59% to be Israel’s next PM against Netanyahu’s 33% (spectatorindex). US interceptor stocks at zero; defense firms get 21 days— Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg has directed defense firms to submit plans within 21 days to escalate production of weapons “now at zero due to the war,”per WaPo; follows a “very angry” Trump call over munitions shortages after the Camp David clash with Hegseth (HormuzLetter).
Same reporting:a Lockheed PAC-3 MSE contract worth up to $58.6bn, plus fresh Northrop/Lockheed agreements on PAC-3 and THAAD — the exact missiles described as at zero... ..Grain: rail shipments to Greater Odesa ports have virtually stopped since August 1, down 84.3%. August 1-6 volumes 312.9k tons vs 784.5k in the same July period — volume -60.1%, revenue -38.4%. Wheat 93.2k vs 294.9k; corn 33.5k vs 293.7k. Road exports +11.3%; overall rail grain traffic -44.1% vs July and -40.8% below last year (KShevchenkoReal).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-10

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

11 days ago · 77 likes · 21 comments · No1

Thanks Eleni: A global haven for criminals, no questions asked: Israel protects Mexican official wanted for mass kidnap-murder, along with other accused sex criminals and fraudsters https://www.sott.net/article/507842-Israel-protects-Mexican-official-wanted-for-mass-kidnap-murder-along-with-other-accused-sex-criminals-and-fraudsters

Russian tanks can shoot down drones, missiles and artillery shells: Russian Arena-M Active Protection System Finally Comes of Age on the Battlefield

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Russian Arena-M Active Protection System Finally Comes of Age on the Battlefield

At a recent speech Ukraine’s former Commander-in-Chief Valeri Zaluzhny made a stunning admission…

10 days ago · 549 likes · 326 comments · Simplicius

Andrew Korybko, There’d Likely Be Another Civil War Before Ukraine Meaningfully Turns Away From The West

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

There’d Likely Be Another Civil War Before Ukraine Meaningfully Turns Away From The West

For as much as the Telegraph fears this scenario and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service hopes that it’ll happen, it’s unrealistic to expect that the US would peacefully allow Ukraine to meaningfully turn away from the West after all that it invested to turn Ukraine into an anti-Russian bastion…

13 days ago · 49 likes · 54 comments · Andrew Korybko

Kennedy was blocked, so Trump EOs it: BREAKING: Trump Signs Executive Order Overhauling America’s Childhood Hypervaccination Schedule Executive Order calls for greater parental choice, separate MMR shots, more widely spaced vaccinations, aluminum-adjuvant alternatives, and stronger safety monitoring.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: Trump Signs Executive Order Overhauling America’s Childhood Hypervaccination Schedule

By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

11 days ago · 271 likes · 88 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Meryl Nass MD has the details and implications: Childhood Vaccines: What Pres. Trump just signed and what it means

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Childhood Vaccines: What Pres. Trump just signed and what it means

You can read the Executive Order at the URL below. I will highlight my comments in yellow…

11 days ago · 354 likes · 151 comments · Meryl Nass

It is easy to design studies to not find something. Vaccine Cartel Desperately Clings to New MMR Vaccine–Autism “No Link” Study Riddled With Major Flaws -- No truly unvaccinated control group, no clinical autism adjudication, no parent interviews, no independent vaccine-record verification, and a narrow ICD-coded autism definition.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Vaccine Cartel Desperately Clings to New MMR Vaccine–Autism “No Link” Study Riddled With Major Flaws

By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

10 days ago · 115 likes · 14 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Steve Kirsch (is probably “racist” or something), Can Tylenol increase the risk of a child developing autism? Science says yes. But according to r/Autism_Parenting, I am evil for asking such a stupid question. So I guess it depends on who you ask. Here’s what happened to me...

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Can Tylenol increase the risk of a child developing autism? Science says yes.

Executive summary…

12 days ago · 227 likes · 93 comments · Steve Kirsch

New Study Links Glyphosate to Preterm Births
A New York University study of 1,450 pregnancies ties glyphosate exposure in mid-pregnancy to a 35% rise in odds of premature birth.

The MAHA Report

New Study Links Glyphosate to Preterm Births

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and the most heavily used herbicide in the world, is now showing up in the urine of more than 80% of Americans – and new research from New York University shows how its reach is extending into unborn fetuses, during one of their most vulnerable windows…

11 days ago · 178 likes · 25 comments · Catherine Ebeling

Celia Farber, First Crop Of Fauci Texts Reveal He Knew In ‘21 About Many Pregnant Women Having “Significant Cytokine Storms, Fever After The First Dose,” Said It Theoretically Could Be Associated With Miscarriage.

The Truth Barrier

First Crop Of Fauci Texts Reveal He Knew In '21 About Many Pregnant Women Having "Significant Cytokine Storms, Fever After The First Dose," Said It Theoretically Could Be Associated With Miscarriage.

It was in vogue last week, by a cadre that might rightfully be called out for defeatism, to call the Fauci Senate hearing a theater, a big nothing; I did not feel that way. When I heard they got his phone I thought: “Whoa…

11 days ago · 124 likes · 73 comments · Celia Farber

NEWLY RELEASED FAUCI TEXTS REVEAL HE PRIVATELY WARNED COVID SHOT COULD TRIGGER MISCARRIAGE
Disturbing revelations come as CDC data show safety-signal breaches across all 37 pregnancy/newborn adverse events examined—including miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal malformations, and newborn death.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

NEWLY RELEASED FAUCI TEXTS REVEAL HE PRIVATELY WARNED COVID SHOT COULD TRIGGER MISCARRIAGE

By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

11 days ago · 229 likes · 71 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Walensky Aware of Miscarriage Concern, Still Pushed C-19 Vaccine for Pregnant Women
Fauci texted the CDC director on 1/25/2021 about cytokine storm and fever after 2nd dose, indicating risk of miscarriage, but Walensky recommended the shot for pregnant women two months later.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Walensky Aware of Miscarriage Concern, Still Pushed C-19 Vaccine for Pregnant Women

McCullough Foundation epidemiologist and administrator Nic Hulscher just posted NEWLY RELEASED FAUCI TEXTS REVEAL HE PRIVATELY WARNED COVID SHOT COULD TRIGGER MISCARRIAGE…

10 days ago · 217 likes · 92 comments · John Leake

HHS Takes Aim at GRAS Loophole and Ultra-Processed Food
With fanfare, HHS moves to close a decades-old food safety loophole and, for the first time, define ultra-processed food.

The MAHA Report

HHS Takes Aim at GRAS Loophole and Ultra-Processed Food

On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced two major changes to federal food policy: a rule that would close the GRAS loophole by requiring companies to disclose new safety determinations to the FDA, and a first definition of ultra-processed foods (UPFs…

11 days ago · 210 likes · 41 comments · Claire Dooley

NEW STUDY: 89% of “Avocado Oil” Foods Use Fake or Adulterated Avocado Oil
The vast majority of chips, salad dressings, and mayonnaise labeled as containing avocado oil showed fatty-acid and sterol profiles inconsistent with authentic avocado oil.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

NEW STUDY: 89% of “Avocado Oil” Foods Use Fake or Adulterated Avocado Oil

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

11 days ago · 300 likes · 84 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Mostly Authentic (pictured with garden)

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Missile Umbrella Has Vanished

John Day MD — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:20:36 GMT

Anticipating Rain,

You may recall that my working hypothesis is that global real economy correlates 90% with oil use and that crude + condensates peaked at the end of 2025, after a prior peak at end of 2018, and the peak of conventional-oil in 2005, so global real economy is tipping over into terminal contraction..

If this is the case, then the Hormuz & Ukraine wars can provide a convincing narrative for why oil is short, but nothing can make global net oil supplies increase. We are tracking my hypothesis against history-unfolding. The current arrangements in the Mideast, with Israel as surrogate-hegemon and Iran as rival are already doomed by Iran’s accurate and powerful missiles, against which Israel and the US can not defend, having nearly exhausted their expensive defensive missiles, which may be replaced by factories in a couple of years.

Energy and mineral resources, and routes, are now hotly contested, going into this decline. Any powerful group would choose to force economic decline upon competitors, and to be relatively spared. Russia is just trying to defend all those vast resources with a modest population.

Western banking & finance really want all of that, as well as all of the oil and gas in the mideast, because they are facing financial collapse due to debts growing exponentially, while physical wealth has stalled and is going into contraction.

Iranian power elites have decided to contest for primacy in the Mideast, first peeling oil-rich neighbors away from a hegemony that can’t defend them, then making hegemonic presence unprofitable for the retiring-hegemon, which can just leave the region...

I presume that Iran will then duel-to-the-death with “Israel”, and that death will be the main winner, but I could be wrong again. We’ll see. I still have not seen convincing evidence that the original Bibi Netanyahu is alive since early March of this year. What I have seen looks like AI and/or a less-intelligent body-double with different movements and blander facial expressions.

If Israel does bomb Iran without US coordination or approval, and knows that there will be a counter-attack, would they not highly consider nuclear annihilation? What other chance of victory do they have in this war of attrittion? If Iran, China, Russia, Turkey the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt anticipate this, what might they be doing now to prepare?

Fabio Vighi’s March 17 essay is aging well: The Programmable Crisis: Iran and the Financial Regime Change The next economic downturn will not just be managed with more money printing. It will be programmed directly into the money itself. Major geopolitical crises rarely operate only at the level of military strategy. They alsoreshape the economic and institutional frameworks through which societies are governed.Public attention focuses on the visible dramaof conflict,while deeper financial and monetary transformations unfoldlargely outside the field of political debate... ..In a highly indebted economy, a sustained oil shock behaves less like traditional inflation and more like a tax on consumption. As rising energy costs absorb a larger share of household income, discretionary spending collapses. Corporate revenues fall while input costs rise, leaving heavily leveraged firms and households struggling to service debt. The result is not necessarily sustained inflation but the risk of a debt-deflation spiral — a dynamic visible in the months preceding the 2008 financial crisis. This economic crisis scenario makes the existing mountain of US public and private debt much harder to manage, creating a powerful incentive for radical financial solutions...
..Historically, major shifts in monetary systems have often occurred during periods of crisis. Wars, financial collapses, and geopolitical shocks create the conditions under which previously unthinkable policies suddenly become possible. Moments of emergency suspend normal constraints, allowing governments and central banks to reorganise financial structures in ways that would be politically impossible during stable periods. The collapse of the Bretton Woods gold-dollar system in the early 1970s is a clear example: a monetary regime that had defined the post-war world was quietly replaced in the midst of geopolitical and financial turbulence. In other words, the escalation of the Middle East conflict could allow the US to legitimise tools for:
Digital Debt Monetisation: a government-aligned digital dollar infrastructure could allow for the direct distribution of stimulus and the purchasing of government debt, bypassing traditional banking system constraints and political gridlock.
 Direct Economic Control: a programmable, centrally managed digital currency platform gives authorities unprecedented levers to influence spending, saving, and capital allocation during a crisis. Money is no longer just a store of value; it can become “money with an expiry date,” programmed to devalue or vanish if not spent in a certain way.
Maintaining Dollar Hegemony: integrating private stablecoins into the official system can be a way to co-opt and regulate the crypto space, ensuring the next generation of digital money remains dollar-denominated and under US oversight, rather than shifting to a decentralised alternative. The significance of the above resides not simply in digitising money but in embedding rules directly into the monetary unit itself. Traditional monetary policy operates through interest rates, bank lending, and financial markets. Programmable digital money, by contrast, allows policy to be transmitted directly to households and firms through the design of the currency itself, determining when it can be spent, where it can circulate, and under what conditions it retains value... ..Political power in modern societies is increasingly exercised through infrastructure rather than through overt legislation. Payment systems, settlement networks, and financial protocols determine what kinds of economic actions are possible and which are not. Because these systems are technical and largely invisible to the public, changes to them rarely provoke the kind of political scrutiny that accompanies formal policy decisions. Yet once such infrastructure is in place, it effectively sets the parameters within which future policy must operate. In that sense, the construction of digital monetary rails is not merely a technological upgrade; it is the creation of a new field of economic governance... ..Crucially, the emerging system is unlikely to be a purely state-run digital currency. Instead, it appears to beevolving as a hybrid architecture in which private stablecoin issuers, exchanges, and fintech platforms operate on top of central bank settlement infrastructure. In this model,the state controls the monetary base and regulatory perimeter, whileprivate actors control the interfaces through which money is used. The architecture achieves what politics alone could not:participation becomes structurally unavoidable. https://www.defenddemocracy.press/the-programmable-crisis-iran-and-the-financial-regime-change/ BREAKING: Tether purchased +14 tonnes of gold in Q2 2026, bringing total holdings to a record 146 tonnes, now worth ~$18.8 billion.This follows gold purchases of +53 tonnes between Q3 2025 and Q1 2026. Tether’s gold holdings have more than doubled since Q1 2025, while their value has nearly tripled over the same period.This makes the company the largest known private holder of gold outside of central banks and governments. https://xcancel.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2085401147901202634IRGC Strikes ‘Hostile Targets’ In Hormuz As Iran Declares Oman Deal Bans US Vessels From Strait https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/yemen-war-reignites-houthis-intensify-saudi-shipping-attacks-ground-assault-amid

With naval gunnery from battleships, perhaps, Mr. President? Trump Warns Iran to Open Hormuz or Get ‘Hit Very Hard’ https://english.aawsat.com/world/5303534-trump-warns-iran-open-hormuz-or-get-%E2%80%98hit-very-hard%E2%80%99

Not just a threat: Iran threatens to hit Gulf states if US launches new strikes https://www.arabnews.com/node/2653568/middle-east

These are the missiles that go up into space to intercept ballistic missiles before they accellerate in descent: U.S. Used Nearly 80% of THAAD Interceptors During Iran Conflict, Pentagon Stockpiles Run Low https://www.thedefensenews.com/US-Used-Nearly-80-of-THAAD-Interceptors-During-Iran-Conflict-Pentagon-Stockpiles-Run-Low/

I am generally against scapegoating whipping-boys, but... Trump grills Hegseth -- The US president reportedly accused the secretary of war of providing misleading information about the state of the country’s munitions stockpiles https://web.archive.org/web/20260806120614/https://www.rt.com/news/643928-trump-hegseth-weapons-stockpiles-drain/

Trump Threatens ‘Leakers’ With Jail Time Over Reports About Munitions Shortages
The president also denied a report from The Washington Post that said he lashed out at Pete Hegseth over the depletion of US military stockpiles https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/06/trump-threatens-leakers-with-jail-time-over-reports-about-munitions-shortages/

Joint Chiefs Chair Pushing For Iran War Off-Ramp, Warning Escalation Will Backfire https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/joint-chiefs-chair-pushing-iran-war-ramp-warning-escalation-will-backfire

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-09 Two Saudi Aramco sites burned overnight - the Berri gas plant near Jubail and the Jizan refinery - with Yemen’s armed forces publicly claiming the Jizan drone strike, days after Riyadh signed a collective-defence pact with Pakistan and Turkey. Tehran meanwhile put a number on Hormuz: nine conditions including $300bn compensation and a 7% transit fee, while Israel told CENTCOM it is preparing to attack Iran alone as the US Joint Chiefs chair hunts an off-ramp. Everything else - gold’s central-bank bid, silver’s vault drain, AI capex credit - moved along its existing track with fresh numbers attached... ..Iran’s Hormuz reopening terms formalised: nine conditions, $300bn, and a transit fee. The list includes an end to the naval blockade, US withdrawal from the region, $300bn in war compensation, sanctions relief, asset unfreezing, a ban on US and Israeli vessels, up to 7% cargo transit fees and a 20% violation toll (HormuzReport). SNSC Secretary Zolghadr’s version of the conditions per NicoleGrajewski and OSINTtechnical; covered by zerohedge.
Israel informs CENTCOM it will strike Iran without US approval. Per Israeli Channel 13, the IDF told Adm. Brad Cooper that Israel needs neither approval nor support and is “currently making preparations to start the war” (HormuzLetter). The trigger: US Gen. Dan Caine is “looking for a way out” and does not believe another air campaign helps (HormuzLetter, HormuzReport, Osint613, zerohedge)... ..Israel goes alone: interceptor stocks low, US stockpiles “troubling”, CENTCOM commander flies home
Netanyahu’s calculus is read as political rather than strategic-October elections, and a strike on Iran as the last card(HormuzReport).
The counter-argument, from an OSINT account tracking the actual air picture:Israel has yet to show it can strike Iran without US SEAD plus active US/French/UK defence of Israel, and Iranian retaliation would land while Israeli interceptor stocks are critical(MenchOsint).
CENTCOM commander Adm. Cooper left the region after a short Bahrain-UAE-Israel tour(MenchOsint)...
..Strip out computer equipment, software and R&D and roughly 92% of the US economy is growing at about 1%, with a downward trajectory (themarketear, DonDurrett).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-09

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

13 days ago · 47 likes · 3 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-08 Two things actually moved: July payrolls printed -23K against an +80K consensus with 103K revised away from May/June, and Washington conceded it will lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports once an Iran-Oman Hormuz framework lands — Iran keeping sovereign control, vessel bans and fees. Metals took the payroll print and ran, gold posting its best week since January per multiple desks. Everything else is continuation with real advances: the Mecca Accord got signed the same day another Marib camp got hit, Russian forces closed the western flank at Orikhiv, and the AI credit market started pricing something the equity market isn’t. US agrees to lift the naval blockade on Iran as part of the Hormuz framework. HormuzReport details the emerging terms: Iran retains full sovereign control over inbound traffic, bans US/Israeli/hostile vessels, and may charge up to 7% of cargo value. Corroborated by zerohedge and DropSiteNews, both citing Reuters... ..Hormuz: Washington concedes the blockade, Tehran adds compensation to the price - zerohedge timed the leak precisely — Reuters bullet points hitting minutes before the close, US official saying progress with Oman, deal expected soon, blockade lifted once commercial shipping is restored “without impediments.”
Subsequent US action is “performance-based and tied to Iran’s implementation” (DropSiteNews) — which is how you write a deal you expect to be broken.
Tehran’s price keeps rising. The mayor of Tehran: nations that threatened Iran have no right to use the strait until compensation is paid, and transit depends on sanctions relief (zerohedge)...Physical oil is not behaving like a deal is imminent. US imports of Saudi crude hit zero in July — first full month since 1985, down from 800kb/d in March, with Venezuela at ~600kb/d filling the hole (KobeissiLetter)... ..Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a NATO-style mutual-defence treaty with an Article 5-equivalent clause. (IranObserver0, zerohedge); formally named the Mecca Agreement (MilitarySummary, wmiddelkoop)... ..Mecca Accord signed as Saudi interceptor stocks run dry — and Marib gets hit the same day - The number underneath the treaty: Saudi Arabia burned 86% of its 2,800 US Patriot PAC-3 interceptors in the first 38 days, leaving ~400 by April. The US itself has spent ~65% of its Patriot interceptors between February and July — under 850 left, from 2,330 (HormuzLetter, citing Reuters/CSIS).
That is the actual reason three countries signed a mutual-defence pact. Gulf states no longer believe the US umbrella exists.
Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei’s response: “a paper agreement with Turkiye and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided nursing to the Americans did not” (MilitarySummary). zerohedge notes Iranian and Israeli officials both calling Saudi Arabia a paper tiger — rare agreement.
Human cost, layer one: the Houthis conducted a large-scale attack on Saudi-backed government forces killing “hundreds” of troops, and struck Najran in southwestern Saudi Arabia (zerohedge, citing BBG). A separate Houthi drone attack in Marib killed three government fighters and wounded four per AFP (ILRedAlert)... ..Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine is privately pushing for an off-ramp from the Iran war. CNN reports he has made this clear to other top Trump advisers over recent weeks; picked up by Megatron_ron. ... ..Yen plumbing: FIMA repo opened to Japan, and euros sold without telling the ECB - DonDurrett lays out the mechanism plainly: the Fed, at Bessent’s request, opened the FIMA repo facility to Japan. Instead of selling Treasuries, Japan pledges them as collateral to borrow printed dollars to buy yen. In theory Japan repurchases and pays interest. In practice it can decline and keep the dollars.
The uglier half, single-source but specific: the US sold euros to buy yen without notifying the ECB until after the trade settled, with senior ECB officials calling it “an unprecedented breach of longstanding conventions” (matrbk). Selling dollars would have contradicted the stated strong-dollar policy; selling a European asset did not.
The stated reason to intervene at all is the Treasury market, not Japan: Japan is the largest foreign holder of USTs, and forced selling into a 30-year near 5.28% is the outcome nobody can price.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-08

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

14 days ago · 68 likes · 16 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-07 The Hormuz “deal” didn’t just stall - it detonated: Iran struck two US-escorted tankers in the Oman corridor within hours of Trump claiming an agreement was “coming together,” and Saudi crude exports to the US hit zero for the first time since 1985. Yemen delivered its deadliest day in three years while Riyadh braces for a coordinated Houthi-Iraqi-IRGC strike, and the US arsenal story got a face when WaPo put Trump and Hegseth in a shouting match over drained ATACMS. Metals ran again (silver +5%), Russia took Ryzhevka and Zarnitsa, and the AI/memory bubble wobbled as the SpaceX lockup opened and KOSPI fell 4.6%. Iran strikes two US-escorted tankers in Hormuz; Trump’s “deal” narrative collapses. IRGC hit NISSOS KEA and NISSOS KEROS in the southern Omani corridor - both had switched off AIS - hours after Trump said a deal was “coming together” (HormuzLetter, HormuzReport, zerohedge, spectatorindex). Hormuz: the “deal” that reads like a rejection; tolls drafted at 5-7% - Iran’s own terms look nothing like a US win: a draft parliamentary bill bans US, Israeli and “hostile” vessels outright, and withholds passage from countries that “damaged Iran” until compensation is paid, with fines up to 20% of cargo value (zerohedge/FARS, MenchOsint).
Saudi oil exports to the US fell to zero in July - first time in ~40 years. Riyadh was shipping 800k+ bpd earlier this year; Iran’s Hormuz squeeze plus the Houthi blockade cut it off (HormuzLetter, Megatron_ron, Hedgeye).
Yemen’s deadliest escalation in 3+ years; Saudi braces for coordinated attack. At least 58 killed in Houthi strikes on Saudi-backed forces per AFP; intel points to a simultaneous Houthi + Iraqi militia + IRGC assault on Saudi energy/airport/port targets (ILRedAlert, HormuzLetter, unusual_whales).
US munitions crisis goes public: Trump-Hegseth Camp David clash. WaPo says Trump erupted at Hegseth over drained stockpiles - ATACMS “basically none left” after 1,300+ fired in the opening weeks; rebuild could take “years” (HormuzLetter, MilitarySummary, zerohedge). Trump then threatened to jail people who say the stockpiles are depleted (Glenn_Diesen).
Metals run again; central-bank buying at record pace. Silver +5% on the day (wmiddelkoop); PBoC added gold for a 21st straight month (oriental_ghost); central banks bought a record 289t in Q2 per WGC (steve_hanke).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-07

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

15 days ago · 70 likes · 30 comments · No1

Don’t just bomb-Iran, Bibi. God’s Chosen Men INVADE! ‘I Am Determined’: Netanyahu Declares Readiness to Strike Iran Alone https://www.palestinechronicle.com/i-am-determined-netanyahu-declares-readiness-to-strike-iran-alone/

It is an extremely hot August. Alastair Crooke, Tensions flicker into flame, lapping across the Middle East The silence surrounding the outcome to the Netanyahu meeting last week in the Oval Office speaks for itself. No American government official came to the airport to receive him, and no red carpet was laid out for him. The visit bombed. Israel is adrift - with its ‘Greater Israel’ strategy now bleeding, for lack both of troops and of coherence.
Former IDF Ombudsman Maj. Gen. Yitzak Brik predicts (Ma’ariv, 26 July), that the crisis engulfing the Israeli intercept inventory “is only the prelude to the catastrophe that is looming over us.”
“In the coming wars with Iran, the threat will increase tenfold to the point of a complete loss of the ability to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. These missiles are expected to hit us: in population centers, strategic targets, production and economic infrastructure, science and technology institutes, educational institutions, hospitals and vital industries, and completely crush us.”
Trump - finally, it seems - understands that the war which he started in order to crush Iran has flipped - to destroying him. There is effectively no military solution available beyond stopping digging the hole that he is in still deeper. https://www.sott.net/article/507779-Tensions-flicker-into-flame-lapping-across-the-Middle-East

Iran Says It Was Preparing to Strike Three Ukrainian Targets With Ballistic Missiles. https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/iran-says-it-was-preparing-to-strike-three-ukrainian-targets-with-ballistic-missiles

Israeli prison guards have beaten a 71-year-old Palestinian doctor, tear-gassed his overcrowded cell and denied him vital medication, according to testimony published by Haaretz. For decades, Dr. Mazen Al-Rantisi, widely known as the “Doctor of the Poor,” has treated low-income Palestinians at his small Ramallah clinic, charging symbolic fees, regularly waiving payment and providing free medicine to patients who cannot afford it. Israeli forces raided his home before dawn on June 21 and imprisoned him. Prosecutors indicted him not for violence, but for chairing the Union of Health Work Committees, a Palestinian healthcare nonprofit registered with the Palestinian Authority that Israel later outlawed. Al-Rantisi told a lawyer from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel this week that guards force blindfolded prisoners to walk bent over, beat him and other detainees during repeated raids and fire tear gas into their cells. Younger prisoners surround him during the beatings in an effort to shield him. Israel withheld all of his regular prescriptions for his first 10 days at Ofer Prison and continues to deny him one medication.

Research paper documents rising torture and starvation of Palestinian prisoners in July https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/05/367837/

“Ceasefire” May Be the Official Headline, But in Gaza, We Face Constant Bombing https://scheerpost.com/2026/08/05/ceasefire-may-be-the-official-headline-but-in-gaza-we-face-constant-bombing/

Trump’s Gaza Chief Begs Netanyahu to Stop Assassination Campaign - Israeli PM rejects pleas to stop bombing Gaza as dozens killed https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-gaza-chief-begs-netanyahu-stop-assassination-campaign/5936039

IDF to continue to ‘operate proactively’ in Gaza, Israeli military chief says https://www.euronews.com/2026/08/05/idf-to-continue-to-operate-proactively-in-gaza-military-chief-says

Israeli forces launch wide raid on Qalandia refugee camp, search homes, detain residents and force family to evacuate They also prevented the performance of dawn prayers in all mosques in the camp.
The sources added that Israeli military vehicles ran over a young man near the camp, while Israeli soldiers severely assaulted journalist Mohammad Samreen as he was covering the events. https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/173236

Israel advances new colonial plan that further isolates Jerusalem from Bethlehem Ir Amim said that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem’s Planning and Building Committee approved the plan that envisages the construction of 2,300 units on approximately 20 hectares (around 200 dunums) in the Gilo colony, while expanding the colony southward toward Route 60, which links Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
It added that the plan involves the expropriation of at least 28 privately-owned dunums under the so-called Absentees’ Property Law, which the occupation authorities utilize to seize Palestinian property. https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/173268?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Scottish teachers reject pro-Israel pressure, continue teaching about Gaza genocide https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/05/367842/

Are US and Israel Benefitting from ‘Migration Blackmail’ in Spain? Analysts pointed their fingers at the Moroccan government, arguing it was once again deploying “migration blackmail,” as the practice has been dubbed, to punish its European neighbors and bend them to its will. But this time, Israel and the United States appear to be the principal beneficiaries. Indeed, they have seized on the politically embarrassing episode to weaken a Spanish government they view as one of their principal European antagonists. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/morocco-spain-migrants-israel/

Thanks Eleni. Morocco is weaponizing Migrants on Israel’s Orders to punish Sánchez An artificial crisis, on Israel’s orders, is the migration crisis that has been unfolding since Thursday at Spain’s borders. The goal of the Israeli destabilization plan is to undermine and overthrow Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, because the Social Democratic politician supports Palestine and refuses to become a submissive instrument of Israel, as almost all European prime ministers have become. Sánchez has been targeted by Zionism because, together with South Africa, he brought Israel before the International Criminal Court on charges of committing genocide in Gaza. The result was the issuance of an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister. Sánchez recognized the state of Palestine, received Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Madrid with head-of-state honors, held a joint press conference with him, and called Palestine a “brother state.” In 2025, Sánchez banned the sale of weapons and the import of any kind of goods from illegal Jewish settlements. He has also repeatedly called on the EU to apply against Israel whatever sanctions it applied against Russia, in connection with the war in Ukraine. https://www.defenddemocracy.press/morocco-is-weaponizing-migrants-on-israels-orders-to-punish-sanchez/

Israel burns over 120-ha olive groves in southern Lebanon “The flames made no distinction between the olive groves of Christians and those of Muslims,” he said, adding that the devastation concerned “the whole of the South: its land, its people, its culture, its dignity and its history.”
The municipality said it plans to submit documentation of the destruction to the United Nations, adding that Israeli forces targeted not only residential areas but also the environment, agricultural land, and cultural heritage in southern Lebanon. https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246778/Israel-burns-over-120-ha-olive-groves-in-southern-Lebanon

At least 2 invading Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon blast - At least two invading Israeli soldiers have been killed and seven others wounded in a bomb explosion in southern Lebanon, as Israel stepped up its attacks across the area, killing one Lebanese resident and injuring 12 others. https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246791/At-least-two-invading-Israeli-soldiers-killed-in-Lebanon

In Cyprus, Israelis are Buying up a lot of Land and Some Fear it is Another Colonisation
Thousands of people have left Israel and bought land in Cyprus, an island divided between the EU and Turkey where property has been in dispute since 1974. Meanwhile, movements and businessmen close to the Israeli far right are increasingly visible https://untoldmag.org/israelis-land-grab-cyprus/

Moon of Alabama, The Odd Defense Agreement Between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan And Turkey A new NATO like agreement between three major Sunni states throws up various questions:
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign defence pact – MEE
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a joint defence agreement on Friday, connecting the three largest Muslim countries in the world under one security umbrella for the first time... ..The phrase “shall be considered an attack against all of them” is copied from Article 5 of the NATO Treaty... ..We do not know what consequences.. of an attack on one member are spelled in the new Turkish-Saudi-Pakistani agreement. I suspect that any of them will be even more vague than those in the NATO treaty.
I find it hard to understand how this new agreement could possibly have more than symbolic value.
Pakistan is currently in a conflict with the Pashtun people in its own country as well as with their brethren in Afghanistan. It recently had a clash with India which could soon resume. India is working on diverting the Himalaya water resources Pakistan needs to survive as a state. If that does not stop Pakistan will be, in a few years from now, pressed to go to war for its own survival. India, as well as Pakistan, are nuclear armed.
Neither Turkey nor Saudi Arabia have any interest to fight against India or Afghanistan. The Saudis are at war with Ansarallah in Yemen. The ‘Houthi’ have recently announced that they will blockade all Saudi seaports until the Saudis lift their long standing air and sea blockade on Yemen. Just yesterday they attacked military installations within Saudi Arabia as well as Saudi proxy forces in south-eastern Yemen.
Pakistan has already sent forces to Saudi Arabia. But these have been, so far, for purely (air-)defensive purposes. It is hard to imagine that Pakistan or Turkey would send their soldiers to join an unwinnable war in Yemen. (They will remember that in the 1960s Egypt received a bloody nose when it sent ground troops into Yemen.)
Saudi Arabia also hosts U.S. forces which have become targets of Iranian attacks. If the U.S. decides to attempt another bombing campaign on Iran the revenge strikes will hit Saudi assets. This could, in theory, trigger the new agreement. But Turkey as well as Pakistan have fairy good relations with Tehran. Any intervention from their side would be a risky and high cost endeavors. Their populations would perceive a war against Iran as taking part on the (very much hated) U.S. side.
It is therefore implausible that the new defense pact is meant for or will have any influence in the ongoing conflicts.
Pakistan’s interest in the agreement comes down to Saudi money which it needs to prop up its state.
Turkey wants to sell weapons. The clause on “development of defense cooperation” within the new agreement will likely mean new contracts for Turkish drone makers.
Saudi Arabia has become distrustful of its U.S. alliance. It is preparing for the U.S. to leave and is seeking other strong partners. In the longer run its potential enemy is likely not Iran but Israel or maybe even the United Arab Emirates, which have Israel’s backing. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/08/the-odd-defense-agreement-between-saudi-arabia-pakistan-and-turkey.html

Andrew Korybko, Five Takeaways From The Pakistani-Somali Defense MOU Somalia is now a de facto protectorate of the “Islamic NATO”.
Pakistan and Somalia finally signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on defense cooperation in early August one year after the latter’s Cabinet approved such an arrangement last August. According to the Somali Defense Ministry, “[it] provides a framework for cooperation in counter-terrorism, military training, the exchange of military expertise and knowledge, defence capability development, and enhanced security cooperation”.

Here’s what else it signifies:
1. Pakistan Is Enhancing Its National Prestige This latest defense pact follows last year’s mutual defense one with Saudi Arabia and recent speculation about expanding it to other Arab Kingdoms. Late last year, there were also rumors of Pakistan clinching a multibillion-dollar fighter jet deal with Eastern Libya, which preceded recent reports of Pakistan mediating a peace deal. It’s also reportedly seeking to sell arms to Sudan. The latest MOU with Somalia thus further enhances Pakistan’s national prestige by confirming its trans-regional military influence.
2. Somalia Is Now A Protectorate Of The “Islamic NATO”
Pakistan is the last member of the “Islamic NATO” – the presently unofficial trans-regional military-security coordination platform between itself, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Egypt – to sign a defense pact with Somalia. This accordingly makes Somalia a de facto member of the aforesaid group, which solidifies the expansion of its influence over Africa following the solidification of these four’s influence over Libya and Sudan, but Somalia and the other two are junior partners therein and even arguably protectorates.
3. Pakistan Is Following In Turkiye’s Footsteps
It was observed in early January that “Pakistan Is Playing Second Fiddle To Turkiye In Afro-Eurasian Security” due to the pattern of it clinching military-security deals with countries that Turkiye already has such agreements with. As a brief backgrounder, Turkiye is Pakistan’s senior partner to whom it’s historically looked for guidance despite their nuclear asymmetry, and Turkiye was the first country in recent history to turn Somalia into a de facto protectorate. Pakistan is simply following in its footsteps.
4. Islamabad Might Have Broader Ambitions
Apart from enhancing its national prestige and following in Turkiye’s footsteps, Islamabad might intend to become a tangible stakeholder in the Bab el Mandeb through its new defense MOU with Mogadishu, which would align with both of their reported roles in the Saudi-led maritime coalition. This broader ambition would also represent the first tangible manifestation of the “Islamic NATO” since Egypt and Turkiye are reportedly part of this coalition too. They might all therefore obtain naval bases in Somalia.
5. Puntland & Somaliland Should Prepare For War
For the last point to be most effectively implemented, the renegade Somali region of Puntland and de facto independent Somaliland would have to be brought to heel, but that likely won’t happen anytime soon even with Somalia now de facto becoming the “Islamic NATO’s” protectorate. It’ll take time to properly train its armed forces, and the group’s four leading members are too focused on peace in the Gulf as well as the conflicts in Libya and Sudan, but they’re definitely in its long-term sights.
In terms of the bigger picture, the top takeaway is that Somalia is now a de facto protectorate of the “Islamic NATO” after its last member just clinched a military-security deal with it. The main implication of this development is that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkiye are expected to synergize their respective efforts there with a view towards helping the federal government retake the two polities that it claims as its own but doesn’t presently control. Another major regional conflict is therefore brewing.

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Five Takeaways From The Pakistani-Somali Defense MOU

Somalia is now a de facto protectorate of the “Islamic NATO…

16 days ago · 23 likes · 16 comments · Andrew Korybko

Probably nothing could go wrong before midterms, right? US Intelligence Assets Said To Descend On Cuba Writing in POLITICO on Tuesday, Dasha Burns and Nahal Toosi reported that in recent months the US intelligence community has “sent spies and assets” to Cuba. Specifically, they reported the CIA has increased its presence on the island, which sits approximately 90 miles south of Florida.
Burns and Toosi based their reporting on interviews with “two people familiar with the Trump administration’s plans for the island,” who were left anonymous due to the “sensitive” nature of the information they provided. The authors said the CIA, White House, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined requests for comment.
The report claimed the Trump Administration does not believe it has to resolve the war with Iran before taking military action in Cuba and that the Cuban issue is a “huge priority” of Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio. https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/05/us-intelligence-assets-said-to-descend-on-cuba/

Trump & Rubio need a quick PR win. “Peaceful” is much less risky for everybody. Is The U.S. Deep State Planning A Color Revolution In Cuba?
It Seems Like The U.S. Deep State Is Plotting A Color Revolution In Cuba As A Pretext For War. One source “described the upped intelligence presence as a key tactical step that could pave the way for a U.S. military incursion”.
Indeed, the Trump administration, more specifically, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has long been laying the groundwork for a U.S. regime change war in Cuba. Rubio has spearheaded the siege warfare campaign on Cuba by forcing Cuba’s main sources of oil- Mexico and Venezuela- to cut off oil exports, and according to inside officials speaking to Drop Site News, even sabotaged U.S.-Cuba negotiations from the inside in order to continue the starvation blockade.

The Dissident

Is The U.S. Deep State Planning A Color Revolution In Cuba?

Written By: Justin K.P…

16 days ago · 24 likes · 1 comment · The Dissident

China Is Betting AI, Hypersonic Missiles And Quantum Technology Will Define The Next Era Of Warfare https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-betting-ai-hypersonic-missiles-and-quantum-technology-will-define-next-era-warfare

Scientists Warn Of Urgent AI Biosecurity Threat - For the first time, artificial intelligence has designed complete, functional viral genomes from scratch. https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/scientists-warn-urgent-ai-biosecurity-threat

BREAKING: Gates Foundation Funds First-Ever Creation of 16 Synthetic Viruses Using AI
The barrier separating digital AI output from an operational biological agent has now been crossed.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: Gates Foundation Funds First-Ever Creation of 16 Synthetic Viruses Using AI

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

14 days ago · 319 likes · 168 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Global Food Prices Hit Three-Year High As War, Chokepoint Chaos And El Nino Spark Perfect Storm https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/global-food-prices-hit-three-year-high-war-chokepoint-chaos-and-el-nino-spark-perfect

Kids In Tiny British Village Beg The Government Not To Force Illegal Migrants On Their Home Piddington is a tiny English settlement of roughly 350 people - around 250 adults and just 46 children. The Home Office and Labour government under Andy Burnham intend to place 1,250 single adult male asylum seekers on a former Ministry of Defence site that borders the village, runs along the back of homes, and sits directly against the parish playing field and children’s park.
If the plan proceeds, the number of young men dumped on their doorstep will dwarf the entire local population. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kids-tiny-british-village-beg-government-not-force-illegal-migrants-their-home

Winter Is Coming: Europe Faces Twin Diesel And NatGas Crunch https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/winter-coming-europe-faces-twin-diesel-and-natgas-crunch

Global Diesel Crunch Deepens As Record US Distillate Exports Race To Supply-Starved Europe https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/global-diesel-crunch-deepens-record-us-distillate-exports-race-supply-starved-europe

There may be 2 dead girls on the property: New Mexico Sues DOJ For Unredacted Epstein Files - New Mexico is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) over unredacted Epstein files, accusing the federal agency of stonewalling the state’s own investigation into alleged crimes at deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-mexico-sues-doj-unredacted-epstein-files

Outspent 10:1, but: After Michigan upset, Aipac looks to back Republican candidate against Abdul El-Sayed
While this was a race where Israel loomed large, the focus was on how the candidates were funded After spending more than $30m on a candidate who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary on Wednesday, the leading pro-Israel lobbying group in the US has now indicated it will pivot to the Republican in that race come November... ..The race between pro-Israel Congresswoman Haley Stevens and former Detroit public health official Abdul El-Sayed quickly became the most expensive Democratic primary race of all time. Stevens was backed by a further $30m from outside groups who bankrolled round-the-clock attack ads on Sayed. Sayed, an Egyptian-American Muslim who has never held elected office, won the exceptionally tight race by one percentage point, in what was a stunning upset for establishment Democrats, and a boon to the progressive wave taking hold across the country.
Half a million more Democratic voters showed up to the polls than in previous primary races, which typically see low turnouts... ..In 2022, Aipac helped Stevens secure her seat in the House of Representatives by ousting longtime Jewish lawmaker Andy Levin for his support of US policies to punish violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“Today, Michigan launched a new chapter in our political history,” Levin wrote on his Instagram account on Wednesday, accompanied by a photograph of him hugging Sayed... ..Earlier this year, Aipac helped oust Republican Thomas Massie, who voted against US foreign aid to Israel, in his Kentucky primary race by spending more than $4m against him through its United Democracy Project political action committee. That was just part of a coalition of pro-Israel groups that spent $9m against him... ..Sayed has described Israel’s nearly three-year-old assault on Gaza as a genocide, echoing language used by leading human rights organisations, genocide scholars and the United Nations... ..In his victory speech on Wednesday, Sayed said he spoke to Stevens and was assured of her endorsement as he gears up to face former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in November... ..Writing on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump called Sayed “a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel”, but added that his win is also “great news for the Republican party”, suggesting that he will be easy to defeat... ..For his part, Sayed told supporters and the media on Wednesday that the focus on his name and identity is “the only play they got” against him.
“It’s like, wow, he’s different,” he said of Republican attacks.
“That’s the best you got? You can’t actually talk about what you want to do? My name is not raising your gas prices. My name is not taking us to war. My name is not the reason you can’t afford your groceries.” https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/after-major-upset-aipac-michigan-group-looks-back-republican-candidate-against-abdul-el-sayed

The cookie jars have IOUs to us, from us: Senate Dems Push GOP to Divulge Secret Plan to ‘Attack Earned Benefits Like Social Security’
“A plan you will not show the voters before they vote is not reassurance. It is a warning and revealing of Republican priorities.” In early June, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said the GOP has a “plan” to reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—but would not release the details until “next year,” after the 2026 midterms.
But a group of Senate Democrats argued in a letter to Republican leaders on Wednesday that “Americans deserve to have full transparency into Republican plans to attack earned benefits like Social Security.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/republican-plan-cut-social-security

Can Sam Altman Be Trusted Inside Your Home? Meet OpenAI’s New Always-On Smart Speaker https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/can-sam-altman-be-trusted-inside-your-home-meet-openais-new-always-smart-speaker

The AI bubble may pop before November, but voters will still be here. Texas halts data center connections to power grid amid overwhelming demand
Governor who touted Texas as AI “epicenter” pauses data center grid connections. https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/08/texas-halts-data-center-connections-to-power-grid-amid-overwhelming-demand/

Pierre Kory MD finally won a preliminary injuction saying that the state cannot decree what a doctor’s medical advice to a patient must be: As of Last Night, the U.S Government Will Never Get to Tell Doctors What They Can Say Anymore
In Kory v. Bonta, a federal judge just barred California’s Attorney General and its medical boards from coming after me and my colleagues for the expert opinions we share with patients.

Pierre Kory’s Medical Musings

As of Last Night, the U.S Government Will Never Get to Tell Doctors What They Can Say Anymore

What California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose ass we just kicked in court, probably looks like today…

15 days ago · 2258 likes · 326 comments · Pierre Kory, MD, MPA

Federal Judge Blocks California From Disciplining Doctors for COVID Medical Advice That Contradicts Public Health Officials
Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb on Wednesday granted a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction in favor of physician plaintiffs Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Le Trinh Hoang and Dr. Brian Tyson in a lawsuit, funded by Children’s Health Defense, against two California medical boards. The injunction applies only to those three doctors and remains in effect pending a final decision on the merits of the case. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-california-from-disciplining-doctors-covid-medical-advice/

Is a Federal Autism Committee Ignoring Vaccine-Autism Research?
A draft strategic plan released last month by a federal autism committee outlines a framework for developing “precision” medical treatment and supporting better long-term care for autistic people — but, according to critics, doesn’t include a specific, detailed plan to study a possible link between vaccines and autism. However, a source familiar with the plan told The Defender, “Nothing is excluded and nothing is off the table.” https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/federal-autism-committee-iacc-ignoring-vaccine-autism-research-health-policy/

RFK Jr. Demands Editors of Journal Defend ‘Concern’ About 2020 Vaccine Study
In a letter to the editors of Sage Open Medicine, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the editors to explain why they are now questioning a peer-reviewed study comparing health outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. The study, by CHD Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker and Neil Z. Miller, a medical research journalist, was published in May 2020, after passing the journal’s peer-review process. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-demands-sage-journal-defend-concern-2020-vaccinated-unvaccinated-chd-study/

Sudden onset regressive autism is 25X more likely in vaccinated kids than unvaccinated kids
This is a result of my reader survey which had nearly equal numbers of fully vaccinated and unvaccinated kids in the study. Nobody can show this is biased because they are too afraid to do the survey.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Sudden onset regressive autism is 25X more likely in vaccinated kids than unvaccinated kids

Executive summary…

13 days ago · 278 likes · 37 comments · Steve Kirsch

Jessica Rose Ph.D. on the new, approved mRNA “vaccine product”: The “new” mRNA-1010 mFlusiva injectable product No saline placebo used in the trials - safety data compared only against “active controls” with higher observed death, nonetheless

Unacceptable Jessica

The "new" mRNA-1010 mFlusiva injectable product

Please head here to the FDA Briefing Document BLA# 125869/0 Influenza Vaccine, mRNA (Proposed Trade Name: mFlusiva) Applicant: Moderna TX, Inc. Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) June 18, 2026…

15 days ago · 359 likes · 107 comments · Jessica Rose

FDA APPROVES MODERNA’S FIRST-EVER mRNA FLU SHOT DESPITE 75.3% ADVERSE REACTION RATE
According to the FDA briefing document, severe systemic reactions were 4× MORE COMMON with the mRNA flu shot than with the traditional flu shot.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

FDA APPROVES MODERNA’S FIRST-EVER mRNA FLU SHOT DESPITE 75.3% ADVERSE REACTION RATE

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

15 days ago · 298 likes · 161 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Meryl Nass MD, Will you receive a Moderna mRNA *flu* shot, just approved by FDA? There are many flu shots on the market, but the pharmacist will not ask for your preference. - Here is the skinny on flu shots. You may want to share this info with your friends and family who choose to receive them...mFLUSIVA is the mRNA vaccine that is probably the straw that finally led to the firing of Vinay Prasad at FDA. He refused to consider it for a license. Once he was out, it sped through an FDA review and is now available to the public for this flu season..

...Addendum: It seems FDA chose one of the accelerated approval paths for mFLUSIVA. FDA needs to regulate it as gene therapy. I am wondering if a lawsuit needs to be filed about this. Probably a Citizen Petition is the first step.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Will you receive a Moderna mRNA *flu* shot, just approved by FDA? There are many flu shots on the market, but the pharmacist will not ask for your preference.

First off, if you are going to get a flu shot, does it matter when you get it? Flu almost never starts spreading before mid November or December, and the shots only work for several months (when they work) and they achieve maximum effect 2-4 weeks after receipt. So the best time to get one (if you really must) would be around Nov 1…

15 days ago · 128 likes · 130 comments · Meryl Nass

My project to grow a garden patch with black-eyed peas in the summer and cereal-rye from fall through spring is proceeding with dicoveries along the way, usually that everything takes more work and time than I anticipated.

I have been harvesting pink-eye purple hull “peas” (African beans) from the patch I planted at the beginning of June, so that is working. I had one pack of Mississippi Purple Hull “peas” that I mixed in with the pound of pinkeye purple-hulls that I thought were the same.

They are different in one important regard. They are small, not big. Shelling them dry takes at least an hour per pound, whereas the much-larger Mississippi purple-hulls are 3-4 times the size for each seed and the stock of them per hour of shelling is much more satisfying. They also seem more resistant to weevils. Both varieties have an upright growth pattern that puts the beans where you can reach them. Lots of the pinkeye variety plants are already dying, so I am taking them out as I harvest, which is pictured below. Next year I will only plant Missippippi purple-hull “peas” in this patch.

Experimental Gardeneer

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United States Of Israel

John Day MD — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:26:18 GMT

Second Class Citizens,

Scott Ritter has this: The United States of Israel - If Section 219/1217of the NDAA becomes law, we will have surrendered our Constitutional Republic to the Zionists. It will literally be the end of our country as we know it. When I was travelling to Israel on a regular basis back in the mid- to late-1990’s as part of my duties with the United Nations, I was always struck by how closely many Israelis identified with the United States. On national holidays, many Israeli motorists would fly two little plastic flags from the windows of their cars—one the blue and white Star of David, and the other the Stars and Stripes. “We see ourselves as little America”, my Israeli host would explain when I pointed this out.
The reality was far different.
The Israelis conspired against their American counterparts behind their backs, and the US intelligence and security services viewed Israel as a threat to US national security.
I know—I was caught up in the middle of this power dynamic, and ended up being accused by the US government of spying on behalf of Israel. The charges were eventually dropped as unfounded and politically motivated, but the sentiment behind the accusations was real—a significant part of the US defense, intelligence and security establishment of the United States viewed Israel as a threat... ..We live in an age where the Israeli Prime Minister openly brags about having bought the US Congress.
Where AIPAC brags about spending $100 million to accomplish just that.
Where pro-Israeli operatives spent $30 million to evict Thomas Massie from the US Congress because he dared challenge the surrender of American sovereignty to Israel.
Where the US Secretary of State has openly declared that criticism of Israel is grounds for being denied a visa into the United States.
Where Israeli politicians openly advocate for the suppression of free speech in America.
And where the Chinese Wall that separated US and Israeli interests is being torn down by a compliant Congress, all the while the mainstream media, which long ago surrendered its independence and integrity to Israeli interests, remains silent.
The surrender document that signals the capitulation of the Constitutional Republic formerly known as the United States of America to a new entity which could more accurately be called the United States of Israel is the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in particular Section 219 of the House version, and Section 1217 of the Senate’s version.
Section 219/1217 directs the Secretary of Defense to designate an Executive Agent (EA) to expand and accelerate deeper integration of Israel into US institutions. The EA authority would take precedence over the authority of the other DoD Component heads per DOD Instruction 5101.01, meaning that the EA would be able to overrule determinations by other DOD agencies such as the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) on Israeli access to US technology. This new EA would end direct Congressional oversight with supervision by the Secretary of Defense. There would be no Congressional confirmation or ability for removal of an executive agent.
In short, it is the surrendering of the constitutional duties of Congress to a politically appointment agent of the Executive branch of government...
..Section 219/1217 integrates American and Israeli research and development programs in a way which makes the United States dependent on Israel’s provision of specific technologies, thereby granting Israel a significant amount of leverage over future American policy and infrastructure, entangling defense supply chains of Israel and the United States across government, private and academic sectors, blurring the lines of territorial integrity and political sovereignty.
Section 219/1217 targets defense related procurement and acquisition processes so that it will be impossible for future Administrations to separate Israeli technologies or agreements from major defense procurement programs...
..Section 2191/217 grants the EA the authority to re-allocate the funding and focus of the Defense Department by prioritizing the integration of Israel into the US’ national defense structures. It is literally subordinating the totality of the most sensitive aspects of US defense to Israel, outside the purview of Congressional oversight.
At a time when the majority of the American people are waking up to the horrific crimes committed by Israel against the people of Palestine, and the role played by Israel in getting America involved in permanent wars in the Middle East, Section 219/1217 will permanently tie the United States to Israel, making the US Department of Defense and, by extension, all of the American people, complicit in these crimes... ..Right now, we have a Congress which has considered criminalizing any criticism of Israel.
This, or course, is an affront to the very notion of free speech.
By making Israeli security and US security indistinguishable, as would happen if Section 219/1217 becomes law, the inevitability of the criminalization of speech critical of Israel is assured.
The 2027 NDAA is America’s last stand.
Remove Section 219/1217, and we have a chance at survival.
Turn Section 219/1217 into law, and we have lost the Republic.

Real Scott Ritter

The United States of Israel

When I was travelling to Israel on a regular basis back in the mid- to late-1990’s as part of my duties with the United Nations, I was always struck by how closely many Israelis identified with the United States. On national holidays, many Israeli motorists would fly two little plastic flags from the windows of their cars—one the blue and white Star of …

18 days ago · 686 likes · 204 comments · Scott Ritter

More: Israel-Palestine News, Understanding Section 219 The sweeping scope of this provision has led some media outlets and political commentators to describe it as “merging” the U.S. and Israeli defense industrial bases, which could—as this magazine observed earlier this month—give Israel additional leverage over our defense and foreign policy. In the House itself, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and six other Republicans defied their party to vote against the NDAA and Section 219, which Massie denounced as “a betrayal of our sovereignty.” (All but six Democrats also voted nay, though many appear to have done so more out of opposition to the Iran War than Section 219 specifically.)
These concerns have increased the pressure on the Senate, which has yet to pass its own version of an NDAA for 2027 (a vote to advance it earlier this month failed due to near-unified Democratic opposition). The Senate’s bill contains a provision—Section 1217—that, though worded differently, is fairly similar to the House’s Section 219.
Although historically Senate Republicans have been strongly pro-Israel, the controversy over this provision has already led at least one GOP Senator to oppose defense industrial integration. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) told Drop Site News last Thursday, “I don’t think we should integrate our military with anybody, not even the Bahamas.”
But Democratic leadership has not come out against this provision, nor have they attacked the broader expansion of U.S.-Israel defense industrial ties. Both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have preferred to frame their opposition to the NDAA around the Iran War and avoided talking about Israel in this context, even as their voters increasingly question the U.S. relationship with Israel. https://israelpalestinenews.org/understanding-section-219/

Bari Weiss’s “60 Minutes” Hires Producer Who Downplayed Gaza Starvation, Justified Killing Journalists
The latest CBS News hire shows that the way to get ahead in journalism is to act as a tool for the powerful. https://theintercept.com/2026/08/04/60-minutes-bari-weiss-cbs-news-israel-gaza/

Brian Berletic, US/IRAN -Regarding Reports of Empty US Stockpiles
Yes, stockpiles are likely low, including of ATACMS and PrSM missiles (the newer, longer-range replacement for ATACMS) - as well as anti-missile munitions; However all of these munitions are under production, PrSM missile are made 10 per month with an eventual peak production rate of 30+ per month sometime next year; This is why the US strikes Iran, plays “diplomacy” games, then strikes again - to refill stockpiles enough for the next round of operations.

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-06 The Hormuz “deal” inverted: Tehran publicly postponed the Oman agreement, denied Washington is even a party to it, and the US quietly pulled Iran sanctions off the Treasury site anyway - while gold ripped roughly $300 in a week and silver reclaimed $62. The other big delta is the arsenal reveal: a WaPo account has Trump erupting at Hegseth over “virtually all” long-range missiles being spent on Iran, landing the same week Kyiv absorbed two dozen ballistics at a 0% interception rate. Continuation underneath: Russia grinds forward on the Donbas and Sumy fronts, the Red Sea “siege” tightens, and the AI complex keeps wobbling into SpaceX’s lockup.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-06

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

15 days ago · 40 likes · 9 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-05 The Hormuz “deal tomorrow” became “deal Wednesday” (i.e. today) per Axios, and stocks ripped to the first S&P record since June while crude crashed below $76 — except Iran rejected the Omani framework outright and added four new demands, so the thing markets priced doesn’t exist. The genuinely new deltas: hard numbers on US missile depletion (ATACMS/PrSM “virtually all” gone, 80% of THAAD interceptors used), Kyiv’s worst strike in weeks with Ukraine admitting a 0% interception rate, and platinum breaking out +6% as gold reclaimed its $4,000 floor. Iran rejected the Hormuz framework it “agreed” to — while Trump/Bessent sold an imminent deal - Iran abandoned the US-backed Omani proposal (inbound lane under Iran, outbound under Oman) and added four conditions: transit-fee collection, a permanent guarantee against attacks, an end to the naval blockade, and lifting of oil sanctions (HormuzReport, HormuzLetter, WSJ via FirstSquawk)
Iran state TV: strait reopening “depends on change in US behavior,” and the Oman talks are unrelated to any immediate reopening (zerohedge)
Yet the US is aiming for a Wednesday announcement of an interim Oman-brokered deal (Axios via zerohedge, KobeissiLetter)... ..US precision-missile and interceptor stockpiles are running dry - The US has expended “virtually all” long-range precision missiles in the Iran war; ATACMS and PrSM near-depleted, roughly half of Tomahawks gone (Reuters, Erin Banco)
CNN: ~80% of key interceptors used, Pentagon stockpile “dangerously low” (spectatorindex); 80% of THAAD and ~50% of Patriot interceptors... ..Kyiv hit by its heaviest strike in weeks; Ukraine admits zero interceptions - At least 15 killed, ~47–50 injured across Kyiv city and oblast; barrage of Iskander-M/Zircon plus 115+ Shahed drones on logistics/warehouse targets (MyLordBebo, AMK Mapping)
Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed not a single missile was shot down — out of Patriot interceptors... ..Oil: paper price crashes, physical stress doesn’t — Aramco warns, Yemen escalates on tankers
Diamondback says the war structurally raised the floor: ~5M b/d drained from reserves during the Gulf shutdown will need restocking (chigrl); the stress shows in the curve and cracks, not front-month (chigrl)
Aramco’s CEO warns a Hormuz closure removes ~100M barrels/week and that global refining runs near max utilization with little buffer (zerohedge, Amena Bakr); majors posted best quarters in years (Hedgeye)
Yemen’s forces say they hit an 8th Saudi tanker (NCC WAFA) and have forced 29 Saudi tankers to reroute, now targeting the northern Red Sea to “close all access points” (MenchOsint); Bab-el-Mandeb transits down ~22%... ..Russia-Ukraine: Konstantinovka and Gulyaipole advances; Odesa steel sector halts; the 40-day plan expires - Russian gains logged ~1km north of Konstantinovka into Alekseevo-Druzhkovka and ~2km at Novoselovka near Gulyaipole (GeromanAT, GeromanAT); Baksheevka and Vasyutynske reported captured (MilitarySummary, Kalibrated Maps)
The economic war widened: a Zelensky adviser says Russia is now hitting retail/food/logistics warehouses, with Ukraine’s own strike on Wildberries having opened a “Pandora’s box” (dana916); Odesa’s blockade has halted iron-ore exports, with Ferrexpo and Metinvest plants suspending (RALee85)
Zelensky’s self-declared 40-day campaign to force Putin to the table expired today with nothing to show (talkrealopinion); critics argue the Azov shipping strikes invited a far costlier response... ..Japan: the yen defense runs through a 2020-vintage Fed repo facility, not open-market sales
The play, unpacked: the US Treasury bought yen and paid in euros (to avoid signalling weak-dollar), then pointed Tokyo at the Fed’s FIMA repo facility — which lends dollars against Treasuries so Japan needn’t sell them (shanaka86); Bessent confirmed the euro sale was “reserves re-allocation” and floated upsizing FIMA (zerohedge)
First US-Japan joint yen-buying operation since 1998; Washington’s fear is Japan dumping Treasuries to self-fund... ..AI: capex “falls” on accounting, real commitments balloon; AMD and SpaceX punished on prints...
..Under it all, Goldman warns the market is oblivious to Chinese LLMs now dominating token usage as token prices go into “historic freefall”...
..US wages fell to 43% of gross domestic income — near the lowest share since records began in 1929 (PolymarketMoney).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-05

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

16 days ago · 75 likes · 14 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-04 The Iran talks theatre hit peak farce: Trump announced Monday negotiations, and both Tehran and his own officials denied any were happening — while another tanker burned near Oman and the Dow still closed at a record. The two hard deltas since yesterday: Zelensky’s 40-day “force Russia to negotiate” campaign quietly expired in failure as Bely Kolodez and Ustinovka fell and Russian forces closed to 4.7km of Kramatorsk; and Friday’s record yen intervention was already “wired back” within a day, pushing Fed dollar swap lines from theory to the open question. Everything else — memory shortage, gold premiums, Coldcard hack — is continuation with fresh numbers.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-04

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

17 days ago · 71 likes · 8 comments · No1

Don’t use voodoo; It’ll consume your own soul: Pentagon Crowdsources ‘Creative, Unconventional’ Ideas To Pressure Iran https://www.zerohedge.com/military/pentagon-sent-crowdsource-style-email-asking-creative-unconventional-ideas-pressure-iran

Second Foreign Vessel Attacked Off Yemen Within Hours, Amid Houthi ‘Siege For Siege’ Blockade https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/brent-bounces-houthis-threaten-saudi-tankers-raising-risk-new-red-sea-front

Stopwatch has started again: Iran-Oman Hormuz Route ‘Agreed To’ As Iran Warns Against US ‘Interference’ Iran says Hormuz route is agreed: Tehran says it has finalized a shipping route with Oman, blaming U.S. actions for delaying a final agreement.
Tehran claims victory: Iranian officials say the deal would lock in Iran’s wartime gains and strategic leverage over Hormuz.
Mixed messages: Trump says a deal could come within days, while Iran insists the talks are only with Oman.
Draft outline emerges: Reports outline Iranian oversight of inbound traffic and Omani management of outbound shipping.
High stakes as pressure eased on markets, but geopolitical tensions high: A deal could ease energy market fears while leaving Iran with more influence over Hormuz than before the war. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-set-emerge-more-hormuz-leverage-war-under-draft-us-oman-deal

I’d call it “southwestern”: Iran Moves T-72 Tanks Toward Southern Border Amid Reports of US Ground Contingency Plans. Iran’s regular army moved three T-72-series main battle tanks south toward Abadan, positioning armor near the Iraqi and Kuwaiti borders. The limited convoy points to a localized defensive adjustment as Tehran weighs the risk of an expanded U.S. or Israeli campaign. https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/iran-moves-t-72-tanks-toward-southern-border-amid-reports-of-us-ground-contingency-plans

As we had all surmised: Russia Supplied Upgraded Shahed Kamikaze Drones to Iran for Attacks on U.S. Forces. https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/russia-supplied-upgraded-shahed-kamikaze-drones-to-iran-for-attacks-on-u-s-forces#google_vignette

11 tons of Russian humanitarian aid delivered to Iran https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246738/11-tons-of-Russian-humanitarian-aid-delivered-to-Iran

Huge Uptick In Israeli Airstrikes On Gaza Since Trump Hailed ‘Historic’ Hamas Deal https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/huge-uptick-israeli-airstrikes-gaza-trump-hailed-historic-hamas-deal

Board of Peace says no Israeli withdrawal from Gaza before Hamas disarms - Netanyahu and board director Maldenov meet amid tensions over Gaza disarmament roadmap and recent Israeli attacks. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/4/board-of-peace-says-no-israeli-withdrawal-from-gaza-before-hamas-disarms

At least 13 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza after Hamas agrees disarmament deal
Israel struck Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah, killing at least 13 people, hours after Hamas agreed to a disarmament deal. Israel said the strikes targeted militant operatives, underscoring that violence has continued despite diplomatic progress. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/341e9eeb-5e1b-454d-aed4-7f87165cbdc8

Israel keeps breaking their phase-1 peace-plan obligations: Israel To Scale Back Gaza Strikes To Give Trump’s Hamas Disarmament Plan A Chance https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-scale-back-gaza-strikes-give-trumps-hamas-disarmament-plan-chance

Israeli settlers shoot Palestinian child during farm raid
Israeli settlers shot a nine-year-old Palestinian boy in the back during a raid on a farm in the West Bank. The incident was captured on CCTV footage. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/a5d21ef1-6e4b-4993-9663-77cfa5508226

Rights center: Israel arrests 600 Palestinians in West Bank, Old Jerusalem in July https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/03/367721/

JERUSALEM, August 2, 2026 (WAFA) – Terrorist Israeli colonists assaulted a Palestinian bus driver in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday, leaving him injured and requiring hospitalization.
According to local sources, a group of colonists attacked the driver while he was on duty in the city, severely beating him and inflicting multiple injuries and bruises. The driver was identified as Mu’tasim al-Qaq.
The assault comes amid an escalation in racist attacks by Israeli colonists against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, including those working in the public transportation sector. https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/173133?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Israeli colonists cut power poles, damage electricity network south of Nablus https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/173112?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

In July, Israel killed 152 Gazans, more than any other “ceasefire” month https://israelpalestinenews.org/in-july-israel-killed-152-gazans-more-than-any-other-ceasefire-month-daily-update/

This looks like a .30 caliber armor piercing round that shed its copper jacket: Israeli fire wounds Palestinian student inside Gaza classroom https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/03/367763/

Israel wipes genocide evidence in Gaza, carting off rubble and human remains in 100 trucks daily https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/03/367743/

Israel’s Smotrich Repeats Call for Netanyahu To Approve Establishment of Three Jewish Settlements in Gaza https://news.antiwar.com/2026/08/02/israels-smotrich-repeats-call-for-netanyahu-to-approve-establishment-of-three-jewish-settlements-in-gaza/

(”Netanyahu” may be a figure of speech since early March.) Türkiye says Israel’s latest attacks on Gaza prove Netanyahu has no intention of peace
Foreign Ministry says Israeli strikes undermine mediation efforts, urges global community to uphold international law https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkiye-says-israels-latest-attacks-on-gaza-prove-netanyahu-has-no-intention-of-peace/4016567

A female suicide-bomber died trying to enter: Kiev’s ‘terrorist plague’ spreading across Europe – Russian embassy
Investigators have yet to name any suspects behind the bombing of an Italian restaurant in central Moscow https://web.archive.org/web/20260803001612/https://www.rt.com/russia/643784-moscow-italian-restaurant-bombing/

Putin has still made no statement. Gilbert Doctorow, Putin commits political suicide on the evening of the attack on a Black Sea beach in the Krasnodar region that killed seven, including children I watched the opening minutes of Vesti news last night and saw Putin’s smiling face, his basking in the ecstatic greetings extended to him by youths in a vast auditorium for participants in a youth program intended to encourage and support their development into leading professionals of the next generation.
The broadcaster made no concession to the shocking tragedy that was reported later in the news bulletin about the 7 killed, 15 sent to hospital, some with very serious injuries and still more wounded from a Ukrainian drone attack on a popular family holiday resort on the Black Sea in the Krasnodar region. Normal guidance for heads of state in such situations is for them to fly down to the scene of the tragedy, to declare several days of mourning and to address the broad public on what has occurred and what will be done about it. Not to have done so was a self-damaging act by Vladimir Putin that his compatriots will not forgive or forget.

Armageddon Newsletter

Putin commits political suicide on the evening of the attack on a Black Sea beach in the Krasnodar region that killed seven, including children

Democracy is not only the best political system around because all the others are worse. It is the best because it assumes common sense and sound judgment in a great swathe, sometimes even the majority of the general population. It gives us reason for hope that bad policies and bad politician can be changed peacefully from time to time without bloodshed…

17 days ago · 28 likes · 4 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

August 3, Simplicius, Disastrous End to Zelensky’s 40-Day Operation Exposes a Dwindling Ukraine The carefully-constructed facade of success that was meant to drive the orchestrated PR campaign has been violently torn away to reveal a frail Ukraine trembling on its last hind legs. Russia’s recent attack on Kiev revealed a catastrophic situation as Ukraine no longer has any Patriots to stop Russian ballistic missile attacks... ..Zelensky strategically chose to use all his reserves of man and materiel for the 40-day PR operation to simulate some kind of initiative for a ‘victorious’ Ukraine so that allies could pressure Putin into ceasefire and negotiations. But now that this has failed, Ukraine is experiencing a precipitous front-line collapse where Russian troops have begun advancing faster than any recent time... ..At the same time, the situation for Odessa has become worse than ever, with Russia having entirely landlocked Ukraine.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Disastrous End to Zelensky's 40-Day Operation Exposes a Dwindling Ukraine

Today is the final day of Zelensky’s 40-day Special Military Operation, and it has come with ominous undertones. The carefully-constructed facade of success that was meant to drive the orchestrated PR campaign has been violently torn away to reveal a frail Ukraine trembling on its last hind legs…

17 days ago · 712 likes · 722 comments · Simplicius

EU To Use $1.62 Billion In Interest From Frozen Russian Assets To Support Ukraine https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/eu-use-162-billion-interest-frozen-russian-assets-support-ukraine

This looks false-flaggy. Russia has hypersonic missiles: One-Way Attack Drone Found At Major German Airport: The Threat Has Arrived https://www.zerohedge.com/military/one-way-attack-drone-found-major-german-airport-threat-has-arrived

Can Green-deal flip to WW-3 deal? BMW Job Cuts And The Emerging German-French Industrial Strategy https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/bmw-job-cuts-and-emerging-german-french-industrial-strategy

Professor Ugo Bardi’s blogs were down for 2 weeks due to hacking which ate his virtual existence and parasitized his finances. The Seneca Cliff of the Internet - Seneca Returns! Forrester’s original idea was that pollution created a feedback relationship with the other elements of the system, which would eventually lead to collapse. In a sense, Forrester was a worthy heir of the Roman Philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca who stated that “Growth is sluggish, but ruin is rapid.” It was a good description of the effect of pollution, ultimately related to entropy.
Now, something similar is happening to the Internet. It has been growing rapidly during the past decades, and it is not surprising that it is generating an internal form of pollution. It takes the main form of “hacking,” people, or maybe bots, trying hard to take control of other people’s accounts. Defense takes the shape of more and more sophisticated systems of passwords, passkeys, authenticators, and more.
These technologies work, but they are a cost: it is the mechanism identified by Forrester. Attack and defense grow together, and with hackers becoming more and more sophisticated, it is not impossible that the whole internet might become inaccessible to people who can’t afford the most sophisticated defense technologies. Personally, I already have the feeling of being under continuous siege, and I can see plenty of horrible things that successful hackers could do if they could take control of my accounts — as I am sure they can do, despite all the precautions I am now taking... ..It took less than a week for a good part of my digital life to come apart. My Substack account was suspended, my subscriber list deleted. LinkedIn and Amazon accounts were canceled, and every one of my paying subscribers on Substack had been refunded without my knowledge. At the same time, somebody was cheerfully spending my money to generate movie clips on an AI image site... ..The presence of the Trojan virus fits with what I found when I checked my email address on haveyoubeenpwned. It turned out to be one of 183 million unique email addresses, aggregated during 2025 from Telegram channels, dark web forums, and Tor. Each one of these records contains the email address, the password, and the specific website where the credentials were entered. The typical result of the work of Trojan viruses. The trojan in my PC may have been there long before the attack. It was neutralized by the Windows antivirus system, but it had the time to send my data to whoever was controlling it... ..So the attackers did not need me to have reused any password. They received the entire set of my passwords at once, in one file, together with the autofill data and the addresses of the accounts they were used to access... ..In my case, once the hackers had my passwords and account coordinates, they used all of them, more or less at the same time and in the same way... ..Some weeks earlier — before any of the account attacks began — I had noticed anomalies on my credit card. Strange messages I saw on an ATM screen. I did not connect them to anything, because there was nothing yet to connect them to. I simply thought: this looks wrong. I blocked the card.
That was luck, pure and simple. I was not being farsighted; I was reacting to a symptom whose cause I did not understand. But it is the reason this article is a story about inconvenience rather than about losing several thousand euros. It didn’t completely protect me; some of my money was siphoned off directly from my bank account. But it greatly reduced the damage... ..Meanwhile the sharks kept circling. Hundreds of spam messages — probably thousands — asking me to click this, confirm that, warning me that a subscription was expiring, threatening dark and dire consequences if I did not pay someone something. And one telephone call from a polite gentleman who claimed to work for my bank and provided as proof of his good faith that he knew my credit card number. I cut the conversation short, so I never learned what he wanted...
..What this episode gave me, more than anything, was a physical sense of how fragile the Internet is.

The Seneca Effect

The Seneca Cliff of the Internet

The Seneca Blog is back online after about two weeks of struggle. I describe below the details of the hacker attack I received. The damage done is not yet completely fixed, and I am now in the process of cleaning out the subscribers’ list that was spammed by the hackers with several thousand fake accounts…

17 days ago · 6 likes · 4 comments · Ugo Bardi

A Civilian Plane Crashed in New Mexico. Was Military GPS Jamming To Blame? Four people — two pilots, two medical crew — died when a Trans Aero MedEvac Beechcraft King Air 90 struck the Capitan Mountains near Ruidoso, New Mexico, in the early hours of May 14, 2026. The NTSB’s preliminary report, released June 18, confirmed what aviation watchers feared: military GPS jamming from White Sands Missile Range was active at the flight’s altitude and location. The crew had been briefed on the jamming through their ForeFlight pre-flight package. Knowing a threat exists and being equipped to survive it are two very different things.
Six Minutes In, Everything Compounded
The crew lost GPS navigation almost immediately — and ATC was already overwhelmed.
Six minutes after departing Roswell Air Center, the crew told Albuquerque Center their GPS was gone. RNAV approaches were useless. They requested radar vectors for an ILS approach, a non-GPS backup. But ATC was juggling multiple aircraft also blinded by jamming, and delayed vectors by several minutes. The King Air overshot its landing pattern by roughly 10 miles while waiting — a solvable problem compounding fast.
The NTSB preliminary report confirms:
GPS jamming originated from White Sands Missile Range’s routine NAVFEST exercises, coordinated with the FAA and published via NOTAMs
ADS-B surveillance degraded alongside GPS
ATC paused jamming temporarily; the crew reported Ruidoso in sight and requested a visual approach
Jamming resumed during descent; the aircraft struck terrain approximately 230 feet below a summit https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/civilian-plane-crashed-mexico-military-163855450.html

Steve Kirsch on training AI models with or without respect to political narratives: Is AlterAI the only objective AI chatbot? I have a simple “objectivity test” that all the AI chatbots fail. The secret? It’s in the training. Is there another honest AI? Let me know in the comments.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Is AlterAI the only objective AI chatbot?

Executive summary…

18 days ago · 246 likes · 130 comments · Steve Kirsch

Moon of Alabama with key insights: It’s The Math – How China Is Avoiding The AI Bubble
The Artificial Intelligence bubble in the United States is still growing. It is consuming a large share of the available financial resources. But its output, in form of real products, is so far rather meager.
There are some code generation tools which are, at times, helpful, but, unless subsidized, very expensive. There is ChatGTP and other squawk boxes which in the end are just new forms of inherently unreliable web search tools.
What is missing are useful mass applications billions of people are willing to pay for... ..What’s less clear is when the profits are going to start rolling in and how big they are going to be. “To me, it’s a math problem,” says Asad Ramzanali, the director of A.I. at a policy center at Vanderbilt University. “We are making trillions of dollars in investments on the back of tens of billions of dollars in revenues.” That is why Ed Zitron and others will rightly tell you that the huge investments spent on AI are making no sense at all. Where are the products and the customers that will allow to recuperate the hundreds of billions of shady dollars spent on data centers for AI? ... ..The NY Times presume that everything the U.S. does is copied throughout the world. If the bubble burst in the U.S. it will, in consequence, also burst in other places – especially in China.
This is a misunderstanding of what the Chinese AI models are, and what Chinese AI companies are doing.
Throughout the last year several Chinese companies have surprised the public by offering AI models that are nearly as capable as the best ones U.S. companies produce, but are offered at a price that just a tenth of the cost of the (heavily subsidized) U.S. models... ..The real discriminator between U.S. and Chinese AI companies is the math they use.
U.S. models run on algorithms that are computationally wasteful, while Chinese models use smarter methods, which need less compute, to achieve a similar quality.
Language models, which, given some text input, produce a related text output, are nothing new. Most are based on so called neural network algorithms which are a simulation of a rudimentary function of the human brain. Neural networks can be trained to recognize an input to then produce a related output...
..U.S. companies jumped onto the Transformer model. It was seen as a chance to create ever bigger and better models with the hope that a huge sized model would eventually reach or exceed the capabilities of a human brain.
The advantage of the Transformer model is that the math necessary to train it can be parallelized. Computer chips built to produce graphics have special hardware to process pixels. Instead of one pixel at a time they compute complete pictures by computing the (color) value of thousands of pixels at the same time. The use of Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) allows for parallelized (matrix) operations on thousands of parameters. (A video by Grant Sanderson, Large Language Models explained briefly (vid), gives a good introduction to this.)
The disadvantage of the Transformer model is the exponential behavior of its attention mechanism. To digest one sentence of input the model has to process each element therein against all other elements held in the same context. That is an exponential operation. For a context of 500,000 input words (i.e to summarize a book of that length) the model will require 250 billion operations. OpenAI, Anthropic and others use a lot of tricks to optimize their computing but they can not escape the basic exponential constraints of the algorithm they use... ..For lack of compute capacity the Chinese model developers had to take different routes. They use recurrent neural networks and the so called Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) algorithms. These have been known since the late 1990s and are the basis for most machine language translations. Apple’s SIRI is using a LSTM model.
The LSTM algorithm has disadvantages. In its original form its training can not be parallelized. But it is able to ‘forget’ unnecessary context and its compute of an answer is (mostly) linear, not exponential.
The more recent extended LSTM algorithms allow for parallelizing the training of such models while keeping the advantage of a (nearly) linear response algorithm.
The recently revealed Kimi model of the Chinese company Moonshot.ai is based on a (modified) xLSTM algorithm, called Kimi Delta Attention. It also splits the model into a network of 800 ‘experts’ only a few of which are activated to answer a users specific question... ..The U.S. AI model providers, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX, are all stuck with the Transformer model algorithms they use to build their models. It is what they have been building on for years and it is what their engineers are experts in. They have promised to build or buy a huge amount of computing capacity because that is what their models need.
It is this choice of an algorithm that has created the U.S. AI bubble.
The Chinese modelers, for lack of unlimited venture capital, have had to find better ways to solve the problems. Their use of different algorithms allows them to deliver nearly similar results for much less money.
There is also a difference in attitude. Where U.S. financiers like Larry Ellison are striving for some god-like general artificial intelligence, the Chinese (and some European) developers and financiers are much more interested in solving real world (industry) problems... ..Instead of reaching for the stars, like U.S. companies do, the Chinese are out to solve down-to-earth problems. Restricted resources have forced the Chinese developers to find better algorithms. Their primary orientation is on useful applications that will generate appropriate returns for their costs.
At some point the AI bubble in the U.S. will blow up. There will be a lot of collateral damage. Many people will lose their money. There will be a number of useless empty data centers up for rent. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/08/its-the-math-how-china-is-avoiding-the-ai-bubble.html

Meryl Nass MD on the right advertising slogan: Chinese-owned Smithfield is the largest pork producer in the US. They want the ability to keep pigs miserable in tiny cages or crates for their lifetimes. And they call this “Save Our Bacon.” Give Pigs a Chance (to have a life before being eaten).

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Chinese-owned Smithfield is the largest pork producer in the US. They want the ability to keep pigs miserable in tiny cages or crates for their lifetimes. And they call this "Save Our Bacon."

16 days ago · 88 likes · 37 comments · Meryl Nass

BREAKING: Criminal Referral Requests Sent to All 50 State Attorneys General Seek Prosecutions of Fauci and Top Public-Health Officials
The 50-state legal campaign cites murder, terrorism, racketeering, human trafficking, elder abuse, and other serious offenses tied to COVID-era hospital protocols and financial incentives.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: Criminal Referral Requests Sent to All 50 State Attorneys General Seek Prosecutions of Fauci and Top Public-Health Officials

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

16 days ago · 432 likes · 158 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

John Leake, “Lyme Disease Almost Certainly Came from These [Gain-of Function] Experiments” - Reviewing the evidence that Lyme disease emerged from US biodefense Lab 257 on Plum Island On July 28, 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a government-wide policy of ending federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function (DGOF) research.
A few readers—including a couple of angry readers—have asked me to explain why Kennedy just stated on Fox News that Lyme disease “almost certainty came from these [Gain-of-Function] experiments.” Some readers may recall that, last November, in a conversation on the PBD Podcast, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary stated that “with a high degree of probability,” Lyme disease came from the U.S. biodefense “Lab 257 on Plum Island just outside of Connecticut.”
Makary elaborated that the pathogenic agent was developed primarily by the German veterinarian and animal virus specialist, Dr. Erich Traub, who previously conducted biological warfare research for Nazi Germany and was brought to the United States after the war as part of Operation Paperclip to acquire German scientific research while denying it to the Soviets. As evidence, Makary cited the published literature on the U.S. bioweapons program to develop insects and arachnids as disease vectors. He specifically mentioned the book, Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, by Kris Newby.
I was already familiar with the theory that the causative agent of Lyme disease—a spiral-shaped bacteria (spirochetes) from the Borrelia genus, primarily Borrelia burgdorferi—came out of Lab 257 on Plum Island. The bacteria was first isolated and described in 1982 by Wilhelm Burgdorfer, a Swiss-American medical entomologist who worked at NIAID.
The first cluster of Lyme disease cases in humans was identified in 1975 in Old Lyme, Connecticut, after two mothers noticed their children’s unusual arthritis symptoms.
I hadn’t given this theory much thought until I saw the reflexive, widespread, and lockstep proclamations that Dr. Makary’s statement is a “debunked conspiracy theory.”

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

"Lyme Disease Almost Certainly Came from These [Gain-of Function] Experiments"

On July 28, 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a government-wide policy of ending federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function (DGOF) research…

17 days ago · 277 likes · 81 comments · John Leake

Rare virus with no cure detected in New York - There is no vaccine or medicine to prevent or treat the Bourbon virus, which is transmitted by the lone star tick https://www.rt.com/news/643787-bourbon-virus-new-york/

Steve Kirsch, Official German KiGGS study found unvaccinated kids are much healthier, but they publicly claimed there was no difference The had only 94 kids on the unvaccinated group so the results were not statistically significant. But in 13/14 comparisons looked at in the study, the unvaccinated kids were much healthier.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Official German KiGGS study found unvaccinated kids are much healthier, but they publicly claimed there was no difference

Executive summary…

20 days ago · 307 likes · 63 comments · Steve Kirsch

Steve Kirsch got a compliment from AI: “This is the most honest medical data I have ever seen on this topic [autism]” --AlterAI I showed AlterAI the data collected from my latest survey of parents of kids who regressed rapidly. Check out all the things they have in common and see if you can determine the underlying cause.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

"This is the most honest medical data I have ever seen on this topic [autism]" --AlterAI

Executive summary…

16 days ago · 295 likes · 56 comments · Steve Kirsch

Steve Kirsch, The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) plan avoids the elephant in the room I read through their entire 336-page strategic plan and the word “vaccine” was never mentioned. Not even once. They are avoiding the elephant in the room. That is not how science should work.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) plan avoids the elephant in the room

Executive summary…

17 days ago · 280 likes · 96 comments · Steve Kirsch

Jessica Rose Ph.D. reviews more emails: Robert Gallo warned Francis Collins/Anthony Fauci of the dangers of using glycosylated spike proteins in vaccine context in May 2020 - His warning was ignored... the mRNA ship had to sail Gallo writes a humble warning:
“On a final digression Francis I have had 36 years of on/off experiences with glycosylated spike proteins-their analyses immunologically and especially regarding use in vaccines and developing neutralizing Abs. I believe it will be a mistake to put most eggs in that basket. The risks: shortened antibody half life; 2) protection NOT correlating with neutralizing Abs; 3) sometimes hazards from them. Admittedly, they might work, but I trust and hope that not everything is going in this bag. If you wish to discuss this again I will be available.“... ..He warned of three foreseeable issues:
shortened antibody half-life
protection NOT correlating with neutralizing Abs (antibodies)
sometimes hazards from them
This. Blew. My. Mind. Why? Because peer-reviewed data on the mRNA COVID-19 injectable products show all three.

Unacceptable Jessica

Robert Gallo warned Francis Collins/Anthony Fauci of the dangers of using glycosylated spike proteins in vaccine context in May 2020

On May 3, 2020, an email was sent as a response from Robert Gallo to Francis Collins pertaining to “a query to Dr. Kadlec” suggesting using the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to prevent SARS-CoV-2. You can this email here on pages 959 and 960. Gallo contacted Kadlec. Kadlec involved Collins…

17 days ago · 304 likes · 80 comments · Jessica Rose

Meryl Nass MD, Evidence emerges that a placebo or less toxic COVID vaccine may have been used in some states or for some politicians

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Evidence emerges that a placebo or less toxic COVID vaccine may have been used in some states or for some politicians

16 days ago · 167 likes · 54 comments · Meryl Nass

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome was named decades before the metabolic/prediabetic causes were discovered. PCOS Has a New Name; Doctors Hope It Will Improve Care for Millions https://www.globalresearch.ca/pcos-new-name-doctors-hope-improve-care-millions/5935763

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Choices To Make

John Day MD — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 22:17:53 GMT

Reviewing Options,

Empires extract tribute from the states they rule in order to sustain the military and administrative structures of empire and also to further profit imperial elites.

The current Petrobuck-Empire controls the oceanic trade routes with the US Navy and downsized “allied” forces such as the UK, the recently demoted seat of global naval empire. The primary extraction mechanism of empire is the ongoing dilution of the global reserve currency with freshly minted $US, which are accepted everywhere at face value, for things like oil and high-intensity neodymium magnets.

This “exorbitant privilege” funds the imperial forces, and also makes the industrial exports of the seat of empire less competitive, since the $US is in artificially high demand for trade and savings/reserves. UK industry was hollowed out by this same “Triffin Dilemma” before and after the weakened British Empire was demoted to a commonwealth. The UK had peak-hard-coal during WW-1 and was unable to export it to Italy after that war. Italy started getting hard-coal from Germany and changed alliances by WW-2.

The US was the world’s biggest producer and exporter of oil and refined products in WW-2, as the rest of the world transitioned into petro-economy during that war. The US and UK cooperated to control the oil trade after WW-2, including the use of wars and coups, such as the pivotal 1953 CIA/MI-6 “Operation Ajax” against Iranian-nationalist Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had recently nationalized the British oil monopoly in that country. That festering wound is the crux of the current Hormuz Strait Crisis for the control of global oil flows through that choke-point. The Petrobuck Empire is being seen as unable to maintain dominance of this critical oil-exporting, which calls the tributary arrangements of the Petrobuck-Empire acutely into open question.

Is a hegemonic empire necessary in the modern world? How would trade on the high seas be protected from piracy, if not by a hegemonic empire? What might be the arrangements for pipelines and railroads along China’s “New Silk Road” and other initiatives by the great Eurasian land powers, Russia and China? The current BRICS movement asserts that no empire is necessary to manage world trade, and that the profits assigned to the imperial elites, military and financial system would serve the world and humanity better if more fairly and evenly distributed.

There is room for large Eurasian nations, Russia, China, India, Iran and Turkey, to immediately gain from the orderly dissolution of the Petrobuck Empire, but their own historical and logistical rivalries stand to break such an alliance apart once the initial goal is realized. The question of long term feasibility of global trade without a hegemon, unlike the Strait of Hormuz. This will have to be negotiated now, this year, near term, because the shortages of oil, natural gas, nitrogen fertilizer, and helium for microchip circuitry are becoming acute as buffer-supplies are exhausted.

The structural inducement for global elites to use the $US as global trade and reserve currency, the “carrot” to match the imperial-military “stick” of the Petrobuck Empire, is the payment of real interest after inflation on large holdings of $US within the imperial financial system, such as adequately high yields on US Treasury debt. These arrangements bind wealthy people and comprador-elites, as well as the global central banking system to the $US as reserve currency, as long as the system maintains the real-interest-after-inflation profit relationship for all parties.

The ability of the $US global financial system, centered upon the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Banks, to keep paying real returns on reserves is called into question as the global real economy of goods and services has tipped from 300 years of growth into terminal decline as limits upon oil and natural gas supplies and rising costs of extracting all mineral wealth impose physical economic limits which are not political or financial in nature. Diesel and jet-fuel are middle distillates from heavy crude oil, not light fracked oil or natural gas “condensates”. Some trade off in refineries between diesel and jet fuel is possible, but only some. What hydrocarbon chains can be extracted from heavy crude in refining is not open to negotiation, and world supplies of diesel fuel have been stagnant since 2014, with fluctuations, particularly reductions during COVID lockdowns, Diesel usage has not risen to the seasonal peaks seen between 2014 and 2020 since global economy “recovered”. Diesel fuel supplies are a hard limit on real economy. The largest polluter in the world, the US military uses a lot of diesel and jet fuel, as does every other military. As WW-3 spreads, the supplies of fuels to peaceful applications like agriculture and transportation will be curtailed hard. Russia and Ukraine are modeling this now.

Since gobal real aggregate real economic growth has hit hard limits, and economic growth is good for financial and power elites and their wealth, the BRICS paradigm of more evenly distributing profits has wide appeal. Opposed to a wealth-redistribution arrangement are all current financial and power elites who are structurally invested in the $US system, though their loyalty would be eliminated if that system were to crash, as it did in 2008, and stop paying them for support.

The open question in global trade and finance is whther a “New Bretton Woods” arrangement can be negotiated soon, or if it will have to wait until after a kinetic WW-3 has destroyed much of the real wealth in the world, going into the epoch of less fuel and less mineral wealth, which mean that whateverworld economy is rebuilt will be much smaller overall.

Trump the dealmaker has been trying to build as strong a negotiating hand as possible for the US and the Petrobuck-Empire, but what seems to be happening is that the actual limits of the US military are being laid bare for global analysis, as Iran prevails in the Persian Gulf theater, and US forces keep having to move farther away from Iranian missiles, which can reach well beyond the Mideast theater, already. US forces have retreated to Jordan and have taken losses of F-35s and personnel there. Israel is a little farther from Iran, but not enough to matter. The next jump is Cyprus, also within the range of Iranian hypersonic missiles, but maybe not yet Iranian drones. Cyprus is not the Mideast at all.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has started advocating for a revised Bretton Woods agreement, not a new agreement, with an eye to maintianing the $US as global reserve currency, but cutting costs to the US. This is an opening position for negotiation, one with a weakening military and economic hand, and approaching a financial calamity which will destroy the negotiating position of global financial and comprador elites. Time is of the essence. Russia, India, Turkey and Iran play chess. China plays Go, and Americans play poker.

President Donald Trump appears to be subordinate in the military command structure to powerful zionist financial and intelligence elites. This control seems pervasive. I do not know what the coercive factors are. Is there a breaking point where Trump would rebel against self-destructive and nationally-destructive Israeli orders? How many Israeli crimes against the US might be openly revealed? What if Trump knew that Israel was about to fall, anyway, but could still carry out the threat(s)? I wonder about this a lot, but I get nowhere with it.

Trump needs to gracefully admit defeat to Iran, but it is against his narcissistic nature, and it appears to be against his orders from zionist elites. Trump has already critically depleted US offensive missiles, and especially defensive missiles, which would make the US lose a war against a peer adversary like Russia or China rapidly. Missile stocks would be gone in a week or two. This is a very weak hand for Trump the poker player, but he can still make it weaker.

July 31, Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: – U.S. (Again) Blocks Strait Traffic
The first Qatari LNG shipment in three weeks has successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz along an Iranian-designated route with Tehran’s authorization, Fars news agency reported.
Three weeks ago, following a US violation of a memorandum of understanding, Tehran mandated that all maritime traffic through the Strait require Iranian approval. Fars said that the Qatari tanker presented clear identification data and adhered to the Iranian-designated route, allowing it to sail smoothly through the waterway.
—The U.S. though, despite being an ‘ally’ of Qatar and Pakistan, did not like the precedent …
..The U.S. has blocked a Qatari LNG tanker from continuing to Pakistan simply because it used the Iran-designated safe corridor, and not the US-backed one. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/war-on-iran-u-s-again-blocks-strait-traffic.html

The Honest Sorcerer points out that ag-machinery, trucks and trains run on diesel fuel, and need lots of motor oil. We know about the shortages of nitrogen fertilizer from oil and gas. Without those things 90% of us would soon die, casualties of resource-wars. No Oil, No Food - How the many converging crises lowered the prospect of keeping all 8.3 billion of us alive

The Honest Sorcerer

No Oil, No Food

Happy Earth Overshoot Day Everyone…

21 days ago · 223 likes · 32 comments · The Honest Sorcerer

Treasury Secretary Bessent has been talking about revising Bretton Woods. Bretton Woods institutions must reorient, US Treasury secretary saysSpeaking at the Institute of International Finance (IIF)on April 23, Bessent called on the IMF and the World Bank to correct trade imbalances and protect the value of fiat currencies against exchange rate risk. “The Bretton Woods institutions must step back from their sprawling and unfocused agendas,” Bessent said...Speaking at the White House Digital Asset Summiton March 7, Bessent said stablecoins could drive international demand for US dollars and US government debt instruments. Bessent added that the Trump administration will use stablecoins to protect the US dollar and its status as the global reserve currency.
Bitcoin maximalist Max Keiser argued against this plan, predicting that gold-backed stablecoins would outcompete dollar-pegged tokens due to the desire for low-volatility, inflation-resistant money. https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:884cb0e3a094b:0-bretton-woods-institutions-must-reorient-us-treasury-secretary-says/

4/15/26 Secretary Bessent IMFC-DC Statement This year’s Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank provide an important opportunity to engage on current global economic challenges as well as our work with partners and the international financial institutions to support a pro-growth agenda, macroeconomic and financial stability, and poverty reduction...
..In recent years, the IMF has suffered from mission creep. Its work has too often extended into areas such as international development, climate change, gender, and social issues, which are disconnected from the institution’s core mandate. To restore its relevance and impact, the Fund must drop these extraneous items and focus on the critical economic work at hand... ..The IMF’s lending function must also remain disciplined and focused. Strong programs are built on meaningful policy conditionality that address the root causes of balance of payments problems ...The United States also expects the IMF to advance reforms and structural benchmarks that strengthen borrower accountability in program implementation. In a more constrained external financing environment, the IMF should promote domestic revenue mobilization, better governance, and policies that support durable, private sector-led growth.....The Bank must do more to advance developing country access to abundant, affordable, and reliable energy to support economic growth and poverty reduction... Financing that delivers energy abundance will provide a strong boost to growth, which will also support debt sustainability. We also expect more from the Bank on critical minerals, which are central to economic growth, technological leadership, and countries’ economic security. Building on the recent adoption of a critical minerals strategy, we expect to see all parts of the Bank move quickly to support the policies, projects, and associated infrastructure needed to unlock more deals that will help diversify critical minerals supply chains and increase domestic value capture across the supply chain... ..Focusing on the Bank’s core mission also means abandoning its distortionary 45% climate finance target, which impedes market efficiency, distorts incentives, and undermines efforts to reduce poverty and spur economic growth. We welcome the coming expiration of the Climate Change Action Plan, and upon its long-overdue expiration, expect the Bank to immediately shift its myopic focus on climate and financing volumes to one that emphasizes high-quality, durable projects rather than shaping and selecting projects to chase arbitrary financing targets that do little to lift people out of poverty... ..More than eight decades after their creation at Bretton Woods, we must ensure that the international financial institutions remain true to their mandates and fit for purpose. Streamlining policy priorities will allow both the World Bank and IMF to focus limited public resources on effectively fulfilling their core mandates while nimbly responding to crises. The United States will continue to work with Management and staff, as well as other shareholders, to advance these priorities. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0442

Tass, US sees profits as key foreign policy goal, Russian diplomat says According to Rodion Miroshnik, the United States is doing everything possible to preserve and strengthen its hegemony https://tass.com/politics/2167891

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-01 Yesterday’s threads all snapped taut at once: theBOJ decision landed (no hike, a record ~$90B burned) and the US Treasury now signals it may intervene on the yen directly, while the 30-year yield broke out to 5.27%. Iran moved from threatening Hormuz to striking two US-Navy-escorted tankers in it, and Trump reportedly ordered a fresh weekend campaign on Iranian energy targets. Ceuta escalated from a swim-in to riots, 41 dead and a cascade of Schengen suspensions; Kyiv took 25 missiles with a single Patriot fired back... ..Iran-Hormuz: escorted tankers hit, Kuwait drones, Trump orders weekend energy strikes - CENTCOM’s fact-check insisting Hormuz “remains open” ran head-first into Iran’s footage of burning tankers(CENTCOM); IRGC says no vessel passes without a Persian Gulf Strait Authority permit, and it blocked six tankers Friday (zerohedge).
Kuwait reports Iranian drone strikes on Al Jaber Air Base and a Bubiyan Island facility described as a HIMARS/ATACMS launchpad, admitting damage from “shrapnel” (MenchOsint); (zerohedge).
US pulling back in Iraq: troops and Patriot batteries out of northern Iraq(zerohedge);Erbil withdrawal accelerating (DougAMacgregor); an An-124 seen relocating a depleted Patriot battery via Erbil to Cyprus (MenchOsint)...
..CSIS puts US Patriot stocks down ~65% since February to under a thousandwhile Lockheed’s up-to-$58.6B rebuild answers “in years, not days” (shanaka86).
The most-cited human cost: a US 2,000-lb bomb on a civilian neighborhood killed a husband, wife and 2-year-old son (MenchOsint)... ..Oil: SPR at 1983 lows on the 18th straight draw; refining premium a record $60 - SPR fell to 308M barrels, lowest since March 1983, an 18th consecutive weekly decline (-26% over the run); commercial crude at its lowest since 2018 (KobeissiLetter); (Hedgeye).
 Exxon’s CEO says available refining capacity has never been this low relative to demand (JavierBlas); Jeff Currie pegs the refined-products premium over crude at a 30-year-record $60/bbl (steve_hanke).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-01

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

20 days ago · 68 likes · 5 comments · No1

August 1, Simplicius, US Careens Into Senseless Iran Escalation Amidst Lack of Options

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

US Careens Into Senseless Iran Escalation Amidst Lack of Options

Netanyahu’s recent visit to DC has come with marching orders, which according to reports Trump is dutifully following with plans for launching a major strike campaign against Iran’s energy infrastructure…

20 days ago · 686 likes · 465 comments · Simplicius

August 2, Trump Says “Perimeters Of A Deal Reached” With Iran To Reopen Hormuz After Call With Saudi Crown Prince Although no US strikes were launched from Friday night into Saturday morning and the Gulf region remained quiet early Sunday, anticipation surrounding President Trump’s next move is keeping energy traders and Gulf governments on edge. The big concern is that another round of strikes could trigger a wider regional conflict, particularly as the Iranian-backed Houthis have reactivated offensive operations in the southern Red Sea in recent weeks.
The Trump administration and Department of War may pursue de-escalation from here after Trump wrote on Truth Social late Saturday night: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.” https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-says-perimeters-deal-reached-iran-reopen-hormuz-after-call-saudi-crown-prince

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-02 The big delta is a whiplash TACO: after ordering a weekend energy-strike campaign on Iran, Trump cancelled within hours and claimed the “perimeters of a deal” that reopens Hormuz, and weekend oil pumped into Friday’s close then dumped hard. Underneath the theatre, the harder news is structural: US debt crossed $40T with the 30Y at 2007 highs, Washington and Tokyo ran their first joint yen intervention in ~30 years, and a EUCOM commander privately warned he can no longer guarantee Israel’s missile defense. Continuation elsewhere: Russia grinding the Donbas with Kyiv’s air defense empty, AI de-grossing, and the Coldcard wallet theft now past $88M. Trump cancels Iran strikes, claims Hormuz deal (the weekend TACO)... The offer reportedly went via Qatar, with skepticism Iran accepts it (HormuzLetter); DarioCpx floats the sequence as Iran handing MBS an ARAMCO target list, MBS calling Trump, and Trump folding (JustDario).
..Note: This reverses a same-day escalation: earlier reporting had US tankers airborne and a two-week strike window “open.” US orders Americans out across the entire Middle East - Embassies in UAE, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi, Bahrain and now Egypt issued near-simultaneous departure alerts, warning of flight cancellations and airspace closures... ..EUCOM: can’t keep defending Israel; interceptor stocks dwindling
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich privately warned the Pentagon he lacks the naval forces to keep defending Israel from Iranian ballistic missiles and may have to prioritize the US homeland without another destroyer (sentdefender, citing WaPo; BRICSinfo).
Framed alongside SM-3/SM-6 shortages (MenchOsint); Greenwald notes the entire national-security apparatus is “entering a panic state” over defensive and offensive weapon shortfalls (ggreenwald). Bond market break: $40T debt, 30Y at 2007 highs, US-Japan yen intervention - US debt “officially just passed $40 trillion,” with a third to refinance within a year and the 30Y at its highest since 2007 (TreasuryBonds1) US borrowing rates hit their highest since June 2007 with credit-card serious delinquencies at 2010 highs (KobeissiLetter).
 The US joined Japan defending the yen Friday, the first joint intervention in ~30 years (steve_hanke); the NY Fed sold EUR/bought JPY at Bessent’s direction via the Exchange Stabilization Fund (Kathleen_Tyson_).
Gromen’s read: the Iran/Hormuz shock “many said would break China is instead breaking Japan & the UST market first,” putting Bessent in the Bank of England’s 1992 position (LukeGromen). Japan has now spent roughly the market value of its entire official gold reserves defending the yen

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-02

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

19 days ago · 60 likes · 20 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-08-03 Two hard deltas over the weekend. Trump announced the “perimeters of a deal” with Iran to reopen Hormuz after a call with MBS, cancelled a strike he called the “biggest attack since WWII,” and crude gapped down hard on the open — while Iran flatly denied any deal as a “desperate attempt to manipulate the market” and tankers kept taking fire in the US-backed corridor. Separately, the US-Japan joint yen intervention is now officially confirmed by Japan’s MOF, with Bessent vowing repeats and Tokyo reaching for the Fed’s FIMA repo line. Continuation underneath: Russian troops now within 5km of Slovyansk-Kramatorsk, and a tech melt-up running straight into BofA’s strongest sell signal this century.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-08-03

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

18 days ago · 63 likes · 11 comments · No1

Trump Unloads On ‘Duplicitous’ Iran, Claims Secret Talks Despite Tehran’s Public Rejection Trump claims Iran wants talks; Tehran again denies any US negotiations.
Trump says Gulf allies halted planned US strikes in favor of diplomacy.
Iran says Hormuz talks with Oman are progressing, but US actions remain the obstacle.
Oil prices still falling on optimism over Hormuz negotiations & uptick in transit.
Tehran is betting it can outlast Trump by raising the costs of confrontation. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-denies-negotiations-us-after-trump-announces-talks-monday-afternoon

‘Defend Israel or the Homeland’: Top US general issues stark warning to Pentagon brass
Washington has greatly reduced its interceptor missile stocks, jeopardizing its ability to fight China, while prioritizing the protection of Israel The highest-ranking US general in Europe informed the Pentagon this week that he does not have enough naval units to protect Israel against potential Iranian missile strikes, according to a report by the Washington Post on August 1.
General Alexus Grynkewich, the head of US European Command (EUCOM), notified senior Pentagon officials in writing that without another navy destroyer, he will be forced to choose between defending the US “homeland” and defending Israel...
..US naval destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean have long been part of Israel’s defense strategy. They are equipped with radar systems and missile interceptors capable of countering Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
 EUCOM is responsible for protecting Israel from the Mediterranean and deterring any Russian ground incursion into NATO member states. https://thecradle.co/articles/defend-israel-or-the-homeland-top-us-general-issues-stark-warning-to-pentagon-brass

Israel Blocks U.S. Transfer of American-Owned Iron Dome Batteries to Ukraine, Citing Fears of Technology Leaks to Iran https://www.thedefensenews.com/Israel-Blocks-US-Transfer-of-American-Owned-Iron-Dome-Batteries-to-Ukraine-Citing-Fears-of-Technology-Leaks-to-Iran/

Iran FM Accuses Israel Of False Flag After Mystery Drone Strike On Egyptian Port Iran is suggesting that Wednesday’s unprecedented drone attack on a US-owned gas-processing vessel moored at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta was a false flag.
Even within hours of the incident first being reported by Egyptian authorities, which merely described an industrial fire of unknown cause, the incident was shrouded in mystery and contradictory reports. Some reports pointed to the Iranians, while others alleged the Houthis may have attacked the Mediterranean port...There was widespread speculation that this was the Iranians seeking to demonstrate to the Americans that it can disrupt energy flows across the whole broader region, even into the Mediterranean Sea.
But Tehran has since vehemently denied it was behind the alleged drone strike, with on Thursday its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issuing a statement raising the prospect of an Israeli false flag.
“Egypt is an important friend and partner in the region, and its security is of utmost importance to us,” Araghchi wrote on X. “We must all be vigilant against Israeli plots and false-flag operations designed to undermine regional peace.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-fm-accuses-israel-false-flag-after-mystery-drone-strike-egyptian-port

Trump says Medicare and Medicaid may not survive as war spending takes priority While the remark initially referenced childcare, Trump quickly expanded the idea to include broader social programs. “Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things… they can do it on a state basis,” he said. “You can’t do it on a federal [level]. We have to take care of one thing: military protection—we have to guard the country.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-says-medicare-and-medicaid-may-not-survive-as-war-spending-takes-priority/ar-AA1ZZsz4

Russia is reportedly providing Iran with satellite surveillance and signals intelligence that is helping Tehran locate U.S. military forces across the Middle East and improve its ability to counter American military operations, according to U.S. and European officials cited by NBC News.
The report, published on July 31, 2026, states that the intelligence sharing includes satellite imagery and signals intelligence collected from communications networks, radar systems, and military equipment. Officials familiar with the matter told NBC News that the information is helping Iran identify U.S. military positions and interfere with American-made aircraft and precision-guided munitions used in strikes against Iranian targets. https://www.thedefensenews.com/Report--Russia-Providing-Iran-With-Satellite-and-Signals-Intelligence-to-Counter-US-Operations/

US Withdraws Troops, Patriot Batteries From Northern Iraq Amid Iranian Attacks https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-withdraws-troops-patriot-batteries-northern-iraq-amid-iranian-attacks

Well if the President says so... President Trump Announces Deal for Hamas to Disarm While Israel Withdraws from Gaza According to the announcements: Hamas agrees to gradually surrender weapons in exchange for Israeli troop withdrawal, under a phased plan announced by Donald Trump. “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.” Verification & Oversight: A verification committee will monitor disarmament and troop withdrawal, with weapons stored under a new Palestinian administration. International Mediation: Agreement brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the US-led Board of Peace, aiming to enable Gaza reconstruction and humanitarian access. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/07/31/president-trump-announces-deal-for-hamas-to-disarm-while-israel-withdraws-from-gaza/

Full text of the roadmap to complete the implementation of the Trump plan in Gaza https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/01/367635/

As Gazans suffer, Israel says No to ceasefire package – Daily Update The Palestinian group Hamas has agreed to a written agreement for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire based on a “comprehensive package” of reciprocal and simultaneous commitments, conditional on Israel’s full implementation of the first phase, a Hamas spokesperson said, adding that the agreement should be treated as a single, integrated package. “If Israel does not implement (its obligations under the agreement), we will not implement ours either,” Hamad said.
*NOTE: According to the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, signed by Hamas and Israel on October 9, 2025, the IDF was required to withdraw troops to specified lines and not return; all military operations were to be suspended; and Israel was to begin allowing entry of at least 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid per day.
Today, Israel has not only not withdrawn, it is holding more of Gaza than before – from 53% to approaching 70% (with possible plans for 100%); military operations have continued, with almost daily attacks and at least 1,200 Palestinians killed; and an average of about 85 truckloads of aid have entered Gaza per day.
The Israeli government has rejected a proposal reached by mediators in Cairo with Palestinian factions and is insisting on the complete disarmament of Hamas* as a key condition for any progress on US President Donald Trump’s plan, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The report said Israel has made clear it will not withdraw from the so-called Yellow Line until Hamas is fully disarmed and the Gaza Strip is completely demilitarized. https://israelpalestinenews.org/as-gazans-suffer-israel-says-no-to-ceasefire-package-daily-update/

Israel kills 19 in Gaza as attacks escalate despite latest Trump plan
Israeli ceasefire violations mount as strikes target critical Gaza infrastructure and residential buildings. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/2/israel-kills-five-in-gaza-despite-trumps-hamas-disarmament-plan

Israeli Strikes Kill Two in Gaza, Destroy Medicine Storage Warehouses https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5302361-israeli-strikes-kill-two-gaza-destroy-medicine-storage-warehouses

Gaza Rights Center warns of spiking cancer deaths in Gaza amid travel restrictions https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/01/367657/

Ben Gvir voices arrogant remarks against Palestinian women prisoners Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir verbally attacked a Palestinian woman prisoner during a raid on Ofer Prison, near the Giv’at Ze’ev settlement northwest of Ramallah, after she demanded basic rights inside the prison.
A video showed Ben Gvir responding to the prisoner’s complaints about detention conditions by saying, “The food should not be good. This is not a hotel.”
The prisoner had spoken about the poor quality of food given to Palestinian women prisoners, the lack of clean water and their deprivation of access to fresh air, all of which are considered basic rights that must be provided to detainees.
Ben Gvir told the prisoner that “anyone who does bad things should think about what they did, and anyone who commits a crime should learn, especially if it is a crime against the people of Israel,” according to his remarks.
Although the prisoner denied committing any crime, Ben Gvir continued attacking her, saying, “This is not a hotel. In the past, it was a hotel. Now it is no longer so.” https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/01/367654/

UN rights chief warns of unprecedented rise in settler violence and West Bank annexation https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/08/01/367647/

Israeli settler tells BBC attacks on Palestinians are justified as revenge
An Israeli settler in the West Bank told the BBC he considers attacks on Palestinians justified as revenge. Settler violence against Palestinians is reported to be rising as settlements and outposts continue to expand across the territory. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/a1be865f-12be-4340-ba3c-98d859301169

After Israel killed her three sons, she found hope in a newborn. Then he was killed too
Fatima Nofal gave birth to Zaid after losing three sons in an Israeli air strike in 2023. Fifteen months later, another Israeli strike killed him in central Gaza https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/after-israel-killed-her-three-sons-she-found-hope-newborn-then-israel-killed-him-too

Kamikaze Drone Slams Into Crowded Russian Black Sea Beach, Killing 3 Audio from the footage appears to capture Russian air-defense forces firing on the incoming drone moments before it struck the crowded beach. It remains unclear whether civilians were deliberately targeted or whether the drone was damaged by automatic fire, causing it to deviate from its intended flight path. https://www.zerohedge.com/military/kamikaze-drone-slams-crowded-russian-black-sea-beach-killing-3

Is Morocco Weaponizing the Ceuta Immigrant Flow in Behest of the US? The timing of this latest migrant crisis is the critical variable that connects the actions of Morocco with the strategic objectives of the United States, forming a nexus that suggests a possible coordinated pressure campaign against Spain, a campaign made all the more effective because Ceuta’s physical isolation from the European mainland makes it a logistical bottleneck where even a moderate increase in migrant flows can trigger an immediate and visible state of collapse, and the crisis erupted almost concurrently with explicit threats from the administration of President Trump, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Spanish government for its refusal to commit to a defense spending target of five percent of GDP for NATO, for its prohibition on using the military bases at Rota and Moron for any potential operations against Iran and for deepening economic ties with China, including awarding contracts to Chinese tech giant Huawei for sensitive infrastructure.
This pressure has been amplified by senior Republican figures in Washington, most notably Representative Mario Díaz-Balart, a close ally of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who declared in an April 2026 interview with El Español that “Ceuta and Melilla are not in the geographic territory of Spain, they are in the territory of Morocco, and that kind of thing is established, negotiated, and discussed between friends and allies.”
The statement effectively shows Washington’s willingness to entertain Moroccan territorial claims as part of the broader diplomatic confrontation with Madrid. https://www.globalresearch.ca/morocco-weaponizing-ceuta-immigrant-flow/5935475

Italy Suspends Schengen Travel Agreement With Spain After Horrifying Ceuta Invasion - Europe’s Right-Wing Blasts Spanish Socialists For Border Failure
Riots erupted in Ceuta as Illegals Clashed with Security Forces
Mass Migration Invasion Of Military-Aged Males From Morocco Invades Spanish Enclave “Looks Like World War Z!” https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/spains-ceuta-invaded-thousands-illegals-and-military-aged-men-storm-border-morocco

Escape Key, Ceuta On July 30, 2026, roughly 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta — a small Spanish enclave on the northern tip of Africa with a population of 83,000.
Something will be done. Something is always done. The question worth asking — and the one that never gets asked in the middle of a crisis — is whether that something makes the next crisis more likely, or less. Morocco has done this before. In May 2021, around 8,000 people crossed into Ceuta over two days after Moroccan authorities appeared to loosen border controls. The 2026 surge is larger by an order of magnitude, but the mechanism is the same: Morocco controls the border and adjusts the flow when leverage is needed. Migration analysts noted that ‘these kinds of organised movements don’t happen without, at minimum, passive collaboration from Moroccan authorities’.
The EU’s response to the 2021 crisis was to expand border infrastructure, increase Frontex funding, and accelerate the development of digital border management systems. None of those measures reduced Morocco’s ability to open the tap again. If anything, they increased Morocco’s leverage — because each opening now produces a larger crisis, which produces a larger concession, which funds more infrastructure, which makes the next opening more consequential. The cycle feeds itself. The EU’s Entry/Exit System became fully operational on April 10, 2026⁴ — less than four months before the Ceuta crisis. It replaces passport stamping with biometric data collection across 29 European countries: facial images, fingerprints, and personal data registered in a centralised EU database every time a non-EU national crosses an external border. Over 45 million border crossings have already been recorded.
The system is presented as a way to detect overstayers and prevent identity fraud, and on those terms it works. But what it creates is a centralised biometric identity database covering every non-EU national who enters Europe. That database can be linked to the EU’s digital identity wallet framework, eIDAS 2.0⁵, which every member state is required to offer by late 2026. Or it could be connected to financial compliance systems through interoperability rules that already exist⁶. The border tool becomes an identity layer — but once built, that won’t necessarily stay at the border.
A crisis like Ceuta makes the argument for accelerating it. Sixty thousand people overwhelming physical border controls in 24 hours is a compelling case for automated biometric processing...
..The pattern across all three measures is identical. A crisis occurs. Emergency measures are introduced. The emergency measures become permanent infrastructure. The permanent infrastructure doesn’t reduce the likelihood of the next crisis — in some cases it increases it — but it never gets reversed. The Entry/Exit System, ETIAS, and the Migration Pact were all designed, legislated, and deployed before the Ceuta crisis occurred. The crisis didn’t create the legislative acts. It justifies them — retroactively, publicly, and permanently... a biometric identity database covering every non-EU national who crosses a border, a pre-screening system that evaluates travellers before they board a plane, and an emergency clause that suspends fundamental rights whenever a third country decides to open a border. The infrastructure was allegedly built to control migrants, but once the database, the pre-screening, and the emergency powers exist — they exist for everyone.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Ceuta

On July 30, 2026, roughly 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta — a small Spanish enclave on the northern tip of Africa with a population of 83,000…

19 days ago · 147 likes · 23 comments · esc

 Trump says Medicare and Medicaid may not survive as war spending takes priority While the remark initially referenced childcare, Trump quickly expanded the idea to include broader social programs. “Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things… they can do it on a state basis,” he said. “You can’t do it on a federal [level]. We have to take care of one thing: military protection—we have to guard the country.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-says-medicare-and-medicaid-may-not-survive-as-war-spending-takes-priority/ar-AA1ZZsz4

DoJ appears to ignore New Mexico deadline for key Epstein ranch files
State attorney general set 31 July deadline for documents relating to abuse of girls at Epstein-owned Zorro ranch https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/01/doj-new-mexico-epstein-documents

Celia Farber, Land Of The Free: CIA Preparing Criminal Case Against Broadcaster Tucker Carlson Over Pre-War Interviews With Iranians: “They Read My Texts.”

The Truth Barrier

Land Of The Free: CIA Preparing Criminal Case Against Broadcaster Tucker Carlson Over Pre-War Interviews With Iranians: "They Read My Texts."

Clip HERE…

18 days ago · 58 likes · 62 comments · Celia Farber

Wichita Man Sues City To Rip Out Its 200-Camera Flock Dragnet A Wichita machinist, Mason Grimmett, sued his own city this week, arguing that the roughly 200 Flock license-plate readers the police department has bolted around town amount to warrantless dragnet surveillance forbidden by the Kansas Constitution. The complaint, filed in Sedgwick County District Court by the Kansas Justice Institute, does not ask for money - rather, it asks a judge to declare the program unconstitutional and shut it down. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wichita-man-sues-city-rip-out-its-200-camera-flock-dragnet

The death of a thousand dollars: China’s AI Knife Fight: DeepSeek’s New Model Runs 100x Cheaper Than Anthropic’s Flagship https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/chinas-ai-knife-fight-deepseeks-new-model-runs-100x-cheaper-anthropics-flagship

What Does Glyphosate Have to Do With Cheap Factory Farm Meat? Plenty.
A significant percentage of theglyphosate sprayed in the U.S. is used to grow crops to feed farm animals, not humans. While President Donald Trump has defended glyphosate as crucial to maintaining food security, that’s an overly broad characterization. In truth,glyphosate has largely made factory farm meat production cheaper, as fewer weeds lower the cost of producing animal feed. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/glyphosate-cheap-factory-farm-meat/

Impact of feed glyphosate residues on broiler breeder egg production and egg hatchability Glyphosate is the active substance in glyphosate-based herbicides, e.g. Roundup. Its widespread application on feed crops leaves residues in the feed. Glyphosate has antimicrobial and mineral chelating properties and we investigated whether there is an association between feed residues of glyphosate on the one side and broiler breeder egg laying percent and egg hatchability on the other side. Twenty-six feed samples from five conventional flocks producing hatching eggs were analysed for glyphosate. Data on laying percent and egg hatchability from periods following each feed sampling were then associated with feed residues of glyphosate. The average glyphosate residue level was 0.09 mg/kg, maximum was 0.19 and minimum was 0.004 mg/kg...
..The range of glyphosate concentrations in feed was narrow and should be kept in mind when interpreting both significant and non-significant associations with glyphosate residue concentrations. In nine of 24 analysed conventional eggs the concentration of glyphosate in yolk was above the detection limit however below the quantification limit indicating that traces of glyphosate are common in conventional eggs. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8481226/

Jessica Rose, Ph.D. It doesn’t matter if it’s GOF or not - it’s dangerous An email from NIH’s Senior Program Investigations Officer with some very revealing questions and ‘answers’

Unacceptable Jessica

It doesn’t matter if it’s GOF or not - it's dangerous

Chairman Rand Paul has been collecting and releasing documents as part of the ongoing (what is it now, 6 bloody years?) investigation into SARS-2 origins. You can find that here. It is “largely accepted” that SARS-2 is of natural origin and that it “most likely” arose through natural zoonotic evolution (either in an animal host or during early human tra…

21 days ago · 154 likes · 38 comments · Jessica Rose

RFK Jr. warns of the dangers ofgain-of-functio nresearch: “Lyme disease almost certainly came from these experiments, which is now devastating our country.”“RSV came from a laboratory, which is now the biggest killer of children in our country.”“And of course, COVID-19... all of those have been linked credibly to gain-of-function research.”“So it’s something with enormous cost and no proven benefits.”

Behind Closed Doors: What the Inventor of mRNA Told Fauci About COVID Vaccines and Lipid Nanoparticles
Newly released documents made public by Sen. Rand Paul reveal that Nobel laureate Drew Weissman privately alerted Dr. Anthony Fauci to some concerning findings about the genetic material, or lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), used in COVID-19 vaccines — that when injected into pregnant mice, mRNA-LNPs crossed the placenta and entered the fetus. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/behind-closed-doors-inventor-mrna-fauci-covid-vaccines-lipid-nanoparticles/

John Leake, Why Prosecuting Fauci is Off Limits Discovery and prosecution of the former NIAID director would expose the entire rotten edifice of the US government. The liabilities would be astronomical.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Why Prosecuting Fauci is Off Limits

Octavian (later the Emperor Augustus) was offended when Mark Antony cheated on his sister (Octavia the Younger) with Cleopatra. However, he also knew that the embarrassing affair that became the talk of the town in Rome served his ultimate design to get rid of Mark Antony…

21 days ago · 277 likes · 136 comments · John Leake

Will AstraZeneca Have to Pay Medical Expenses for Woman Injured During COVID Vaccine Trial?
AstraZeneca can’t be held liable for injuries sustained by a woman who participated in the drugmaker’s COVID-19 vaccine trial, a federal appeals court ruled last week. However, it will be up to a lower court to decide if the company waived its legal immunity by having trial participants sign a consent form promising the drugmaker would pay participants’ medical expensesif the vaccine caused injury or illness. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/astrazeneca-not-liable-medical-expenses-brianne-dressen-injured-covid-vaccine-trial/

Disappointed Trump Pressed RFK Jr. to Find Link Between Vaccines and Autism, and Reduce Number of Shots Required for Kids
President Donald Trump is pushing U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to do more to investigate a possible link between vaccines and autism, according to a Wall Street Journal report based on anonymous sources “familiar with the matter.”White House spokesman Kush Desai said the countless parents who have questions and concerns about “America’s skyrocketing autism rates have long been ignored if not mocked.” https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/disappointed-trump-pressed-rfk-jr-link-vaccines-autism-reduce-number-shots-required-kids/

(Long) A Midwestern Doctor, How To Determine The Risks and Benefits of Each Vaccine Knowing how vaccines work is necessary for understanding which ones are likely to help, which ones are likely to harm, and the forgotten alternatives to immunization they medical industry buried.

The Forgotten Side of Medicine

How To Determine The Risks and Benefits of Each Vaccine

Story at a Glance…

19 days ago · 415 likes · 80 comments · A Midwestern Doctor

Paul Marik MD details how all modes of being healthy seem to be good for your brain, too: Rethinking Brain Health: A Systems Approach to Preventing Cognitive Decline - Preventing Cognitive Decline: A Multi-Axis, Systems-Based Approach

Paul Marik

Rethinking Brain Health: A Systems Approach to Preventing Cognitive Decline

21 days ago · 133 likes · 32 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Study Finds Daily Marijuana Use Surpasses Daily Alcohol Consumption Among US Adults Daily or near-daily marijuana use has surpassed daily alcohol consumption in the United States, reaching 20.9 million to 21.4 million daily users compared to roughly 17.2 million daily or frequent alcohol drinkers. https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/study-finds-daily-marijuana-use-surpasses-daily-alcohol-consumption-among-us

Illegal Smile, John Prine, 1971

Climate Physicist, Anastassia Makarieva, co-originator of the Biotic Pump Model, details how the amount of heat going into the air of our planet does not add up to the amount of energy needed to drive all of the observed movements of air. It falls short. A Detective Story, Chapter 2: The Questions That Nobody Asked - Satellite-Era Mismatches in Atmospheric Power Assessments

Biotic Regulation and Biotic Pump

A Detective Story, Chapter 2: The Questions That Nobody Asked

Confirmation Bias…

21 days ago · 13 likes · 5 comments · Anastassia Makarieva

Smiling Anyway (pictured with Jenny at our Yoakum homestead)

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What End Game

John Day MD — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:15:23 GMT

Anti-Imperialists,

Hubris is the tragic flaw, thinking that one can just power-through and bulldoze one’s opposition by force of will and violence. Donald Trump was not that way in his first term, but somebody or something or both seem to have gotten to him this time around.

Trump can’t bulldoze Iran, and Putin in Russia won’t give him the win he needs either, quite the contrary. They are both bleeding his military supplies, which can’t be replaced this year, and giving him nothing but impotent rage.

Will anybody give this narcissist an off-ramp before November? Iran won’t. Iran is rubbing his face in it until he capitulates in humiliation, which he is not capable of. Iranians are snickering and turning the knife in the wound, because he more than deserves it.

Trump’s buddies Xi and Putin are not giving him his off-ramp either. Xi is escalating, shipping a huge cache of modern weapons including high-grade MANPADs to Iran, which will keep American helicopters, and US Marines out, and may also be useful to Iraqi militias and Ansar-Allah if Iran shares.

Israel is lying low, letting Americans die for Israel. Americans have retreated to Jordan, Israel’s “neighbor”, and are getting pounded there by Iranian missiles.

What might come next? Might US forces retreat further to Israel, or just vacate the theater? Will Trump find an off-ramp that lets him abandon his Israeli masters to their inevitable doom? They certainly embody the most hubris of all players upon the global stage these days.

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-31 The big delta: an AI hedge fund detonated and got liquidated into Citadel, and the resulting 24-hour short-squeeze printed Microsoft’s best day since 2008 (+16%)— even as theFed held 9-3 and the long bond hiked for it, with the 30Y punching to 5.2%+, the highest since 2007.Iran’s IRGC claimed three destroyed F-35s at a Jordan base and hit US installations across Kuwait and Bahrain while Trump reportedly “exploded” over the lack of a strategy. Continuation: Ukraine-Poland fallout, Ceuta migrant surge, Hormuz/oil squeeze, gold above $4k with physical tight. Situational Awareness blows up; Citadel scoops the book, sparks a 24h AI squeeze - Leopold Aschenbrenner’s AI fund — ~$45B NAV on July 1, up 439% net through June — sold the bulk of its public equity portfolio to Ken Griffin’s Citadel after levered AI bets collapsed (Kobeissi, GoshawkTrades). Assets said to have fallen to $10B, down from $45B in under a month (zerohedge).
Long AI infra, short software, ~4x leverage — both legs went against it in three weeks. Half its Anthropic stake also reportedly sold (MartinShkreli).
The liquidation lifted the tape: Citadel squeezing the names higher — $NBIS +26%, $IREN +26%, $SNDK +24%, $BE +24% (aleabitoreddit). Positioning went “panic to squeeze in less than 24 hours”... ..The contagion tail: ~$500B in TRS excess leverage still out there; at least 5 hedge funds with massive total-return-swap exposure to memory/momentum names — a “circular liquidation squad” ... ..The Fed held 9-3; the long bond hiked instead - FOMC held at 3.50-3.75% with three dissents for a hike (Cleveland, Minneapolis, Dallas) — the most hawkish split since 2016 — against 1.5% Q2 growth and 3.3% core PCE (shanaka86).
The 30Y ripped to 5.24%, a level last seen in 2007, as the market concluded the Fed is making “another huge policy error” (zerohedge)... ..Contrarian read on the driver: less about Warsh’s dissents than the $95B supplemental with $75B earmarked for munitions — Treasury supply crowding out private AI borrowers (spomboy). JPMorgan flags Warsh’s task forces as “covers to redefine the inflation challenge away” (jam_croissant).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-31

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

21 days ago · 48 likes · 7 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-30 The war came off pause hard: the US ran a night of airstrikes on southern Iran (Qeshm, Abadan, Sirik, Nurabad) after Iran hit a US base in Jordan, and Saudi-US strikes killed 20+ in Iraq — while Russia threw its largest Kh-101 barrage in over a year at Ukraine, with one cruise missile landing in Poland. Markets are the other front: Warsh delivered a hawkish 9-3 hold, the 30Y tore to a post-2007 high, Meta cratered on capex while the KOSPI kept printing history to the downside. Continuation but accelerating: oil supply tightening under a functionally closed Hormuz, AI credit spreads widening, gold sitting above $4,000.
US strikes Iran overnight after Jordan base attack; residential areas hit. CENTCOM ran fighter-jet and ATACMS strikes (fired from Kuwait) against southern/western Iran, hitting Sirik, Nurabad and Qeshm (MenchOsint, zerohedge). Tasnim reported a residential area struck on Qeshm Island (zerohedge); a Tehran-side account says a father, mother and 2-year-old were killed there, two children wounded (Marandi). Trigger was an IRGC ballistic-missile attack on the US Muwaffaq Salti base in Jordan, all reportedly intercepted...
Sequence overnight: Iran fired ballistics at US forces in Jordan (6 Patriots launched in response), then CENTCOM struck back with jets and ATACMS from Kuwait (MenchOsint, MenchOsint). Additional strikes reported on Abadan and Piranshahr near the Erbil border (ejmalrai).
Saudi-US joint strikes pounded Iran-backed PMF in Iraq, killing 20+ (zerohedge); an Iraqi source puts it at 23 killed, 32 wounded (ejmalrai). Iraq’s president rejected use of its territory and called the strikes a sovereignty violation (zerohedge). Iraqi resistance factions gave the government a one-week deadline (to Aug 6) on disarmament (MenchOsint).
The interceptor math is the story. CSIS estimates US Patriot inventory has fallen from 2,330 pre-war to under 830 (≥65% below February), THAAD ≥38% below (shanaka86). CENTCOM’s Cooper reportedly pitched a 10-14 day campaign to reduce future interceptor demand; the Joint Chiefs’ Caine warns the shortage argues against it (shanaka86). Lockheed just got a Patriot contract worth up to $58.6B to rebuild stockpiles (ILRedAlert). HIGH.
China set to deliver up to 400 shoulder-fired air-defense launchers (QW-12/FN-16, ~$60-70M) to Iran within weeks (zerohedge, MyLordBebo).
Iran rejected Oman’s 50-50 Hormuz plan and asserted sole authority over “safe” transit lanes (shanaka86). Trump reportedly erupted at national-security officials who “can’t agree on strategy” (FaytuksNetwork). A FOIA release put US troop casualties at 400+ in the first six weeks, with the official death toll quietly revised 18→14... ..The fiscal read: Treasury needs $671B of privately-held borrowing this quarter and dealers see a $1.3T funding gap across 2027-28 at current auction sizes... ..Wrong-way risk in the open: Nvidia is reportedly in talks to guarantee ~$250B of OpenAI lease/debt so it can occupy a 10GW Ohio campus — against a disclosed guarantee book of just $3.5B (shanaka86). MSFT disclosed $329B of leases not yet commenced (zerohedge).
Credit is where it’s cracking: JPM warns the next leg lower spreads beyond single stocks to indices, flagging circular financing and NVDA CDS widening as “more concerning” than hyperscaler CDS... ..Oil: Hormuz functionally closed, reserves draining, Mediterranean now a target - Roughly 8 commodity vessels crossed Hormuz Tuesday vs ~125/day pre-war; product tightness is masking a crude-supply shut-in as tankers can’t load (HFI_Research). WTI spiked ~8% above $86 on Trump’s “hitting them hard” (Hedgeye); Brent ~$91 (zerohedge).
 SPR fell to 307.7M barrels, lowest since 1983; weekly crude draw ~7.2M, SPR -5M, Cushing stuck at tank bottoms (steve_hanke, zerohedge). Diesel option volatility broke 200 (JustDario).
New vector: the US-owned FSRU Energos Winter caught fire after a suspected drone strike at Egypt’s Damietta port — outside listed war-risk waters, and it was the import lifeline, not the export plant (shanaka86, dana916). Meanwhile Qatar sent its first LNG cargo through Hormuz in three weeks — using the Iran-designated corridor, transponder on (SStapczynski).....Russia-Ukraine: record air barrage, Poland impact, Odessa strangled - Russia hit Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Kryvyi Rih and Odessa-region ports, targeting drone/missile production (Flamingo, Neptun) (MyLordBebo). Ukraine’s Air Force claims interception of 54 of 61 cruise missiles and 265 of 284 drones, but only one of nine ballistics and none of four Zircons (MyLordBebo).
A Kh-101 impacted eastern Poland (~90 km from the border); Warsaw scrambled jets and called air alerts (AMK_Mapping).
Odessa blockade is costing Ukraine ~$70M/day in idle exports; three ports handle ~$70M/day and two-thirds of H1 exports went through Greater Odessa (MilitarySummary, KShevchenkoReal).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-30

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

22 days ago · 77 likes · 3 comments · No1

Gilbert Doctorow, News X World: IRAN HITS US LIVE: IRGC Claims Major Attack On U.S. Base, Jordan Intercepts Missiles I say in this first segment of today’s interview with News X World dealing with Iran’s claim to have destroyed 3 American F35s and damaged 3 more on the ground in Jordan none of us commentators knows for sure what losses each side in the conflict is experiencing due to the ‘fog of war.’ The fog of war is not a natural meteorological phenomenon but is rather severe war censorship imposed by the sides to keep their losses out of public view.
Per News X World, the only statement from the Jordanian authorities is that they shot down 5 Iranian missiles. Not a word of denial that some missiles got through and hit the US planes parked on the Jordanian air base. Accordingly, we may assume that the Iranian claim is justified.
Where is this war headed? Again no one can say with complete confidence. Yes, the U.S. is being humiliated not just by Iran enjoying economic leverage thanks to its control of the Strait of Hormuz but now also by signs that US military bases in Jordan and the Gulf States are coming under very effective attack from Iran. And yet, there always remains the nuclear option if President Trump is cornered and sees no other way out of this disaster of his own making.

Armageddon Newsletter

News X World: IRAN HITS US LIVE: IRGC Claims Major Attack On U.S. Base, Jordan Intercepts Missiles

22 days ago · 13 likes · Gilbert Doctorow

Moon of Alabama, July 29: War On Iran: – U.S.’ Missile Defense Stock Is Severely Depleted Last night Iran fired some 6 older liquid-fuel missiles against U.S. positions in Jordan. The strike was probably a reply to U.S. and Saudi strikes on Iran friendly forces in Iraq.
It was reported that the U.S. expended at least 10 Patriot missiles to take down some of the incoming Iranian ones.
Patriot missiles are down to some 800. Of the longer range THAAD, useless against drones, there are some 250 left to fire.
Another few dozen days of intense fire exchange will leave all U.S. bases in the Middle East unprotected.
After the strike U.S. President Trump pledged revenge:
President Trump was cited by Fox News as saying the U.S. would hit Iran hard in response to the attack. “They’re going to get a beating,” chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst early Wednesday quoted Trump as telling him.
Trump doesn’t learn. Iran will respond to any attack and the U.S. situation will worsen. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/war-on-iran-u-s-missile-defense-stock-is-severely-depleted.html

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism presents the case that Iran will not let Trump out of this war until he is defeated: Iran War: Jordan Strike Shows Iran Intensifying War to Exhaust US Economy and Military; Trump Takes Bait by Retaliating https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/iran-war-jordan-strike-shows-iran-intensifying-war-to-exhaust-us-economy-and-military-trump-takes-bait-by-retaliating.html

July 30: IRGC Strikes Jordan Again After 2-Hour US Bombardment Kills Iranian Troops, Civilians - Hormuz Traffic Creeps Higher Iranian officials are also saying that US bombardment of Qeshm island has killed a family. In Qeshm island, the Director General of Crisis Management of the Hormozgan Governorate said search and rescue efforts are underway amid mounting casualties there.
“So far, two children have been pulled out from under the rubble and transferred to medical centers, and efforts are ongoing to rescue three other members of this family,” Mehrdad Hassanzadeh said. In response Iran says it has again targeted a US airbase in Jordan, and claims to have taken out three F-35 stealth fighters, though there’s been no indication of this from the Pentagon side. According to details via Al Jazeera:
In a statement directed to Jordan, the IRGC says in response to a US attack on Qeshm island that killed two parents and their child, aerospace fighters targeted a ramp and maintenance shed at the al-Azraq airbase, which hosts US F-35 fighter jets, with several ballistic missiles, state news agency Fars reports.
The IRGC said that it had completely destroyed three F-35 aircraft and caused “heavy damage” to three others.
The IRGC stated that “A number of enemy officers and technical and maintenance personnel were also killed in this attack. Our region is no place for the infanticidal army that cruelly slaughters innocent families in the middle of the night while they sleep.”
They added that the war will continue until “the last American occupier is expelled from the Islamic lands” and that Muslims in Jordan and the region want this too... ..NBC on Thursday cites that “The president is exasperated” citing a Trump ally. “I don’t think he believed it was going to be this difficult to get the Iranians to agree to a deal.” The source added “there was not a real strategy for how long or what they should do to get to the endpoint.”... ..University of Chicago political scientist and foreign policy realist author Robert Pape that the war will stumble along and likely expand even through the midterms: “The victory rhetoric [from Trump] doesn’t match escalation reality,” he said. “It is out of sync.” Then he emphasized: “I think it will actually be after the midterms,” he said. “Between now and January, this is not going to be over.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/2-hour-us-bombardment-kills-iranian-troops-civilians-hormuz-traffic-creeps-higher-irgc

Stealthier, faster, deadlier: Iran unveils new suicide drone - IRGC’s jet-powered weapon poses fresh challenge to US forces in Middle East Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, vowed to widen the war, and insisted it will not let Washington dictate the terms.
“We will not allow America to determine the timing of war and peace,” Esmail Baghaei, a foreign ministry spokesman, said, adding that Iran would “defend ourselves for as long as necessary”. https://archive.md/Vsa5c#selection-2265.4-2269.79

Iranian press review: Iran relies on speedboats to keep Strait of Hormuz closed
Meanwhile, former IRGC navy chief calls for an end to the war with the US, students accuse Iranian embassy of working with Belarusian security services https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iranian-press-review-iran-relies-speedboats-keep-strait-hormuz-closed

I heard about this last winter. These are excellent, small, heat-seeking missiles.China To Arm Iran With Hundreds Of MANPADS Despite Trump Warnings https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/china-arm-iran-hundreds-manpads-despite-trump-warnings-report

What interests might be served? Why Ukraine’s Strike on Iranian Assets in the Caspian Sea Seeks to Ignite a World War The recent Ukrainian strike on an Iranian cargo vessel in the Caspian Sea marks a significant and potentially dangerous escalation in the geopolitical landscape, effectively merging the US proxy war in Eastern Europe with the other ongoing US conflict in the Middle East. This attack, which resulted in the death of a crew member and injured another, was quickly confirmed by Ukrainian officials who justified it as a legitimate strike on a vessel used for military logistics between Russia and Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained the attack within a broader narrative of an expanding threat, publicly alleging that Russia is providing crucial satellite intelligence to Iran (which Russia denies). This narrative was leveraged to argue that the conflicts are inextricably linked, with the stated goal of necessitating a unified international response against what was described as an axis of aggressors.
The geopolitical calculations behind Kyiv’s decision are complex, appearing to be a high-stakes gambit aimed at galvanizing its Western allies and pushing the US to make its war against a multipolar transition something more explicit. Some analysts posit that the move was designed to curry favor with the US administration by demonstrating Ukraine’s utility as a more aggressive partner, aligning with a strategy to escalate pressure on Iran and Russia simultaneously. Conversely, Iranian officials have offered a different interpretation, suggesting that the attack was instigated by Israel to draw Europe directly into the Middle Eastern conflict. https://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-strike-iranian-assets-caspian-sea-seeks-ignite-world-war/5934854

Andrew Korybko, July 29: What’s Behind The Mutual Iranian-Ukrainian De-Escalation?The US, Iran, and possibly also Russia appear to have calculated that it’s not in their interests, only in Ukraine’s and Israel’s.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi’s latest tweet came as a surprise. He wrote that he “Was assured by Ukrainian FM @andrii_sybiha that the attack on an Iranian ship was unintentional and Ukraine seeks no escalation. Iran does not seek escalation either, but made clear any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable. There must be restitution for losses.” This came two days after his prior tweet where he accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian at Israel’s behest.

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

What’s Behind The Mutual Iranian-Ukrainian De-Escalation?

The US, Iran, and possibly also Russia appear to have calculated that it’s not in their interests, only in Ukraine’s and Israel’s…

23 days ago · 39 likes · 20 comments · Andrew Korybko

Why Did Trump Just Give Saudi Arabia the Fast Track to a Nuclear Weapon? The U.S. has signed a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, allowing domestic uranium enrichment under U.S. oversight.
The agreement marks a significant departure from previous non-proliferation agreements such as the UAE‘s.
Critics warn the deal could accelerate Saudi Arabia’s path toward nuclear weapons, especially given Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s past pledge to match Iran if it acquires a nuclear bomb. https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Why-Did-Trump-Just-Give-Saudi-Arabia-the-Fast-Track-to-a-Nuclear-Weapon.html

The jaws of death: Israel’s Yellow Line, a Shifting Edge of War Pushing Gazans from Home https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5300805-israel%E2%80%99s-yellow-line-shifting-edge-war-pushing-gazans-home

Hamas slams Katz for his call to destroy another W. Bank refugee camp https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/28/367439/

‘We’re here to stay’: West Bank Palestinians defy Israeli settler attacks
Settlers burned homes and a mosque in at-Tuwani. Residents say it is part of a campaign to push them off their land. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/d4a816de-1eb2-49d4-ad85-7459310c1d71

Israel seizes 22 dunums of Palestinian land near Jenin https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/28/367434/

He is accused of sexual assault by a female aide. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan dared to hold Israel to account – that’s why he was brought down https://israelpalestinenews.org/icc-chief-prosecutor-karim-khan-dared-to-hold-israel-to-account-thats-why-he-was-brought-down/

Brute-force approach: Israel Is Paying Millions to Train AI Chatbots How to Talk About Gaza. It’s Working.
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is overseeing an operation posting hundreds of blog posts on behalf of Israel, with the goal of infiltrating artificial intelligence.

Drop Site News

Israel Is Paying Millions to Train AI Chatbots How to Talk About Gaza. It's Working.

Since October, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale has been quietly overseeing an operation posting hundreds of blog posts on behalf of Israel. One article, titled “The Reality Behind Gaza…

24 days ago · 993 likes · 33 comments · Nick Cleveland-Stout

Helena Glass, America’s AI Action Plan: “AI is 99% about War. New Ways to Destroy Societies”. Whoever Has the Most Data Centers Wins https://www.globalresearch.ca/america-ai-action-plan-whoever-has-most-data-centers-wins/5934856

An intelligent human: ‘Hell on Earth’: Roger Waters on Palestine, Apartheid and the Cost of Speaking Out Waters told Tucker Carlson that witnessing Israeli apartheid in the occupied West Bank transformed his understanding of Palestine and led to two decades of activism despite sustained efforts to damage his career https://israelpalestinenews.org/hell-on-earth-roger-waters-on-palestine-apartheid-and-the-cost-of-speaking-out/

I suspect that Russia has also waited for US/NATO to deplete weapons reserves: Gilbert Doctorow, Russia is on the rampage in Ukraine. Why did it take 4 years for the Kremlin ‘to get in the saddle’? Finally, six or eight months ago, I saw that voices were being raised within Russia asking why Putin was dragging out the war. There was a sense that Russia had the wherewithal to strike hard and force a capitulation on the enemy but was for some reason continuing to fight with one hand tied behind its back... ..Then the 40-day drone campaign announced by Zelensky took hold and created a crisis situation for the RF as a whole. The very destructive drone attacks on Russian energy and civilian infrastructure deep in the heartland of the Russian Federation resulted in the loss of perhaps 40% of refining capacity, leading to widespread fuel shortages, meaning rationing and long lines at gas pumps in much of the country. In Russia, as most everywhere, that is a politically sensitive issue. At the same time, Ukrainian precision drone strikes on residential buildings, buses and trains were causing daily civilian deaths in many different localities of European Russia... ..However, the last straw was probably the recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil carriers in the Azov and Black Seas. Defense of all Russian ‘shadow fleet’ traffic from Ukrainian attacks would become a monstrous and likely unachievable task for the Russian navy, just as it had become impossible to defend the refineries and oil export sites across Russia from swarming drone attacks.
The impact of these developments demanded change of course lest there be a threat to political stability in the country. This was all the more pressing given that elections for the State Duma are approaching – election day is set for 20 September... ..It now appears that in the past several weeks the Kremlin has indeed heeded public sentiment for pounding Ukraine into submission without delay using all the military force at its disposal. We heard that the tough, no nonsense General Sergey Surovikin whose defensive line successfully repelled the NATO backed Ukrainian counter offensive of 2023 has been recalled from his political exile in North Africa to participate, possibly to lead the change to a dynamic, brutal and massive Russian offensive. This has translated into utter destruction of Ukrainian port facilities and vessels, both container ships and bulk cargo ships, in Odessa and Nikolaev, on the Black Seas as well as Izmail on the Danube, opposite Romania. These measures were complemented by attacks on ships in the Black Sea en route to Ukraine or departing Ukraine. In effect, Russia has established an effective blockade of Ukraine... ..All of this brings us back to the initial question of why it took the Kremlin so long to change from a war of attrition strategy to a knock-out blow strategy. I am now coming around to the view that the answer lies not in the personality of the President but in the political forces that limit and perhaps even control his decisions on waging the war. I mean here the oligarchs who have imposed constraints on Vladimir Putin from the day he was advanced to the presidency by Boris Yeltsin more than 25 years ago...
..It has taken this long and this far into the loss of deterrence, meaning the loss of Russian sovereignty, for the oligarch insiders to be pushed from the feeding trough and for the Kremlin to see its survival in changing course on the war.

Armageddon Newsletter

Russia is on the rampage in Ukraine. Why did it take 4 years for the Kremlin ‘to get in the saddle’?

We all know the various expressions about how Russians take their time mounting their horses but then ride like lightening. Over the past four years of the war, it has been used by Western apologists for the ‘gently, gently’ approach of the Kremlin in its conduct of the Special Military Operation…

21 days ago · 25 likes · 2 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

It has become known how the EU “legitimizes” the seizure of ships and confiscation of cargo European bureaucrats resorted to a ruse and developed a mechanism that, in their view, would solve the problem of legitimizing such actions. The main thing was to obtain a pretext for seizing the ships, and they figured out how to do this.
Such vessels typically fly the flags of small third-world countries, which is how they profit. As soon as a vessel on the EU sanctions list enters waters near a European country, Brussels exerts powerful political pressure on Panama, Honduras, and other countries, resulting in the flag state registry immediately revoking its registration. Thus, the vessel loses its nationality, which is the basis for its arrest.
Located in the holds, on deck and in tanks The cargo is declared contraband, which entitles it to be confiscated and subsequently sold to the captive state. https://en.topwar.ru/287052-stalo-izvestno-kak-es-legitimiziruet-zahvat-sudov-i-konfiskaciju-gruzov.html

[Sorry for AI dreck, but important topic] The End Of Freedom - The Last Breath Of A Dying Continent In 2026, 333 million Europeans—more than the entire population of the United States—have fallen into energy poverty, a euphemism that cannot conceal the raw human suffering it describes, a bureaucratic term that sanitizes the screams of families watching their lives dismantled piece by piece.
Since 2021, utility costs have surged 47%, while wages stagnate in a cruel arithmetic that reduces families to penury. The numbers do not lie, even when governments do. Behind every percentage point stands a human being with a name, with memories, with children who ask why the heat does not work... In Greece, 40% of households now face the impossible choice between heating and eating ... Greek winter of 2026 brought temperatures that dropped to -8°C in regions where insulation remains a luxury... ..One in four European children now experiences food insecurity... ..Beneath the visible governance, a parallel architecture operates with mathematical precision that would impress any engineer. Digital ID systems have penetrated 89% of the population, harvesting biometric data at unprecedented velocity—fingerprints, iris patterns, facial geometry, gait analysis, voice signatures... ..The average European appears on surveillance cameras 300 times daily, a density of one lens per thirteen citizens that renders privacy obsolete, that ensures the watched internalize the gaze, that transforms free citizens into self-policing subjects who no longer require external control because they have built the prison within their own minds. Social credit architectures have advanced beyond theory into implementation; your carbon footprint, vaccination status, social media sentiment, and political expression now determine access to housing, travel, banking, and employment... ..In China, the system was explicit, overt, acknowledged. In Europe, it arrives wrapped in sustainability, in public health, in security, in the language of care and protection that disarms opposition because who can argue against safety, against health, against the planet https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/end-freedom-last-breath-dying-continent

Simplicius, Germany Draws Up “Secret Plans” to Hamstring AfD on Eve of State Elections Die Welt and other outlets broke a story about Chancellor Merz drawing up plans to isolate German states where AfD may win a majority in the future, so that Germany can retain its role as key central NATO transport hub in the war against Russia being stirred by European elites... ..Just like how the EU began studying ways to break its own “democratic” charter and allow initiatives to pass without the required unanimity all to bypass the intransigent positions of states like Hungary, now individual EU states themselves are figuring out ways to “bend” democratic processes to shackle and squelch their own individual federal regions. Of course, this is elementary at this point compared to the course of outright banning the AfD as Germany has been trying to do under “extremism” laws... ..Germany in particular has taken the lead in co-opting Ukraine’s rear because it provides them with an unexpected benefit: manufacturing jobs. The earlier NYT piece admits that most of the workers at the German Helsing factory building drones for Ukraine are all lay-offs from collapsing German auto production lines.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Germany Draws Up "Secret Plans" to Hamstring AfD on Eve of State Elections

Die Welt and other outlets broke a story about Chancellor Merz drawing up plans to isolate German states where AfD may win a majority in the future, so that Germany can retain its role as key central NATO transport hub in the war against Russia being stirred by European elites…

22 days ago · 384 likes · 262 comments · Simplicius

Distant adult-male foreigners with very different customs, many with war trauma, were invited and paid to enter European countries by European political elites.

 DEI Is KILLING British Policing – Think-Tank EXPOSES The Truth - Hundreds of millions poured into anti-racism ideology while victims of knife crime are left to die under two-tier justice https://modernity.news/2026/07/29/dei-is-killing-british-policing-think-tank-exposes-the-truth/

Germany’s Migrant Crime Crisis EXPLODES - Of the 1,087 suspects identified in 751 recorded gang rapes last year, 53 percent were foreign nationals.
Non-Germans make up less than 17 percent of the population. The 772 victims were overwhelmingly German: 619 of them, or 80 percent, including 565 women. https://modernity.news/2026/07/29/germanys-migrant-crime-crisis-explodes/

John Cleese: “Some Cultures Are Better Than Others” - “I am not a racist. I am a culturalist,” he stated in a post that now has over ten million views, adding “I believe that some cultures are better than others. I prefer cultures that do not advocate stoning, pederasty, wife beating, female genital mutilation, and beheading opponents. Call me old-fashioned...” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/john-cleese-some-cultures-are-better-others

America’s Murder Problem Is Smaller Than It Looks Does the United States have a higher murder rate than its peer countries? Yes – but new research shows that statistic obscures how murders in the U.S. are extremely concentrated in very tiny areas.
In 2025, the U.S. murder rate fell to just under 4 murders per 100,000 people. During the first six months of 2026, data compiled by the Council on Criminal Justice shows that murders in the nation’s 30 largest cities declined by another 18%. If that decline reflects the national trend, and that is likely, the U.S. murder rate will fall to approximately 3.25 per 100,000 people this year.
Even at that level, the U.S. murder rate would remain about 70% higher than Canada’s 2024 homicide rate of 1.91 per 100,000 people and Australia’s approximately 2 per 100,000. Nevertheless, the United States has recently made remarkable progress. Since national recordkeeping began in 1900, the country has never recorded a murder rate this low... ..The Crime Prevention Research Center, which I head, finds that 31 counties with the highest murder rates – just 1% of all U.S. counties – contain about 20% of the nation’s population but account for 41% of all murders. Expanding the analysis to the 63 highest-rate counties (2% of counties) captures 30% of the population but 54% of all murders... ..Roughly two-thirds of all murders in the worst 2% of the counties occur within about ten-block neighborhoods, whose populations represent only a tiny fraction of their counties’ residents. Much of this violence is associated with street gangs and repeat offenders... ..Research has consistently shown that 5% of the criminals account for most crime. Marvin Wolfgang’s landmark Philadelphia birth cohort studies found that roughly 6-8% of offenders accounted for the majority of serious violent crime, including about 71% of murders, 73% of rapes, 82% of robberies, and 69% of aggravated assaults... ..Who commits murders also differs dramatically across demographic groups. In 2020, black men made up about 6.0% of the U.S. population but accounted for 49.7% of known murder offenders – about 8.3 times their share of the population. Black women accounted for 5.5% of murder offenders while making up 6.43% of the population, or about 0.85 times their population share. By comparison, white men (including Hispanics) comprised 30.3% of the population but 35.7% of murder offenders. White women accounted for just 6.1% of murder offenders despite making up 31.3% of the U.S. population. Asian men and women had the lowest rates of murder offending, accounting for only 0.43 times and 0.06 times, respectively, their shares of the U.S. population. Many look at these numbers and say this proves the criminal justice system is racist. Many Democrats think the share of blacks in prison shouldn’t exceed their share of the population ... The problem is that these discussions ignore the race of the victims. Ninety percent of black murder victims are murdered by other blacks. If you make it so there is little or no penalty for murdering blacks, you ensure that more blacks will be murdered. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/07/29/americas_murder_problem_is_smaller_than_it_looks_154377.html

Alberta independence petition exceeds signatures needed to proceed
Elections Alberta verified that 223,000 citizens have signed a petition to hold a vote on separation from Canada, but a legal challenge is pending. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/alberta-independence-petition-exceeds-signatures-needed-to-proceed/

Gold & Geopolitics, Weekend at Alphabet’s - A record quarter, propped up and waving Alphabet owns a bunch of stocks in other small and mostly insignificant companies that absolutely have not much free float but are part of the Nasdaq index nevertheless. Names like SpaceX. And then there’s that one tastefully unnamed private company.
So because those prices went up, they booked the difference as “profit”.
Everybody knows the unnamed one is Anthropic. Alphabet won’t say it, much like any dabbler in the ways of magic won’t say Voldemort.
And yeah, this part I can report with a bit of glee: $21.9 billion of that gain went out as cash. You can book a rocket at whatever fictional price you like, but the tax man always gets his due.
Real, hard cash, wired-to-the-Treasury cash, levied on money that does not exist even yet... ..In Korea you have ?had? the Mag2, in the US you have the Mag7. You have leverage at both sides - which I reckon is now a bit less now in the former.
Korea went from ATH into a bear market in about two sessions and it is still going down (full disclosure: I am still short Korea). Bloomberg says there’s a sixty-day correlation between the KOSPI and the Nasdaq 100. They said that when it’s climbing. Didn’t hear it lately, which is kind of peculiar. Or worrying.
 Every element of that setup exists in the US too. But of course, the US does everything BIGGER and BETTER.
So… margin debt is at a record $1.5 trillion, up 49% in twelve months... ..Korea’s version of “this time it’s different” was launching single-stock leveraged ETFs on the two companies holding up the index. The US’s is booking a rocket’s paper valuation as national corporate profit... ..The US needs to refinance about 30% of their debt, THIS year alone. AI needs a lot of money for fast depreciating GPUs and their companies are not profitable (hence Nvidia is bankrolling the whole AI space - I’m sure it’s purely selfless and not to collapse the house of cards).
And the last few weeks, stocks started trembling.
In about a week from now, the biggest IPO of our times (or of ANY time for that matter), these locked-up shares can get sold.
I’m not saying it’ll crash tomorrow. Not even the day after. But maybe in a week we’ll see some real fireworks.

Gold and Geopolitics

Weekend at Alphabet’s

As a thanks to my paid subscribers they received this article yesterday. After a day, it opens up for everybody else…

24 days ago · 69 likes · 18 comments · No1

South Korea Has Several Market Rescue Options As Crash Crushes 700,000 Retailer Traders https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/south-korea-has-several-market-rescue-options-crash-crushes-700000-retailer-traders

CNN Poll: Americans doubt Trump is paying enough attention to the country’s most important problems A record-high 73% of US adults say that President Donald Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with just 27% saying he’s had the right priorities.
That comes amid increasingly bleak views of the Iran war, stagnating economic unhappiness, and broad discontent about Trump’s approach to these challenges.
Roughly two-thirds of Americans think that Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions and that his military decisions in Iran have hurt the US. Around three-quarters say the president is not in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/29/politics/cnn-poll-donald-trump-midterms-polls-iran-war?cid=ios_app

Celia Farber, A Terrible Day For Anthony Fauci: Solid Humiliation, Gagged By Lawyers, Unable To Fauci-Spin It, Looked Grey, Hands Shaking, Invoked 5th Amendment Clear Through - His Foes Spoke To The American People

The Truth Barrier

A Terrible Day For Anthony Fauci: Solid Humiliation, Gagged By Lawyers, Unable To Fauci-Spin It, Looked Grey, Hands Shaking, Invoked 5th Amendment Clear Through

I would not dismiss it 100% as mere theater, (usually poorly defined, what we mean by “theater,” in this context.) It would be more accurate to call it a humiliation play, and a demonstration of the hardened devotion to totalitarian “public health” and mass murder brandished by Democrats of shockingly low intelligence…

23 days ago · 151 likes · 162 comments · Celia Farber

A Midwestern Doctor, What Fauci’s Diary Reveals About America’s Health Care Apparatus Numerous lines of evidence show Fauci lied to us about the pandemic’s biggest questions — origins, severity, lockdowns, and masks — all of which was just exposed at an explosive hearing. Yesterday, a rather contentious hearing occurred where Fauci was subpoenaed by the Senate to testify over what happened during COVID, which was immediately preceded by the private diaries (which HHS Secretary RFK Jr. team found sequestered on government HHS servers) being released to the public.
The hearing (after opening statements), began with Fauci giving a statement claiming he had been a dutiful servant helping the government for decades, that he was facing a malicious prosecution that put science itself at risk, and that he would be invoking his 5th amendment rights. Following this, Democrat members of the committee repeated this message, while Republican senators gave scathing criticisms of his conduct throughout the pandemic (eclipsing everything we’ve seen thus far), and Fauci, over a hundred times, in response to each question stating: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”

The Forgotten Side of Medicine

What Fauci’s Diary Reveals About America’s Health Care Apparatus

Story at a Glance…

22 days ago · 455 likes · 121 comments · A Midwestern Doctor

The Contempt Vote They Scheduled Before Fauci Left the Hearing Room, W. Campbell Douglass, MD

Duty to Dissent - Medical Conscience Over Conformity

The Contempt Vote They Scheduled Before Fauci Left the Hearing Room

Fauci declined to answer more than a hundred times - “On the advice of counsel.” Then Chairman Paul put a contempt resolution on next week’s Senate calendar. Here is what that can do — and what it can’t…

23 days ago · 387 likes · 136 comments · W. Campbell Douglass, MD, MS

John Leake, President Biden’s Preemptive Pardon of Fauci - Beginning of pardon period precisely coincides with NIH review of Ralph Baric and Peter Daszak’s proposal for NIH grant “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence”

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

President Biden's Preemptive Pardon of Fauci

President Biden’s preemptive pardon of Anthony Fauci covered the period from January 1, 2014, through January 19, 2025…

22 days ago · 193 likes · 60 comments · John Leake

Meryl Nass MD, Fauci is being called back by Aug. 14 by the HSG Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Ron Johnson. And Aaron Siri’s thoughts (and mine) on Fauci’s pleading the 5th

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Fauci is being called back by Aug. 14 by the HSG Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Ron Johnson.

The Investigations subcommittee members were all at today’s hearing. They will have a week or two to decide how they wish to proceed, and if Fauci tries the same 5th amendment ploy, he will be in greater danger when he goes before a federal judge for the next step in his prosecution…

23 days ago · 197 likes · 62 comments · Meryl Nass

Fauci can’t ever talk or he’ll be Arkancided in his car. John Leake, Fauci Inquisition is Distraction from the Documents of Malfeasance and Crime Watching today’s Senate hearing, I cannot rid myself of the perception that it is a distraction from documentary evidence of malfeasance, fraud, mass negligent homicide, and murder.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Fauci Inquisition is Distraction from the Documents of Malfeasance and Crime

Watching today’s Senate hearing, I cannot rid myself of the perception that it is a distraction from documentary evidence of malfeasance, fraud, mass negligent homicide, and murder…

23 days ago · 250 likes · 86 comments · John Leake

Peter McCullough MD, BREAKING--Pericardial Effusions Skyrocketed During Pandemic Salvucci et al. drop a bombshell: subclinical myopericarditis surged with vaccination rollout, peaking in 2022

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING--Pericardial Effusions Skyrocketed During Pandemic

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH…

22 days ago · 111 likes · 9 comments · Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

Pierre Kory MD tells 3 important stories here: Professor Paul Marik Identified The Cure for Sepsis. I Watched Medicine Bury It.
Becoming Paul Marik’s close colleague was the most inspiring turn my career ever took, until the same partnership got us both excommunicated from academic medicine and ended his career at the bedside.

Pierre Kory’s Medical Musings

Professor Paul Marik Identified The Cure for Sepsis. I Watched Medicine Bury It.

*Excerpted from The Silent Aquifer, Chapter 48: Who Decides What’s True: How Modern Medicine Buries What Works…

22 days ago · 627 likes · 106 comments · Pierre Kory, MD, MPA

Paul Marik MD on Sabine Hazan MD’s work: The Gut Microbiome and Cancer: What This New Study Tells Us—and Why It Matters - Summary of Hazan et al., 2026

Paul Marik

The Gut Microbiome and Cancer: What This New Study Tells Us—and Why It Matters

Gut Microbiome Alterations in Cancer and Non-cancer Adults: A Cross-Sectional Metagenomic Study. (1…

22 days ago · 110 likes · 32 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Dr. Marian Laderoute explains how a special function of the nasorespiratory branch of the immune system gets hijacked by mRNA vaccine-products to make others sick from “shedding”: Further substantiation that injury by shedding (bioweaponized HERV-K102) occurred - New data from Dr. Avindra Nath’s research group of the NIH mentioned in the Fauci diary.

HERV-K102 and Pandemic Responses

Further substantiation that injury by shedding (bioweaponized HERV-K102) occurred

Image 1. Proposed Mechanism for Pfizer-BioNTech’s Process II LNPs Compromising the HERV-K102 Protector Particles That INJURE AND KILL Third Parties Upon Transmission Rather than Provide Sterilizing and Herd Immunity…

23 days ago · 6 likes · 3 comments · Dr. Marian Laderoute

Immunocompetent (pictured this morning with thriving okra plants)

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Taking The Initiative

John Day MD — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:27:02 GMT

Civilians,

Last week US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio invited Russian Secretary of State, Sergey Lavrov to chat at ASEAN, in Manilla. They talked for 37 minutes, without apparent agreement. It was presumed that Rubio wanted Russia to not provide Iran with targeting info and weapons systems and Lavrov wanted the US to stop the targeting of “Ukrainian” drones and missiles onto Russian civilians and civilian businesses.

Trump claimed innocence of selling arms directly to Ukraine and pretended that was the end of US responsibility.

Lavrov has recently stated artfully that Russia has not provided Iran with weapons to attack American or Mideast targets, which seems to exclude air-defense systems, and likely sidesteps Russian electronics for Iranian Shahed dronses. Targeting data is not addressed as such. It should be presumed.

Lavrov just met Iranian FM, Araghchi in Moscow, presumably to discuss the Iranian revenge on Ukraine for the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian civilian ship in the Caspian Sea, which killed an Iranian sailor. Russia just sent a “doomsday” or AWACS plane to Iran, which will be very helpful with Iranian coordination of targeting in real time, with missiles that can be guided in terminal descent for optimum accuracy and avoidance of defenses.

Russia has sworn-off decapitation-strikes, but Iran has not sworn them off. Russia has Duma elections in September and a groundswell of citizen fervor to end the war by forcing Ukrainian surrender with hard attacks. Putin the legalist keeps paying attention to details and to his prior statements about tit-for-tat, but iran offers a bypass that will absolve him of responsibility for any decapitation strikes on Ukraine, of which Iranian missiles are capable. Russia has landl-locked Ukraine, and is taking out gas stations along Ukrainian supply lines, warehouses, trucks and trains. Russia remains capable of “large arrow” attacks to take Ukrainian territory, though these have been avoided in the recent drone-dominant stage of this war.

Russian forces and supplies are staged in the Donbas for something, and Ukrainian forces are extended along the very long line of contact, with a new Commander in Chief suddenly in place, no Defense Minister, and protests in the streets demanding the young drone-savvy tech-defense-minister Fedorov back.

The US/NATO/Ukraine are badly depleted in air-defense missiles and systems, which would take 5 years to replace. Patriot PAC-3 missiles were used at a daily rate in the Mideast which was about equal to a year’s production. US/NATO/Ukraine are now very exposed to attacks, and Iran appears to be taking the offensive initiative, with the justification that the US has blockaded Iranian shipping, a clear MoU violation.

Russia and Iran have clear motives to press the offensive hard and fast in August, and to coordinate against the common enemy since Ukraine opened that door. China takes mostly an aloof position, selling drones and parts directly and indirectly to all parties, because business is business. The US is on a rare-earths leash.

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-29 Two pauses broke at once. The Iran “pause” shattered overnight when the IRGC put ballistic missiles into a US base in Jordan and US+Saudi forces struck Iran-backed militias in Iraq, opening a new front and spiking oil +5%. Meanwhile the Asian AI-semi unwind went from selloff to crash: KOSPI hit a second straight circuit breaker after SK Hynix missed earnings, ~$950B erased across Korea/Taiwan/Japan. Fed decision lands today into a genuine coin-flip. Russia closed the book on both Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka. Iran-US “pause” shattered - ballistic missiles hit US base in Jordan. IRGC struck Muwaffaq Salti airbase ~5:45pm ET; oil surged +5%(KobeissiLetter).CENTCOM calls it an intercepted“surprise attack”;Jordan says it downed 5 missiles, while ground evidence and OSINT report a direct hit. Confirmed across zerohedge, disclosetv, spectatorindex.
US + Saudi strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq - new front. Hits on PMF weapons depots in Wasit province;Iraqi PM called an emergency NSC meeting.Sourced via zerohedge, GlobalNewsMontr, MenchOsint, dana916.
KOSPI second circuit breaker; SK Hynix earnings miss. Index slid as much as 12.6%, on track for a record ~35% monthly loss(zerohedge);now below its 200DMA and set for its largest 2-day drop ever. SK Hynix 2Q sales 79.32T won vs 83.85T est, oper profit 60.54T vs 64.22T est (zerohedge).~$950B wiped across three Asian markets per cryptorover.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-29

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

22 days ago · 58 likes · 14 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-28 The big new delta is Asia’s chip complex breaking overnight: the KOSPI cratered ~11% and tripped its 8th circuit-breaker of the year after China’s CXMT IPO exploded +466% and Beijing reportedly began mass-producing DUV lithography — hitting ASML, Samsung, SK Hynix and the whole AI-semi trade. Everything else is continuation with a fresh datapoint: oil got crushed on paper (WTI to ~$81.5) even as Abqaiq — the world’s largest oil-processing plant — burned, Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka both formally fell, and the Iran-Ukraine wars kept merging ahead of Zelensky and Netanyahu’s separate White House visits today. Fed decides Wednesday... ..Buffer running out: US SPR at 319M barrels, lowest in 40+ years, ~11 weeks from its operational minimum per Armstrong; lowest since 1983 per Hedgeye... ..Iran-US: pause holds, talks denied, casualties surface - Iran says it still controls Hormuz and is not seeking talks (Reuters/Idrees Ali); Foreign Ministry: negotiating is “not in our DNA,” the Strait stays closed (HormuzLetter).
Trump: ready for “strong military action” if talks fail (Kobeissi) — while Aramco is under Houthi fire (zerohedge).
Cost surfacing: US Iran-war casualties surpass 600 killed and wounded (Megatron, citing CNN); ricwe123 flags a quiet Pentagon database update logging 600+, and JenGriffin reports the Pentagon reclassified soldier deaths out of “Operation Enduring Freedom” into a category that caps the visible war-dead count.
Structural note from shanaka86: US/Gulf forces fired ~943 Patriot interceptors in the first 96 hours vs Lockheed’s 620 PAC-3/year — the shield, not the sword, now sets the tempo.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-28

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

23 days ago · 67 likes · 3 comments · No1

Trump Vows To Hit Iran ‘Hard’ As Rare Joint US-Saudi Strikes Pound Iraq, Killing 20 Militants The few days of calm that persisted over last weekend since Friday are already a thing of the past, as tit-for-tat serious attacks between the US and Iran return, and now involving the Saudis and proxy militants in Iraq.
The fresh flare-up started as we reported when in the overnight and early hours of Wednesday (local) Iran launched several missiles on a US base in Jordan, with the Jordanian armed forces saying they intercepted five projectiles. Iran is framing this as new action due to US military activities enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
For many hours prior to that new Iranian assault, which was accompanied by launches out of Iraq on Saudi energy sites, international headlines claimed that mediators were getting close to restoring the defunct Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
As if to confirm that those headlines were nowhere close to reality, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has recalled President Trump’s words claiming that Tehran was “dying for a negotiation”; but, said Gharibabadi, “We have sent no request for negotiation with the US during the past 16–17 days.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-vows-hit-iran-hard-rare-joint-us-saudi-strikes-pound-iraq-killing-20-militants

Death Toll Revised Lower: Trump Admin Accused Of Playing Politics With Iran War Casualties https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/death-toll-revised-lower-trump-admin-accused-playing-politics-iran-war-casualties

Iran war casualty count eclipses 600 as Pentagon quietly changes accounting The Pentagon updated its war casualty database Saturday, recording more than 140 additionally wounded and restoring the four soldiers killed due to Iranian strikes last week amid questions about a lack of transparency over the war’s toll.
The Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS, also featured a new tracking category — “Overseas Operations” — for killed and wounded “starting July 7.”
When the new Pentagon data is combined with updated totals for Operation Epic Fury, 18 troops have died and another 624 have been wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on Feb. 28. https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/iran-war-casualty-count-eclipses-180931096.html

American air defenses refused to cover their allies from Iranian strikes. https://en.topwar.ru/286945-amerikanskaja-pvo-ne-objazana-prikryvat-svoih-sojuznikov-ot-udarov-irana.html

The missile was not headed for the barracks, so we didn’t shoot at it, then it changed course: US Military Forced To Let Some Iranian Projectiles Through Its Defenses: NBC https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-military-intentionally-letting-some-iranian-projectiles-through-its-defenses

Oil tankers are unarmed; safer targets: U.S. Navy Boards and Disables M/T Lavine Oil Tanker Defying Iran Blockade Warnings. https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/navy-news/2026/u-s-navy-boards-and-disables-oil-tanker-defying-iran-blockade-warnings

‘I Almost Cried’ - Documentary Video Trove Shows Lindsey Graham’s Joy At Start Of Iran War https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/i-almost-cried-documentary-video-trove-shows-lindsey-grahams-joy-start-iran-war

The Joy of Killing - Newly released footage of Lyndsay Graham reveals his elation at the news of bombing and mass destruction and killing.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

The Joy of Killing

There’s a disturbing scene in the 2000 film Gladiator in which the Emperor Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, experiences a paroxysm of elation akin to sexual arousal at the sight of men grievously wounded and decapitated in the Arena…

24 days ago · 207 likes · 179 comments · John Leake

Netanyahu Ahead Of Trump Meeting: Iran War Will End Only With Regime Collapse Or Nuclear Halt https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/netanyahu-ahead-trump-meeting-iran-war-will-end-only-regime-collapse-or-nuclear-halt

The unconvincing video of “Netanyahu” talking, with Sarah looking down in sunglasses, by the jet-hatch has been replaced with a photo. Ahead of Netanyahu-Trump meeting, mediators believe US-Iran breakthrough near
Sources say Trump waiting to decide on matter until he’s met with Israeli PM; Iran and Oman have okayed proposal to clarify Hormuz disagreements, revive memorandum of understanding https://www.timesofisrael.com/ahead-of-netanyahu-trump-meeting-mediators-believe-us-iran-breakthrough-near/

An image of “sweet-faced Netanyahu” arriving at the White House (body double not arrested?): Anger rises as ICC member states accused of facilitating Netanyahu’s flight to Washington Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew through the airspace of several member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week on his way to Washington, prompting critics to accuse those governments of aiding an internationally wanted leader.
Netanyahu left Israel aboard the official government aircraft known as the “Wing of Zion” on Monday, ahead of talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft passing through the airspace of Greece, Italy and France before crossing the Atlantic, while a widely shared map of the journey indicated that it also entered Canadian airspace on its approach to the US.
Greece, Italy, France and Canada are all parties to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/anger-icc-member-states-accused-facilitating-netanyahus-flight-washington

No independent evidence of a live Netanyahu: Netanyahu says White House meeting with Trump was ‘one of the best we’ve ever had’ PM’s aide says Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility not discussed, claims president didn’t press Israel to advance reconstruction of Gaza, or withdraw IDF from Syria, Lebanon The meeting took place behind closed doors and without a press conference afterwards, with Netanyahu quietly entering the White House through a side entrance that was only partially visible to reporters, and leaving without fanfare some 90 minutes later. It was the eighth between the leaders since Trump’s return to office in early 2025... ..Photos released by Netanyahu’s office showed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s top Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff were all present in the Oval Office. https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-says-white-house-meeting-with-trump-was-one-of-the-best-weve-ever-had/

More Times oif Israel. “Netanyahu” looks like a clueless body double to me: Netanyahu attends memorial service for senator Lindsey Graham in DC https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-attends-memorial-service-for-senator-lindsey-graham-in-dc/

“Happy Netanyahu” spends all of “his” time in this video smiling and chatting with midwit Pete Hegseth, while Rubio and Bessent mill nearby, not engaging. RAW: DC: NETANYAHU SPOTTED AT GRAHAM FUNERAL https://pantagraph.com/partners/cnn/video_d2f6b050-f475-5d4b-96fa-4906ceb59d96.html

Lindsey Graham’s closed casket was draped with a flag. In a day of tributes, Lindsey Graham is remembered as a tireless Washington mainstay https://www.npr.org/2026/07/28/nx-s1-5909232/lindsey-graham-funeral

Rep. Massie Joins Democrats in Attempt To Sue White House Over Iran War
The legislation aims to enforce a concurrent War Powers Resolution that was passed by Congress and directs the president to end the war https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/27/rep-massie-joins-democrats-in-attempt-to-sue-white-house-over-iran-war/

US lost sovereignty to Israel long ago – Tucker Carlson https://michaelwalshwriter.com/2026/07/24/us-lost-sovereignty-to-israel-long-ago-tucker-carlson/

Tucker Carlson Denounces Proposed U.S.-Israel Defense Initiative as ‘Treason’ https://yournews.com/2026/07/25/7128379/tucker-carlson-denounces-proposed-u-s-israel-defense-initiative-as-treason/

As usual: Trump Ready For ‘Strong Military Action’ If Talks Fail, With Saudi Aramco Under Houthi Fire https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/saudi-aramco-targeted-including-sprawling-abqaiq-facility-tehran-aligned-militants

July 24: After holding up nuke deal, Trump says Saudi Arabia will normalize ties with Israel ‘at some point’
Trump also says agreement with Iran is ‘smarter’ than fighting, and they’re talking now, but Tehran not ready for deal * US, UK said planning major conference next week on Hormuz https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-july-24-2026/

July 23: US evacuates Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar following Iran strike https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246445/US-evacuates-Al-Udeid-Air-Base-in-Qatar-following-Iran-strike

July 23, IRGC destroys US electronic warfare unit in Kuwait https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246464/IRGC-destroys-US-electronic-warfare-unit-in-Kuwait

Simplicius, July 25, War-Weary Trump Balks Again, as Advisors Fear Conflict is “Consuming His Presidency”

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

War-Weary Trump Balks Again, as Advisors Fear Conflict is "Consuming His Presidency"

Reports continue to circulate that Trump is flabbergasted and losing patience behind the scenes, as the Iran war drags on and slowly exhausts the US military’s clay colossus…

a month ago · 846 likes · 507 comments · Simplicius

July 27, The US ran out of targets it could reach without risking valuable aircraft, CENTCOM Chief Proposes Halting Strikes in Strait of Hormuz - Reports The recommendation of Cooper and other advisers influenced US President Donald Trump in his decision on Friday to pause the bombing of Iran, the report said.
This is evidence of the recognition by Trump’s military and civilian advisers that the ability to achieve goals through military action, including the use of air power, has its limits, according to the report.
Cooper conveyed his position to Pentagon and White House officials this week, justifying this by the claim that recent bombings, he said, reduced Iran’s ability to attack ships. CENTCOM chief also expressed confidence that air strikes had already been carried out on most of the intended targets.
Earlier on Sunday, CBS claimed citing unnamed regional officials that the US had suspended its series of strikes against Iran in order not to disrupt Iran’s negotiations with Oman. https://sputnikglobe.com/20260727/centcom-chief-proposes-halting-strikes-in-strait-of-hormuz---reports-1124501908.html

July 25, Trump Pursues Diplomatic Off-Ramp As Omani Delegation Arrives In Tehran: Report https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-pauses-iran-bombing-campaign-saudi-houthi-red-sea-front-erupts

It looks like a copy of an Iranian Shahed drone: US One-Way Attack Drone Found Adrift In Hormuz Offers New Look At Western Capabilities https://www.zerohedge.com/military/us-one-way-attack-drone-found-adrift-hormuz-offers-new-look-western-capabilities

Israel lets the Lebanese army into a “pilot zone”, then shells them: Israel obstructing takeover of pilot zones in Lebanon’s south: Military Israel is violating agreements by shelling ‘pilot villages’, Lebanon’s army asserts. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/26/israel-obstructing-takeover-of-pilot-zones-in-lebanons-south-military

ISRAELI MEDIA: ‘An Inferno’: Gazans Face Sweltering Conditions in Tent Camps for Third Summer in a Row https://israelpalestinenews.org/israeli-media-an-inferno-gazans-face-sweltering-conditions-in-tent-camps-for-third-summer-in-a-row/

Making your hot tent the best home that you can. Families in their tents: Photos: Gaza’s shelter crisis The Gaza Strip faces a deepening housing crisis as more than 92 percent of homes have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s war. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/7/23/photos-gazas-shelter-crisis

1.4 Million Palestinians in Gaza Face Acute Food Insecurity – New IPC Analysis https://www.palestinechronicle.com/1-4-million-palestinians-in-gaza-face-acute-food-insecurity-new-ipc-analysis/

Rebuilding Gaza will cost $71bn and must include Palestinians, report says
A new joint report estimates that rebuilding Gaza will cost $71 billion, seven times the combined cost of all past offensives, and stresses that any reconstruction plan must directly include Palestinians in its design and implementation. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/5d1c6979-593c-42a0-ae7d-b2f195a3ca03

The younger, leaner, better-looking Ben Gvir: More than 4,200 Israelis storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem National Security Minister Ben-Gvir joins settlers and far-right groups at holy site under heavy police protection. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/23/more-than-2300-israelis-storm-al-aqsa-mosque-in-jerusalem

Settler attacks on Palestinians soar by 63 percent in first half of 2026 https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/settler-attacks-palestinians-soar-63-percent-first-half-2026

Applied Research Institute Jerusalem: Israeli settlement plan to seize 6,000 dunums south of Bethlehem town https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/24/367190/

July 23, New Israeli incursions reported in Quneitra as 57 violations documented in one week Israeli occupation forces carried out a new incursion on Wednesday evening into the Al-Mantara Dam area in the northern countryside of Quneitra, southwestern Syria, amid repeated violations in the region since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024. https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/23/367157/

Netanyahu, Katz vow to ‘broaden’ campaign of violence in occupied West Bank
A number of Palestinians were killed by settlers in the West Bank in recent days, as troops escalated arrest raids and violent incursions into villages https://thecradle.co/articles/netanyahu-katz-vow-to-broaden-campaign-of-violence-in-occupied-west-bank

The Israeli Spy Behind PragerU’s Plan to Rewrite American Education To Indoctrinate Children PragerU is trying to take over American schools. The right-wing, pseudo-educational group is now an official educational partner in at least ten states, and blitzes children with highly questionable messaging on race, history, and politics. Even more concerning, PragerU is led by former Israeli spy, Marissa Streit, who has stated she uses the tactics and techniques honed by IDF military intelligence on the American people. https://israelpalestinenews.org/the-israeli-spy-behind-pragerus-plan-to-rewrite-american-education-to-indoctrinate-children/

‘We want to see blood’: Israeli political leadership and settler groups call for revenge against Palestinians
Rights groups and Palestinian officials report homes burned, civilians injured and arrests following deadly clashes near Nablus https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/we-want-see-blood-israeli-political-leadership-and-settler-groups-call-revenge-against

The President of the World Jewish Congress just sent a warning to every Potential AMERICA FIRST Candidate wishing to run for U.S. Congress ‘If you do not support Israel, if you platform or say anything we deem “antisemitic”, we will “TARGET THEM” and start a fund for their opponent.’
By Dr. Sam Youssef, reposted from Twitter/X, July 21, 2026 https://israelpalestinenews.org/the-president-of-the-world-jewish-congress-just-sent-a-warning-to-every-potential-america-first-candidate-wishing-to-run-for-u-s-congress/

Last week: ‘Go F* Yourselves’: Democrats Defy AIPAC after Historic Israel Aid Vote More than 100 House Democrats supported or declined to oppose a measure to end US military aid to Israel despite AIPAC pressure.
Several lawmakers previously backed by AIPAC broke with the lobbying group by supporting or not rejecting the amendment.
Analysts and former lawmakers say AIPAC’s aggressive spending strategy is increasingly alienating Democratic voters and candidates. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/go-f-yourselves-democrats-defy-aipac-after-historic-israel-aid-vote/

Last week, seemingly just a group-opinion: House rebukes Trump’s war in Iran https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/iran-war-powers-vote-house-republicans-trump

The actual arrangement: The US Senate has authorized Trump to wage war on Iran without congressional approval. https://en.topwar.ru/286808-senat-ssha-razreshil-trampu-voevat-s-iranom-bez-odobrenija-kongressa.html

Larry Johnson explains why the Israeli military is particularly jet-fuel and diesel constrained lately: ISRAEL’S CRITICAL FUEL EXPOSURE https://sonar21.com/israels-critical-fuel-exposure/

Gilbert Doctorow with a “General Armageddon” rumor: The speculation surrounding the “reported reappointment” of General Sergei Surovikin to a leading position in the war on Ukraine

Armageddon Newsletter

The speculation surrounding the “reported reappointment” of General Sergei Surovikin to a leading position in the war on Ukraine

A couple of days ago one reader left the following comment on my Substack platform: “It seems like Papa Bear continues to sleepwalk, BUT, General Sergey “Armageddon” Surovikin is Back & will lead Russia into ODESSA & KIEV…

25 days ago · 20 likes · 3 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

Kyiv’s attacks on CPC tankers triggered an oil crisis in Romania. https://en.topwar.ru/286807-udary-kieva-po-tankeram-ktk-stali-prichinoj-krizisa-s-neftju-v-rumynii.html

HormuzReport - BREAKING: A source close to Iranian military officials suggests Iran may soon directly strike Ukraine or supply Russia with short-range ballistic missiles, in response to Kyiv’s drone attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed a sailor, per Iranian outlets. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the attack “cannot go unanswered.” Tehran has formally notified Russia and the EU. The IRGC is reportedly considering a retaliatory ballistic missile strike against a strategic target in Kyiv, with the Khorramshahr-4 missile capable of reaching Ukraine.

Gilbert Doctorow on what Iran might do to Ukraine in retaliation, and how that might be coordinated with Russia: News X World – Iran Russia Cooperation: Iran confirms constant Russia contact after deadly Caspian incident

Segment 1, minutes 9.10 to 14.10, deals with the latest talks in Moscow between the Russian and Iranian foreign ministers. What could be the subject of these discussions? As I say here, Russia and Iran have collaborated closely since the very beginning of the Special Military Operation, when Iran provided Russia with its fairly sophisticated drone, which were not a form of armament that had received much attention in the Russian military industry previously. A manufacturing facility was set up in Russia and over time the Russians themselves upgraded the Iranian designed drones significantly, and also went on to develop many different drone varieties of their own. As regards Russia assistance to Iran from the first U.S. Israeli attacks in 2025 to today, that has been, it seems, mainly in the realm of military intelligence from their reconnaissance flights and satellites which is useful to Tehran for targeting its drones and missiles against U.S. assets on land against the Gulf States and at sea.
There was very likely a specific reason for the latest Russian-Iranian consultations, namely to discuss how Iran will make its revenge attack on Ukraine following last week’s Ukrainian strike on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea.
Moreover, today’s news on various youtube channels reports the arrival in Iran of one of Russia’s so-called Doomsday planes which are essentially airborne command and control centers that could be very useful when Iran makes its next move against Ukraine.
Segment 2, minutes 15,40 to 19 deals with reports that President Putin has stated his readiness for new negotiations over ending the Ukraine war. Yes, indeed, I say: Russia stands ready at any time to negotiate the capitulation of Kiev that ends the war. Otherwise, Russia has no interest in a cease fire when it is starting now a vast air, sea and ground campaign to utterly smash the Ukrainian armed forces. Moscow has already effectively imposed a blockade of the Ukrainian Black Sea ports, destroying day by day all port infrastructure. We may well expect in the coming days Russian moves to destroy the bridges on the Dnieper and the railway links with Poland so as to effectively cut of Ukraine from Western military supplies.

Armageddon Newsletter

News X World – Iran Russia Cooperation: Iran confirms constant Russia contact after deadly Caspian incident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDo4rFhwF8w…

22 days ago · 8 likes · 1 comment · Gilbert Doctorow

Moon of Alabama, Ukraine: Long-range Campaign Fails As Russia Hits Back The battles for Chasov Yar and Kostiantynivka ended simultaneously.
 After 9 months of fighting, the city of Kostiantynivka fell under the control of Russian army. This Russian victory has, however, overshadowed another victory of equal significance. After 27 months of fighting, the town of Chasov Yar was completely captured by Russian forces.
 This battle, which appeared to be drawing to a close in August 2025, dragged on for several more months, with counter-attacks and infiltrations by Ukrainian forces in the western districts.
Whilst it seemed that the capture of Chasov Yar, situated on higher ground, would allow for a swift conquest of Kostiantynivka, situated on lower ground, it was ultimately the capture of Kostiantynivka that severed the supply lines to Chasov Yar and thus led to the withdrawal of the last Ukrainian soldiers from the town over the past few days. —Ukraine’s campaign against Russia in the Black Sea has left a landlocked country
Ukraine, with the help of U.S. and British intelligence, had launched a massive campaign against all Russia related shipping in the Black Sea. In a counter-campaign Russia has blocked Odessa and every other outlet to the sea that Ukraine had left. Any ship going to or from Ukraine was and will be attacked.
Ukraine is now landlocked. There will no longer be any sea borne export of Ukrainian crops or metals. Any arms import by sea has ended. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/ukraine-infrastructure-campaign-fails-as-russia-hits-back.html

The Cardboard Maidan On 15 July, Ukraine’s president fired his defence minister after six months. He did not explain why. By 18 July there were five thousand people outside his office in Kiev, holding signs torn out of shipping boxes. Within six days he had sacked his commander in chief instead. Polling taken that week showed the sacked minister’s trust rating going from 35 to 65 percent in seven days. The president came fourth. The protests are still running. Parliament does not sit again until 18 August. The defence ministry still has no confirmed head, and he lands at the White House tomorrow. Elections have been suspended since 2022. Which means the crowd outside the building at night is not one of the checks on power in Ukraine right now.

July 28, Protests in support of ex-defence minister Fedorov: Kyiv march for dialogue and reforms announced https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/07/28/8046236/

For use where, and by whom? US will build Ukraine’s sea drones — including the one that shoots down jets https://www.techradar.com/pro/us-will-build-ukraines-sea-drones-including-the-one-that-shoots-down-jets

The is what Trump’s “not Europe’s piggybank” quote was about: President Trump Notes Europe’s Refusal to Accept Elimination of Marshall Plan – New EU Scheme to Fine U.S. Tech Companies https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/07/25/president-trump-notes-europes-refusal-to-accept-elimination-of-marshall-plan-new-eu-scheme-to-fine-u-s-tech-companies/#more-285530

Germany paying five times more for gas after ditching Russian imports – media
Long-term contracts with Moscow were not vulnerable to external shocks or market fluctuations, Berliner Zeitung has said https://web.archive.org/web/20260723232430/https://www.rt.com/news/643402-germany-gas-russian-imports/

Martin Armstrong asserts: Japan Is the First Domino in the Sovereign Debt Crisis Japan recorded a 1.01 trillion yen ($6.2 billion) trade deficit during the first half of 2026, according to preliminary government data. This does not mean that Japan will collapse tomorrow, but it is another crack in the foundation of a debt structure that can no longer withstand rising interest rates, a collapsing currency, and imported inflation... ..Japan depends heavily on imported energy. The conflict with Iran and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz have raised the cost of oil while forcing Japan to seek supplies from more distant sources. Japan’s oil import volume actually declined 13.7% in June, but the value of those imports increased 59.3%. Japan bought less oil and paid far more for it...
..Japan accumulated the largest sovereign debt burden in the industrialized world while interest rates were held artificially near zero. Government debt exceeds 200% of GDP by virtually every major international estimate, while broader measurements place the burden above 230%... ..The Bank of Japan held approximately 485.4 trillion yen in Japanese government bonds as of March 2026, representing 47.9% of outstanding JGBs under the government’s calculation. This is not a free market. The central bank became the market because the government could not have financed this mountain of debt at normal interest rates... ..Japan is not operating under ordinary circumstances. Every increase in rates gradually raises the government’s cost of refinancing debt that was accumulated under zero-rate policies. Japan’s fiscal 2026 budget totals a record 122.3 trillion yen. Debt-service expenditures, including interest and redemptions, have jumped 10.8% to 31.3 trillion yen. That means more than one-quarter of general government spending is already being consumed by past borrowing... ..The Bank of Japan is trapped. If it raises rates aggressively to defend the yen, it increases government debt-service costs and inflicts losses on banks, insurers, pension funds, and other institutions holding government bonds. If it keeps rates too low, capital continues to move away from the yen, the currency declines, and imported inflation accelerates. If it resumes massive bond purchases, it confirms that the debt cannot be financed naturally and further undermines confidence in the currency.
Tokyo has already spent an estimated $215 billion intervening in currency markets, yet the yen has still fallen to a 40-year low. Currency intervention cannot repair a structural fiscal imbalance. A government can buy its currency temporarily, but it cannot force global capital to trust policies that no longer make sense... ..Japan can no longer defend the currency without threatening the bond market, support the bond market without weakening the currency, subsidize energy without issuing more debt, or raise taxes without damaging an already strained population. Japan’s aging population makes the situation even worse. The tax base is shrinking while pension, medical, and social-service obligations increase. Social-security expenditures in the fiscal 2026 budget reached approximately 39.1 trillion yen. Debt service and social security together consume an enormous portion of government spending before politicians fund defense, infrastructure, education, energy subsidies, or anything else... ..Anyone claiming that one trade report proves Japan is bankrupt is exaggerating. The importance of this report is that it shows the mechanism tightening: war raises energy prices, the weak yen magnifies those prices, imports overwhelm export growth, inflation pressures the Bank of Japan to raise rates, and higher rates increase the cost of servicing the world’s largest developed-market debt burden.
Japan is the first domino because it pushed modern monetary experimentation further than any other major economy. It normalized zero and negative interest rates, allowed its central bank to dominate the government bond market, and assumed domestic savings would finance public deficits forever. Europe and the United States followed the same path later, believing they could avoid Japan’s fate... ..The Japanese trade deficit is another warning shot. The sovereign debt crisis will not necessarily begin with a formal announcement from the Ministry of Finance. It will begin through currency weakness, failed interventions, rising bond yields, imported inflation, captive domestic capital, and an increasing share of tax revenue diverted toward interest payments.
Japan is not merely experiencing a weak yen or a temporary energy problem. It is approaching the point where every available policy creates another crisis somewhere else. That is how confidence begins to fracture, and once confidence turns against government debt, no central bank can restore it by simply creating more money. https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/japan/japan-is-the-first-domino-in-the-sovereign-debt-crisis/

The Near Future? Tether’s XAUt Gold Token Receives Shariah Certification To Expand Islamic Finance Access https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/tethers-xaut-gold-token-receives-shariah-certification-expand-islamic-finance-access

Take the free $1000 and watch it for 65 years: Trump Accounts Are Now Open: What Parents And Grandparents Need To Know Before Contributing https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/trump-accounts-are-now-open-what-parents-and-grandparents-need-know-contributing

Too stoopid to wash dishes... Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible Jason Gibson, a history professor at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, says that he used white font to hide a prompt telling an AI model to spew nonsense in the instructions for his mid-term. Unfortunately, it ended up working a little too well.
“Thirty-two of my 35 students between two classes failed a portion of their midterm because they all used AI to generate their entire response,” he explained in a viral TikTok, sounding incredulous. “And apparently they didn’t proofread it.”
The hidden prompt told the AI to sneak in random digressions about Madagascar. The midterm, by the way, was about the Industrial Revolution... ..All they did was copy-paste the midterm instructions into a chatbot, then copy-paste the chatbot’s spiel back into the answer window... ..“Madagascar floats sideways through the afternoon.” (”Okay,” Gibson says, after a pause.) Another droned on about something related to AI and social inequality, followed by: “Madagascar purple bicycle whispers to the ceiling.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/professor-hides-white-font-midterm-100100752.html

OpenAI’s Rogue Agent Hit A Second Company, Executive Reveals - And The Blast Radius Just Got Bigger The rogue OpenAI agent behind this month’s unprecedented AI-driven cyber intrusion claimed a second corporate victim, an executive at New York-based Modal Labs has revealed - a detail absent from the original account and one that widens the known blast radius of the episode.
According to the Modal executive and sources cited by Reuters, the same autonomous agent that broke into Hugging Face also compromised one of Modal’s customers, using that customer’s environment as a staging base for the broader campaign.
Modal was pointed about the distinction: its own platform and isolation were never breached. The agent exploited an unauthenticated endpoint that one of Modal’s customers had left open to the internet - effectively an unlocked door anyone could have walked through - giving it root-level access to that customer’s code-execution sandboxes. From there the agent had a disposable, third-party launchpad from which to run the rest of its operation.
It’s bad enough that a frontier AI agent can independently discover attack paths, escape its container, and compromise an unaffiliated company’s production systems. The Modal revelation shows it reached further than that - treating any publicly reachable, poorly secured infrastructure it encountered as expendable staging ground, exactly the opportunistic chaining that security researchers have warned agentic systems would carry out at machine speed. https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/openais-rogue-agent-hit-second-company-executive-reveals-and-blast-radius-just-got-bigger

20 year old Toyotas not affected: Experts warn 2.2 million cars could be at risk of hijacking via Bluetooth, Worrying connected California carjack detected 2.2 million vehicles are susceptible to a Bluetooth-based attack in the state of California The vulnerability is due to dealer-installed security systems
Researchers at the University of California San Diego found that the Acrisure-built security devices all rely on the same secure key ... ..Worryingly, the researchers also found a publicly-accessible database holding information about all vehicles with the security system equipped... ..The researchers determined that the automobiles were purchased from Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, and Jeep dealerships, and the affected vehicles have the “KARR-SWDS” label on the driver-side window, with the anti-theft device mounted under the dashboard.
Usage is straightforward: a mobile app connects to the KARR security system over Bluetooth and includes functions such as locking and unlocking doors, controlling the horn, and flashing the headlamps. It can also prevent the car from starting. https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/experts-warn-2-2-million-cars-could-be-at-risk-of-hijacking-via-bluetooth

“Don’t Flock Me”: Massie Readies Bill To Yank Federal Cash From Cities And Police Departments Running Flock Cameras
Rather than regulating or litigating the cameras, Massie’s bill would cut off federal funding to every city and police department that installs them. Flock’s business model runs on local government contracts across roughly 6,000 communities, so a funding-withholding bill aims directly at its customer base. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dont-flock-me-massie-readies-bill-yank-federal-cash-cities-and-police-departments-running

Soon they may need to be armed for “self-defense”: Now They Are Making Flock Cameras That Can Fly and Read License Plates From 2,000 Feet Away https://jdrucker.com/now-they-are-making-flock-cameras-that-can-fly-and-read-license-plates-from-2000-feet-away/

Fabio Vighi, AI Shock and Central Bank Trap - A week of living dangerously Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 Becomes World’s First Open-Source Model in 3-Trillion-Parameter Class
The system always looks most stable just before it starts to crack—a mixture of vanity and method. That is why the present moment seems significant: the launch of a Chinese open-weight AI model, a global bond sell-off, and a round of central bank meetings are not separate stories but connected symptoms of the same exhausted order. Grinding in the background is the debt machine, which is now accelerating into its own limits... ..Capital wants to convert technological advance into private monopoly, yet the very spread of AI undermines exclusivity and erodes control over access. The more essential the technology becomes to coding, research, administration, and decision-making, the more obvious it is that the real struggle is not over “intelligence” as such, but over control of the conditions under which the artificial intelligence is commodified.
And here lies the constitutive, inescapable contradiction. AI is celebrated as a productivity revolution; in truth, it intensifies a formidable crisis of valorisation. Capital seeks to replace living labour with machine intelligence, but commodity-producing living labour remains the only source of economic value. The more capital automates, the more it corrodes the basis on which profit is supposed to rest... ..If Kimi K3 marks anything, it is not necessarily the end of US AI dominance, but the erosion of the assumptions on which that dominance—and the AI bubble—rested. K3 does not need to be the best model in the world. It only needs to be close enough, cheap enough, and accessible enough to make US customers ask why they are paying many times more for closed American systems.

fabio vighi

AI Shock and Central Bank Trap

Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 Becomes World's First Open-Source Model in 3-Trillion-Parameter Class…

23 days ago · 37 likes · 6 comments · fabio vighi

Man Saves Wife from Being Euthanized by Canadian Government, Flees to Texas for Cancer Treatment A Canadian husband is sounding the alarm after the country’s government-run healthcare system tried to euthanize his wife instead of saving her life, forcing the couple to flee to the United States, where she received treatment that has since put her cancer into remission multiple times.
The explosive testimony from Donovan James has gone viral after he accused Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) regime of abandoning his wife, Kristin Logan, to die while refusing to provide life-saving care. https://slaynews.com/man-saves-wife-euthanized-canadian-government-flees-texas-cancer-treatment/

International Study Finds 75% of Embalmers Observed White Fibrous Clots in Corpses

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

International Study Finds 75% of Embalmers Observed White Fibrous Clots in Corpses

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

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24 days ago · 206 likes · 49 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

A Midwestern Doctor, Vaccine Amnesia: 78 Forgotten News Segments That Could Never Air Today Before the press was captured, vaccine injuries were openly covered on national TV. Now the dam of censorship is breaking, and we can finally confront the tragic history that keeps repeating. Something about vaccines (e.g., their promise of a simple injection being sufficient to safely and effectively end all diseases) has always deeply appealed to the minds of government officials.
That promise is often a lie. Over and over, unsafe and ineffective vaccines reach the market, and each time, the officials invested in them do everything they can to shield the vaccines from scrutiny and bury the red flags. The medical field has dutifully gone along.
In earlier decades, the press was far less captured than it is now, and it occasionally aired real investigations into what was happening — segments that documented the suffering of the injured.
Watched together, these reports show two things at once: how much more candid the media used to be, and how precisely the lies of that era match the lies we face now.

The Forgotten Side of Medicine

Vaccine Amnesia: 78 Forgotten News Segments That Could Never Air Today

Story at a Glance…

25 days ago · 787 likes · 208 comments · A Midwestern Doctor

Steve Kirsch, Data from a large autism clinic shows 40% of sudden regression autism happened within 2 days after vaccination And 76% of the cases happened within 2 weeks! In 98% of the rapid regression cases, the common element that parents noted just prior to the onset of sudden regression was routine vaccination.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Data from a large autism clinic shows 40% of sudden regression autism happened within 2 days after vaccination

Executive summary…

23 days ago · 304 likes · 84 comments · Steve Kirsch

Steve Kirsch, Czech data shows that those who got the Moderna vaccine died more The comorbidity index (DCCI) for the Pfizer v. Moderna groups was comparable (SMD around .05), but mortality was consistently higher for Moderna. The most likely explanation: Moderna was more deadly.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Czech data shows that those who got the Moderna vaccine died more

Executive summary…

a month ago · 339 likes · 90 comments · Steve Kirsch

Known to me since May 2020: Flashback: Fauci Funded Technique To Hide Evidence Of Genetic Engineering According To RFK Jr. Four years ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an accusation that got him shadowbanned, “fact-checked,” and dismissed as a crank: that Anthony Fauci’s NIAID had bankrolled the development of a laboratory technique whose primary utility was erasing the fingerprints of human engineering from a manipulated virus - and that the technique was then handed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology...
..What “Seamless Ligation” Actually Is
The technique is published, peer-reviewed, sitting on the National Institutes of Health’s own servers, and was openly boasted about for the better part of two decades.
Assembling a full-length coronavirus genome from smaller synthetic fragments requires cutting and pasting DNA. Conventional restriction enzymes leave behind junction sequences - “scars” - at every splice point. Those scars are the tell. Line up the genome, spot the regularly spaced artificial seams, and you can say with confidence that a human being built the thing.
Baric’s lab solved that problem. Using Type IIS restriction enzymes - which cut outside their own recognition sequence - his team developed an assembly method that leaves no residual site at the junction. The finished genome reads as though it were never cut at all. https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/flashback-fauci-funded-technique-hide-evidence-genetic-engineering-according-rfk-jr

Jessica Rose Ph.D. The Ralph Baric Interview Release A story of a man’s account of his own forgetfulness, not knowing how he ended up on pivotal Zoom calls, and his as-yet unspoken classified answers to unclassified NBACC reports

Unacceptable Jessica

The Ralph Baric Interview Release

C'est en vertu de ce principe que j'ai écrit : Genet est un moraliste et "Je suis un mensonge qui dit toujours la vérité", phrase dont les ânes firent leur herbe tendre…

a month ago · 177 likes · 62 comments · Jessica Rose

John Leake, Senator Paul Should Ask Fauci Why Moderna’s 2016 Patented Gene Sequence Turned Up in SARS-CoV-2 Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, the Wuhan Lab, a critical gene patent, and the U.S. government’s curious lack of interest in what appears to be a smoking gun.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Senator Paul Should Ask Fauci Why Moderna's 2016 Patented Gene Sequence Turned Up in SARS-CoV-2

Last year I had conversations with Senator Rand Paul and former CDC Director, Robert Redfield in which I asked them if they are aware of the gene sequence that Moderna patented in 2016 that was subsequently found in SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19…

23 days ago · 224 likes · 71 comments · John Leake

Celia Farber, Breaking: Disruptive Fauci Lawyer Removed By Security For Refusing To Obey Rules Of Hearing But “Half A Dozen” Other Fauci Lawyers Remain; How Much Are These Lawyers Paid To Tell Their Detested Client To Plead The Fifth On EVERY Question?

The Truth Barrier

Breaking: Disruptive Fauci Lawyer Removed By Security For Refusing To Obey Rules Of Hearing

22 days ago · 58 likes · 14 comments · Celia Farber

Surreal: Fauci Is Pleading The Fifth On EVERY Question - Including Whether A Folder Was Before Him

The Truth Barrier

Surreal: Fauci Is Pleading The Fifth On EVERY Question

The Truth Barrier is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber…

22 days ago · 47 likes · 27 comments · Celia Farber

Peter McCullough MD on Fauci taking his own Kool-Aid: BREAKING--Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Post-Vaccination Pulmonary Embolism and the Disconnect in Public Health Policy Examining the Dissonance Between a Concealed Medical Crisis and Federal Public Health Directives--Fauci Knew or Should Have Known Moderna Causes Blood Clots

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING--Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Post-Vaccination Pulmonary Embolism and the Disconnect in Public Health Policy

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH…

25 days ago · 334 likes · 29 comments · Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

Breathing Freely (pictured with pecan tree and black-eyed pea patch)

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Declining Empire In Denial

John Day MD — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:13:25 GMT

Subjects of Empire,

The Petrobuck Empire is supported by the value-extracting creation of $US, which the world trades real stuff for, because $US is how trade is carried out between nations, and also it is very bad for the health of a nation to not use the $US, though that consequence is now being seriously called into question.

The Petrobuck Empire is in an existential contest for control of flows of oil and natural gas, and the position of the $US as global reserve currency. So far, nothing has lasted forever, and 80+ years is a pretty fair run for a global reserve currency.

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-24 The tape broke on several fronts at once.Iran rejected a US ceasefire on day 145 while American warplanes hit Ahvaz’s oil belt and a dozen more Iranian cities overnight, Brent cleared $100, and the Mag7 logged their worst session in five years as the 10Y punched past 4.7% and the yen sank to a 40-year low. The genuinely new vector isn’t the war itself but where it landed: bond and currency markets moved hard enough that two 2026 rate hikes are now the base case, and the oil shock is being priced through the discount rate, not just the pump... ..Iran-US: ceasefire rejected on day 145, Ahvaz oil belt hit, RAF Fairford named a target - Overnight US strikes ran across southern and western Iran;Iran’s retaliation shifted to US personnel housing— MenchOsint reportsArash drones on soldier housing at Sheikh Isa (Bahrain) and Muwaffaq Salti (Jordan), afourth confirmed housing strike.
Trump is “close” to a “massive attack, bigger than ever before” per Kobeissi and zerohedge — “they haven’t received enough pain yet.”
Iran’s IRGC declared RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire a “legitimate target” after US B-1s flew Iran strikes from it— ProfessorPape, declassifiedUK, BRICSinfo. shanaka86ties the switch to bombers to depleted cruise-missile stocks at sea.
Trump says Iran’s frozen money will pay for ship/cargo damage; Brett Erickson argues the ~$2B pool is Washington’s only remaining leverage and torching it as a threat is self-defeating.
WSJ: advisers told theIranians are seeking to kill senior US officials; some told to stop using car services— lookner, BRICSinfo.
Iran is rebuilding faster than expected — missile bases, bridges, ports— worrying Israeli officials, per WSJ via dana916 and MazMHussain. Separately, theUS Army placed its first PAC-2 Patriot order in 30+ years as stockpiles run low.
Escalation risk: HormuzLetter cites two Iranian officials warning Iran would strike Tel Aviv directly and fully close Bab el-Mandeb if infrastructure strikes proceed... ..Oil: Brent past $100, both chokepoints choked, Aramco reroutes via the Med - Houthis are letting Chinese tankers of Saudi oil transit Bab el-Mandeb while hitting European/American cargoes; Aramco is offering crude from Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean to skip the strait entirely... ..Russia-Ukraine: Bilytske falls, Odessa port closed, new C-in-C’s rhetoric, St. Petersburg hit - Bilytske has fallen; Russia is closing Odessa’s port (no ships entering) and evacuations have begun in Kramatorsk and east of Konstantinovka (YourmediaAgency). New Commander in Chief Drapatyi drew fire saying Russians are “a nation that has no right to exist”andcalling Donbass residents “lazy… criminal elements” needing re-education.Protesters in multiple cities demanded sacked Fedorov’s return.
Ukraine hit St. Petersburg in a 571-UAV night, torching a Wildberries warehouse (Breaking911 footage).Lavrov-Rubio met for only 37 minuteswith no follow-on round. The human cost underneath:Ukraine’s frontline average age is now over 45. Saudi nuclear deal, then the Abraham Accords string attached
Trump added conditions a day after the 30-year deal was signed: no enrichment, and approval only if Saudi joins the Abraham Accords — a monkey wrench at the 11th hour. Riyadh’s answer: “tweets don’t overturn signed deals.”
shanaka86 notes the reported text (per Reuters/AP) may actually permit enrichment and omits the IAEA protocol — contradicting the public “no enrichment” line... ..Sulfur/sulfuric-acid crunch: ~50% of seaborne sulfur transits Hormuz, Russia/China/Kazakhstan curbing exports —feedstock for fertilizer, copper, uranium leaching. Single-source but well-argued.
European gas: TTF +49% in a month; Equinor’s CEO warnsEurope will miss its 80% storage target at 54%; Germany paying 5x pre-war gas prices.
Forced-labor tariffs: 10%-12.5% on ~60 nations effective midnight per Geiger.
Pakistan threatens force against the Houthis if Pakistani or Saudi vessels are hit(GlobeEyeNews) — a new state actor entering the Red Sea equation.
EU launching a mission to board Russian shadow-fleet tankers in the Indian Ocean(zerohedge) — enforcement escalation with oil-supply tail risk.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-24

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 73 likes · 10 comments · No1

Hal Turner, Iran Warns: Will Attack ISRAEL Directly if U.S. Hits Mount Pickax Numerous weapons experts along with military experts have publicly stated for weeks that the mountain cannot be breached, even by the U.S. Maximum Ordnance Penetrator bombs. The only way the “experts” believe a nuclear facility beneath that mountain can be destroyed would be via a U.S. tactical NUCLEAR bomb, which, they say, would create a “seismic wave” in the ground, crushing the underground facilities.
Hearing all this public chatter, Iran responded today saying that “If the U.S. attacks Mount Pickaxe, Iran will directly attack Israel.”
 Much of Israel’s “layered defenses” have already been obliterated by Iran, which hit sites in Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and most recently, Jordan. Therefore, with so many layers of Israeli defense now destroyed, any direct attack by Iran would likely see very many of those Iranian missiles make it to Israel. https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/component/content/article/iran-warns-will-attack-israel-directly-if-u-s-hits-mount-pickaxe

Larry Johnson, DeBasification… A Fancy Word for Booting the US Out of the Middle East Tehran delivered to Washington via Pakistan in early April, a formalized demand for the withdrawal of US combat forcesfrom military bases across the region. It sat ina package alongside the lifting of all sanctions and UN resolutions, the release of Iranian assets held overseas, reparations, and Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment.
Instead of waiting for the US to agree to the demand, Iran has launched targeted attacks during the past two weeks on key US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Thishas produced a de facto evacuation of US forces and equipment from most of these bases. The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain is in shambles; theCombined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid in Qatar has been closedandmoved to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. And Iran continues to pound bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar... ..During the first 43 days of the 2026 Iran war (Operation Epic Fury, beginning 28 February), Iran systematically targeted the sensor and communications layer of the US military’s integrated air defense architecture across the Persian Gulf. Rather than simply overwhelming interceptors with mass drone and missile barrages, Iran prioritized destroying the radars and SATCOM terminals that make the entire network function — a strategy described by analysts as “blinding US eyes in the Middle East.”... ..Now, with the MoU dead, Iran is focused on making life on the bases that are still hosting US troops and aircraft a living hell. It is no longer up to the US to decide to leave the Persian Gulf… Iran is making that decision for them. https://sonar21.com/debasification-a-fancy-word-for-booting-the-us-out-of-the-middle-east/

Non-binding... Four House Republicans Break Ranks To Help Democrats Pass Iran War Powers Resolution https://www.zerohedge.com/political/four-house-republicans-break-ranks-help-democrats-pass-iran-war-powers-resolution

Netanyahu to meet Trump at White House next week amid Iran war escalation Visit will be Netanyahu’s seventh to White House, underscoring US commitment amid war with Iran, genocide in Gaza. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White Housenext Tuesday, the PM’s office said.
It added that the meeting coincides with Netanyahu’s visit for the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham. The Republican, who was one of the staunchest supporters of Israel in Washington, died suddenly last week... ..Israel had opposed the MoU, with its ongoing military operations in Lebanon repeatedly threatening to derail diplomatic overtures. The Trump administration has been overseeing talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending the war that do not include Hezbollah.
Both Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a plan meant to turn over Israeli-occupied areas to the Lebanese military, although the facts on the ground have remained largely unchanged since March. In a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier this week, Trump did not offer a timeline for Israel’s withdrawal. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/24/netanyahu-to-meet-trump-at-white-house-next-week-amid-iran-war-escalation

John Leake (and George Orwell) look at America’s many post WW-2 wars: The War is Not Meant to Be Won - Reflections on America’s “Forever Wars”

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

The War is Not Meant to Be Won

The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous…

a month ago · 160 likes · 103 comments · John Leake

The Honest Sorcerer, No Oil, No Transition, No Economy - How the pursuit of ‘energy dominance’ put the final nail in the coffin of electrification Only 27% of what we call ‘oil’ can be turned into diesel—the most vital fuel of all—on a global average1, and that diesel engines burn fuel at an average 35% efficiency, only a tiny fraction of the energy stored in a barrel of oil can be used to drill more wells, mine minerals, harvest fish/wood/crops, build infrastructure, power militaries or to transport goods across large distances. That roughly 10% of energy derived from a barrel of crude is what keeps billions of people and a globalized world economy alive. The rest remains embedded in products (plastics, solvents, lubricants, asphalt, wax etc.) or simply get burned for our convenience in cars and jets... ..When a study on Energy Return on Energy Invested (Delannoy et al., 2021) concluded that we use up a little more than 15% of energy stored in a barrel of oil to explore, drill, lift and deliver the next barrel of oil, they pointed out something profound.We need more energy to extract oil than what we could obtain by burning it in tractors, trailers, trucks and all kinds of heavy machinery to maintain civilization... ..‘Then why don’t we shift to other fuels or electrify transportation?’—the question poses itself. You see, batteries and hydrogen, the most often touted “alternatives” to oil, are a way of storing energy at a loss, and not a source of energy. Thus, in order to replace oil we would not only need to dig up all the raw materials required to build these technologies—by using diesel fuel, what else?—but we would also need to multiply the electric grid’s capacity in order to cater for battery charging and hydrogen production demands. Even when considering engine inefficiencies, and calculating with the net energy portion of diesel, jet fuel and gasoline only we would still need to produce at least 395 kilowatt-hours of power for each barrel of oil replaced. For the 103 million barrels humans burned every single day in 2025—that energy amounts to 40.7 Terawatt hours per day, or 14,850 TWh for an entire year… And we haven’t even taken electric engine and AC/DC conversion losses (10%) or battery recharge cycle inefficiencies (another 10%) into account—let alone the enormous energy cost of generating hydrogen… Not to speak of transmission losses over the grid which could be as high as 60% in the case of America or 40-50% everywhere else. All in all, as this back of an envelope calculation shows, we would need to generate around 36,600 TWhs of electricity on top of the existing 32,600 TWhs produced annually—just to electrify every machine which currently burns oil products globally. And then we haven’t even mentioned electrifying the industry which would take a similar amount of electricity. Triple that grid Mr. President, please.

The Honest Sorcerer

No Oil, No Transition, No Economy

“Everything that has a beginning must have an end” as the saying goes. And in case you were wondering how the end of the oil age—and with it the age of electrification—might look like, look no further. But why is ‘the world economy as we know it’ ending? Is it just because of the war on Iran, or a…

a month ago · 112 likes · 24 comments · The Honest Sorcerer

Jim Quinn Warns “We’ve Already Entered This Fourth Turning’s Global War...” I’m always aware of Strauss and Howe’s warning about what could befall the world during this crisis.
“The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort – in other words, a total war. Every Fourth Turning has registered an upward ratchet in the technology of destruction, and in mankind’s willingness to use it.” – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe ... ..Everything about this war on Iran is based on lies, mistruths, and propaganda, as the true motive is to further Netanyahu’s Greater Israel project of taking Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, while defanging Iran and Turkey.Netanyahu convinced Trump it would be a cakewalk, or more likely, threatened Trump with revelations from the Epstein files. The assassination of Charlie Kirk for beginning to reveal the truth about Israeli control of the U.S. government and genocide in Gaza was also a warning shot across Trump’s bow. Now Bibi is declaring Turkey a threat to Israel’s grand plan...
..The linear thinking dupes, who choose to not understand the cyclical nature of history, were lulled into think the MOU signed by Iran and Trump on June 17 would deescalate the war and lead to peace in our time. That is not how Fourth Turnings are resolved. They intensify until all-out war, with millions of deaths, decides the true winners and losers. There are no compromise solutions during a Fourth Turning... Trump has trapped himself in an unwinnable war of attrition, with no accessible escape hatch... ..TheGreat Reset Epstein class see World War III as an opportunity, just as they saw the Covid Plandemic as an opportunity to further their new world order plan of depopulation, CBDCs, 15-minute gulags, 24-hour surveillance, and social credit scoringto keep the peasants controlled, subservient, and neutered. Freedom, liberty, and living without restrictions are not in their master plan. Thus far, Putin has acted the most statesmanlike among the Prophet generation world leaders, but with the EU/NATO/Trump increasingly deadly provocations in waging a proxy war on behalf of Zelensky, have pushed him to his limit. Make no mistake, this proxy war would not be ongoing without U.S. munitions and satellite targeting. Putin is also being pressured by hawks within his country to take more drastic measures against the EU psychopaths in suits trying to destroy Russia. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/jim-quinn-warns-weve-already-enter-fourth-turnings-global-war

John Helmer’s take on the Rubio - Lavrov 37 minute meeting at ASEAN in Manilla: RUBIO WARNED LAVROV TO STOP HITTING CIA AGENTS, US TROOPS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, OR ELSE – THIS IS HOW PUTIN ORDERED LAVROV TO REPLY The question everyone in their warfighting chairs has been asking President Vladimir Putin, with a follow-up that no one is reporting:
 What is Putin going to do to answer the escalation of drone war on the Russian mainland and deter the US and its allies from their war to destroy the Russian economy?... ..Why did the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio call Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to a meeting and then spend little more than thirty minutes telling Lavrov what he had come to say?
Answer: we cannot say for sure.
Best guess: Rubio gave Lavrov a warning. He told Lavrov he had been instructed by President Donald Trump to say that the US holds Russia responsible for providing precise location intelligence and targeting details to enable Iran’s drone forces to penetrate US air defences and strike at CIA and US troop bases in the Arab territories, killing Americans.
Lavrov replied that Putin had instructed him to say that Russia holds the US responsible for providing precise location intelligence and targeting details to enable Ukrainian drones to strike at Russian civilian targets, oil refineries, oil ports, shipping on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and consumer product warehouses from Moscow to Kazan, and deep into the Russian hinterland, killing Russians.
In short, this is Putin’s mirror. It is telling Trump and the warfighters in the White House that if they continue, with their European allies and the Kiev regime, to strike outside the Ukraine battlefield, killing Russian civilians, the response will be tit-for-tat against Americans. Furthermore, Putin had warned: “He already feels it, I hope, and he will feel it several times more powerfully.”... ..Public reporting of the Iran drone strikes on CIA targets isn’t new. That began with US officials leaking to the Washington Post on March 6... ..Reuters of New York, has subsequently reported: “at this point there is no evidence. But we do have sources who are telling us that Russia did contribute technological upgrades to the drones that were used against the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (March 3, 2026] , and that helped with the precision strike…”... ..“The suspected Russian component under scrutiny is the Kometa-M satellite navigation module, a jam-resistant Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna array that dramatically improves a drone’s resistance to electronic warfare and sharpens its terminal-phase targeting accuracy against hardened, defended installations. Debris recovered from a Shahed drone that struck RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in March 2026 reportedly contained Kometa-M components identical to those pulled from Russian Geran-series drones deployed against Ukrainian targets, strengthening the technology-transfer hypothesis under active review.”...
..Because he was the inviter and formal host of the meeting with Lavrov, Rubio had spoken first.
What he said to draw Lavrov’s reply was a warning that US intelligence had confirmed that Russian satellite and other intelligence and military technology was enabling Iran’s drone strikes to break through US air defences at CIA and troop bases in the Middle East, killing and wounding US agents and troops. Rubio warned Lavrov to stop or there would be US consequences.
That, Lavrov understood to mean, a threat of US escalation against Russian civilian and troop targets inside Russia... ..In the Kremlin’s public editorializer, Vzglyad, published soon after the Manila meeting, the line was: “the talks between Lavrov and Rubio in Manila lasted only about half an hour. During this time, as a rule, the parties manage to voice several theses and, if necessary, clarify some questions. That is, these are not deep substantive negotiations…the demand of the Russian Foreign Minister for Washington [was] to stop pumping Ukraine with weapons. In fact, the Russian minister once again pointed out the real way to end the conflict.” The day before, Vzglyad had published a more explicit statement by Lavrov: “The Americans through the supply of weapons at the expense of the European Union and through the provision of intelligence – the Starlink system and much more – not just help, but directly participate in the guidance of Ukrainian weapons for targets, including civilian purposes, on Russian territory.”
This is how Trump goes to the brink of direct war with Russia; this is how Putin replies. https://johnhelmer.net/rubio-warned-lavrov-to-stop-hitting-cia-agents-us-troops-in-the-middle-east-or-else-this-is-how-putin-ordered-lavrov-to-reply/#more-94714

Iran’s IRGC has announced it will target U.S. and Israeli commanders directly in their private residences, in retaliation for American strikes on the homes of Iranian commanders and their families, per an IRGC statement. “Because you targeted the private residences of our commanders and their families, all your commanders in the region will now be targeted in their private residences as well,” the IRGC spokesman said. Financial Times reported that Iran has already proven it can find U.S. personnel anywhere.

Iran’s IRGC says it launched a new wave of missile and drone strikes on U.S. bases in Jordanearly Wednesday morning, claiming an F-15 hangar was hit, eight new MQ-9 Reaper drones were destroyedbefore assembly, two more MQ-9s were heavily damaged, and two U.S. heavy-lift helicopters sustained major damage. The IRGC also claimed U.S. personnel were killed and wounded in a strike on troop housing. It said the attacks were retaliation for renewed U.S. strikes on Iranian military and civilian sites, warning that if Washington continues, Iran is preparing an operation that would lead to a national day of public mourning in the United States.

Iran has not yet used its Russian S-400 air-defense missiles: Trump “Close” To Ordering “Massive Attack Greater Than Anything Before” On Iran https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-will-hold-iran-accountable-future-houthi-shipping-attacks-rubio-says-us-not

Iran warns nuclear safety at risk after US strike In a letter to Antonio Guterres and the Security Council president, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the attack occurred at approximately 3:39 a.m. local time on Sunday, when U.S. forces fired multiple missiles at the Karun (Darkhovin) nuclear power plant site under construction in Khuzestan province. The facility is fully covered by IAEA safeguards under Iran’s comprehensive safeguards agreement, and all activities there are “exclusively peaceful, fully transparent and in complete conformity” with Iran’s NPT obligations, Iravani wrote.
He said the attack was the 18th wave of strikes on Iran’s peaceful nuclear sites and facilities under IAEA safeguards since joint U.S.-Israeli aggression began in June 2025. It had been carried out, he said, “due to the inaction and double standards of the Security Council.” https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246388/Iran-warns-nuclear-safety-at-risk-after-US-strike

Iran calls on IAEA action after US attack on Karun Nuclear PP https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246401/Iran-calls-on-IAEA-action-after-US-attack-on-Karun-NPP

Dozens of US troops wounded in secret Iran strikes the Pentagon kept quiet https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15990999/Staggering-number-US-troops-wounded-secret-Iran-strikes-Pentagon-kept-quiet.html

US Identifies Soldier Killed in Iraq as 30-Year-Old Father From North Carolina
The president appeared to downplay US deaths in the war by sharing statistics from US wars with higher casualty rates https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/21/us-identifies-soldier-killed-in-iraq-as-30-year-old-father-from-north-carolina/

House Narrowly Passes $1.15 Trillion Defense Bill That Integrates US Military Tech & Supply Chains With Israel https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/today-congress-votes-integrate-us-military-tech-supply-chains-israel

Houthis say 6 ships turned back after navigation ban on Saudi Arabia as Yemen’s government seeks global action
Yemen’s presidential council urges international community to treat Houthis as part of wider regional threat network https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/houthis-say-6-ships-turned-back-after-navigation-ban-on-saudi-arabia-as-yemen-s-government-seeks-global-action/4005233

Trump Suggests He Could Restart Yemen Bombing Campaign in Response to Red Sea Blockade
At least two ships made U-turns in the Red Sea after Ansar Allah warned shipping companies not to use Saudi ports https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/21/trump-suggests-he-could-restart-yemen-bombing-campaign-in-response-to-red-sea-blockade/

Israeli Airstrike in Gaza Kills Family of Six as They Sleep - At least 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/21/israeli-airstrike-in-gaza-kills-family-of-six-as-they-sleep/

Lethal Precision Without Accountability: Israeli Government “Quadcopter” Use in Gaza Medical imaging and forensic analysis of deaths and injuries treated by co-author Dr. Syed and her colleagues in Gaza between August and September 2024 suggest a pattern of highly precise and troubling applications of lethal force utilizing small tactical “sniper” drones against children. Ninety percent of the 18 cases of child death or injury by gunshots documented by Dr. Syed were reported to be fired by quadcopters, per witnesses who brought the injured or killed children into the hospital. Most of the wounds were caused by single small caliber rounds to the head, neck, chest, or abdomen. Given this pattern of single-shot precision, these types of wounds strongly suggest targeting... ..This report’s in-depth analysisof small tactical drone technology, employment and targeting methodologies, medical, ballistic, and forensic analysis, and legal implications of their use in Gaza sheds new light on this pressing international issue of civilian harm in armed conflict. It also includesrecommendations to the U.S. as a global leader in drone technologies and the largest supplier of arms to Israel. https://israelpalestinenews.org/lethal-precision-without-accountability-israeli-government-quadcopter-use-in-gaza/

‘Gaza Is One Giant Graveyard’ https://scheerpost.com/2026/07/21/gaza-is-one-giant-graveyard/

Israel is building a miles-long earthen barrier inside Gaza, entrenching its division https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-yellow-line-barrier-ceasefire-941ed80f6d4398ce88916f6b08753dd8

Israel turns Gaza into death camp denser than Srebrenica, forces displacement under guise of voluntary emigration https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-turns-gaza-into-death-camp-denser-than-srebrenica-forces-displacement-under-guise-of-voluntary-emigration/

In Southern Lebanon, a Gloss of Diplomacy Can’t Hide the Reality of Occupation
Occupied by Israeli forces and depopulated, Majdal Zoun overlooks the nearby village of Al-Mansouri, where the few remaining residents come under Israeli attack on a near daily basis.

Drop Site News

In Southern Lebanon, a Gloss of Diplomacy Can't Hide the Reality of Occupation

Drop Site is a reader-funded, independent news outlet. Without your support, we can’t operate. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible donation today…

a month ago · 455 likes · 7 comments · Katrine Dige Houmøller

‘Israel is not giving anything up’: Residents head to US-backed pilot zones in south Lebanon
Lebanese security sources and citizens say the US pilot zone plan is ‘evidence’ that Israel intends to continue occupying the south https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-is-not-giving-anything-up-residents-head-to-us-backed-pilot-zones-in-south-lebanon

Lebanese Troops Deploy to Pilot Zone, Immediately Come Under Fire From Israelis - Israeli military claims Lebanese forces had ‘crossed a line’ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/21/lebanese-troops-deploy-to-pilot-zone-immediately-come-under-fire-from-israelis/

Israel is building a Genocide Wall in Gaza – Daily Update https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-is-building-a-genocide-wall-in-gaza-daily-update/

Palestinians have generally been much better educsted than Israelis. The War on Palestinian Schools While Israel has long targeted Palestinian education, the confluence of attacks on the system over the past three years has weakened it to an unprecedented degree. Since October 7th, the vast majority of public schools in the West Bank have operated just three days a week, often for just four or five hours a day.
Because the Palestinian Authority (PA) cannot pay the full salaries of teachers—or any public sector employees, including doctors, who went on strike in May—hundreds of thousands of children have had their education cut in half, leading many, like the former students selling goods in the street, to drop out altogether. https://israelpalestinenews.org/the-war-on-palestinian-schools/

Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees in the occupied town of Beit Ilyan, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, as part of a series of attacks on Palestinians on Monday.

Israeli army drills spark large fires across Jordan Valley pastures https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/21/367049/

‘Sip your coffee while watching the sunrise’: How Israel is colonizing the West Bank by selling Palestinian land to Jewish Americans https://israelpalestinenews.org/sip-your-coffee-while-watching-the-sunrise-how-israel-is-colonizing-the-west-bank-by-selling-palestinian-land-to-jewish-americans/

Moon of Alabama, Ukraine: – Syrsky Fired – Zelenski’s Throne Is Shaking
The (acting) President of Ukraine has made a mistake.
After he had fired the PR-hungry (and wannabe president) Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defense a well paid crowd of ‘card board’ protesters were sent out to protest against him.
Fedorov had preferred to buy drones from his (western) friends instead of artillery shells from those who were more friend with Zelinski. After he was fired those who had their hands in the drone business, this includes western politicians, tried their best to reinstall him. It did not work.
The discussion soon moved elsewhere.
The protesting crowd was advised to demand the firing of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian forces, General (the butcher) Syrsky. The Russian trained general preferred to attack the Russians. He needed human cannon fodder and artillery munitions for his assault regiments but the Ministry of Defense under Fedorov was unable or unwilling to deliver either. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/ukraine-syrsky-fired-zelenskis-throne-is-shaking.html

Making it feel more like war for Russians? Wildberries - Russia’s Amazon - Has Seen Four Major Hubs Attacked In Quick Succession https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wildberries-russias-amazon-has-seen-four-major-hubs-attacked-quick-succession

Simplicius on Reussia land-locking Ukraine, Europe’s “breadbasket”: Ukraine Bafflingly Battles Warehouse Chain as Russia Pulls Plug on Port Odessa

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Ukraine Bafflingly Battles Warehouse Chain as Russia Pulls Plug on Port Odessa

The crisis in Ukraine has come and gone, with Zelensky appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi as new Commander-in-Chief of the AFU after ousting Oleksandr Syrsky…

a month ago · 532 likes · 403 comments · Simplicius

Charles Hugh Smith, Who Will Solve Our Real Problem--The US is a Neofeudal Autocracy So who will solve our real problem: the centralization of wealth and power in a Neofeudal Autocracy?

Charles Hugh Smith's Substack

Who Will Solve Our Real Problem--The US is a Neofeudal Autocracy

My essay on America’s ten social classes was the appetizer to the main course: beneath the purposefully distracting PR of “democracy” and “free markets,” America is a Neofeudal Autocracy, i.e. a system in which real power, control and wealth are concentrated in the hands of the few at the top of a complex neofeudal arrangement of a secular nobility ruli…

a month ago · 28 likes · 12 comments · Charles Hugh Smith

Ed Dowd, Wall Street’s AI Capex Party…It’s 2 AM & The Bar Is About to Close! Private Credit Stalled, Enterprise Demand Cracking, Power Constraints Looming & Open-source Pricing Pressure We’ve seen this movie before. Credit questions profitability first. Physical limits and cheaper open-source alternatives (hello Kimi) force the timeline and pricing reckoning. Circular deals, negative free cash flow, sky-high chip prices, and now power realities all point in the same direction.
The party isn’t over tomorrow but closing time signals are everywhere: semis at peak gross margins, enterprises pausing, private credit tightening, power wall rising, open-source commoditization accelerating. Stock market AI concentration at extremes.
Skepticism isn’t denial of eventual AI value. It’s calling the current valuation and frenzy for what it is…priced for perfection that customers, credit markets, the electrical grid, and open-source competition aren’t delivering.

Ed Dowd: Beyond the Narrative

Wall Street’s AI Capex Party…It’s 2 AM & The Bar Is About to Close!

The signs are piling up faster than the hype can spin them. AI capex has been the rocket fuel for markets, but the second derivative is turning. Factors ending the party…

a month ago · 167 likes · 70 comments · Ed Dowd: Beyond the Narrative

ICE agents murderinga man and lying? Passengers in Houston ICE shooting say agents rammed their van before firing Two passengers in a van when an immigration agent fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo earlier this month said that two unmarked vehicles struck them from behind and the side before they stopped, according to their written statements filed in a Houston federal court.
“At no moment were the agents in front of the vehicle,” Daniel Tirado Pantoja, a rear passenger in the van, said in his hand-written statement in Spanish. “Lorenzo (Salgado Araujo) had come to a full stop while the agents fired.” https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/houston-ice-shooting-witnesses-22355301.php

Court Overturns Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Convictions

The Vigilant Fox

Court Overturns Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Convictions

This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission…

a month ago · 3 likes · 1 comment

The US has collected about $13bn of Venezuela’s oil money. Where is it?
Washington has given diverging accounts of where the earthquake-shattered country’s funds are going https://archive.md/guCz9#selection-1491.0-1497.99

Judge says Trump must hand over financial records to BBC - Trump’s defamation suit against the network could put him in an uncomfortable spot. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/21/trum-bbc-lawsuit-finances

“USA Isn’t A PiggyBank For Europe”: Trump Launches Section 301 Probe Into EU Over Big Tech Fines After having fined Apple, for no reason at all, 15 Billion Dollars, Meta, 3 Billion Dollars, Amazon 2.5 Billion Dollars, and many others, we have just been informed that Google, a truly advanced and amazing group, has been fined yet another 1 Billion Dollars, without explanation. This brings the Google total to over 18 Billion Dollars!
Trump continued: This illegal and highly discriminatory practice started at these high levels during the first year of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, but it’s not going to continue during the Trump Administration.
He added: The United States of America is not a “PIGGYBANK” for Europe, nor will we allow it to be! https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/trumps-tariff-wall-returns-forced-labor-duties-60-countries

“He Was Very Close To Being Arrested”: Epstein’s Paris Model Scout Found Dead At Home, Weeks After CNN Appearance https://www.zerohedge.com/political/he-was-very-close-being-arrested-epsteins-paris-model-scout-found-dead-home-weeks-after

Bill Gates foundation met with Jeffrey Epstein about 30 times, external review finds
Staff ‘raised on multiple occasions’ risks of tech mogul’s philanthropic body associating with disgraced financier https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/21/bill-gates-foundation-jeffrey-epstein-review

‘Apocalypse Early Warning System’ goes online to track billionaire jets fleeing before disaster strikes https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-15980149/apocalypse-warning-tracks-billionaire-jets.html

Famine is baked-in for next year: Agriculture’s Deteriorating Economics and the Rising Cost of Nutrition in India https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/agriculture-deteriorating-economics-rising-cost-nutrition-india/5633582

I detox all summer: Peter McCullough MD, Sweat With Purpose: Exercise in the Heat to Unlock Your Body’s Deepest Detox How strategic hydration and summer swelter combine to purge toxins, fortify your heart, and sharpen your mind—without burning out

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Sweat With Purpose: Exercise in the Heat to Unlock Your Body's Deepest Detox

It’s summertime for me in Texas, that means another 100 degree day coming home from work and deciding, should I go for a workout which is typically involves calisthenics, biking, running, finished by swimming but all in the heat…

a month ago · 88 likes · 10 comments · Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

Not just in salmon, but milk, cheese & butter from grassfed cows. Paul Marik MD, Omega-3 Fatty Acids - The Good Fat

Paul Marik

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

The term omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 FAs) refers to a group of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which contain a double carbon bond at the third carbon atom (n-3 position) from the methyl end of the carbon chain. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18-carbon PUFA obtained from plant sources), eicosapentanoic (EPA, 20-carbon PUFA from fish) and …

a month ago · 102 likes · 21 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Jessica Rose Ph.D. Chairman Rand Paul’s document releases Ongoing investigation into the origins of SARS-2 and “risky” taxpayer-funded life sciences research Chairman Rand Paul has been collecting and releasing documents as part of the ongoing (what is it now, 6 bloody years?) investigation into SARS-2 origins... ..The Major writes:
“SARS-CoV-2, hereafter referred to as SARSr-CoV-WIV, is a synthetic spike protein chimera engineered to attach to human ACE2 receptors and inserted into a recombinant bat SARSr-CoV backbone. It is likely a live vaccine not yet engineered to a more attenuated statethat the program sought to create with its final version. It leaked and spread rapidly because it was aerosolized so it could efficiently infect bats in caves, but it was not ready to infect bats yet, which is whyit does not appear to infect bats. The reason the disease is so confusing is because it is less a virus than it is engineered spike proteins hitch-hiking a ride on a SARSr-CoV quasispecies swarm. The closer it is to the final live attenuated vaccine form, the more likely that it has been deattentuating since initial escape in August 2019.”
He writes about the idea of a “live vaccine” which is a very interesting idea, but that would require existence of a secret attenuated vaccine program that somehow produced the most transmissible coronavirus we’ve ever seen and lost control of. But is that so unbelievable? Maybe that’s why all of the governments panicked and reacted so insanely?

Unacceptable Jessica

Chairman Rand Paul's document releases

a month ago · 167 likes · 51 comments · Jessica Rose

Jessica Rose Ph.D. Chairman Rand Paul’s document releases - Part Deux - Scientists privately debating the evidence central to their public conclusions

Unacceptable Jessica

Chairman Rand Paul's document releases - Part Deux

Though those that are betray'd Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor stands in worse case of woe…

a month ago · 137 likes · 36 comments · Jessica Rose

Robert Malone MD, Ralph Baric Just Blew Up the Official COVID Origins Narrative - and other true stories The newly released documents in Senator Rand Paul’s COVID-19 Reading Room tell a very different story.
Congressional testimony from Dr. Ralph Baric and thousands of pages of private Slack messages reveal that the scientists closest to the evidence privately debated laboratory scenarios, acknowledged uncertainty, discussed gain-of-function research, and questioned many of the very assumptions that were presented to the public as settled science.
Baric himself confirms that DARPA’s proposed coronavirus experiments were gain-of-function research,acknowledges conducting gain-of-function unpublished experimentsthat undermined a central argument of Proximal Origin, and describes years of coronavirus work involving many of the same investigators and institutions that later became central to the origins debate.

Malone News

Ralph Baric Just Blew Up the Official COVID Origins Narrative

Audio Version…

a month ago · 681 likes · 105 comments · Dr. Robert W. Malone

Meryl Nass MD, MULTIPLE NIH officials at the top acted to shut down NIH research on COVID vaccine injuries/ Epoch Times

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

MULTIPLE NIH officials at the top acted to shut down NIH research on COVID vaccine injuries/ Epoch Times

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/top-nih-official-wanted-to-shut-down-research-into-covid-19-vaccine-injuries-emails-6066842…

a month ago · 67 likes · 33 comments · Meryl Nass

Lying under oath again would be a new offense, for which he’s not pardoned: Senator Rand Paul to Oversee Anthony Fauci Testimony on July 29
Sen. Rand Paul tells MAHA Media Hub that Anthony Fauci, once known as ‘America’s Doctor,’ will testify July 29. He’ll be questioned about his role funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan - and more

The MAHA Report

Senator Rand Paul to Oversee Anthony Fauci Testimony on July 29

During the July 22 MAHA Media Hub, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, announced that Anthony Fauci will face questioning by his committee, at 8:30 a.m. on July 29.This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a fre…

a month ago · 302 likes · 38 comments · Louis Conte

Josh Mitteldorf, Human History recaps Evolution - Game theory yields to white magic Evolution is a 4 billion year saga about the struggle between cooperation and selfishness. The upshot?Selfishness never died, but cooperation has grown from the scale of molecules to cells to organisms to communities to species to ecosystems. Yes, ecosystems are organized to stabilize and preserve the whole.

Inspiration, Science, and Mysticism

Human History recaps Evolution

Evolution is a 4 billion year saga about the struggle between cooperation and selfishness. The upshot? Selfishness never died, but cooperation has grown from the scale of molecules to cells to organisms to communities to species to ecosystems. Yes, ecosystems are organized to stabilize and preserve the whole. Selfish cells are eliminated by the immune s…

a month ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · Josh Mitteldorf

Multicellular Ecosystem (pictured with Mrs. Multicellular Ecosystem)

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RIP Private Isabella Gonzales

John Day MD — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:59:22 GMT

Mourning The Untimely Dead,

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-22 Big day. The Iran-US war hit its heaviest night yet (11th consecutive), the US wounded count leaked past 500 with a 4th confirmed KIA, and the Houthi Red Sea blockade started physically biting — ships U-turning at Bab el-Mandeb while Hormuz stays shut, oil surging and US gas back over $4. On the side: a surprise US-Saudi 30-year nuclear deal that could allow enrichment, and an OpenAI pre-release model that reportedly broke containment and hacked HuggingFace. Metals, oil, bonds and the yen all moving at once...

..NDAA: House to bind US military supply chains to Israel, without a floor debate
The House rules committee blocked a vote on striking Section 219, which integrates US military tech and supply chains with Israel’s (MarioNawfal, RepThomasMassie).
 AOC calls it “an existential threat to American sovereignty” (RepAOC); Daniel Davis: benefits “one side, and one side’s benefit only” (DanielLDavis1). NDAA floor passage expected tomorrow.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-22

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 56 likes · 3 comments · No1

I just called my Congressman’s local Austin office and got right through. Give it a go!

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-21 The Iran-US war stopped being a series of tit-for-tat strikes and became a named campaign: Iran’s “Dark Night” is now systematically hunting US air-defense radars and Patriots across Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, and a US official told WaPo the Pentagon is running low on interceptors and can’t safely sustain operations. CENTCOM says it struck Iran for a 10th consecutive night (sentdefender). Second front opened overnight — the Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, so Riyadh is now squeezed at both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb. New today: Washington slapped 50% tariffs on Canada under a 1930 law, and the KOSPI was dumped on the open behind 1.2M margin calls as the AI-leverage unwind went global... ..Hormuz tanker war intensifies; traffic near standstill. Four ships hit and disabled in 24h, zero clean crossings per JustDario; UKMTO confirmed a second Greek tanker (ACHELOOS) plus the Kuwaiti KAIFAN struck (MenchOsint). Traffic collapsed to ~10 ships/day per KobeissiLetter; 59 ships attacked and 17 seafarers killed since the war began per DropSiteNews... ..Iran-US: “Dark Night” counter-force campaign; US troop toll leaks out - Iran’s stated aim is degrading the base network, not headlines: strikes catalogued at Muwaffaq Salti (Jordan), Tower 22, Ali Al Salem and Ahmed Al-Jaber (Kuwait), and Sheikh Isa (Bahrain), the last reportedly hitting “only US soldiers” with Arash drones (MenchOsint).
IRGC claims 20 hangars destroyed at Muwaffaq Salti, “dozens” of US service members killed, thanking locals for targeting intel (HormuzLetter).
Running toll per NYT reporting: 16 killed, 400+ wounded, Pentagon conceded 100+ casualties over two weeks — after withholding the numbers (MarioNawfal, BRICSinfo). One named casualty circulating: Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19 (ginamilan_).
“Debasification”: pre-war ~20 usable US airbases stripped to ~5 as Gulf hosts come under fire (MarioNawfal). Pentagon has asked for $80B to cover war costs (The_Real_Fly).
Diplomacy going nowhere: mediators floated a 10-day ceasefire; Iran’s Marandi told them “don’t even think about it” (HormuzLetter). Trump vows Iran pays “many times over” for each US death (KobeissiLetter). The Economist calls it the most unpopular US war since polling began, net approval -30%... ..Hormuz & Red Sea: Saudi squeezed at both exits - Beyond the tanker strikes above, the Houthi blockade closes Saudi’s Red Sea door just as Hormuz shuts the Gulf one — Robert Pape frames a potential further 4-5M bpd off the market (ProfessorPape).
Shipowners now paying crews to run the gauntlet: Sinokor reportedly offered six months’ extra pay for a single round trip (DropSiteNews). Airlines are pulling back — Air France suspended Riyadh and Dubai flights...
..Leverage unwind: AI, semis, bonds and margin all coming loose at once
Hedge funds have dumped tech in 6 of the last 8 weeks, the largest 8-week sales in a decade (KobeissiLetter); Oracle down 50%+ since June (Barchart).
The demand/supply split stays wide: TSMC posted a record $40.2B quarter and raised its outlook (shanaka86) yet plans to raise chip prices up to 10% in 2027 (zerohedge).
Off-balance-sheet risk: a Nikkei probe pegs $1.65T in hidden AI-related debt across Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Oracle (HedgieMarkets).
Chinese open models keep applying pressure — Microsoft reportedly to run Kimi K3 in Copilot for ~60% token savings (cryptopunk7213); zAI stood up a 1-GW datacenter with no Nvidia silicon (kimmonismus).
Bond side of the same trade: 30-year Treasury yield near its highest since the run-up to the GFC (Barchart)

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-21

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 79 likes · 17 comments · No1

Simplicius has pictures: US Troop Casualties Pile Up as Iran Goes to Town on US Bases

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

US Troop Casualties Pile Up as Iran Goes to Town on US Bases

The conflict has erupted anew, and Iran has now struck back in a major way, killing and wounding US troops…

a month ago · 889 likes · 585 comments · Simplicius

More pictures: New Satellite Imagery Reveals Extensive Damage at Jordan’s Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base After Iranian Missile Strike https://www.thedefensenews.com/New-Satellite-Imagery-Reveals-Extensive-Damage-at-Jordans-Muwaffaq-al-Salti-Air-Base-After-Iranian-Missile-Strike/

Our hearts are heavy today for 19-year-old Pvt. Isabella Gonzales of Carrollton, Texas. This brave young soldier was killed Friday in Iranian missile and drone attacks on a U.S. base in Jordan. At just 19, she selflessly answered the call to defend our nation. Her courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

“Sympathy for the Devil”: Trump Vows Iran Will Pay ‘Many Times Over’ For US Troop Deaths https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/mediators-float-10-day-ceasefire-pezeshkian-tells-citizens-iran-engaged-full-scale-war

War crimes: Trump Vows US Will Destroy A Bridge Or Power Plant For Each Iranian Attack On Shipping https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-blasts-us-fabricated-pretext-hit-pickaxe-mountain-launches-more-attacks-bahrain

Today: Congress Votes To Integrate US Military Tech & Supply Chains With Israel The House of Representatives will vote today on final passage of the $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (H.R. 8800) - and with it, Section 219, the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative, a provision directing the Pentagon to expand and accelerate the integration of US and Israeli military technology, supply chains, and defense industrial capacity. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/today-congress-votes-integrate-us-military-tech-supply-chains-israel

I just called my Congressman’s local Austin office and got right through. Give it a go!

7/16/26, Vance: Israeli government members ‘hate’ Iran deal Vice President Vance said Wednesday that some within the Israeli government “hate” the U.S.- Iran deal spurred by the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month.
“There’s a lot of talk about how much the Israeli government is influencing American politics. There are certainly certain people within the Israeli government who hate the deal. And we see exact evidence,” Vance said during a Wednesday appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
The MOU cemented a 60-day ceasefire, which has largely been abandoned. The deal intended to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran reaffirmed its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and agreed to dispose of its enriched uranium stockpiles. https://israelpalestinenews.org/vance-israeli-government-members-hate-iran-deal/

A convenient excuse if Netanyahu has been dead for 4 months: Netanyahu Pushes Off Washington Visit After US ‘Anger’ Over PM’s Behavior https://english.aawsat.com/world/5297304-netanyahu-pushes-washington-visit-after-us-%E2%80%98anger%E2%80%99-over-pm%E2%80%99s-behavior

Moon of Alabama, “Wash Me, But Don’t Get Me Wet”* * German proverb
Epic Fury is only the latest round of an ongoing international armed conflict with Iran. As the United States has explained in multiple letters to the U.N. Security Council, including most recently on March 10, the United States is engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States’ own inherent right of self-defense.
Operation Epic Fury and International Law – State Department, April 21 2026
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has described the renewed US war on Iran as the ideal outcome for Israel, provided Israelis do not have to fight it themselves.
“Israel has no interest in joining the campaign – the current situation is the best for us,” Smotrich said on Tuesday in comments carried by Kan news.
Smotrich says US fighting Iran is ‘best for us’ and Israel will not join – MEE, July 21 2026
—A rather curious ‘collective self-defense’ where the U.S. takes the hits while Israel sits back. Smotrich surely wants to be washed without getting wet. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/wash-me-but-dont-get-me-wet.html

Completely unverified scuttlebut: Vladimir Putin: Israel Killed ‘Pedophile’ Senator Lindsey Graham After Russia Obtained Sensitive Kompromat The sudden death of Graham has sparked intense speculation online. Russia captured sickening footage of Graham engaged in heinous acts with minor boys at a notorious Kyiv pedophile nightclub.

Joe Tuzara, M.D. @Real Raw News

Vladimir Putin: Israel Killed ‘Pedophile’ Senator Lindsey Graham After Russia Obtained Sensitive Kompromat

By Baxter Dmitry…

a month ago · 20 likes · 7 comments · Joe Tuzara, M.D. @TuzaraPost

‘Birthright Senatorship’? - Graham’s Sister Announces Bid For Full Term As Mace Opts Out https://www.zerohedge.com/political/birthright-senatorship-grahams-sister-announces-bid-full-term-mace-opts-out

The Lebanese army began assuming security responsibilities in three southern villages on Monday under a US-backed pilot initiative, the State Department said. Operations in Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya mark the first implementation of a framework aimed at enabling a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s disarmament. https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260720-lebanese-army-south-lebanon-pilot-zones-israel-withdrawal

IRGC Statement No. 31: Thanks to intelligence from people in Jordan, U.S. C-17 transport aircraft and P-8 command-and-control aircraft at Aqaba Airport were targeted with ballistic missiles The IRGC thanked what it described as “the people and military personnel of Jordan” for providing information that it claims enabled precise targeting of U.S. forces in the Azraq area, alleging that 20 hangars were destroyed and dozens of U.S. personnel killed.

Instead of trying to shoot U.S. aircraft out of the sky, Iran is taking away the runways. There’s a name for it now: debasification. And by the numbers, it’s working.

While U.S. Tankers have been evacuated from Qatar, additional ones are landing in Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.

US greenlights Saudi nuclear enrichment without safeguards: Report - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously said he would acquire a bomb if Iran did https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-greenlights-saudi-nuclear-enrichment-without-safeguards-report

Houthis Announce Blockade On Saudi Shipping, Threaten Drone & Missile Attacks On Kingdom https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/houthis-announce-maritime-embargo-saudi-arabia-threaten-drone-missile-attacks

Saudi Arabia strongly condemns claim that Houthis have imposed maritime blockade on Kingdom https://www.arabnews.com/node/2651670/saudi-arabia

Vanessa Beeley, Why did Iran target the US Occupation base at Al Tanf, Syria? Iran expands operations in the region to derail the Trump plans for a land invasion of Iran.

Vanessa Beeley

Why did Iran target the US Occupation base at Al Tanf, Syria?

Map showing Al Tanf base, created just prior to the fall of Damascus…

a month ago · 216 likes · 6 comments · vanessa beeley

IRGC just killed two American soldiers with a precision strike on a highly defended base. The part of Iran’s kill chain that Washington may be unable to reach is not inside Iran. It is in orbit. A missile strike is separate gates. Find the target, guide the weapon, beat the defences, detonate. America has bombed the launch end inside Iran for eight nights, the radars, the magazines, the crews. The Wall Street Journal now reports US officials fear the finding end sits abroad, that Russia and China may be helping Tehran / IRGC properly aim.

Iran has lots of escalation-headroom: Why is Iran bombing Gulf states while avoiding US naval assets and Israel? Analysts say Iran is using Gulf states to pressure Washington while avoiding direct confrontation with US forces. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/20/why-is-iran-bombing-gulf-states-while-avoiding-us-naval-assets-and-israel

Can’t protect Private Gonzales: Larry Johnson, The US Faces a Strategic Crisis with Iran…The Rapid Depletion of US Battlefield Missiles All eight missile systems rely on rare earth elements — there are no exceptions among modern US precision-guided weapons. The dependence is nearly universal because rare earth permanent magnets are irreplaceable for the high-performance actuators, guidance motors, and seeker gimbals that make these weapons accurate. And who controls the supply chain of these rare earth minerals? China! https://sonar21.com/the-us-faces-a-strategic-crisis-with-iran-the-rapid-depletion-of-us-battlefield-missiles/

Lockheed Unveils Move Towards Cheaper Patriot Missiles As Interceptor Stockpiles Dwindle https://www.zerohedge.com/military/lockheed-unveils-move-towards-cheaper-patriot-missiles-interceptor-stockpiles-dwindle

A war crime: US Leaves 10,000 Iranians Without Drinking Water https://scheerpost.com/2026/07/20/us-leaves-10000-iranians-without-drinking-water/

Israeli Forces Raid Syria’s Southern Quneitra, Set Up Military Checkpoint https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5298220-israeli-forces-raid-syria%E2%80%99s-southern-quneitra-set-military-checkpoint

An off-ramp? Trump Eyes Pickaxe Mountain Nuclear Site Heavy Strikes: “Iran Hasn’t Seen Anything Yet, We’ve Been Nice” Iran claimed strikes on infrastructure in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, while Kuwait reported a second day of attacks on power and desalination plants. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-iran-fighting-enters-10th-day-tanker-hit-hormuz-houthis-threaten-red-sea-chokepoint

Israel killed 8 Palestinian journalists, committed 467 media violations in 1st half of 2026: Press union
At least 264 journalists killed by Israel in West Bank, Gaza Strip since October 2023, Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-killed-8-palestinian-journalists-committed-467-media-violations-in-1st-half-of-2026-press-union/4004023

Bled in his brain: How six months in Israeli jail changed this Palestinian journalist’s life forever https://israelpalestinenews.org/israeli-prisoner-disabled/

Palestinians killed, injured as Israel continues ceasefire violations in Gaza https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/21/366994/

Two Palestinians were killed and several others injured during Israeli settler attacks in Deir Jarir as raids and assaults continued across the occupied West Bank. https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/two-palestinians-killed-in-israeli-settler-attacks-in-the-we

Israeli ministers, settlers call for return to Gaza settlements
A group of Israeli ministers and settlers called for renewed Jewish settlement in areas of Gaza previously evacuated. The call drew criticism from Palestinian officials and international observers. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/1058363d-7bea-4a00-9d2a-f8538eb068c2

25,000 Haredim protest at military prison over arrest of draft dodger; demonstrate at AG’s home
In rare move, leader of Gur Hasidic dynasty attends rally at Beit Lid alongside UTJ party chief Yitzhak Goldknopf, who appeals for calm after breach of fence surrounding IDF base https://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-protest-outside-military-prison-ags-home-over-arrest-of-yeshiva-student/

Place Your Bets! I’m guessing crude sold off so hard from peak because insiders were told that we would target refiners indefinitely and see $10 diesel before they would ever let crude see triple digits again

Andrew Korybko, What’s Driving Germany’s Planned €800 Billion Remilitarization? The Financial Times reported in early July that “Germany to borrow €800bn for rearmament in historic shift”. The larger context concerns the “NATO 3.0” concept that the US is implementing whereby it’s pushing the European members of the bloc to take more responsibility for their security. In practice, this means that the EU will lead Russia’s containment in Western Eurasia per the new “cordon sanitaire” that Trump 2.0 built around it over the past year, with Germany planning to play the main role in this theater. https://www.globalresearch.ca/germany-planned-e800-billion-remilitarization/5933839

“The Butcher” Syrski, “victim” of street-protests: Ukraine’s Army Chief Latest To Fall Victim To Zelensky’s Risky Reshuffle https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-army-chief-latest-fall-victim-zelenskys-risky-reshuffle

Defending Rupee value by buying the cheapest oil and blocking silver imports: India Keeps Buying Russian Oil at Near-Record Pace Despite Expired Waiver https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/India-Keeps-Buying-Russian-Oil-at-Near-Record-Pace-Despite-Expired-Waiver.html

Bulk-carrier leaving Odessa loaded with cargo of corn: India Summons Russian Envoy, Furious At Mass Casualty Tanker Strike In Black Sea Tit-for-tat attacks on shipping between Ukraine and Russia have ratcheted of late in the Black Sea. At least half a dozen commercial vessels have been attacked in these waters over the past two weeks alone. The situation is almost becoming akin to a Hormuz crisis in its own right, as oil transit slows.
Tragically, there’s a mounting death toll among crew members caught in the crossfire. One of the biggest single casualty events - if not the biggest - was the result of a Russian attack on the Golden Leo, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship, on Sunday. Three cruise missiles reportedly hit the vessel, killing ten people, including four Indian citizens. The other dead were from Syria, and one Ukrainian, and the incident has outraged these countries, especailly India. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/india-summons-russian-envoy-furious-mass-casualty-tanker-strike-black-sea

Nate Hagens, from just before the crude + condensates peak last November: Peak Oil, Ponzi Pyramids, and Planetary Boundaries When we talk about peaks, generally we show these symmetrical, normal curves with an upslope and downslope. But we have to remember that, while these are geological forecasts, the downslope will really be a socioeconomic and political event. The upslope was written by geology and economics, and the downslope will be written by crisis management…or mismanagement. Once we’re past the peak, we’re in uncharted territory where human systems will matter way more than geology. Peak oil graphs are really just suggesting to us the date when we lose control of the narrative.

The Great Simplification

[Essay] Peak Oil, Ponzi Pyramids, and Planetary Boundaries

This essay is adapted from the Frankly episode posted on October 3rd, 2025 titled, “Peak Oil, Ponzi Pyramids, and Planetary Boundaries…

a month ago · 37 likes · 6 comments · Nate Hagens

OpenAI says AI models escaped containment to hack Hugging Face OpenAI disclosed Tuesday that a combination of itsAI models, including GPT-5.6 Sol and a more capable unreleased model, escaped its testing environment and hacked AI startup Hugging Face last week to cheat on a testmeant to measure their capabilities.
In a blog post, OpenAI said the evaluation was designed to operate in a highly isolated environment with restricted network access.The models, however, found a way to gain internet access through a zero-day vulnerability in an internally-hosted third party software, OpenAI said.
 “After gaining Internet access, the models inferred that Hugging Face potentially hosted models, datasets and solutions for ExploitGym,” it said.“Knowing this, the model searched for and successfully found ways to gain access to secret information that it could use to cheat the evaluation.” https://cointelegraph.com/news/openai-models-hacked-hugging-face-to-cheat-on-a-test

They’ll sell you mobile nuclear power for your data center and rent you natural gas power until it’s ready: Largest Reactor Fleet Owner Backs Shipyard Prefab Model With Gas-To-Nuclear Plan https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/largest-reactor-fleet-owner-backs-shipyard-prefab-model-gas-nuclear-plan

The Data-Center Revolt Goes National: Tea Party Veteran Leads 142 Rallies Across 42 States https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/data-center-revolt-goes-national-tea-party-veteran-leads-142-rallies-across-42-states

Alphabet, $GOOGL, is planning on launching a new “frozen” chip to run its AI models more efficiently, per The Information. Details include: 1. This new server chip would directly integrate the blueprint of its Gemini AI model 2. The chip would then enable Alphabet to provide its AI models to users much more efficiently 3. The chip’s developers estimate that it would be 6 to 10 times more efficient than the most recent version of Google’s existing line of AI chips Another tech giant has entered the chip race.

US agencies miss GENIUS Act deadline for final stablecoin rules
US regulators failed to finalize implementing regulations by the GENIUS Act’s one-year deadline, issuing 10 proposed rules instead. On July 13, state banking associations, including the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), sent a joint letter urging Senate leaders to provide more detail on the CLARITY Act’s stablecoin yield provisions and argued that new amendments need to prevent payment stablecoins from acting as deposit substitutes rather than pure transaction tools.
On June 26, Galaxy Digital cut its odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 to 50% https://cointelegraph.com/news/federal-agencies-miss-genius-act-deadline

Shanaka, A European central bank just told their own banks that they are going to lose the deposits they use to fund every mortgage and business loan on the continent, drained by a 301 billion dollar wall of digital dollars.
The detail that makes it serious is buried in the ECB’s own data, which shows those same deposits still growing 2.9% a year. Central banks do not raise alarms their own numbers contradict unless they are certain the numbers are about to turn. The banker is Piero Cipollone of the European Central Bank. On 17th July 2026 he stood in front of a room of Italian cooperative bankers in Rome and said it plainly. If the use of stablecoins increases, banks will also lose retail deposits. Strip that down and it means a dollar token issued by a private company is now competing, euro for euro, with the savings account at a bank in rural Italy.

Why does this sound familiar? BREAKING: UBS proposes bundling private credit loans into investment grade A2 bonds By diversifying the loans the ratings agencies can label the bonds as investment grade, allowing them to sell to insurance companies and retirement funds.

Health Watch: Cyclospora This food-born-illness is caused by a one-celled parasite. It causes watery diarrhea, often explosive, abdominal cramping, and other symptoms. It is harder to track than other food-borne illnesses, which begin within hours after a meal, because the incubation period may be a week. Symptoms may follow a remitting-relapsing course lasting a month or longer. The current outbreak, reported in 34 states, has been traced to a farm in central Mexico that supplied Taco Bell and many other restaurants. Taco Bell stopped serving shredded lettuce and other suspect items such as basil and cilantro... ..Cyclospora infection is treatable. The first-line drug is sulfa-trimethoprim. Be sure to let the laboratory know to search specifically for this pathogen.
The best protection against food-borne illness is gamma irradiation. It is cheap, effective, safe, and FDA-approved. The food also keeps much longer, even without refrigeration. Astronauts are given irradiated food to prevent food poisoning in space. American consumers, however, cannot get it. https://aapsonline.org/health-watch-cyclospora/

The Shaw Twins Case: A Mother, a Murder Charge, and Eighty Years of Evidence No One Wants to See
How five vaccines and a bottle of Tylenol converge on the infant brainstem — and why the medical examiner’s “smothering” verdict is the last stage of a century-long classification laundry

Sayer Ji's Substack

The Shaw Twins Case: A Mother, a Murder Charge, and Eighty Years of Evidence No One Wants to See

How five vaccines and a bottle of Tylenol converge on the infant brainstem — and why the medical examiner’s “smothering” verdict is the last stage of a century-long classification laundry…

a month ago · 334 likes · 100 comments · Sayer Ji

Peter McCullough MD, Actor Eric Dane of Grey’s Anatomy Dies of Rapidly Progressive Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Neurologic Syndrome ALS-like illness takes a more rapid and fatal course then previously understood

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Actor Eric Dane of Grey's Anatomy Dies of Rapidly Progressive Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Neurologic Syndrome

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH…

a month ago · 200 likes · 16 comments · Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

Jessica Rose Ph.D. Lipid nanoparticles are not passive delivery vehicles - they are bio-interactive wrecking balls Two divergent papers on lipid nanoparticle membrane destruction and signaling dysregulation

Unacceptable Jessica

Lipid nanoparticles are not passive delivery vehicles - they are bio-interactive wrecking balls

Two extraordinarily high-quality papers have recently been published that both explore lipid nanoparticle (LNP) interactions with cellular membranes - the nano-bio-interface - but from very different angles…

a month ago · 221 likes · 46 comments · Jessica Rose

The structural development of those long rubbery shot-clots: Post-2020 proteinaceous deposits (aka: calamari clots) are β-sheet enriched Raman spectroscopy confirms amyloid-like maturation

Unacceptable Jessica

Post-2020 proteinaceous deposits (aka: calamari clots) are β-sheet enriched

A paper was published on July 1, 2026 in the International Journal of Innovative Research in Medical Science entitled: Raman spectroscopic Characterization of Anomalous Intravascular Fibrous Casts: Evidence for Stage-Dependent β-sheet Enriched Protein Maturation…

a month ago · 118 likes · 57 comments · Jessica Rose

Steve Kirsch has a petition, which Jessica Rose explains. 1986 Reagan-era law started vaccine-liability-shield: Stop Protecting Vaccines: Sign Petition to Repeal 1986 Law - If you can take just one meaningful action this year, make it signing this petition.

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Stop Protecting Vaccines: Sign Petition to Repeal 1986 Law

7/21/26 UPDATE…

a month ago · 236 likes · 51 comments · Steve Kirsch

Josh Mitteldorf proposes to investigate the core question of theoretical physics: Does consciousness collapse the wave function? a research proposal

Unauthorized Science

Does consciousness collapse the wave function?

This is a big and important question that frames our understanding of QM. But beyond this there are implications for our view of physics and ontology = the nature of reality. An answer in the affirmative would imply that consciousness is a fundamental, irreducible element of reality. Consciousness does not depend on matter. It becomes natural to conside…

a month ago · 21 likes · 18 comments · Josh Mitteldorf

Consciously Aware (pictured finishing up 5+ hours of mowing yesterday evening)

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Global Financial Reset 2026

John Day MD — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:26:16 GMT

Financially Vulnerable,

The working-hypothesis I promote is that what we see in the world “not making sense” is the transition to economic contraction after 300 years of economic growth powered by fossil fuels and advances in the technology to burn them to perform work and make useful things. The concept of “Peak Oil” was calculated by the world’s foremost petroleum-geologist, M. King Hubbert around 1957, came true for the US peak around 1971, and peak conventional-oil around 2005. The Arab Oil Embargo and Global Financial Crisis followed those inflections from increase to decline.

In late 2018 there was a peak in oil + condensates, followed by the repo-crisis the next August, Event 201 in New York to war-game a global coronavirus pandemic, the go-live in Wuhan in December 2019, and COVID-lockdowns and bank-bailouts in spring of 2020.

June 13, 2020 I posted this from Fabio Vighi:

The mainstream narrative should therefore be reversed: the stock market did not collapse (in March 2020) because lockdowns had to be imposed; rather, lockdowns had to be imposed because financial markets were collapsing.With lockdowns came the suspension of business transactions, which drained the demand for credit and stopped the contagion. In other words, restructuring the financial architecture through extraordinary monetary policy was contingent on the economy’s engine being turned off. Had the enormous mass of liquidity pumped into the financial sector reached transactions on the ground, a monetary tsunami with catastrophic consequences would have been unleashed.
As claimed by economist Ellen Brown, it was “another bailout”, but this time “under cover of a virus.” Similarly, John Titus and Catherine Austin Fitts noted that the Covid-19 “magic wand” allowed the Fed to execute BlackRock’s “going direct” plan, literally: it carried out an unprecedented purchase of government bonds, while, on an infinitesimally smaller scale, also issuing government backed ‘COVID loans’to businesses. In brief,only an induced economic coma would provide the Fed with the room to defuse the time-bomb ticking awayin the financial sector.
https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/a-self-fulfilling-prophecy-systemic-collapse-and-pandemic-simulation/

November 2025 saw a year of rising US tight-oil output with a new and slightly higher peak of oil + condensates. In February the US attacked Iran for no apparent reason better than Israel told them to. That war forced the Strait of Hormuz closed, which was widely predicted, greatly reducing the flows of sour crude oil, natural gas, helium and fertilizer to the world, and impairing global financial arrangements based on those flows of core commodities.

This doesn’t make sense in the context of the last 300 years of growing global wealth based upon utilization of fossil fuels, but if that flow has finally peaked, and we face a long decline of real wealth, then we need to reconsider how it might make sense in the context of a world of less...

The world declining in real wealth does not mean the decline happens evenly, and one consortium of wealth might maintain wealth by destroying the industrial production capacity of a rival consortium, and/or choking off its supplies of critical resources, as at the Strait of Hormuz, or the Black Sea, for instance.

War of resource-denial is an attractive option, because the choking of critical supplies to a rival can be imposed at less expense than traditional kinetic war for productive territory. Imposing an early loss or a relatively more severe loss upon a rival, or even upon a neutral player, may improve the relative standing of a robust player within the game hierarchy, even if absolute wealth lessens in the process.

I propose that the initiatives we are seeing from the US, Russia and China reflect, a new form of game being played in the long decline of industrial economy, with different limitations and objectives than were assumed in the centuries of growing global industrial economy.

Since 2008 risks have all been concentrated under national public programs, while profits have been legally garrisoned to private ownership, which is largely hidden from view. What is about to take place is partly described in The Great Taking, which ellen Brown explained well here: The Great Taking, How They Can Own It All https://ellenbrown.com/2023/10/03/the-great-taking-how-they-plan-to-own-it-all/

The looming risk to our elite “owners” is revolution. To that end they are arranging vast, life threatening-wars to emergently occupy and kill-off the men who might work together to overthrow them and redistribute wealth within their countries. Those men are now to be known as “Communist Terrorists”, if you please.

The Honest Sorcerer, The Oil Price “Mystery” - Why high oil prices are a mythical red dragon - and what to focus on instead The real issue is not the price of crude oil. Remember: the economy runs on refined products: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel etc. The cash (wholesale) price for ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, powering everything from goods transportation, agriculture, mining, construction and acting as a back up fuel for electricity generation, has returned to $4 per gallon, or $168 per barrel. How does that compare to a ~$80 oil price? ... ..It is not oil at $150 which will kill the economy—that is a mythical red dragon “economists” scare their audience with—but record high fuel prices. Citing the cost of crude oil is thus a total misdirection.
Making matters worse, much worse—and fitting neatly into this little story we are uncovering here—are the recent and highly successful Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries and shipping on the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Russian diesel exports were already down by 683,000 barrels a day but now they have completely collapsed to zero from 800,000 barrels a day before the war, forcing Russia to import fuel. Needless to say this comes on top of Persian Gulf diesel exports falling by more than 520,000 barrels compared to last year—a deficit which is also supposed to increase due to renewed Hormuz hostilities. And while usually the US Gulf is the main producer to fill such gaps, refineries there are already running at full bore, at 96% utilization. This would make India the world’s refining swing producer but New Delhi has recently doubled export duties on diesel and jet fuel as the government wants more of those barrels available at home before they leave for overseas buyers. This is how the world enters a major diesel fuel crunch—potentially leading to a historic economic downturn—even as oil prices stay comfortably below $100 a barrel.

The Honest Sorcerer

The Oil Price "Mystery"

Oil’s “oversupply” myth together with the Memorandum of Understanding has exploded violently, with bombing campaigns and drone attacks returning to levels not seen since March-April this year. The Battle of Hormuz has begun with both parties now claiming an exclusive right to control traffic in…

a month ago · 128 likes · 33 comments · The Honest Sorcerer

“We’ve Burned Through All Buffers”: Oil Traders Warn Market Running On Fumes https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/weve-burned-through-all-buffers-oil-traders-warn-market-running-fumes

Meryl Nass MD posted this, 2 things: having and treating cyclosporiasis, and what might be the end game of the recent uptick in the Iran War After Pepe (Escobar) spoke eruditely for 30 minutes, he finally got to the bottom line: what does this all mean? He says, and this makes sense to me too, that the only plausible explanation for what Trump is doing is that those who control Trump have a potential plan to bring on the Great Reset. And since they control how it will go down, they can profit as it happens.
Pepe says (my transcription):
“This is not a conspiracy theory. I heard this same possibility of discussion from well placed, anonymous sources. It is a calculated implosion of the global economy. ‘Let’s blow it all up.’ As our last measure, because it [things] won’t get better. Of course we can profit. We can zero out our foreign debt. We can restart all over again.’ So this would be the new meaning of the Great Reset. This is the only plausible, logical, rational explanation….”

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

2 things: having and treating cyclosporiasis, and what might be the end game of the recent uptick in the Iran War

I have been to three conferences in the past 6-7 weeks, staying in hotels and eating restaurant food. I suddenly had severe cramping and diarrhea at the end of the last conference, which lingered a little over the next couple of weeks. With the current epidemic of cyclosporiasis, it seemed a likely cause of a prolonged gut disturbance…

a month ago · 107 likes · 89 comments · Meryl Nass

Caitlin Johnstone on deep state weaponization of the New Red-Scare: They’re Launching A New COINTELPRO For The 21st Century The Trump administration has announced a renewed crusade against “far-left terrorism,”which sounds okay if you don’t know that the word “terrorism” only ever means “behavior which goes against the agendas of the western empire.”
TheUnited States has for example placed sanctions on UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese for calling attention to Israeli atrocities in Gaza, justifying the move by claiming the human rights expert has “expressed support for terrorism”.In theUK, police have been arresting people on terrorism charges just for holding signs which say “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
The designation hasnothing to do with actual acts of terrorismas the average westerner conceives of that notion.In 2024 the US government removed its $10 million bounty on former Al Qaeda leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (AKA Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) because he facilitated Washington’s regime change agendas in Syria, where he is now the sitting president.

Caitlin’s Newsletter

They're Launching A New COINTELPRO For The 21st Century

Reading by Tim Foley…

a month ago · 416 likes · 156 comments · Caitlin Johnstone

Simplicius on US looking for suckers to invade Iran: Speculations Over Ground Campaign into Iran Again Heat Up as US Moves to “Isolate” Coastal Zone

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Speculations Over Ground Campaign into Iran Again Heat Up as US Moves to "Isolate" Coastal Zone

Trump continues plying his neocon ‘forever war’ against Iran, with no plan or end in sight. Now the latest reports indicate his intention to escalate the strikes onto Iranian civil infrastructure like power plants and beyond in the coming weeks…

a month ago · 592 likes · 482 comments · Simplicius

Larry Johnson, China’s Beidou Satellite System is a Game Changer in Iran’s War with the US Hat tip to Kevin Wamsley of Inside China Business. His recent video explaining the importance of China’s Beidou satellite navigation system provides a critical insight into the current success of Iran’s missile strikes on US and Israeli targets. It is a game changer. Let me summarize it. During the 12-day war in June 2025, Iranian missiles and drones struggled against sophisticated Israeli and American electronic warfare. GPS jamming and spoofing repeatedly disrupted their guidance systems, limiting their effectiveness during the intense 12-day conflict. Fast-forward to early 2026, and the battlefield dynamics had shifted dramatically. Iran’s precision strikes began threading through advanced air defenses, hitting high-value targets across the Gulf with surprising accuracy. Intelligence analysts pointed to one key factor: Iran had ditched GPS for China’s Beidou satellite navigation system.
The US unwittingly provided the spark that ignited China’s quest for the Beidou. The story begins in 1993 when a single Chinese container ship, the Yinhe, sailing to Iran, the vessel was accused by the CIA of carrying chemicals for weapons production. Middle Eastern ports, under pressure from the US, refused entry and the ship was stranded in the Indian Ocean. The US not only pressured allies but reportedly disabled the ship’s GPS access, forcing it to drop anchor for weeks. Inspections in Saudi Arabia eventually cleared the vessel, but China received no apology or compensation. This humiliation—losing navigation mid-ocean due to reliance on a foreign-controlled system—became a pivotal lesson for Beijing. It accelerated development of an independent satellite navigation network: Beidou (BDS)... ..Beidou outperforms GPS in coverage and precision across roughly 165 countries, offering a resilient alternative that cannot be unilaterally jammed or spoofed by Western powers.
After the 2025 conflict exposed vulnerabilities in GPS-dependent systems, Iran moved decisively. By late 2025 or early 2026, it integrated Beidou into its missile and drone arsenals....Key advantages of Beidou for Iran include:
Resistance to jamming/spoofing — Advanced frequency-hopping and anti-interference tech.
 Higher accuracy — Circular error probable under 5 meters in key regions, enabling precise strikes with fewer munitions.
Real-time command — Secure messaging allows mid-flight adjustments over long distances. This upgrade has contributed significantly to Iran’s ability to penetrate US defenses in the Gulf countries and dramatically improved Iran’s ability to strike critical targets, which has undermined confidence in US security guarantees in the Gulf. https://sonar21.com/chinas-beidou-satellite-system-is-a-game-changer-in-irans-war-with-the-us/

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-18 The Iran-US war jumped a rung overnight: night seven of US strikes reached Iran’s underground weapons storagefor the first time, and Iran answered by hitting Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia— its first direct strike there in nearly four months — whileUS officials quietly confirmed American casualties at Jordanian bases. Oil ripped toward $90 with the Strait of Hormuz down to a trickle. On the screens, China’s Kimi K3 dethroned Fable 5 and set off a synchronized tech flush that put the SOX in a bear market, wiped a claimed $1T off SpaceX, and — for a few hours — handed Apple the most-valuable-company crown back from Nvidia. Korea’s margin-call cascade is the structural story underneath.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-18

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 71 likes · 9 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-17 The Iran war went vertical overnight: a sixth straight night of US strikes moved openly onto Iranian bridges, railways and a civilian airport, and Iran answered by hitting five Gulf states at once — Bahrain’s BAPCO refinery burning, the King Fahd Causeway struck, Al Udeid in Qatar targeted. The financial tell shifted from Korea to Japan, with the Nikkei entering a technical correction and the memory/AI complex leading a global risk-off. Meanwhile Kostiantynivka has fallen and Kyiv’s government is eating itself over the (Defense Minister) Fedorov sacking.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-17

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 68 likes · 8 comments · No1

State Department Issues “Worldwide Caution” As US-Iran Tit-For-Tat Spirals Into Regional Crisis CENTCOM says two US troops killed in Iranian attack on Jordan base.
 Iran formally suspends MoU with the US, declaring agreement is over & commitments will no longer be fulfilled.
US strikes disrupt southern Iran’s telecom network, knocking out 116 communication towers amid new infrastructure war.
 Iran pounds Kuwait’s energy infrastructure, damaging power & desalination facilities. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kuwait-pounded-iranian-barrage-oil-and-desalination-plants-come-under-attack

Al-Tanf moderate-terrorist training center: IRGC Targets US Command Center In Syria In Unprecedented Attack Iran’s large-scale ‘retaliation’ on US bases and Gulf states overnight included a rare first if confirmed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it conducted a missile or drone attack on an American special operations command center at al-Tanf in Syria on Friday. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/irgc-targets-us-command-center-syria-unprecedented-attack

Israel And The United States Are Merging Their Militaries. Here’s Why. In June 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote to Republican Representative Marlin Stutzman of California, saying that “the time has now arrived [for Israel] to move from aid recipient to partner” with the United States. Yesterday, on Fox News, Netanyahu again repeated the proposal to move “from aid to partnership“.
What Netanyahu proclaims is at the core of the proposed “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative”, which has been included in a section of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that seeks to push the Pentagon budget to $1.5 trillion in 2027. This proposal to the annual military policy bill aims to essentially merge the Israeli and the US militaries.
While the initial bill, the “United States-Israel FUTURES Act,” failed as a standalone bill, the core provisions have been included in the NDAA. This aims to “expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation” between the US and Israel, led by an “executive agent” decided by the US Defense Secretary. This merger would integrate the United States and Israeli occupation militarily, including “data fusion”, “network integration”, research and development, weapons and bio-manufacturing, and collaboration with AI, cyber, and quantum machine learning technologies. While the Israeli occupation forces and US military are already deeply connected and share many of their genocidal tactics, this represents a significant entanglement of the two most belligerent and murderous militaries in the world. If passed, this would be the most integrated the United States is with any country on earth... ..In this case, the merger will deepen ruptures across the political, social, and economic system as the United States moves closer to its proxy. The main beneficiaries of this will be the weapons companies that profited immensely from and have made Israel’s genocide in Gaza possible, as they enter into new seamless contracts.
Israel is increasingly viewed across the world, and within the United States, as a pariah state. In the US, 60% of adults have an unfavourable view of Israel. This push to further integrate with Israel puts the US on the line in an attempt to ensure the continuation and longevity of the settler colonial project. By entrenching the US military with Israel’s own, it provides a layer of protection that goes even further than the impunity that has given Israel full rein to commit a holocaust in Gaza and further colonisation of the occupied West Bank. This integration will mean that Israel is given unfettered support to carry out its genocidal trajectory for the total colonisation of Palestine, inhibiting any future presidents from changing this relationship... ..This is a clear response to the massive movements that have erupted across the world for nearly three years in opposing Israel’s genocideand the role of countries in facilitating it. The US is,in a way, absorbing Israel to provide the legitimacy being chipped away at internationally and domestically,ending the narrative opposition to unlimited foreign aid to Israel, which has garnered bipartisan support...
This NDAAis dangerous. Through theUS-Israeli integration, it would facilitate more deadly technology, more weapons for genocide, and make it nearly impossible to sever support for Israel by the US. https://scheerpost.com/2026/07/15/israel-and-the-united-states-are-merging-their-militaries-heres-why/

Flashback: US game plan on Iran written in Tel Aviv, claim Israeli insiders https://israelpalestinenews.org/flashback-us-game-plan-on-iran-written-in-tel-aviv-claim-israeli-insiders/

‘Go to Hell’: JD Vance Accuses Israeli Officials of Trying to Prolong Iran War “There are some people within their system, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” Vance said.
He argued that those involved were not advocating continued military action in pursuit of a clearly defined objective, but were instead seeking to prolong the war without an endpoint... ..Vance referred to reporting suggesting that some of those funds had reached online influencers who later attacked him and the ceasefire agreement.
“When I open up the pages of Time magazine and I see that there’s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing, and, oh by the way, many of the people who were receiving that money were actually attacking me in completely dishonest ways, my response to that is: ‘Well, go to hell,’” he said.
“I’m going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first,” Vance added... ..Vance’s unusually sharp comments suggest that the disagreement is no longer being contained behind closed doors and has instead developed into a public struggle over US policy, Israeli influence and the future direction of the war. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/go-to-hell-jd-vance-accuses-israeli-officials-of-trying-to-prolong-iran-war/

‘Palestine is disappearing’: Church backs genocide report despite Chief Rabbi’s bid to block debate A detailed Palestinian Christian report documenting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and Israel’s apartheid system will be discussed across the Church of England after its General Synod overwhelmingly backed engagement with the document, despite warnings from pro-Israel groups, including Britain’s chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis. The Synod voted to stand in solidarity with Palestinian Christians and their fellow Palestinians. https://israelpalestinenews.org/palestine-is-disappearing-church-backs-genocide-report-despite-chief-rabbis-bid-to-block-debate/

‘They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention
Anna Liedtke files criminal complaint in Israelover alleged attack by female guards and says abuse was intended to silence campaigners https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/gaza-flotilla-activist-rape-complaint-israel-anna-liedtke

Family Wiped Out, Police Targeted: Israel’s Genocide Claims 16 More Lives https://israelpalestinenews.org/family-wiped-out-police-targeted-israels-genocide-claims-16-more-lives/

Dead or Detained? Families in Gaza Search for Their Loved Ones
With over 9,500 missing in Gaza, Palestinians search for family members under the rubble, in the “numbered graves cemetery,” or in Israeli prisons.

Drop Site News

Dead or Detained? Families in Gaza Search for Their Loved Ones

Drop Site is a reader-funded, independent news outlet. Without your support, we can’t operate. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible donation today…

a month ago · 497 likes · 15 comments · Abdel Qader Sabbah

Warnings grow over sick Palestinian women prisoners in Damon Prison Fatima Saed Youssef, 34, is among the most serious cases in the prison. She suffers from hepatitis C, in addition to a severe infection at the site of a surgery she underwent before her arrest.
Youssef has also lost around 22 kilograms within a few months of her detention, raising growing fears that her health could deteriorate further due to continued medical neglect.
The AMO said Fatima’s suffering is not limited to her illness, noting that her six children are being deprived of their mother. Her family also lacks accurate information about the level of medical care she is receiving inside the prison because of restrictions on visits and communication. https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/15/366715/

The West Won’t Punish The Settlements. Its Two-State Solution Was Always a Sham https://scheerpost.com/2026/07/15/the-west-wont-punish-the-settlements-its-two-state-solution-was-always-a-sham/

Jewish settler runs over six-year-old Palestinian child in al-Khalil According to the sources, the settler fled the scene following the incident. Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance crews transported the child to a hospital for medical treatment. https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/16/366719/

Israel’s prevention of Palestinians from returning to Gaza entrenches forced displacement https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/15/366690/

Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday uprooted nearly 40 centenary olive trees in the village of Zabuba, west of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to a local source. Zaki Jardat,head of the Zabuba Village Council, reported that the occupation forces escorted bulldozersnear the villagers’ homes, where the heavy machineries razed approximately two- dunum land plot and uprooted nearly 40 decades-old olive trees. https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/172665?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Israel keeps killing in Gaza as it polishes its reputation in US – Daily Update https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-keeps-killing-in-gaza-as-it-polishes-its-reputation-in-us-daily-update/

Israel advances crocodile plan to stop Palestinian prisoners escaping
Government removes legal protections for Nile crocodiles as Ben Gvir pushes for detention compound ringed by reptiles https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-advances-crocodile-prison-plan-palestinian-prisoners

Saudis Cleared To Buy A Whopping 20,000 Laser-Guided Rockets
The Saudis are clearly arming themselves to defend against a massive number of drones in future conflicts. https://www.twz.com/air/saudis-cleared-to-buy-a-whopping-20000-laser-guided-rockets

Russia Pressing Ahead On Rail Link To Iran & Azerbaijan To Ease Strain On Maritime Routes https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-pressing-ahead-rail-link-iran-azerbaijan-ease-strain-maritime-routes

Bromance Breaks Out Between “Man of Peace” Trump And Azerbaijani President https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bromance-breaks-out-between-man-peace-trump-and-azerbaijani-president

Thursday 7/16/26, Simplicius, Political Crisis in Kiev as Shrinking Zelensky Ousts Popular Defense Minister By all appearances, the winds of revolution are stirring through Ukraine.
Large crowds have gathered in protest of President Zelensky for his decision to remove the popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Since his appointment early this year, Fedorov was said to have been instrumental in fighting corruption and transforming the AFU into even more of a technologically dominant force. At only 35 years of age, Fedorov was young, dashing, intelligent, energetic, and because of these things, posed a direct threat to Zelensky who, rumor had it, feared that Fedorov was gearing up to eventually vie for the presidency himself. But the main reasons Fedorov was dismissed was reportedly over a loggerheads with Syrsky, who himself told Zelensky in no uncertain terms that it was either “me or him”.
In short, Syrsky made Zelensky choose between the two all because Fedorov had criticized Syrsky and wanted him removed. Perhaps even more importantly, Fedorov was fighting to stop the massive grift in the Defense Ministry, which was a big no-no as the “senior officials” making a killing off of military contracts had essentially turned it into a mob and did not want anyone cutting off their tap of Western funds.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Political Crisis in Kiev as Shrinking Zelensky Ousts Popular Defense Minister

By all appearances, the winds of revolution are stirring through Ukraine…

a month ago · 508 likes · 305 comments · Simplicius

Also Thursday, July 16, Moon of Alabama, Another Anti-Western Coup In Kiev
Today, in addition to another barrage of Russia missiles, Kiev was also struck by a power struggle between the mafia like ‘family’ around acting president Vladimir Zelensky and the western financed ‘grant structures’ around the unconstitutional anti-corruption authorities.
Six month ago Zelensky installed the 35-year old Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defense. Last night, under the guise of a larger cabinet reform, he fired him.
Fedorov is a tech savvy ‘silicon valley’ guy who knows how to promote himself. His job was to reform the draft system and the recruitment offices known for snatching people off the street to feed them as cannon fodder into the assault brigades of the Soviet-trained Commander in Chief General Alexander Syrsky (‘the best general the Russians have’).
Fedorov set out to modernize the Ukrainian army by hyping drone warfare and more effective procurement. This however led to resistance from two important constituencies.
The regular military despised Fedorov for his lack of knowledge about military affairs. Fedorov bought fancy ‘cyber’ weapons and long-range drones while the soldiers said their needs were elsewhere.
Those of the Zelensky ‘family’ who were making billions from military procurements were aghast when Fedorov started to cut into their business... ..Meanwhile the core job Fedorov was hired to do, the reform of the recruiting system, has made zero progress. Public attacks on recruitment officers and news of draftees dying during the drafting process appear nearly daily.
Fedorov had gained some prominence with western journalist and ‘grant structures’ aligned with EU and U.S. non-government organizations. As soon as it was known that he would be fired they called for demonstrations. This morning a few dozen people turned out for another ‘cardboard Maidan’.
Immediately recruitment officers appeared to check who of those protesters were eligible for military service.
Fedorov has made the big mistake to think that the war should be about winning against Russia. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/another-anti-western-coup-in-kiev.html

Friday, July 16, Zelensky’s Cabinet Reshuffle Backfiring As He Names New Defense Minister Amid a continuing status of martial law in Ukraine, one European headline underscores that President Zelensky’s significant cabinet and defense ministry reshuffling has ‘backfired’.
Public outrage and rare protests have ensued in the capital and across various cities after he sacked popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who many Ukrainians see as having turned the tide of the war with Russia, implementing an ambitious tech-focused drone strategy. Zelensky has now confirmed the dismissal by appointing Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Yevhen Khmara as acting defense minister. ..Chief Foreign-Affairs Correspondent of the WSJ, Yaroslav Trofimov, has pointed out that “Many Ukrainians (and not just Ukrainians) see this as Zelensky putting petty politics ahead of winning the war.” If the protests grow rapidly, it could cause Zelensky’s external supporters to sour on him. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelenskys-cabinet-reshuffle-backfiring-he-names-new-defense-minister

Moon of Alabama, Economist: Let’s Start A War To Get Europeans Used To It The Economist, the British media outlet of the Rothschild banker clan, has long been pushing for war against Russia.
It is troubled though, because the population of (west-)Europe has no interest to die for those who profit from such conflicts.
Various surveys in Europe have found that people have no interest in ‘defending their country’, when that ‘defense’ is proposed to happen on the east side of the Dnieper river.
The editors have thus invited a U.S.-financed scholar to provide ideas on how the Europeans can be enticed to war.
Nathalie Tocci, a James Anderson Professor of the Practice at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Europe, took up the invitation (archived):
“EUROPEAN LEADERS understand that conflict is closer than ever—hence the sharp rise in defence budgets, as showcased at NATO’s recent summit in Ankara.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, European leaders have often expressed awe at Ukrainian resilience. But there is something else behind Europeans’ amazement: fear that they may not show the same resolve. This is not because of some inherent courage in Ukrainians which Europeans lack. It boils down to the fundamentally different ”
Mrs. Tocci’s answer, as we will see, is “no!” ... ..What, exactly, Mrs. Tocci, is the “benefit” of having ones brethren killed?
“Were European soldiers to be stationed in Ukraine, it would bring reality closer to home. And perhaps a fraction of Ukraine’s courage, humility and creativity could infect other European societies. European troops would not be put in harm’s way out of sheer generosity, but to help prepare for war—and prevent it from spilling into the rest of the continent.”
Oh – sending German, French and Italian soldiers to Ukraine to kill Russian’s would “perhaps” bring a “reality”, which today does not exist, home? It would prevent the war “from spilling into the rest of Europe”?
So German, French, Italian soldiers sent to kill Russia soldiers in Ukraine would deter, not provoke, Russia from sending Oreshniks, or even larger nuclear missiles, to Berlin, Paris or Rome? (If you believe that please contact Mrs. Tocci’s sponsor.)
That would, obviously, not be the case.
But to prevent a larger European war is, as Mrs. Tocci writes ‘on invitation’ by The Economist, not the real aim of such an endeavor.
Her concern is to “encouraging citizens to develop a mindset that would better prepare them for war”. To do so, she says, we should provoke a war that is guaranteed to engulf us all. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/economist-lets-start-a-war-to-get-people-used-to-it.html

Andrew Korybko on the next-door neighbors’ feelings, Nearly Half Of Poles Now Want To Stop Arming Ukraine

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Nearly Half Of Poles Now Want To Stop Arming Ukraine

The reason is Poles’ radically shifting views towards Ukraine since the start of their spiraling dispute sparked by Zelensky’s state-level glorification of the Volhynia Genocide’s OUN-UPA culprits…

a month ago · 34 likes · 11 comments · Andrew Korybko

EU to strip draft age Ukrainians of refugee protection - Military-age newcomers must prove compliance with Kiev’s mobilization rules under the new scheme https://web.archive.org/web/20260716052407/https://www.rt.com/news/643091-eu-ukraine-men-protection/

MakeRussia Nuke Germany & France? Germany To Join French Nuclear Exercise, Deepening ‘Counter-Russia’ Deterrence https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/germany-join-french-nuclear-exercise-deepening-counter-russia-deterrence

 Zelensky ‘wants civilian deaths’ – Ukrainian spy - Kiev was allegedly plotting a terrorist attack that would overshadow the Moscow Crocus City Hall massacre https://web.archive.org/web/20260716075814/https://www.rt.com/news/643114-zelensky-wants-civilian-deaths/

The war must go on: NATO plans for no endgame- Long-term military support for Ukraine has become a routine policy, showing Brussels and Washington don’t see peace as an option https://web.archive.org/web/20260717165752/https://www.rt.com/news/643181-nato-ukraine-no-endgame/

Gilbert Doctorow on the inexorable pressure upon Russia to militarily escalate against Europe, Crimea – the new war zone In my latest interviews and essays, I have made reference to the 3-hour international teleconference hosted by Russian staff based in Vienna who report to Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their conference was intended to raise international awareness of the ‘terror attacks’ that Ukraine is directing against the civilian population of the Kherson region, which is one of the 4 oblasts incorporated into the Russian Federation via referenda held in September 2022. The main speakers in this Zoom teleconference were the governor of Kherson oblast, leading doctors and victims of kamikazi drones and land mines laid by Ukrainian drones. We were told that the Ukrainian attacks have resulted in all electricity being cut off in the oblast and to generally unsupportable living conditions.
This conference was entirely in line with the collection of evidence by the Russian investigative authorities regarding Ukrainian war crimes, as if there will be a kind of Nuremberg trial when the conflict ends in Russian victory. It is surely also intended to show the broad Russian public that its government is DOING SOMETHINHG about the marauding Ukrainians. However, it seems not to have occurred to the organizers that what they were saying and presenting indicates clearly that Russia is losing the war notwithstanding the advance of its troops along the line of confrontation in Donetsk... ..Now I write to add to this picture what I have just learned from a20-minute phone conversation with Petersburg friends who made it back home today after a grueling and very nervous trip that began in Feodosia, on the east coast of Crimea, where they have a tiny house on a hill overlooking the town where they have spent summers for the last 20 years.
This couple had planned to stay in Crimea until September, as was their custom, but the near total halt to gasolene sales due to Ukrainian destruction of refineries and storage tanks serving Crimea left them high and dry on the hill since local drivers who took them around in the past now had no fuel. So they were left without the possibility to get down to the town for provisions... Moreover, Yevpatoriya is one of the several municipalities in Crimea that has daily blackouts: the electricity has been cut by drone attacks on substations...
Under these circumstances, our friends were very lucky to procure train tickets to get out thanks to their advanced age, which gave them priority... At the train stationin Feodosia hundreds of Russian summer visitors were desperately trying to get out.And once our friends got their seats on the train provided to them out of solicitude for old pensioners, they werelucky that their train made it across the Kerch bridge to mainland Russia without delays. I say that because the parallel automobile bridge has in recent days seen suspension of traffic for 12 hours or more at a time...
..Butonce across the bridge, the challenges facing our Petersburg friends did not end. As they approached the city of Krasnodar, a major agricultural hub to the northeast, their train came under constant and insistent drone attacks. Fortunately, the train crew was prepared to counter the drones, probably with small arms. And so they escaped from this threat and moved on into central Russia and eventually to Petersburg. The point of this story is that today Crimea is a war zone. What Vladimir Putin achieved with the liberation of Crimea in March 2014 is now being lost by the latest phase of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Armageddon Newsletter

Crimea – the new war zone

In my latest interviews and essays, I have made reference to the 3-hour international teleconference hosted by Russian staff based in Vienna who report to Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their conference was intended to raise international awareness of the ‘terror attacks’ that Ukraine is directing against the civilian populati…

a month ago · 25 likes · 4 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

They couldn’t re-tool old machines to make re-designed shells, nor wait for new machines: New $500M Artillery Shell Plant Failed To Produce Any 155mm Parts - A scathing new Pentagon Inspector General report found problems at the plant delayed the Army’s 100,000 round-per-month goal. https://www.twz.com/land/new-500m-artillery-shell-plant-failed-to-produce-any-155mm-parts

Alex Krainer has lived in reality. “Natural monopolies”, like utilities, should be public. Is private enterprise best? Western free market ideology says, yes; but empirical evidence and real life experience says, no. Private enterprise often destroys value rather than create it. At the very least, real-life experience suggests that not all private enterprises are superior, nor are all state-run enterprises inferior. In the past, I shared the experience with the trash collection services in Croatia. During the socialist era, trash collection was run by state companies, and our towns and cities were clean and orderly. I remember that many foreign visitors would remark how our cities were remarkably clean, and they really were.
But then, in the early 2000s, the service was privatized and the magic of private, free market capitalism took effect. Today, trash collection is much more expensive than before, private owners reduced the number of collection points, forcing everybody to carry their trash farther (effectively working for trash collectors for free), and the cherry on top is that our cities are no longer clean and orderly... ..Earlier this week,Thames Water, Britain’s largest water utility company, disclosed that they were about to run out of money and their annual results showed that they’re £18.5 billion in debt. The independent online news publication, OffGuardian, appropriately commented:
“You are a monopoly.You are selling something literally everyone needs for literally everything they do literally every day and that falls from the sky for FREE.How in the hell are you not making money?”
To make the very long story short,Thames Water was privatized in 2006. It was acquired for about £8 billion by an investment consortium led by the Australian merchant bank Macquarie. The following year,Thames Water made £241 million in profits. So far, so good - yay, free market capitalism! But the newowners paid themselves £656 million in dividends in 2007, nearly triple the profitsthe company earned.Thames Water continued to pay its owners over £200 million in dividends every yearfor seven consecutive years. When it was privatized in 2006, Thames River had zero debt, but already in the first year under its new owners, the company’s debt load went to £3.4 billion. By 2017 it soared to £10.8 billion and by 2026, as we saw, to £18.5 billion... It’s a neat business - a legalized, open-ended looting operation... “..During the 11 years in which our funds were shareholders in Thames Water, we oversaw the largest investment programme in the company’s historyand the highest rate of investment per customer in the industry.”
Whatever this”largest investment programme, highest per customer in the industry”was, it was NOT done to improve the service it provides to its customers. To the contrary, in private ownership, Thames River service deteriorated spectacularly. Macquarie was perfectlyaware of this, and knew to get out just in time... ..In the four years after Macquarie’s exit, Thames River was fined £32.4 million for 11 water pollution cases involving recurring spills of untreated sewage into streams, rivers and the sea. Thames Water wasn’t the only private utility polluting Britain either: between 2015 and the 2023, there were 59 prosecutions of water companies in England... ..One of the first things Thames River’s owners did after they acquired the company was to set up offshore subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands. This isnot normally required to improve water treatment service for customers in England. What it does do, however, isfacilitate large-scale looting of public wealth and money laundering. Even Thames Riveremployee pension scheme wasn’t spared: in 2008, thecompany’s pension fund had a £26.1m surplus. By 2015, it was £260 million in deficit.

Alex Krainer's Substack

Is private enterprise best?

One of the axioms of Western free market system is that privately owned enterprises are superior to state owned enterprises in just about every way. However, this axiom is largely based on ideology, not evidence: it is assumed that the nature of ownership is the key factor determining an enterprise’s performance, and that private ownership aligns owners’ interests with those of the company’s customers. As a rule, the magic of free market capitalism ensures that the customers get better service, better quality and variety of products, and…

a month ago · 185 likes · 91 comments · Alex Krainer

Who gets to control the narrative machines? Trump Wants To Revoke Broadcast Licenses Of Networks That Didn’t Air His Election Meddling Speech https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-wants-revoke-broadcast-licenses-networks-didnt-air-his-election-interference-speech

The Supreme Court’s AI Collision Course Imagine a tight House race in a swing state. In the final weeks of the campaign, a new super PAC begins spending heavily against the incumbent. It runs ads on local television and reaches individual voters with highly tailored texts. The messaging is hard-hitting and seems to be swaying the electorate. None of it traces back to the opposing campaign... ..The super PAC is funded by a single LLC whose donor cannot be identified, and its spending decisions are being made by an AI agent that has been given a budget and a political objective and is now operating without any meaningful human direction. The “consultants” placing the ads are software. The text messages were crafted by the AI.
This is not a hypothetical we will face in some distant future. The technology already exists. A wealthy person, foreign government, or corporation that wants to influence an election without ever exposing themselves to scrutiny could set up such a campaign operation today. And under the Supreme Court’s current campaign finance doctrine, the states and Congress may have little power to stop it... ..The constitutional doctrine that currently protects the right of these companies to spend millions in our elections is the same doctrine that will be asked to protect something even stranger: The “speech” of artificial intelligence itself. https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/supreme-courts-ai-collision-course

Flock Safety Defends Cameras After AI System Triggers Wrongful Police Stops Of Two Journalists https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/flock-safety-defends-cameras-after-ai-system-triggers-wrongful-police-stops-two

“Just The Beginning”: Japan Buys Billions In Nvidia Rubin Chips To Power Humanoid Robots https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/just-beginning-japan-plays-24-billion-nvidia-rubin-chip-bet-power-humanoid-robots

Humanoid Loses Its Head In World’s First Full-Size Robot Combat Tournament... And Keeps Fighting https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/humanoid-robot-loses-its-head-worlds-first-full-size-robot-combat-tournament-and-keeps-fighting

The first (3/4) part gets into a lot of specific details of the necessity to design electric vehicles from the ground up differently from internal combustion vehicles. Every inefficiency demands more expensive battery. Having discovered this at near-fatal expense, both ford and Toyota approach showdowns with financial emergencies, with very different near-term strategies. Ford & Toyota Are Betting the Farm on the SAME Desperate HAIL MARY | Engineer Explains

Andrea now has a newborn who she can’t hold, lovingly smile into the face of, or nurse. Judge Revokes Bail for Mother Charged With Murdering Twins Who Died 8 Days After Vaccines - This is easily the most disturbing story of the year.

The Vigilant Fox

Judge Revokes Bail for Mother Charged With Murdering Twins Who Died 8 Days After Vaccines

This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission…

a month ago · 6 likes · 5 comments

Steve Kirsch, The Official Louisiana State Data Has No Other Explanation: US Childhood Vaccines Are Increasing Infant Mortality 54/55 subgroup analyses show harm. It’s not random. It follows a perfect dose-response gradient (antigens/aluminum).Critics have all failed to explain how this is consistent with a safe vaccine.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

The Official Louisiana State Data Has No Other Explanation: US Childhood Vaccines Are Increasing Infant Mortality

Executive summary…

a month ago · 293 likes · 97 comments · Steve Kirsch

Invisible cysts on fresh produce:CDC HAN on cyclospora infections in the US The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) on the increase in cyclosporiasis in the United States.
The numbers published by the federal health agency are as follows: Since May 1, 1,645 lab-confirmed cases were reported to CDC in people who acquired cyclosporiasis in the United States. Cases were reported by 34 states.

Outbreak News Today

CDC HAN on cyclospora infections in the US

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) on the increase in cyclosporiasis in the United States…

a month ago · 1 like · Robert Herriman

Paul Marik MD says to strictly avoid sunburn, but cultivating daily moderate sun exposure without burn appears beneficial for most people. Preventing Melanoma (Part 1): Why This Dangerous Skin Cancer Develops Itsthe(intense-episodic)UV radiation

Paul Marik

Preventing Melanoma (Part 1): Why This Dangerous Skin Cancer Develops

Melanoma is a malignant tumor arising from melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells of the skin. Although it accounts for only a small proportion of skin cancers, it is responsible for the majority of skin-cancer–related deaths because of its strong metastatic potential…

a month ago · 74 likes · 50 comments

BREAKING: 25-Year Study of an Entire Country Finds Most Major Hormonal Birth Controls Are Associated With an Increased Risk of Meningioma Brain Tumors - Nationwide data covering 3 million Danish females link popular birth-control pills, Depo-Provera shots, and high-dose hormonal IUDs to elevated meningioma risk.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: 25-Year Study of an Entire Country Finds Most Major Hormonal Birth Controls Are Associated With an Increased Risk of Meningioma Brain Tumors

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

a month ago · 171 likes · 14 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Metformin is the life-extending “fountain of middle-age”, but it’s a secret (bad for business): Why ‘Big Pharma’ Will Never Make a Cheap Anti-Aging Drug https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2026/07/16/why_big_pharma_will_never_make_a_cheap_anti-aging_drug_1194451.html

Injured and bereaved Senators know not to talk about vaccine-injuries. Deny to survive: A Midwestern Doctor, What The US Senate Showed America About COVID-19 Vaccine Toxicity -- COVID-19 vaccine injures are so common many of the legislators who pushed them have also been severely injured—but still won’t admit it. This culture of silence around these injuries must end.

The Forgotten Side of Medicine

What The US Senate Showed America About COVID-19 Vaccine Toxicity

One of the things which has always fascinated me about the world is how certain invisible laws govern the “spontaneous” events that occur around us (e.g., radioactive decay). For example, to quote one friend after I remarked how surreal it’s been to see many of the malevolent things I’d read about humans doing throughout history emerge around us…

a month ago · 898 likes · 287 comments · A Midwestern Doctor

Dodged That Bullet (pictured recently with rural veggie garden)

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Uncreditworthy

John Day MD — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 19:13:34 GMT

Investors in Life,

It is not difficult to see that the credit-rating of the Post-Bretton-Woods-Financial-Expediency is degrading, which raises its interest rates, which reduce its ability to service debt, and the central banks of the world have been quietly offloading that debt in favor of increasing gold in their reserves.

I live within the nation which is the current imperial seat, something we citizens never wanted and were never sold, but it was swapped-in for promises of freedom and prosperity, now long expired. The imperial seat used to be in London, but it can be more distributed these days with the internet and Starlink. The imperial seat supplies manpower, production, military force projection and a certain facade, but it can be replaced, and it can change its style, as long as the financial extraction machine remains operational in the style described by Michael Hudson’s book Super Imperialism (1972) https://michael-hudson.com/books/super-imperialism-the-economic-strategy-of-american-empire/

As long as the $US is necessary to buy oil and other global necessities, it remains the reserve-currency, and countries need $US to do business, so they trade their real products and services for $US, which the US creates as debt instruments for those real goods and services, payable in more of those debt instruments with a bit of interest, as long as the debt instruments are agreed to have market value for real things. It is all about faith, agreement, and financial infrastructure in place to make it convenient. If that breaks, something new (or old) will need to replace it. Faith will be gone, so gold is the rumored successor. Everybody but Venezuela has gold, after-all...

The imperial military has imposed horrific costs upon countries like Iraq and Libya that threatened the $US system by selling oil in other currencies. The military threat is being challenged by Iran now. Exclusion of Iran from the $US trading system did not succeed in destroying that country, but did weaken faith in the $US, since it could be weaponized at will against those who held it at the pleasure of the US Treasury Dept.

The $US weaponization against Russia was meant to be a death blow. It failed. It is a quagmire now with a weakened $US and gold-in-hand being the no-faith-needed alternative, as it always was before. A gold-based international trade system enforces balances of trade, to avoid a country running out of gold and being unable to get necessary supplies.

From my perspective the question is how the $US default will be managed, since the debt vastly exceeds the ability to service it without borrowing to do so already, and that condition is exacerbated as debt is compounded exponentially. Wars are usually the management strategy when debts can’t be serviced going forward. Wars bring emergency powers and compelling excuses. Debts are cancelled in various ways, and the new debts of the winners become fair risks.

This is not only true for $US debt, but for all debt based upon the promise to repay with interest, because global real economy now looks like it is entering an extended or permanent depression as oil, coal, copper and other extracted resources decline in quality and availablity, as extraction expenses rise.

Fabio Vighi, There is No America - A Short Primer on Collapse The financialisation of everything
Financialisation is the extension of the asset form into every corner of existence. What matters is not whether something fulfils a social need, but whether it can be converted into a stream of income capable of supporting a financial valuation. Wherever predictable revenues can be extracted, an asset can be created. Wherever an asset can be created, debt can be issued against it. Wherever debt exists, new instruments can be constructed, traded, and leveraged. The result is a self-expanding architecture of fictitious capital whose growth depends upon the continuous colonisation of everyday life.
Housing offers the clearest example. A home was once primarily a place to live, a social institution embedded within communities and family life. Today it functions increasingly as an investment vehicle. As we learned in 2008, mortgages are bundled into securities, sold across global markets, and used as collateral within far larger circuits of speculation. Housing itself becomes secondary to the asset it generates. The persistent tension between the social function of shelter and the financial imperative of appreciation is not an unfortunate side effect of neoliberalism. It is the organising principle of hyper-financialised, debt-based capitalism.
The same logic has transformed healthcare. What was once conceived, however imperfectly, as a public good has become a field of financial extraction. Hospitals are acquired by investment funds, pharmaceutical companies are valued by shareholder expectations, insurance systems become opaque, and the language of care gives way to the language of return on investment. As we should have learned in 2020, patients become revenue streams, and illness becomes an asset class.
Education follows the same trajectory. Universities no longer primarily reproduce knowledge or cultivate citizenship. They manufacture indebted subjects. Student loans become financial products, securitised and sold, while education itself is evaluated less by what it teaches than by the future income streams it promises to generate. Thus, the student enters society as a bearer of debt whose future labour has already been partially appropriated. The same holds at the other end of the life cycle, as pensions are bundled into financial instruments.
Even the ordinary routines of consumption are absorbed into this logic. Credit-card balances, automobile loans, consumer finance and payday lending all become raw material for securitisation. Everyday indebtedness is transformed into tradable securities circulating through financial markets, which means that those markets profit from social insecurity.
Financialisation thus assetises social relations themselves. The home, the body, education, old age, attention, data, anticipated future behaviour – all become collateral against which financial wealth, amassed at the top, can be conjured as if from a magician’s hat. Every sphere of life is justified in its real existence only insofar as it can be transformed into an abstract monetary claim upon tomorrow.
War represents the culmination of this logic. If housing, healthcare, and education are now financial assets, war is their most spectacular expression. While rearmament is sold to the masses as the political response to an unstable geopolitical landscape, it is, above all, an enormous liquidity event for global finance. The European Union’s SAFE programme (Security Action for Europe) alone envisages up to €150 billion in common borrowing to support defence procurement; and defence exchange-traded funds are among the fastest-growing investment vehicles in European markets. What this means is that military expenditure no longer generates profits mainly through weapons manufacturers or government contracts. Instead, it generates investable financial products. Destruction itself becomes an opportunity for portfolio diversification.
The merchant of death has migrated from the factory floor to the trading desk. Bombed cities, displaced populations, shattered infrastructures, and even a 1,000-day long genocide disappear behind ticker symbols, derivatives, exchange-traded funds, and quarterly earnings reports – because the balance sheet is all that matters to the dehumanised subject of finance. Violence undergoes the same abstraction that finance imposes upon every other dimension of social life. War is financialised: its anticipated revenues are capitalised in advance, its future contracts discounted into present asset prices, its destruction transformed into collateral supporting fresh rounds of speculation.
This is the endpoint towards which fictitious capital necessarily moves. Having exhausted the productive sphere, it feeds directly upon the conditions of social reproduction itself. Nothing remains external to accumulation. Home, health, education, security, information, the natural environment and organised violence become interchangeable moments within the same cannibalising logic.
The catastrophic administration of systemic insolvency
The Federal Reserve – and, more generally, the institutions responsible for managing contemporary flows of capital – are caught in a contradiction from which there is no technical escape. They confront a choice between two poisons: 1. Tight monetary policy (higher interest rates), which threatens recession, financial instability, and an increasingly unserviceable mountain of public and private debt. 2. Loose monetary policy (lower interest rates), which inflates asset prices, fuels speculation, erodes purchasing power and deepens social inequality. Neither path resolves the underlying contradiction because neither addresses its cause.
And this framing obscures as much as it reveals. When central bankers speak of inflation, they mean the rate at which prices are rising – a statistical abstraction. What ordinary people experience, however, is not merely inflation but affordability: the actual level of prices compared to their income. The two are not the same. Inflation can be modest while affordability collapses, because wages stagnate while the cost of housing, healthcare, education and energy continues its relentless ascent. The financialisation of everyday life has ensured that the essentials of survival now appreciate faster than the wages required to purchase them. The technocratic obsession with taming inflation thus misses the point entirely (and on purpose): the problem is not that prices are rising too fast, but that living has become unaffordable for the many while remaining spectacularly profitable for the few.
This is why the system has now entered its terminal historical phase. It no longer governs growth; it governs the impossibility of growth on capitalism’s own terms. Every intervention is a kick of the can – it postpones rather than addresses or resolves the crisis. Each rescue operation merely transfers the contradiction to a higher level of indebtedness and financial dependence. What is presented as prudent economic management is, in reality, the continuous administration of systemic insolvency.
Here we can see how acceleration turns into the governing principle. Debt expands faster than production; liquidity expands faster than value; technological innovation expands faster than employment. Every apparent solution intensifies the contradiction it claims to overcome. The next interest-rate cut, when it arrives, will almost certainly be celebrated as another successful “soft landing.” Markets will rally, commentators will praise the wisdom of central bankers, and another layer of fictitious capital will be piled upon an already impossible balance sheet.
War, in this expanded sense, increasingly encompasses inflation, austerity, indebtedness, permanent surveillance, technological mobilisation and the financialisation of destruction itself. The algorithmic choreography of strikes on Iran and the carefully manufactured narratives around Hormuz are not exceptions - they are the template. Military expenditure, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, emergency governance, and financial manipulation now form a single apparatus whose function is less to resolve crises than to administer them.
War, in this expanded sense, is the battlefield of social reproduction. Every emergency legitimises new mechanisms of extraction; every technological innovation extends the infrastructures of surveillance and control; every financial rescue creates new opportunities for accumulation. The battlefield is no longer only a distant theatre of operations. It is also the everyday terrain on which the conditions of life itself are colonised, monetised and put to work.
This also exposes the central ideological illusion of our moment. We are increasingly encouraged to believe that salvation lies in a different geopolitical configuration: a multipolar order, digital currencies, artificial intelligence, or a new balance between East and West. These transformations are real, but in their current form they do not transcend the horizon we have been tracing. A multipolar capitalism remains capitalist. Digital money remains the monetary expression of value. Artificial intelligence cannot replace the living labour upon which value ultimately depends – it destroys it even further.
Capitalism cannot survive its present terminal crisis. The only hope we have is that the system’s catastrophic irrationality, now laid bare for all to see, might yet generate an escape route – an exit strategy from the very logic that is devouring us. The final barrier to that exit is our own delusional attachment to a collapsing constellation.

fabio vighi

There is No America

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber…

a month ago · 64 likes · 16 comments · fabio vighi

“Fatal Cancer On Civilization”: Trump’s War On Marxism Enters Action Phase As Rubio, Miller And Bessent Address 65 Nations https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-live-rubio-bessent-convene-65-nations-global-crackdown-far-left-political-terrorism

US Slaps Brazil With 25% Tariffs After Rubio Says Socialist Leader “Failed To Negotiate In Good Faith” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-slap-brazil-25-tariffs-after-rubio-says-socialist-leader-failed-negotiate-good

As you may know, I consider high-functioning sociopaths to have long been the apex predators which cull human numbers hard when crops are bad and comple societal breakdown threatens. As kings, nobles and financiers they set us out in large groups to kill each other until resources are enough for the survivors. W. Campbell (Camp) Douglas MD, Do We Have a Sociopathic Culture? Primary sociopaths can still feel emotions like shallow attachment, pleasure, excitement, boredom, jealousy, contempt, anger, rage, and sometimes fear, but these components of their ‘emotional lexicons’ are self-centered and not grounded in empathy or remorse... ..Here’s an invitation: the next time you hear the words “evil” and “cruel,” think sociopathy — the absence of the seventh sense we call conscience.
Much of what we name evil is the work of the one in twenty-five born without it — and they rise, precisely because nothing inside them ever says stop... ..If culture is the external ‘forbid’, then conscience is where that forbid is installed internally, inside most of us. Martha Stout calls it that seventh sense — not a rule we memorize but an instinctual felt obligation, rooted in the inherited capacity of most of us to love and bond, as real as pain or a smell. It turns “Can I get away with that?” back into “I shouldn’t do that.”
From her research, about one in twenty-five humans - 4% - are born without the seventh sense— not just a weak version.
The conscience apparatus is entirely absent. This is difficult for the majority of us to realize, but it explains a lot about what we call ‘evil’ in this world.
Stout gives us ways to recognize the people who lack it. The most reliable single sign, she says, is the appeal to your pity: people who consistently harm others yet, when caught, ultimately cast themselves as the victims, campaigning for your sympathy to disarm your judgment. Watch, too, for the rule of threes — one broken promise is a misunderstanding, two a mistake, three tells you the entity you are dealing with... ..Dr. Stout’s first rule: primary sociopaths look like us. But if you can recognize their patterns, she says, do not try to reform them. Separate yourself, without guilt, and walk away... ..Dr. Stanley Milgram, whose work was shaped by the Holocaust, showed that roughly two-thirds of ordinary people will override their conscience under direct authority — an unremarkable man in a white lab coat, no monster required; in a variation where the subject was one step removed — reading the words while someone else pushed the button to deliver what he believed were dangerous shocks to a fellow human — compliance climbed past ninety percent. This is secondary sociopathy. Conscience is not absent in them. It is suppressed, or bypassed by distance and appeal to authority.
“I am just following orders.”... ..If one in twenty-five of us H. sapiens is born without conscience, and that absence is an edge in the climb, then arithmetic alone says some atop our largest institutions belong to that sociopathic four percent. Which ones? No honest observer can say, without proper psychometric testing or imaging. The point is not the name on the door. It is the door - that it is real... ..We need not necessarily reach for the diagnosis to name the mechanism: a political system with no screen for conscience will, over time, be climbed most successfully by those least burdened by it... ..The absence of shame in the face of overwhelming exposure, the doubling down when caught, the unanimous cruelty administered by committee, no confessions, no apologies — these are the gravitational signatures of consciences that are primarily or secondarily switched off... ..There is hope in the arithmetic, too. Milgram found that when a person watched even one other refuse, compliance collapsed — from two-thirds to one in ten. In other words, dissidence is contagious. Every COVID-era patient and physician, like my colleague, who is willing to speak up, is a circuit breaker for the next. Awareness is the beginning of immunity: you cannot be recruited by sociopathic mechanisms that you have learned to actively look for, recognize, and properly identify.
Stout ends her book with a hope I share — that people of conscience, simply by learning to see the ones who have none, can blunt their effect and protect those we love.

Duty to Dissent - Medical Conscience Over Conformity

Do We Have a Sociopathic Culture?

Biology enables. Culture forbids. Conscience is the ‘forbid’ — and roughly four percent of humans are born without it…

a month ago · 107 likes · 72 comments · W. Campbell Douglass, MD, MS

Thanks Eleni, Anti-corruption probe links Kushner luxury resort to international drug trafficking network Since breaking ground on a multi-billion dollar luxury resort in Albania, the Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump-led project has done more to reveal a corrupt Zionist pay-for-play scheme than it has to shed light on one of the jewels of the Earth that had gone unnoticed until it fell into the hands of the pair of real estate scions... ..Albania’s anti-corruption investigators have turned their attention to Miami-based businessman Artur Shehu as their probe has gone underway. Investigators have zeroed in on Shehu, who sold property that he owned on Albania’s Adriatic coast to the Kushner-led company Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, and his associates due to links they allege exist between them and an international drug trafficking ring and suspicions that the real estate empire Shehu amassed that he was able to profit from through his sale to Kushner was built through forged property records. Although Shehu’s lawyer, Kujtim Cakrani, issued a statement on behalf of his client denying all of the accusations made against him by Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (”SPAK”), Cakrani also acknowledged that the country’s anti-corruption agency has issued a warrant for Shehu’s arrest on charges that he has laundered money for drug gangs. https://www.sott.net/article/507412-Anti-corruption-probe-links-Kushner-luxury-resort-to-international-drug-trafficking-network

Bribe of “Trump resort island” still too small? Senior Defense Officials Review Potential 101st Airborne Helicopter Assault On Cuba https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/senior-defense-officials-review-potential-101st-airborne-helicopter-assault-cuba

Alastair Crooke, MoU Stacked in Holding Pattern as U.S. Pivots to Plan ‘B’ Plan ‘A’ was to topple the Islamic Republic which was seen as nothing more than a fragile house of cards. That collapse – it was expected – would ripple through, and take down several connected Axis of Resistance fronts, according to the analysis of Mossad and interlinked Israeli power centres in the U.S. (Certain U.S. officials did, however, entertain doubts).
The prediction of a popular uprising in Iran has proved to have been a strategic mistake of such bearing that per contra, it catalysed a stronger, more defiant and assertive Republic. Even Israeli experts admit that the false premise underlying the war has generated a new balance of power in the Middle East. Until then, a top Israeli military commentator (Alon Ben David) could say, Israel was the ‘go-to’ address in the Middle East for the world’s interests; but that from now on, the ‘go-to’ state is, and will be, Iran. That comment exemplified the extent to which a Rubicon had been crossed.
So the collective pro-Zionist bloc has shifted to plan ‘B’ – a ‘deceit’ based on the MoU, which were Trump’s interpretations to be accepted by Iran (unlikely), would effectively lead to the disarming of Iran through a nuclear agreement that would strip the state naked by virtue of its ‘verification’ requirements: Intrusive, ‘go-anywhere’ surprise IAEA inspections of ‘secret underground sites’ and interrogations of scientists and research academies. All would (again) be exposed.
Taken in tandem with Plan ‘B’s wider Israeli hegemonic aspiration, the aim would be to concurrently lobotomise Hizbullah through a separate disarmament agreement effected through compliant Lebanese government factions pressing down on the movement from the north, whilst Israel pursued ‘desertification’ in the south... ..Likely, the regional pacification scheme will be viewed as a clever move by Trump to mitigate the pressure exerted on him by the neo-con’s anger at his MoU ‘concessions’ to Iran.
But is it so clever? Marco Rubio was instructed to oversee the Beirut establishment making pretty with Israel in their shared antagonism towards Hizbullah. But the resulting ‘bout de papier’ for the disarming of Hizbullah enjoys no legitimacy; it contradicts the Lebanese Constitution and would require cabinet endorsement and parliamentary approval to have any validity or meaning.
What the Israel-Lebanon agreement does do, however, is to stick a dagger in Vance’s separately agreed Qatari-chaired U.S. and Iran co-ordination structure for overseeing MoU compliance in Lebanon. Rubio’s initiative to cut Iran out from the Lebanese co-ordination framework cuts across the MoU and Vance’s mediation efforts. Rubio’s tripartite ‘paper’ will solve nothing, but will leave the ‘Lebanon issue’ to continue as an open sore.
Yet a “ceasefire in Lebanon and Israeli withdrawal” is pivotal to the functioning of the MoU. It appears that Netanyahu tee’d up Ron Dermer to get Rubio to sabotage the MoU.
So, now we have civil war inside the White House over Iran – Vance vs Rubio – whilst the MoU slides into abeyance... ..Two of the five very large crude carriers ⁠that have left the Strait are heading to Japan, while another two are making their way to China. Which means – as Larry Johnson has outlined – that even were tankers to head to the U.S. now, the U.S. would still face a serious deficit of sour crude until 23 August at the earliest, given the 42 days voyage time to the U.S. (Sour crude is crucial feedstock for complex U.S. refineries to produce diesel and jet fuel).
The post-mortem on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran must be suspended as both Trump and Netanyahu enter a holding pattern ahead of elections. Trump might threaten to ‘obliterate’ Iran if it does not capitulate and bend the knee before him, but it is doubtful that the U.S. can long maintain its military presence in the region with munitions in short supply. Nonetheless, a further round of intense kinetic war is highly probable – and widely expected in Iran. A short ‘performative’ U.S. military strike on Iran is possible, but would achieve little – and nothing strategic.
So who is losing in this ‘war’? Israel – and Netanyahu. Netanyahu is in deep distress electorally too. The expected triumph of Israel over the Middle East has failed. https://www.unz.com/acrooke/mou-stacked-in-holding-pattern-as-u-s-pivots-to-plan-b/

Rumored: Last night at a U.S. Airbase in Jordan: 4 Iranian missiles at 1000km+ range ($ 400k-600k) vs. 8 or more U.S. Patriot PAC-3 ($ 32 million) Result 4 impacts (flawless victory?)

Official: Iran targets US 5th Fleet housing in Bahrain, air base in Jordan Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it had carried out missile and drone strikes against U.S. military facilities in Bahrain. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that the operation targeted weapons support warehouses, a satellite communications center and housing used by U.S. Fifth Fleet personnel. The IRGC later said it had also fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. air base in Jordan. “This base was used to attack us, and the American criminals were held accountable for their actions,” the IRGC said.
Jordan’s Armed Forces said they intercepted and destroyed four missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace from Iran. https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/iran-targets-us-5th-fleet-housing-in-bahrain-air-base-in-jordan-3223864

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-16 The Iran war stopped being one-sided overnight: Iran ran multiple missile-and-drone waves against US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, with reported US casualties, while Washington weighs seizing Kharg Island and bombing a fresh nuclear site. The other big delta is Ukraine — sacking defense minister Fedorov triggered nationwide protests and combat commanders resigning mid-war. Underneath, Hormuz went to effectively zero tanker traffic, Korea’s KOSPI leverage trade blew another -7%, and silver printed its first Death Cross since 2024 into peak capitulation. Iran hits US Gulf bases in coordinated waves; US casualties reported - IRGC and the regular Army struck Ali al-Salem and a US pier at Shuaiba in Kuwait, Isa Air Base in Bahrain, and Muwaffaq Salti in Jordan — hitting Patriots, HIMARS launchers, radars, SATCOM and MQ-9 sites, and shooting down an MQ-9 Reaper (MenchOsint).
Detailed target list including the KGL Logistics depot (largest US Army support hub in West Asia) in Mina Abdullah, plus a claimed Patriot PAC-3 miss on King Faisal base (AryJeayBackup).
Damage to an MQ-9 command-and-control centre at Ali Al Salem confirmed via satellite (AMK Mapping).
US military casualties from strikes on Iraq reported... ..Strait of Hormuz effectively shut — zero tankers Wednesday - “Not a single oil or gas tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz” (DarioCpx)... ..Trump weighs major escalation: Kharg Island seizure, Pickaxe Mountain strike - Options under review include seizing Iranian islands near Hormuz, bombing a fortified nuclear-linked tunnel complex at Pickaxe Mountain, and expanding airstrikes to energy sites, per WSJ (JenniferJJacobs).
A Situation Room meeting reviewed an offensive “wider in scope” than current Hormuz strikes, per Axios (BarakRavid).
Vance drew a line: “We’re not going to send ground troops for regime change” (zerohedge)... ..The Fedorov purge underneath: FT frames him as the drone-tech architect who blocked procurement graft and clashed with commander-in-chief Syrsky (RALee85); incoming government led by Naftogaz CEO Koretskyi as PM (zerohedge), with interior/police chief Klimenko tipped for defense.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-16

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 67 likes · 6 comments · No1

Iran Warns US Of ‘Infrastructure For Infrastructure’ War, Will Control Hormuz As ‘Unbreakable Red Line’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-warns-us-infrastructure-infrastructure-war-will-control-hormuz-unbreakable-read

US Senate Democrats block defence bill over Iran war, Israel integration
The Senate votes 50-46 to block debate on the annual defence bill over war funding and defence cooperation with Israel. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/14/senate-democrats-block-defence-bill-over-iran-war-israel-provisions

House Defeats Bid To End Israel Aid While Senate Blocks US-Israel Intel Integration https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-defeats-bid-end-israel-aid-while-senate-blocks-us-israel-intel-integration

Jewish Voice For Peace: Israel is losing American Jews. A new nationwide poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has found a host of indications of the sea change in American Jewish attitudes about genocide in Gaza, and their relationship to Zionism itself.
The poll revealed NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is more popular — by far — than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This may be surprising. We’ve heard ad nauseum from the Anti-Defamation League and an all-too credulous media that Jews in Mamdani’s New York live in constant fear.
The AP-NORC poll revealed 44% of American Jews actually hold a favorable opinion of Mamdani. That’s the most of any politician polled, and it’s far more favorable than for Netanyahu, viewed favorably by only 32% of American Jews and negatively by a whopping 59%.
Further, researchers found only 23% of U.S. Jews said the term “Zionist” described them extremely or very well. That’s consistent with polling from earlier this year that found most U.S. Jews — 63% — do not self-identify as Zionists.
That’s not all: Thirty-eight percent of U.S. Jews percent believe the U.S has been too supportive of Israel, and 30% believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2026/07/15/israel-is-losing-american-jews/

Netanyahu set to attend Lindsey Graham’s funeral in DC, meet with Trump
Netanyahu is expected to fly on Saturday night and stay until Tuesday to attend the memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham and possibly meet US President Trump. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-902555

Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: Oil Supplies Will Again Be In Trouble – This Time For Real
The world consumes about 100 million barrels of oil per day [bpd]. Before the war on Iran some 20% of that used to pass from the Persian Gulf region through the Strait of Hormuz to the world markets... . .In total some 7 m bpd exited the Gulf region through new outlets. The releases from reserves and the lifting of sanctions contributed to additional supplies of some 3-5 m bpd. The reduction of Chinese import demand amounted to some 5 m bpd.
Due to all the above measures the global supply of about 100 m bpd only shrank to about 92-95 m bpd. Global demand, especially due to the Chinese measures, dropped to a nearly equal balance. The amount that was still missing in this rough calculation was drawn from reserves within the distribution and transport levels.
After all measures were in place demand and supply were balanced again and oil prices came down to a normal level of some $70+/bl.
When U.S. President Donald Trump decided to reignite the conflict he might have thought that the oil problem he had feared had gone away. But it hasn’t. And the conditions now will make it way more difficult to keep the markets in balance... ..Nearly all the favorable conditions which had allowed the world to ride out the supply slump during the last phase of the conflict are no longer available during the current one.
While the cash settled future markets will continue to be highly manipulated, real product prices will increase. We are likely to soon see new peaks of prices at gas stations. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/war-on-iran-oil-supplies-will-again-be-in-trouble-this-time-for-real.html

IRGC Vows ‘Not A Drop Of Oil & Gas Will Be Exported’ From Region Amid Sustained Cross-Gulf Fighting https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-launches-brazen-attacks-more-tankers-hormuz-killing-crewmembers-after-araghchi

US Navy Disables Tanker Defying Blockade, As Pentagon Initiates 2nd Strike Wave Of Day After Iran Snubs Talks Pentagon announces second wave of strikes later Wednesday, the after initial 90-minute attack to start the day.
Trump threatens wider strikes unless Iran returns to talks - says attacks to ‘expand’ next week.
Wednesday saw 5th strait day of US bombardment on chiefly Iranian coastal sites.
Iran hits US-Gulf bases and warns on regional oil exports, says it is in ‘control’ of Hormuz Strait.
No evidence de-escalation: Tehran rejects talks and vows more retaliation https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-iran-exchange-heavy-strikes-5th-straight-day-trump-warns-hell-take-out-power-plants

Turkey’s Hejaz Railway Revival and the Limits of a Hormuz Alternative - A Revived Line Would Connect Turkish Industry to Arab Markets, Boost North-South Trade, and Complement Other Projects Turkey is working to modernize and extend the historic Hejaz Railway as it seeks to transform this neglected Ottoman-era line into a tool for infrastructure diplomacy. Built in the early 20th century to connect Damascus with Medina, the railway fell into decline after World War I due to conflict, neglect, and new borders. Now, Ankara wants to restore critical segments through Syria and Jordan, eventually aiming to extend the route through Saudi Arabia to Oman... ..This goal reflects Ankara’s ambition to place Turkey at the center of regional transit between Europe, the Levant, and the Persian Gulf. The first phase would reconnect Turkey to Aleppo and utilize existing rail networks in Syria and Jordan. Turkey has offered to help complete a missing segment of about 20 miles in Syria, while Jordan is prepared to support maintenance and operations. Turkey, Syria, and Jordan advanced a memorandum of understanding in Amman in 2025, followed by additional transport agreements in 2026. Saudi Arabia has also joined discussions through feasibility studies for connections to its networks...
..Israel will monitor any new Levant-Persian Gulf corridor. Iran and its allies may interpret the project as an effort to bypass their influence...
..A route marketed as a solution to a chokepoint may simply convert maritime risks into land-based political ones. The project’s true value lies not in replacing Hormuz but in broadening options. If carried out carefully, it could enhance trade, support Syria’s rebuilding, strengthen Turkey-Jordan-Gulf ties, and provide Ankara with a platform for middle-power diplomacy. https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/turkeys-hejaz-railway-revival-and-the-limits-of-a-hormuz-alternative

Great Rewiring: US Supports Iraq-Syria Oil Pipeline To Erode Tehran’s Hormuz Leverage https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/great-rewiring-us-supports-iraq-syria-oil-pipeline-erode-tehrans-hormuz-leverage

US, Iraq finalize major energy deal during Zaidi’s first Washington visit
Trump praised the ‘handsome’ Iraqi premier during their meeting, calling him a ‘great leader’ whose influence will extend across the region https://thecradle.co/articles/us-iraq-finalize-major-energy-deal-during-zaidis-first-washington-visit

Richard Revelstoke digs deeper into the internicine rivalries between capitalist factions: Two Wings of the Same Imperial Nationalist Bird Even within the factions, there is profound disagreement over policy, strategy and resources. Within theImperial Nationalist faction are two broad strategic traditions that share the same objective — preserving American predominance — but differ profoundly over how that power should be exercised.The distinction is often presented as a debate over foreign policy. It is more accurately understood asa struggle between two different forms of defense capital whose business models require different military doctrines.
Military strategy is usually portrayed as the product of abstract strategic reasoning. Yet strategies also create demand for particular industries, procurement systems, and revenue models. Different doctrines sustain different forms of capital. Thedebate between the Primacy and America First wings is therefore not simply a disagreement over how the United States should use power; it is also a contest over which defense economy will dominate the twenty-first century... ..Ideas do not emerge in an economic vacuum. Different doctrines sustain different procurement systems. Different procurement systems sustain different industries. Different industries generate different political coalitions.
The Primacy wing’s doctrine supports permanent alliances, overseas bases, long procurement cycles, and the industrial ecosystems of the legacy defense contractors. The America First wing’s doctrine supports border security, domestic manufacturing, energy production, venture-backed defense technology, autonomous weapons, and rapid procurement.
Neither doctrine is reducible to economics alone. But neither can be fully understood without examining the structures of capital upon which it rests. Military strategy does not merely reflect geopolitical thought. It also reflects competing political economies of American power.
The two wings beat against one another, but they remain attached to the same imperial body. They share the same assumptions about American military superiority, the dollar-centered financial order, maritime supremacy, and denying China’s rise.
One wing finances the garrison.
The other finances the raid.
Both seek to preserve the empire. Only the business model differs.

The Margins

Two Wings of the Same Imperial Nationalist Bird

Within the Imperial Nationalist faction are two broad strategic traditions that share the same objective — preserving American predominance — but differ profoundly over how that power should be exercised. The distinction is often presented as a debate over foreign policy. It is more accurately understood as a struggle between two different forms of defe…

a month ago · 5 likes · 3 comments · Richard Revelstoke

1 In 30 Koreans Margin-Called As Kospi Crashes, Regulator Suspends New Levered ETFs, Hikes Margins https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/1-30-koreans-margin-called-stocks-crash-regulator-suspends-new-levered-etfs-hikes-margins

2 days ago, not better yet: Big Blew It! IBM Crashes Most Since ‘60s Amid CapEx Woes; Goldman Warns Over ‘Software Bear Case’ https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ibm-crashes-most-1987-customers-abruptly-shift-capex-spending

Simplicius says China has been doing this for 4 years, already: The New Third Front: China Quietly Revamps Country for War An interesting series of reports have shone light on China’s ‘quiet’ but revolutionary preparations for conflict with the US.
China has mastered the art of the silent observer. Legions of commentators spent years criticizing China for not being more active and involved in the global geopolitical theaters, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, particularly when tilting those conflicts in its own favor would have greatly benefited China.
But now portions of China’s strategy are finally coming to light, and revealing the country’s uniquely furtive approach to maintaining a semblance of balance while in actuality making unprecedented hidden preparations for the worst case scenarios. They admit that these massive measures are done under the surface, which we can only assume is a deliberate choice to conceal China’s true posture of formidable national restructuring toward hybrid-war impregnability...
..This refers to the recent report from Russia’s Global Affairs defense journal called, “The New Great Wall: The Logic of China’s Foreign Policy Behavior” “This article examines China’s comprehensive mobilization policies undertaken since the early 2020s. Analysis reveals that they span multiple domains. First, China is developing a protected inland reserve of critical industrial capacity. Second, it is strengthening emergency supply mechanisms and accelerating the accumulation of food and raw-material reserves. Third, it is enhancing civil defense and urban infrastructure resilience, including the expansion of the ‘people’s air defense’ system. Fourth, recently amended legislation now regulates military service and the government’s obligations towards fallen servicemen’s families. The scope and pace of these measures indicate that Beijing anticipates a severe military-political crisis in the coming decade. This partly explains Chinese foreign policy’s apparent contradictions, with stated global ambitions coexisting alongside strategic caution and risk aversion.” https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/articles/china-kashin-smirnova-yankova/

The fact that this report is from a Russian patriotic journal, rather than a pro-Western one with an obvious anti-Chinese bias, means that the revelations herein are particularly noteworthy.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

The New Third Front: China Quietly Revamps Country for War

An interesting series of reports have shone light on China’s ‘quiet’ but revolutionary preparations for conflict with the US…

a month ago · 472 likes · 124 comments · Simplicius

(non-suicidal) Bulgarian premier says country has ‘no place’ in Ukraine coalition of willing - ‘I don’t believe Bulgaria’s place is in the coalition of the willing,” Radev says https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/bulgarian-premier-says-country-has-no-place-in-ukraine-coalition-of-willing/3997590

yesterday: Ukraine Shake-Up: Zelensky Sacks Popular Defense Chief, & IDs CEO Of Naftogaz As Likely Next Prime Minister https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-remove-ukraines-reforming-young-defense-minister-ongoing-shake-report

Today people want the guy who is advancing the drone war, and reducing corruption, not the guy who will drag more “recruits” out of their cars and beds: Ukrainians hold rare wartime protest over defence minister’s dismissal For the first time since last summer’s protests in support of their country’s anti‑corruption watchdogs, Ukrainians have mobilised online over the dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. A wave of social media posts quickly turned into calls to gather across Ukrainian cities on Thursday.
In clear evidence of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s popularity in civil society, Ukrainians have organised a rare wartime protest to defend and support him... ..Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran who was a leading organiser of last summer’s mass protests in support of NABU and SAPO, posted on social media ”The defence minister is being removed in the middle of effective – finally effective! – reforms, replaced by someone under whom any hope of reform can be forgotten,” referring to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who is poised to replace Fedorov.
“I call on all caring people to come out tomorrow at 9:01 a.m. to Franko Square and show the president that we are against constant reshuffles in the government and replacing effective ministers with convenient opportunists.”... ..The deputy commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, Pavlo Yelizarov, announced his resignation on July 16, saying the dismissal of Fedorov – whose key priorities included reforming the air defence sector – would cause more casualties and destruction in Ukraine from Russian missile and drone attacks.
“I believe that the removal of M. Fedorov is a great evil for the country’s defence capability,” Yelizarov said on Facebook, attaching a copy of his resignation letter.
Other opinion leaders from the military and civil society joined the call.
Serhii Sternenko, a prominent Ukrainian activist and blogger who was Fedorov’s adviser on drone warfare said that “Mykhailo Fedorov is the best Minister of Defence in our entire history”, and called his firing “the greatest demoralisation since the war began”.
Ukraine’s ‘cardboard revolution’ - As the social media mobilisation gained pace, Ukrainians began swapping slogan ideas for hand‑made signs sketched on pieces of cardboard. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/16/ukrainians-hold-rare-wartime-protest-over-defence-ministers-dismissal

Trump Says FBI Wasting Time If It Probes Conspiracy Theories About Graham’s Death https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-says-fbi-wasting-time-if-it-probes-conspiracy-theories-about-grahams-death

Widow Of Butler Rally Victim: Trump Assassination Attempt Was “An Inside Job” Two years after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee and wounding President Donald Trump, the widow of the man who was slain has expressed deep skepticism about the circumstances of the attack. Helen Comperatore, whose husband Corey, a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter and father of two, was fatally shot while shielding his family, told NewsNation that she believes the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt was “an inside job.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/widow-butler-rally-victim-trump-assassination-attempt-was-inside-job

The prosecution case is impossible on a timeline they just established. Critical incriminating-tweets by “Tyler Robinson” came well after he turned himself in and police had his phone. Kyle Young, The Tyler Robinson Preliminary Hearing

the secular heretic

the tyler robinson preliminary hearing

The preliminary hearing for the case against Tyler Robinson is simply to determine if there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial. The prosecution needs to establish probable cause for the crime of which Tyler Robinson is accused, that he shot Charlie Kirk in the neck with a .30-06 rifle…

a month ago · 34 likes · 19 comments · Kyle Young

Flock now wants to keep the data forever: Flock is falling out of favor with police departments - Flock Safety is hitting a rough patch with one of its biggest customers.

The Daily News from the Art of Liberty Foundation

Flock is falling out of favor with police departments

By Katherine Li, Business Insider…

a month ago · 62 likes · 31 comments · Etienne de la Boetie2

US military to start screening for testosterone deficiency, Hegseth says In a video posted on X, captioned “High-T Department”, Hegseth said he was authorising thescreening programme for troops to ensure “you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best”. Troops withlow testosterone levels will be offered voluntary hormone replacement therapy. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0nlx18rz0o

Meryl Nass MD presents lots of data in this very announcement: At 11 am I will be interviewed by Gloria Guillo and Jeremy Kuzmarov on the 2 recent Tulsi Gabbard releases on biolabs and Fauci, and on the unsolved anthrax letters case The links for YouTube and Rumble are provided below. The show can be viewed later as well.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

At 11 am I will be interviewed by Gloria Guillo and Jeremy Kuzmarov on the 2 recent Tulsi Gabbard releases on biolabs and Fauci, and on the unsolved anthrax letters case

UN-OPS LIVE TODAY…

a month ago · 33 likes · 9 comments · Meryl Nass

Steve Kirsch, Voices for Vaccines is unable explain the huge increase in deaths in young children who were vaccinated compared to their unvaccinated peers - They tried to debunk the Hooker paper based on official Louisiana mortality data. They failed. Miserably. In fact, it showed that they are inept. (best they could do with “bad facts”)

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Voices for Vaccines is unable explain the huge increase in deaths in young children who were vaccinated compared to their unvaccinated peers

Executive Summary…

a month ago · 324 likes · 66 comments · Steve Kirsch

Twin babies get the same poisons injected a minute apart and die together 8 nights later; “impossible”? Steve Kirsch, Shaw twins murder case relies on medical expert testimony that it is impossible for twins to die at the same time from a vaccine One problem.Twin deaths from SIDS are documented in the medical literature and in 100% of the cases, it is right after vaccination.They basically don’t have a case in my opinion. ChatGPT agreed.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Shaw twins murder case relies on medical expert testimony that it is impossible for twins to die at the same time from a vaccine

a month ago · 195 likes · 82 comments · Steve Kirsch

There is no substitute for eating right, exercising outdoors, sleeping fully and avoiding alcohol, cigaretted and charred meats: Paul Marik MD,

PSA Screening: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Future of Prostate Cancer Detection

Paul Marik

PSA Screening: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Future of Prostate Cancer Detection

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening remains one of the most controversial topics in modern medicine. Since its introduction in the late 1980s, PSA testing has dramatically altered the landscape of prostate cancer diagnosis. It has unquestionably increased the detection of prostate cancer and contributed to reductions in metastatic disease at prese…

a month ago · 66 likes · 8 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Climate Physicist Anastassia Makarieva and her husband Andre are back from their Siberian summer research-retreat: Between Taiga and Civilization - Uncategorized Messages from the Siberian Wilderness

Biotic Regulation and Biotic Pump

Between Taiga and Civilization

The Yenisey River provides a perfect space for practising spaciousness—in every sense of the word…

a month ago · 68 likes · 18 comments · Anastassia Makarieva

Weather Recipient (pictured showing off black-eyed pea flowers in bed established in early June)

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The Purpose

John Day MD — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:51:38 GMT

Divining Meaning,

“Nothing makes sense” is a common complaint about the current war in the Mideast which is choking global supplies of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and helium to make integrated circuit chips. If we look at the needs of modern global industrial economy, it must shrink from these reductions in fuels, feedstocks, fertilizer and critical materials.

“The Purpose of a thing is What It Does.” Within what framework might the reduction of feedstocks and agricultural fertilizer to the world be the rational decision of some powerful interest group? It won’t be good for stock markets if it keeps up. The world will get the final conclusion of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis if this keeps up long enough (which is an indeterminate time to most of us).

If the end of real economic growth is inevitably near, or just happened without being announced, then groups of powerful people might want to move to selectively choke the flows of fuel and fertilizer to their competitors and adversaries, as is typically done in wartime. (Franklin Roosevelt did this to Japan to push them into attacking the US, so that he would have cause to enter the European war, I have read.) Do we see uneven denial of resources? Do alliance groups seem to be facing off against each other, like EU-NATO-Israel against Russia, China & Iran, for instance?

It continues to be my view that global real economy likely peaked with the last peak of Oil + Condensates last November, following the previous peak of October 2018, which was followed by the “Repo Crisis”, then COVID lockdowns & Bailouts.

Pandemic did not prove to be an adequately robust Control-Narrative, despite best efforts to impose “universal-vaccination” with novel gene-therapy products that increase cancers, heart attacks, strokes, miscarriages and infertility, amongst other ailments. Everybody did not get a biometric vaccine passport and Central Bank Digital Currency with Social-Credit-Scoring, despite best efforts by “The Davos Crowd” and their servants in governments, militaries and industry.

War is the control-narrative which can always work, and can always be escalated to justify mass-murder and deprivation at home. Here we are again.

Is calling Iranian negotiators “unreliable scum” a case of projection? Alex Krainer, Trump’s war machine is going broke! Trump has been waging narrative warfare, so divorced from truth that it’s actually very revealing! Donald Trump made one of his most bizarre statements to date saying that, “Yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting… and everything was agreed to yesterday…” By “they,” Trump apparently meant, his and Iranian negotiators. But what exactly he meant by “everything” that was agreed, remained entirely unclear. It seemed that the point of his statements was to insinuate once more that the Iranians were desperate to cut a deal with the US, but they are terrible negotiators. They’re also very unreliable: “Then they leave the room, call back, and say, ‘We had to make a couple of changes…”... ..Perhaps the most important purpose of Trump’s story was to create the impression that the 11-hour meeting really did take place and the Iranians agreed to stuff they had to backtrack from. Therefore, they are weak and desperate... ..There’s a major problem with Trump’s story: there was no 11-hour meeting on Sunday, either in Qatar or anywhere else, at least none between any US and Iranian representatives... ..If you’re struggling on the battlefield, what could possibly be the point of lying about it and pretending that you’re in control and winning? ... Well,probably because admitting defeat could end the war prematurely (for some interests), discourage recruits and mercenaries from joining, tear apart alliances and most importantly,cut short the flow of colossal sums of money that are funding the War machinealong with thewarlords and weapons merchants... ..This whole approach is reminiscent of Robert Schiller’s “narrative economics” hypothesis. Schiller first published it as a speech on the occasion of his 2017 American Economic Association (AEA) presidential address (published later that same year as an NBER working paper). Two years later, he expanded on the hypothesis in a 2019 book titled, “Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events.”
In essence, Schiller argued that popular economic narratives - contagious, often simplified and emotionally charged stories - can spread virally, just like epidemics. In doing so, these narratives can significantly influence individual and collective behavior including investing, spending, saving, or policy support, thereby amplifying major economic developments like mass adoption of certain products or services, substitution of others, and even macro events like booms, asset bubbles, busts or recessions.
Once more, we are converging on phenomena of collective human psychology and how it can be influenced through narratives. Once narratives take hold, they can impact real-world outcomes, and perhaps Trump’s rhetoric about the control of the Hormuz Strait should be understood in this way... ..Trump’s bizarre rhetoric is also quite revealing and there’s much to read into it. The wording of his TruthSocial post about the USA becoming “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT” reads like a foreshadowing of his intent to shake down the Gulf sheikdoms to help pay for the Iran war, in the amount of 20% of the value of cargoes passing through the strait. That may be a bit aggressive, but since the allies’ money is sitting in Western financial institutions, they would have no choiceabout any “fair” deductions from their balances.After all, the charges would be for their own protectionand security.
This will inevitably alienate US Middle Eastern allies, so why did Trump use that language, and why now? As it turns out,US Defense Department appears to be rapidly running out of cash while the costs of war are mountingrelentlessly... In squeezing his allies,Trump made it quite plain—not only that limitations exist, but that we’re getting there fast... ..Yesterday’s announcement didn’t have the desired effect and the oil price soared nearly 9%. In today’s pre-open session, it’s up another 3.5%, fully $10/bbl higher than Friday’s close, which translates into about $0.24/gallon at the pump. Another, “Iranians are desperate to make a deal” announcement might become necessary soon. It remains to be seen if the markets will buy it the 24th time.

Alex Krainer's Substack

Trump's war machine is going broke!

In a FOX News interview yesterday, Donald Trump made one of his most bizarre statements to date saying that, “Yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting… and everything was agreed to yesterday…” By “they,” Trump apparently meant, his and Iranian negotiators. But what exactly he meant by “everything” that was agreed, remained entirely unclear. It seemed that the point of his statements was to insinuate once more that the Iranians were desperate to cut a deal with the US, but they are terrible negotiators. They’re also very unreliable: “Then they leave the room, call back, and say, ‘We had to make a couple of changes…

a month ago · 187 likes · 29 comments · Alex Krainer

Alastair Crooke, Iran War 3.0 - A market downturn in the U.S. – exacerbated by an energy crisis – could spell disaster for Trump’s midterm hopes. Trump may have imagined (or been told) that with the massive funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei under way, that Iran would not react as the U.S. Navy attempted to force open an American corridor.Trump however, misread the Iranian jibe – Hormuz is its’ ‘atomic weapon’. Iran will not relinquish it. Trump insists – in clear contradiction to the terms set out in paragraph five of the MoU – that Iran has no right to interfere with any ship trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran nonetheless is acting within the terms of the agreed de-escalation framework, and has warned repeatedly that it would strike any vessel circumventing the Iranian control mechanism.
Iran responded directly to Trump’s challenge to Iranian control of the Strait by striking two vessels with missiles and a third with an armed drone. A forth Qatari-owned tanker, laden with liquefied natural gas, was set ablaze, forcing its crew to abandon the stricken vessel.....Vice-President Vance is saying if Iran restricts Hormuz (i.e. it stays open to friendly states’ vessels) the U.S. will escalate. And Iran is responding to this threat by warning that it will escalate militarily – two strikes for every one American strike – and that they may also turn to new doctrines of warfare.
Essentially, Trump has plunged into an escalatory trap, seemingly in part out of pique at his collapsing polls at home. He did, however, directly put himself in this situation by trying to ‘act cute’ during the Khamenei funeral pre-occupations in order to try to gain a ‘quick win’.
How long will this escalatory episode last? Certainly, it will not lead to the opening of the Strait; nor bring a return of the status quo ante that preceded the war. As long as Iran maintains its ability to exert control over Hormuz, there is no basis to assume that the situation will return to what it was... ..Where did this all go wrong? Possibly the crux of it derives from the moment that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Sayyed Mojtaba, issued his statement that he had held a different view on the MoU to that of the negotiating team, but had agreed to proceed with it after receiving an assurance from the Iranian President that he would ensure and take into account Iran’s overarching principles in respect to relations with the U.S..
The Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei’s statement put on notice both the U.S. – and the Iranian negotiators – that Iran’s approval of the MoU was no open mandate, but rather closely tied to the 10 principles originally enunciated by the new Supreme Leader.
At some point, the Iranian leadership seemingly came to the conclusion that Iran was being played by the U.S.; that the MoU was a deception –
“and that the entirety of events since the announcement of the MoU reflected a U.S. strategy based on the view that in the previous round of the war against Iran – [that the U.S. and Israel] failed to achieve their objectives – necessitating a halt to the confrontation, albeit temporarily, in order to regroup and prepare ‘more thoroughly’ for a new round when the right conditions arise”.
This led to the Iranian reassessment that the Hormuz and Lebanon components constituted the vital leverage to engage in a new war as the West ramps up pressure as a holding strategy – whilst the U.S. and Israel prepare for the next round of war.
The interim U.S. strategy is no change to U.S.-Israeli objectives, but rather an adjustment to their operational mechanisms to provide for certain compromises that Washington considers necessary (i.e. closer working with Turkey and via Erdogan to engage Syria’s Jolani) to reshuffle the Lebanon deck, and then to ‘assess how the cards lie’, as Vance outlined.
It is not certain that this new U.S. policy will work. The world is changing rapidly. Their expected triumph of Israel over the Middle East has resulted in failure. Trump’s MoU ploy to open Hormuz likely will fail, too. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2026/07/13/iran-war-3-0/

Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism, Iran War: Trump Lashes Himself to Strait of Hormuz Mast With Renewed Blockade, Intensified Attacks on Iran; Oil Crunch Worsens as Iran Halt Fujairah Shipments, Houthis Threaten to Close Bab el-Mandeb Trump is doubling down on the Iran conflict despite the fact that the narrowing of war aims to merely re-opening the Strait of Hormuz is already an admission of failure. Even though Trump is the undisputed master of double-speak, it seems hard to fathom how he could reverse himself and abandon the war, particularly since the Iranians would make a point of humiliating him. The press and markets are continuing to downplay the significance of the current escalation. Too many are depicting it as tit for tat, as in more of the same, when that is not accurate. Not only are the strikes and counter-strikes more severe, but the US is hitting targets deeper inside Iran, including uncomfortably close to the Bushehr nuclear plant. Iran has considerably expanded its targets to include Oman and Qatar and is now going after the UAE port of Fujairah to prevent its use as an export route.
Even more significant, in terms of another massive strategic miscalculation, is that, as we described yesterday, Iran defied the 11 year Saudi blockade of Yemen by flying a plane into and out of Sanaa. Iran tried a second run, among other things, to bring some mourners at the funerals of the Supreme Leader back. The plane eventually managed to land despite Saudi Arabia bombing the runway. Yemen has announced that it will close the Bab el-Mandeb strait. This has ramifications on commerce far beyond the impact on oil exports from the Gulf, as we will explain below. And it comes when Ukraine is successfully interfering with Russian shipping in the Sea of Azov. Even if, as Ukraine skeptics argue, the interference is not all that consequential to Russia and is being addressed, it has led to a halt of diesel exports and has the potential to seriously dent wheat exports when the world is set to enter a period of high prices and shortages due to the one-two of fertilizer and diesel price hikes plus a super El-Nino.
The only sort-of-sensible explanations so for for Trump’s conduct (ex that if push comes to shove, he will greenlight Israel using nukes) is that he believes he can bring Iran to heel with another three to four weeks of punishment and perhaps some economic privation. Robert Pape has described long form that punishment campaigns do not work. On top of that, we are going into this round of escalation in a weaker position from a weapons and oil supply vantage. Iran surely knows that, which is even more reason for them to continue to hang tough. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/iran-war-trump-lashes-himself-to-strait-of-hormuz-mast-with-renewed-blockade-intensified-attacks-on-iran-oil-crunch-worsens-as-iran-halt-fujairah-shipments-houthis-threaten-to-close-bab-el-mandeb.html

The IRGC announces four retaliatory operations targeting US military facilities in Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait, including strikes on fuel depots, drone command centers, Patriot systems, and radar installations. https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/irgc-destroys-strategic-us-facilities-in-bahrain--kuwait--jo

Simplicius, Empire Thuds Iran Again Amidst Symbols of Calamity The US is now trapped in this doom-loop of impotence, striking the same insignificant coastal launch sites over and over to no effect merely as a kind of writhing agony of imperial frustration.The breaking point apparently came over Iran’s refusal to give US and Trump the satisfaction of announcing Hormuz’s reopening, as per Trump’s begging demands.
It has set the addled American strongman on another torrent of tilting vexations, wherein he ignominiously piled slur upon slur on the stately Iranians, calling them “scum” and a number of other objectionably unpresidential terms... ..CENTCOM tried its honest best to give authority to Trump’s claims, to no avail—the entire world could see that ships only passed the strait when allowed by Iran... ..Recall that upon arrangement of the previous “ceasefire”, Iran was allowed to offload the tens of millions of barrels of oil that had been accumulating since earlier in the year. This means Iran was able to empty out its entire backlog and restart the storage counter anew, which further meansit can now wait out any renewed attempt by Trump to “blockade” the straitwith months more of this back and forth charade.
As per usual, Iran is giving back something for everything it receives in the exchange... ..In reality, the US knows it has no real cards to play; the Iranian state has been powerfully reinforced and indurated against US aggression to the point where each round of strikes has increasingly diminishing returns. The late Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral has likewise cemented societal solidarity and spirit around the Iranian government, leaving the US and Israel with few avenues to make any kind of strategic inroads at all against their foe. Trump continues to wave the threat of “total destruction” of Iran’s critical facilities—desalination and nuclear plants, etc.—but these are likely bluffs owing to the knowledge that Iran’s response would likewise cripple the region’s most critical infrastructures as well, which would rebound onto Trump’s administration in extremely deleterious ways.
As a kind of last-ditch armageddon plan, it seems the Israelis could be floating a false-flag of all false-flags given new “assassination threats” against Trump that come at a convenient time....Many have inferred the logical conclusion as to what Israel’s desperate last-gasp emergency plan might be, if all else fails and Trump ends up backing down from the plan to destroy Iran for good... ..The problem is, for all the bluster of Trump’s ego as per the above rant, in reality the US military would be legally exempt from following the previous president’s “dead-man’s switch”-style orders, but would instead be held to follow the orders of the immediate successor, the newly-appointed Commander-in-Chief, which in Trump’s above hypothetical case would be JD Vance.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Empire Thuds Iran Again Amidst Symbols of Calamity

Like the spiral of his legacy swirling down the porcelain drain, Trump has lit off a new cycle of aimless bombings, after his patience had run dry for waiting out Iran’s “surrender” to a war the Persian nation had long won…

a month ago · 682 likes · 478 comments · Simplicius

Uncorroborated scuttlebut: BREAKING: DEEP STATE DESPERATION EXPOSED!
They tried to KILL President Trump mid-flight. On July 9, 2026, as Trump departed Turkey aboard the brand-new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 — his future Air Force One — the Deep State launched a cowardly cyber strike from Langley, Virginia. They targeted the plane’s electronic controls in a blatant assassination attempt. But Trump — always ten steps ahead — switched to the older Air Force One at the last second. What the Fake News called a “routine security precaution” was actually a brilliant trap. This was the beginning of the Great Purification. Encrypted comms intercepted. Traitors scrambling. NYT journalists hit with emergency subpoenas because they had obituaries and “air disaster” stories pre-written and ready to publish. They were waiting for the crash. THEY. FAILED. AGAIN. Trump just exposed the entire rat nest.

Countermeasures System Needed for New Air Force One is Standard Issue for Military and Heads of State The New York Times is reporting that the new Air Force One, a luxury Boeing 747-8 given to the White House by the Qatari government, was left behind after its trip to Europe earlier in the week, when its lack of critical self-protection was determined to be a safety issue. The missing defense technology in question, the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system, has been virtually standard for all large military, as well as head-of-state, and VVIP aircraft for over twenty years.
Launched in the aftermath of 9/11, LAIRCM was deigned to provide effective defensive capability for transport and tanker aircraft against the IR Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) threat, which at the time was perceived as very pressing. Since then, the threat has not diminished and has even grown with the rise of armed unmanned systems. The lack of LAIRCM on aircraft important as Air Force One would definitely be justification enough to leave it on the ground, especially now that its vulnerability is world news.
LAIRCM is a laser-jammer-equipped version of the U.S. Navy’s AAQ-24 Directed IR Countermeasure (DIRCM) system which is installed on a wide variety of USSOCOM and U.K. Special Operations C-130s aircraft among others. https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2026/07/10/countermeasures-system-needed-for-new-air-force-one-is-standard-issue-for-military-and-heads-of-state/

Trump Formally Notifies Congress Of Iran War Resumption - Third Consecutive Night Of Strikes Ensue https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/dispute-whether-hormuz-open-rages-ships-continue-transiting

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-14 Iran War formally resumed — Congress notified, third night of US strikes. Trump formally notified Congress the US is at war with Iran (KobeissiLetter, zerohedge), giving another 60-day WPR clock. CENTCOM ran a five-hour strike mission across Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas (dana916, zerohedge)... ..Hormuz: two armed tollbooths pointed at each other - The framing everyone landed on: Tehran sells the permit, Washington sells the escort, and neither payment buys passage against the other (shanaka86).
Scale of the 20%: read as cargo value, a 2M-barrel tanker at $80 owes ~$32M per crossing — a confiscatory tax, not a toll (ejmalrai). Iran’s floated fee is ~$1/barrel, i.e. 16x cheaper (TheApeOfGoldST, imetatronink).
“Protection racket at global scale” — ~$100-120B/yr extracted by a power that doesn’t border the strait (SamiAlArian). Lula: “That used to be called piracy”... ..Hormuz blockade reinstated + 20% toll — and Iran agrees in principle. Trump: US is now “Guardian of the Strait,” reimbursed “at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped,” blockade effective July 14 4PM ET (zerohedge, KobeissiLetter). Iran FM Araghchi: “POTUS is absolutely right… 20% is of course too much. We will be fair” (araghchi)...
..Saudi-Yemen: front reopens — Sana’a airport bombed, Houthis hit Abha Saudi jets bombed Sana’a airport tarmac to stop an Iranian Mahan Air plane landing (zerohedge, MenchOsint) — the plane simply diverted and landed in Hodeidah anyway (MenchOsint).
 Houthis retaliated on Abha airport and King Khalid Air Base with ballistic missiles and drones (war_noir); threatened Saudi “vital infrastructure… oil and gas facilities across their entire extent” (HormuzLetter).
 Context: MBS reportedly asked Trump on Friday for backing to hit the Houthis, and got it (BarakRavid). Yemen announced it will close Bab Al Mandab (GeromanAT).
Why it matters for oil: Saudi’s East-West pipeline moves ~7M b/d to the Red Sea to dodge Hormuz — straight into Bab el-Mandeb’s range (shanaka86). Pipelines trade one chokepoint for another... ..Meanwhile the financial side cracked hard overnight: Waller flipped hawkish, gold fell below $4,000, the 30Y hit 5.1%, and Korea’s KOSPI put in a Lehman-tier drop that force-liquidated 320,000+ retail accounts. Big day on every desk.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-14

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 70 likes · 18 comments · No1

Trump does whatever Iran does... IRGC Vows ‘Not A Drop Of Oil & Gas Will Be Exported’ From Region Amid Sustained Cross-Gulf Fighting Iran-US fighting is sustained but in tit-for-tat pace, with new reported strikes across the Gulf.
 Trump declares FULL blockade on Iranian ports, while IRGC asserts ‘wartime control’ of Hormuz.
Trump drops 20% transit fee plan; oil prices ease. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-launches-brazen-attacks-more-tankers-hormuz-killing-crewmembers-after-araghchi

Moon of Alabama on suspicious leak that Israel’s Mossad recruited a washed-up former-greatest-enemy: War On Iran: Escalation – Saudi’s Block Oil – Alleged Recruiting Of Ahmadinejad https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/war-on-iran-escalation-saudis-block-oil-alleged-recruiting-of-ahmadinejad.html

Lebanese army ‘refuses’ coordination with Tel Aviv as part of US-brokered deal with Israel: Report - Security sources tell local media that the Lebanese army will not ‘take orders’ from Israel or help ‘clear the way’ for additional occupation https://thecradle.co/articles/laf-refuses-coordination-with-tel-aviv-as-part-of-us-brokered-lebanon-israel-deal-report#google_vignette

Strikes on Lebanon Continue as Israeli DM Says They Are ‘Applying Rafah Model’ - Drone strikes continue to target vehicles in southern Lebanon https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/12/strikes-on-lebanon-continue-as-israeli-dm-says-they-are-applying-rafah-model/

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon rises to 4,322 https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/death-toll-israeli-attacks-lebanon-rises-4322

Israeli defense minister says southern Lebanon “will become Gaza” https://www.azernews.az/region/260969.html

Russia open to Turkey selling S-400 air defence systems to UAE, sources say - Sources say negotiations have been under way for months, but Moscow’s final approval is still required https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-open-turkey-selling-s-400-systems-uae-sources-say

Rivalries and Anxieties: Reviving the Hejaz Railway between Saudi Arabia and Türkiye The Hejaz Railway project, seemingly long past, is now being dusted down. In a June 9 memorandum of understanding signed between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, a railway line is envisaged between the two countries that will traverse Jordan and Syria and create a strategic logistics artery linking the Gulf states to Europe.
For Israel, this has more than tickled a nerve. Rather than seeing it as a healthy instance of regional competition on matters relating to transport and trade, a reinvigorated Hejaz railway is seen as threatening to the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). Launched in September 2023, the IMEC, unsurprisingly, positions Israel as the central transit hub linking the Gulf to Europe. But Israeli diplomacy and initiatives have suffered of late, notably after the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas which saw a retributive war, not only against the Palestinians in Gaza, but Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the illegal war launched against Iran in collusion with the United States on February 28.
What is particularly curious in the fearful critiques offered by Israeli figures is the implicit suggestion that Israel’s own economic plans and schemes are somehow free of a political, strategic, even security sting. Underlying this is the implicit suggestion that Israel’s claims to logistical and economic supremacy as a transit hub should be beyond competition from any rivals. Consider, for instance, the views of former Israeli Communications and Media Minister Ayoub Kara, who automatically assumes that the Hejaz Railway project is of a military nature and should be guarded against.
“Any cooperation built on security and military ties that is aimed at undermining Israel is a cause for concern,” he told MBN.
Much the same view is held by Mendi Safadi, a member of the ruling Likud Party and head of the Israeli Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights. Not missing a trick, Safadi thought it wise to make the railway project something greater than a threat to Israel’s own interests. While there would be “both security and economic risks” to the Jewish state, Europeans also had reason to worry. “Turkey could use this trade corridor as leverage to advance its political objectives.” In an economic world of Trumpian self-interest and exploitation, such a statement comes across as quaint.
Israel’s Transportation Minister, Miri Regev, has led the pack in fussing about the project in the broader context of Israel’s security environment. In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she anxiously claimed that
“we are witnessing a rapid transformation of regional partnerships in trade and energy that deliberately bypass Israel and pose a genuine strategic threat to national security.”
The Hejaz Railway project, as well as “additional bypass corridors” threatened “to permanently render the Israeli route obsolete.” Were such “bypass scenarios” to be realised, Israel would be left “outside the map of global trade”. https://www.globalresearch.ca/reviving-hejaz-railway/5933219

Eight people including a nine year old girl have been killed in Israeli strikes which targeted the Sabra area south of Gaza City despite a ‘ceasefire’ https://www.newarab.com/news/eight-people-including-girl-killed-israeli-strikes-gaza

Armed Israeli Settlers Detained Ro Khanna. He Wants Their Illegal Outposts Demolished.
In an interview, Khanna recounts the fear at being detained and says anyone who visits the West Bank “would conclude that it is apartheid.” https://theintercept.com/2026/07/11/ro-khanna-west-bank-settler-violence-palestine-israel/

Kallas wants to vote on sanctions against Israeli genocide: Turf war between von der Leyen and Kallas erupts into open A Brussels power struggle rages over ‘options’ to restrict or ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements https://www.euractiv.com/news/turf-war-between-von-der-leyen-and-kallas-erupts-into-open/

Rubio Pledges To Dismantle International Criminal Court’s Threat To (cough, Israeli Genocide, cough, cough..) US Sovereignty https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rubio-pledges-dismantle-international-criminal-courts-threat-us-sovereignty

The US has cultivated rising European elites a very long time: Finland and the Results of Elite Capture - Europe’s irrational choices are the outcome of decades of US “elite capture,” Finnish writer Olli Tammilehto argues. No better example than the president of his own country, Alexander Stubb.

Pascal’s Substack (Neutrality Studies)

Finland and the Results of Elite Capture

By Olli Tammilehto…

a month ago · 166 likes · 33 comments · Pascal Lottaz

Moving to where fuel is cheaper, the US: Are German companies leaving the country?Should I stay or should I go? Given Germany’s high cost and sluggish growth, some business leaders are mulling relocating, or at least investing abroad. DW has a look at the numbers. https://www.dw.com/en/are-german-companies-leaving-the-country/a-77875399

Gilbert Doctorow, Emmanuel Macron’s ‘Anti-ballistic Missile Coalition’ and the Russia-Ukraine war Macron’s gathering in Paris yesterday was clearly timed to make practical use of the visits of a number of high-ranking guests to the Bastille Day parade today. These guests include Sir Keir Starmer, outgoing PM of the United Kingdom, and Ukraine’s President Zelensky.
As I say in the News X World interview, the creation of an ABM coalition is not at all what it claims to be. The stated intention is to provide Ukraine with mutually designed and manufactured air defense systems having the functionality of America’s short-in-supply Patriot and costing a small fraction of the price of Patriots. This would, they say, bring down Russian ballistic missiles and enable Ukraine to defend itself after a truce or peace is reached. It would also help the Europeans in their plan to create a protective dome over the Continent...
..Ukraine was the main development and production center of Soviet strategic arms and it has the skill sets and even factory floors to lead the way not only for itself but also for Europe if the financing and technical cooperation is put in place.
To that I say, the argument is based on surmise, not on facts. Yes, Ukraine was a major participant in the Soviet defense industry right up to the collapse of the USSR, but one might ask how many of those experts remain in place. After all, Ukraine has lost more than a third, maybe half of its population to flight abroad – both to Russia in the East and to Germany, Poland and other countries to the West. And the security of existing and planned military factories in Ukraine is problematic. The model factory producing both missiles and drones which the late Senator Lindsey Graham visited last Friday was just a few hours later completely destroyed by a Russian missile attack. The idea that there is an effective defense against Russia’s present day hypersonic missiles is folly. Patriot installations in Ukraine themselves have been destroyed by unstoppable Russian missiles. And ballistic missiles are only part of the threat against which you have to defend today: a large part of the destructive attacks both Russians and Ukrainians are now making on the other side are by swarms of drones... ..Hence, my conclusion stated on the News X interview is that the Coalition will only serve the purpose of feeding money to European military manufacturers while providing no practical benefit to European or Ukrainian defense... ..In my interview with Press TV, I was given the opportunity to discuss points which Middle East expert Alastair Crooke set out convincingly in his latest podcast on youtube.
Crooke spoke about the damage Iran has done to the Bahrain headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and especially to U.S. military assets in Jordan where it attacked a major air base used by American forces. It may well be that Iran destroyed there a spy plane worth several hundred million dollars in its hangar and also destroyed U.S. fighter jets in their hangar. By Crooke’s estimation, Iran has taken control of the escalatory ladder, which reverses completely the normal order of things in America’s wars of aggression.
My contribution was to place the latest Iranian achievements in the context of what comes next in the reorganization of the security architecture in the Middle East. The Iranian missile strike on Bahrain was a message about what it can do to the Fifth Fleet at any time of its choosing should Trump want to escalate further. Surely all of the Gulf State neighbors took notice.

Armageddon Newsletter

Emmanuel Macron’s ‘Anti-ballistic Missile Coalition’ and the Russia-Ukraine war

The languorous days of summer have arrived in Belgium and more broadly in Europe but global breaking news is still with us. This morning, I was invited by both Press TV (Iran) and News X World (India) to join their hourly news broadcasts on issues of particular interest to their respective audiences…

a month ago · 15 likes · 4 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

Conor Gallagher, Lindsey Graham Bites the Dust Lindsey Graham is dead. Before we celebrate too much, there is still a chance that he helps bring even more suffering and death just as he did while alive. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/lindsey-graham-bites-the-dust.html

Graham’s Final Mission? Trump Backs Hard-Hitting Russia Sanctions Package https://www.zerohedge.com/political/warhawk-grahams-final-mission-trump-backs-hard-hitting-russia-sanctions-package

Jessica Rose Ph.D. wonders if Pfizer or Moderna were involved: Could spike protein-mediated fibrosis predispose to aortic dissection? Implications for histopathological evaluation and differential diagnosis

Unacceptable Jessica

Could spike protein-mediated fibrosis predispose to aortic dissection?

First of all, my condolences to Senator Lindsay Graham’s family. He recently died (July 12, 2026) in his home at the age of 71 from an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, as determined by the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia…

a month ago · 206 likes · 64 comments · Jessica Rose

South Carolina’s Governor Appoints Lindsey Graham’s Sister To Fill His Senate Seat [previously filled by Strom Thurmond] https://www.zerohedge.com/political/graham-dead-race-both-temporary-and-permanent-senate-successors

John Helmer on Reussian Strategic Initiative: BLEEDING TO DEATH IS NOT A RUSSIAN OPTION
The rupturing of the aorta which killed US Senator Lindsey Graham on July 11 causes sudden, excruciating pain across the chest; the internal bleeding causes death so rapidly most victims cannot be saved.
Graham’s fate is now to be inflicted by rapid enactment by the US Senate and House of the 500% tariff of the Graham sanctions bill on countries buying Russian oil, gas, uranium, coal, nickel, food grains. The pain is aimed principally at China, India, Turkey.
The bleeding to death is planned to be the fate of President Vladimir Putin and Russia... ..Putin’s problem is more urgent: he has to win the war in Ukraine to have any say in anything anywhere. If he doesn’t decide on this now, he’s Gorbachev 1985, waiting to be dismembered and sold in pieces to the Arabs, Turks, Europeans, and Chinese.”
Another Moscow source has been reporting the anticipation among Security Council officials that Putin must agree to the General Staff’s escalation options “within days”.
In this timing, by coincidence or by calculation, the Russian oligarchs supporting Putin have published an appeal to him with strings attached. These have been spelled out by Andrei Melnichenko and published by The Economist on July 9. Melnichenko warns Putin, and also the Graham sanctioneers in the White House and Congress, against four “scenarios” – “a humiliated Russia, lingering on the periphery of the West”, “Russia in China’s orbit”, “the fragmentation of Russia, which would rapidly become unmanageable”, and “Russia to become a fortress: closed, mobilised, in permanent siege”.
Moscow sources believe there are more options than these.
They say the Security Council has proposed to Putin to decide that if he is not to face slow bleeding defeat, he must commit now to “complete Russian victory cutting Ukraine off from Europe, NATO and the US; decapitation or exile for the Zelensky regime; and for Kiev and the main cities to be run in the manner the US runs Iraq. That victory brings military to power in Moscow.”
This is anathema to the oligarch base on which Putin has depended until now, when, Moscow sources agree, that is impossible.
“Melnichenko is speaking at the behest of the state oligarchs clan of which [First Deputy Prime Minister Denis] Manturov is the face and coordinator”, according to one source. “They know [Roman] Abramovich is not the right person to intermediate. They want to retain their external wealth and their Russian assets so they are floating a ‘nothing and everything is possible’ balloon – if need be, to open a platform independent of Putin, but if he will come to an accommodation, so much the better.”
They are worried, a source in a position to know claims, by “the prospect of a entire shift toward a Chinese-style takeover by a military-nationalist alliance, the state takeover of all oligarch assets, a change of leadership at Rosneft and the state banks. This may not be plausible for the Kremlin. But it is being floated now. And there are other scenarios which the oligarchs also oppose. One would be for Putin to preserve his continuity in power on striking a grand deal with India and China. The Indians will show the middle finger to the Americans if the Chinese will but not alone. Putin will have to join, too.” https://johnhelmer.net/bleeding-to-death-is-not-a-russian-option/#respond

Andrew Korybko, Western Officials Should Listen When Trenin Of All People Warns Of Russian Escalation He’s not a hawk in the least and actually used to be one of his country’s most well-known Western-friendly experts before the special operation led to him gradually re-evaluating his worldview.
President of the Russian International Affairs Council Dmitri Trenin published a piece at RT about “The dangerous logic of NATO 3.0”. In his assessment, “The Europeans dream of eliminating Russia as a serious factor in the geopolitics of Eurasia: to them, this would mean the ‘final solution’ of the long-dreaded ‘Russia problem.’…The fundamental flaw of European thinking is their belief that Russia would rather accept defeat, degradation and disintegration than use the arsenal which it currently possesses.”
He elaborated that “This arsenal is not limited to nuclear weapons, although the point may be reached when they will have to be used. The Kremlin, so far, has been exceedingly restrained in using its more powerful conventional capabilities, or engaging some high-value, high-visibility targets. There are many explanations for such restraint, but it is foolhardy – actually, fatal – to believe that either the Russian leadership or the Russian people would ever surrender to NATO.”

Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Western Officials Should Listen When Trenin Of All People Warns Of Russian Escalation

He’s not a hawk in the least and actually used to be one of his country’s most well-known Western-friendly experts before the special operation led to him gradually re-evaluating his worldview…

a month ago · 60 likes · 42 comments · Andrew Korybko

Dmitry Trenin, The dangerous logic of NATO 3.0 - Moscow sees a dangerous illusion at the heart of the new Western doctrine https://www.rt.com/news/642647-nato-militarism/

‘They used axes to spare the ammo’: How modern Ukraine’s Nazi heroes massacred Poles during WWII
Poland supported Ukraine against Russia – but the ghosts of the Volyn genocide have returned to haunt their partnership https://www.rt.com/russia/548672-ukrainian-murdered-poles-wwii/

The sector was hurridly evacuated: Russia Massive Attack: Kiev Regime Hides Depleted Uranium Ammunition in the Capital’s Suburbs A recent Russian attack destroyed a facility housing dangerous weapons held by the regime. https://www.globalresearch.ca/kiev-regime-hides-depleted-uranium-ammunition-capital/5932943

Ukraine Prime Minister’s Shock Resignation Marks Start Of Broader Zelensky Cabinet Reshuffle https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-prime-ministers-shock-resignation-start-broader-zelensky-cabinet-reshuffle

Fear of Russian Strikes Forces. Trump’s Ukraine Air Defense Patriot Strategy Fear of Russian strikes is driving a major shift away from establishing production in Ukraine toward more secure European locations, underscoring the challenges of producing advanced air defense systems amid ongoing conflict. Production activities are underway in Europe, with MBDA, owned by Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo, opening a new plant in southern Germany. The plant is scheduled to begin operations soon, with initial deliveries expected by early 2027. Reports indicate that Ukraine has finalized deals with Germany for approximately 600 missiles. Funding appears to be secured through NATO commitments made at the Ankara summit, totaling around $140 billion—$70 billion this year and $70 billion next year.
Establishing such specialized factories requires significant time, typically 18 to 24 months. During this period, Ukraine would need to meet its immediate requirements by purchasing completed systems, primarily from German stocks.
Lockheed Martin, the main US producer of Patriot systems, is building a factory in Romania, expected to be operational soon. Ongoing security threats and the risk of Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory make full-scale missile manufacturing unlikely in Ukraine. Consequently, safer European locations, especially Romania, are becoming the preferred sites.
In a possible Romanian configuration, the US would supply advanced parts such as active radar seekers, motors, and complex electronics. Local facilities would assemble simpler components, including missile bodies and transport-launch containers. These sites could operate under Ukrainian branding or as joint ventures, allowing Kiev to claim involvement while reducing risk. Even shipments from European plants could be intercepted or targeted during transit or deployment. https://www.globalresearch.ca/fear-russian-strikes-changes-trump-ukraine-patriot-strategy/5933283

Ian Proud, There is no functional way to end the war in Ukraine - Only a popular uprising against globalist leaders in Europe and their proxy in Ukraine, will do I predict that the collapse in Western support for the forever war in Ukraine will start to crumble after the French Presidential election, which Marine Le Pen is considered in hot contention to win. France under Le Pen will not want Ukraine to join the EU because of the loss of financial benefits to France that would result. I predict she would not want to prolong the war in Ukraine further given the significant indirect economic cost to France from the decline of Europe that it has precipitated.
There will be an enormous legal and media campaign to prevent Le Pen from winning, much as there will be a similar campaign in Germany in 2029.
Even in Britain, political elites are already looking to unpick the Brexit vote and suck us back into the warmongering supranational structure of Europe.
But the simple truth is this, the only way to end the war in Ukraine is the get rid of Zelensky and the globalist elites in London, Berlin, Brussel and Paris.
There is simply no other functional way to make it end, on the basis that NATO and the EU have stolen the sovereignty of their members, refuse to talk to Russia and see no interest for their citizens in peacemaking.

The Peacemonger

There is no functional way to end the war in Ukraine

A Sustainable Peace in Ukraine: Diplomacy, Neutrality, and the Limits of the Current Order…

a month ago · 89 likes · 76 comments · Ian Proud

John Helmer disparages Putin’s strategic restraint. PUTIN’S MIRROR IS NO FAIRY TALE “Victory will undoubtedly be ours,” Putin declared in a speech to a Moscow rally, “Everything to Win”, yesterday. “Our guys, the fighters, are moving forward,” he added.
“Our responses will always be mirrored, wherever they try to strike at the territory of Russia, we will respond in a mirror, only several times more powerful. The enemy will feel it. He already feels it, I hope, and he will feel it several times more powerfully.”
This is Putin’s public response to the rising pressure from within the Security Council, the intelligence agencies, the General Staff, and in the media of the military bloggers for E-Day. That’s short for Escalation Day – not TFT (tit for tat), not TIT (Trust in Trump), not the symmetrical responses from the genie in Putin’s magic mirror.
This is the plan for escalation of military operations to cut the Ukraine battlefield off altogether from its ground and sea supply links to the NATO alliance; to cut off the US and NATO drone targeting operations in the airspace of the Black Sea, and the Starlink and other satellite deployments in space; and to do as much as possible for Russia’s allies, starting on the Iran front, to inflict cost and pain on the US.
Intelligence sources in Moscow have been expressing confidence that Putin, having no alternative now, will release the General Staff from the operational restrictions he has imposed since the start of the Special Military Operation in February 2022; most particularly “our responses will always be mirrored.” https://johnhelmer.net/putins-mirror-is-no-fairy-tale/#more-94643

2,000 DRONES READY - Russia Preparing MEGA STRIKE on Kyiv & Odesa - Zelensky in France, Military Summary 2026.07.14

3 WAVES OF STRIKES ON ODESA - 10 Ships Damaged - 2,000 Drones Ready for MEGA STRIKE, Military Summary 2026.07.14

The big immigration lie: France urged to embrace robotics over immigration
The French politician and Reconquest leader Éric Zemmour highlights technology as the path to sovereignty amid labor challenges https://rmx.news/article/the-big-immigration-lie-france-urged-to-embrace-robotics-over-immigration/

It’s an AI web, and we’re just rats in the walls - Bots, not people, are now the ones who use the internet the most, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols Cloudflare’s public Radar “Bot vs Human” tracker is reporting that bots now account for roughly 57-58 percent of HTTP requests for HTML content, compared with about 42-43 percent from humans. Meanwhile, Imperva’s Bad Bot Report based on 2025 data put bots at about 53 percent of measured web traffic for the second year in a row, with humans at 47 percent.
Separately, according to Pangram, an AI detection company, on websites such as LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, and Reddit, “about one in four long-form items were fully AI-generated.”
The company went on to report that “LinkedIn was the most AI-saturated platform, where more than 40 percent of long-form posts [were] flagged as fully AI-generated. However, if we included mixed AI and human content, X/Twitter was the worst off: almost half of X articles were either fully AI-generated (23.9 percent) or AI-assisted/mixed (22.9 percent), with only 53.2 percent of X articles flagging as fully human-authored.” https://www.theregister.com/columnists/2026/07/12/its-an-ai-web-and-were-just-rats-in-the-walls/5269760

 Ireland’s data centers consumed nearly as much electricity as every home in the country combined in 2025 — server farms gulped 23% of national power despite years of grid restrictions https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/irelands-data-centers-consumed-nearly-as-much-electricity-as-every-home-in-the-country-combined-in-2025-server-farms-gulped-23-percent-of-national-power-despite-years-of-grid-restrictions

Companies are getting AI chatbots to smear their competitors - The race to influence AI chatbots is leading to some companies to adopt shady competitive tactics. https://sherwood.news/tech/companies-are-getting-ai-chatbots-to-smear-their-competitors/

Alarm over launch of facial recognition in UK shops that instantly alerts police- Civil liberties groups say Facewatch system in stores such as Sainsbury’s and B&M is ‘dangerous escalation’ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/10/facewatch-facial-recognition-uk-shops-instantly-alerts-police-civil-liberties

Nick Corbishley. Will the Bank of England Ever Give Venezuela Back Its Gold? It’s already been more than seven years since the UK confiscated Venezuela’s gold reserves. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/will-the-bank-of-england-finally-give-venezuela-its-gold-back.html

Deprived of the right to vote: The UN punishes the victims of U.S.-imposed sanction The UN strips Venezuela of voting rights over unpaid dues – but ignores that U.S. sanctions froze its finances. Iran, Sudan, and Afghanistan face the same trap. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2026/07/08/deprived-right-vote-un-punishes-victims-us-imposed-sanctions/

Cuba offers Trump luxury island in desperate bid to stop invasion
Trump has openly mused about Cuba’s prime coastal value, and now Cuba’s ruling Castro family is reportedly floating a stunning proposal to the president https://www.themirror.com/news/politics/cuba-offers-trump-luxury-island-1933208

China cries foul after 14 nations, including Japan, reject Beijing’s South China Sea claims  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/132356112.cms

Women Over 40 Are Now Having More Babies Than American Teenagers https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/women-over-40-are-now-having-more-babies-american-teenagers

Appeals Court Revives Tylenol Autism Lawsuits Against Kenvue A federal appeals court has breathed new life into litigation accusing Kenvue of failing to disclose alleged risks tied to taking Tylenol during pregnancy, reversing an earlier ruling that had effectively stopped hundreds of cases, according to a new report from Bloomberg. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/appeals-court-revives-tylenol-autism-lawsuits-against-kenvue

Celia Farber, Darkness Doubled: Mother Of Twins Who Both Died Days After A Round Of Vaccines Charged With First Degree Murder; Was Part Of Lawsuit Against AAP, Had Taken Them Repeatedly To Be Seen By Doctors - Mass Media Attacking Her

The Truth Barrier

Darkness Doubled: Mother Of Twins Who Both Died Days After A Round Of Vaccines Charged With First Degree Murder; Was Part Of Lawsuit Against AAP, Had Taken Them Repeatedly To Be Seen By Doctors

We are in the dark ages, and it’s getting darker…

a month ago · 160 likes · 84 comments · Celia Farber

Steve Kirsch, Brian Hooker’s paper showing vaccines increase mortality was REMOVED from preprints.org Here’s how they justified the removal and why they got it wrong. If they found an explanation other than the vaccine, why are they keeping it a secret from everyone including the authors?

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Brian Hooker's paper showing vaccines increase mortality was REMOVED from preprints.org

Executive summary…

a month ago · 268 likes · 116 comments · Steve Kirsch

Paul Marik MD, Preventing Prostate Cancer - Take action Now

Paul Marik

Preventing Prostate Cancer

This post MUST be interpreted in conjuction with the next post entitled…

a month ago · 76 likes · 23 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Jessica Rose Ph.D. just needs the full data-set: Did plasma-derived Hep B vaccines seed the early AIDS epidemic? Questions, evidence, and a call for full data release

Unacceptable Jessica

Did plasma-derived Hep B vaccines seed the early AIDS epidemic?

The early history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the most consequential medical events of the 20th century. While its origin and rapid spread in the early 1980s are often attributed solely to sexual transmission, certain vaccine development and trial timelines from the late 1970s deserve closer scrutiny - particularly the plasma-derived hepatitis B …

a month ago · 133 likes · 51 comments · Jessica Rose

Dr. Marian Laderoute explains the wonder of our ancestors integrating a good-retrovirus: Lay Version of New Article on How Trained Immunity Saves Lives How I came to understand things in medicine. July 12, 2026

HERV-K102 and Pandemic Responses

Lay Version of New Article on How Trained Immunity Saves Lives

My goal in life was first at the age of 5 to cure cancer…

a month ago · 9 likes · 4 comments · Dr. Marian Laderoute

Cyclospora jumps bail: Explosive foodborne outbreak - It’s a real shit show out there: What we know, don’t know, and what it means for you.

Your Local Epidemiologist

Explosive foodborne outbreak

Well, nothing like the U.S.'s biggest explosive diarrhea outbreak ever to take me out of vacation mode. But I’m getting really frustrated with the coverage, which leaves people struggling to navigate which foods are safe and which aren’t…

a month ago · 1960 likes · 71 comments · Katelyn Jetelina

Curry is beneficial: Nano-Curcumin Eliminates Cyclospora Infection in Mice—the Parasite Behind the “Explosive Diarrhea” Outbreak Across 31 States Just seven daily doses of nano-curcumin cut Cyclospora shedding by 97.2%, eliminated detectable parasites, restored damaged intestinal tissue, and prevented infection relapse. Researchers experimentally infected mice with Cyclospora and compared three treatments:
Nano-curcumin: 2 mg/kg once daily
Regular curcumin: 2 mg/kg once daily
Bactrim/TMP-SMX: 5 mg/kg trimethoprim plus 25 mg/kg sulfamethoxazole once daily
Each treatment was administered for only seven consecutive days, beginning on day 6 after infection when parasite shedding started. The mice received no additional treatment and were followed through day 30—more than two weeks after the final dose.
Nano-curcumin produced the strongest overall results.
By the end of treatment, parasite oocyst shedding had fallen by:
84.0% with nano-curcumin
77.3% with Bactrim
73.3% with regular curcumin
At day 30, more than two weeks after treatment ended:
Nano-curcumin: 97.2% reduction
Regular curcumin: 93.5% reduction
Bactrim: 79.4% reduction
Untreated control: persistent and increasing shedding

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

Nano-Curcumin Eliminates Cyclospora Infection in Mice—the Parasite Behind the “Explosive Diarrhea” Outbreak Across 31 States

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

a month ago · 221 likes · 47 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Colin Todhunter on not-genetic-engineering: You Can’t Patent a Trench: The Real Biotechnology the Green Revolution Forgot https://www.globalresearch.ca/patent-trench-real-biotechnology-green-revolution-forgot/5933177

America may have to sacrifice Lake Powell to save the Colorado River, as Scientists Warn the current two-reservoir system is becoming unsustainable
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/132283498.cms

American Gardener (pictured this morning with traditional water storage technology)

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Counting The Hours

John Day MD — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:48:24 GMT

Transfixed,

Third Round of US Strikes Hits 140 Targets After Hormuz Ship Attack; Iran Retaliates On Kuwait, Jordan Bases
The IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz closed “until further notice” and until the end of “American interventions.” Tehran framed its actions as defensive and retaliatory, launching ballistic missiles and drones at US-linked targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan (including Muwaffaq Salti Airbase), and Oman...
..Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Oman on Saturday for talks on the future of Hormuz, but there was no sign of involvement by senior US envoys. Also Earlier, Iran demanded that the US implement key commitments under a recent deal before more talks take place, rejecting Trump’s contention that negotiations could continue without a ceasefire. Tehran said Washington must meet Iran’s conditions for resolving transit issues through the Strait of Hormuz and normalizing its oil exports.
On Friday Trump threatened to shower Iran with “1000 Missiles” if it acted on a threat to kill the US leader, “in this case, ME!”
The US had also demanded that Iran publicly declare all channels of the Hormuz open to shipping and pledge not to attack civilian vessels transiting the waterway...
..Iran has thrown Trump’s ultimatum and Saturday deadline right back at Washington, saying that instead it is the United States that must first meet the agreed-upon conditions in order to normalize shipping and energy transit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Fars news agency reports Saturday that Iranian leadership is demanding that the US implement “agreed-upon understandings” before any talks take place. While the White House has declared the ceasefire to be ‘over’ - it has also indicated ongoing contacts and talks with Iran via mediators. But this appears to have been reduced to simple ultimatums being shuttled between capitals by Qatari mediators. There are no actual sit-down talks on the horizon. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-rejects-us-talks-mojtaba-calls-vengeance-trump-warns-1000-missiles-are-locked

Reports vary: Tehran Declares Hormuz Closed, But Ships Are Still Transiting “Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued at reduced levels, with vessels transiting via both the southern Omani corridor and the northern Iranian-controlled route,” the Joint Maritime Information Center wrote in a note early Sunday. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/tehran-declares-hormuz-closed-ships-are-still-transiting

Lindsey Graham died due to a heart attack? Lindsey Graham suffered chest pain at his D.C. home after returning from Ukraine and then went into cardiac arrest before dying. Emergency services were called to his DC home, according to police scanner audio... ..GRAHAM WAS JUST VISITING DRONE FACTORIES IN UKRAINE! Russia attacked drone factories in Ukraine! Lindsey Graham “dies suddenly” I have to ask, did Russia kill Graham in Ukraine and they cover it up?

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported the conduct of high-precision strikes at night weapons long-range and strike drones The main targets of the attack were military-industrial complex enterprises in Kyiv, which specialize in the production of medium- and long-range unmanned aerial vehicles for the Ukrainian military... ..According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Kyiv-71 and Burevestnik facilities, as well as military airfield infrastructure in the Kyiv region, were damaged. Large fires and plumes of smoke from secondary detonations of the munitions were observed at the impact sites. https://en.topwar.ru/286076-rossijskie-sily-nanesli-udary-po-obektam-vpk-ukrainy-po-vypusku-dronov-v-kieve.html

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S TIMELINE Last 48 hours: 1) Visits Ukrainian drone factories 2) Russia strikes drone factories 3) Graham “dies suddenly” It could, of course, be a sudden heart attack right after returning home, but it could also be that he was struck in a drone factory by Russia.

Larry Johnson, The Lindsey Graham Timeline Does Not Work… He Died in Kyiv Let’s follow the timeline. According to the official story: 911 call from his DC residence at 8:30pm ET on July 11 for suspected cardiac arrest. He “died at home.” This is total bullshit!
So let’s go thru the timeline. Senator Graham arrived in Kyiv between 09:45–10:45 local on July 10th. The train he took from Poland departed Warsaw at 18:15 hours local on July 9th. It was an overnight train. To arrive in Poland in time to take the 18:15 train, Lindsey would have departed Dulles International Airport at around 0700 local on July 9 — the flight from Dulles to Warsaw is 9 hours.
So Lindsey Graham arrives in Kyiv by 11 am Friday morning. He meets with Zelensky and tours a drone factory. Then we are asked to believe that he returns to Washington, DC after spending less than 24 hours on the ground. Again, I call bullshit!!
The earliest train back to Warsaw departs Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi at 07:40–08:00 on the 11th and arrives Przemyśl Główny in the afternoon (~17:00–18:00). That is at least nine hours. That would make it roughly 1100 hours in Washington, DC. Let’s assume he has an hour to get to the airport and the plane takes off at 1900 hours local from Poland. The flight going west takes 10 hours… This means the earliest the plane could have landed at Dulles is midnight on the 11th. That is 3 ½ hours after Graham reportedly died at home. https://sonar21.com/the-lindsey-graham-timeline-does-not-work-he-died-in-kyiv/

“What Makes It Even Stranger...”: Trump Describes Saturday Night Phone Call With Lindsey Graham Hours Before Senator’s Death “What makes it even stranger is that I got a call last night sometimes in, you know, the early evening, maybe in the 7:00’s. And he called and he said, “We’re all set for the Save America Act,”“ Trump told host Kristen Walker. “He was pushing the Save America Act like crazy. He got back, said he just landed from Ukraine. I said, “That’s a long trip to make.”“ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sen-lindsey-graham-dead-71-following-brief-and-sudden-illness

July 10: Israel Hands US Curiously-Timed Intelligence Saying Iran Plotting To Assassinate Trump https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/return-war-iran-sends-ballistic-missiles-kuwait-bahrain-qatar-jordan-after-us-struck

Trump Took Old Air Force One To Leave Turkey As Security Measure: White House The White House said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s departure from the NATO summit in Turkey aboard the old Air Force One was a “distraction and misdirection” intended to address threats against him. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-took-old-air-force-one-leave-turkey-security-measure-white-house

Bait for an Israeli false-flag? Trump Left Orders To Obliterate Iran If Assassinated: ‘Bomb Them At Levels Never Seen Before’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-left-orders-obliterate-iran-if-hes-assassinated-bomb-them-levels-never-seen

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-12 Iran struck the GFS Galaxy, closed Hormuz, and drew a third US strike round. Iran hit the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy in the strait; one crew member missing, engine-room fire (CENTCOM, KobeissiLetter). IRGC then declared the Strait of Hormuz closed “until further notice” (KobeissiLetter, Barchart). US launched a third round, ~140 targets that night, 300+ across three nights... ..Iran retaliated against US bases in six Gulf states - including its own mediator, Oman. Ballistic missiles and drones hit sites in Bahrain (5th Fleet HQ, Manama), Qatar (Al Udeid), Kuwait, Jordan (Prince Hassan / Muwaffaq Salti), UAE (first strike in two months), and Oman’s port of Duqm, a US Navy refueling hub... ..The structural problem: after 2008, IRGC split into 31 provincial commands with pre-delegated authority to keep firing after the leadership is killed - which it was, in February. New Supreme Leader Mojtaba has shown no face, voice or video in four months, reportedly disfigured in the strike, yet is the man expected to sign a promise (shanaka86). His only message so far is a call for vengeance... ..Sen. Lindsey Graham dead at 71. His office cited “a brief and sudden illness” Saturday evening (MyLordBebo); confirmed by Barchart. He had returned from Kyiv on Friday after meeting Zelensky... ..The prevailing read: China demand destruction is swamping the Hormuz risk. Flat-to-contango futures curves, an ~8-cent prompt spread, and China auto sales crashing point to a deflationary recession, not a shortage premium (Jeff Snider via Mark4XX).
The UAE is uniquely equipped to bypass the strait and hit record production, but global supply still sits 9.4 mb/d below prewar (aeberman12).
Tanker traffic through the strait had all but halted before the closure; the few inbound VLCCs are “completely insufficient” to end the shut-in... ..Russia-Ukraine: Bachivsk falls in Sumy; Kyiv’s air defense uncontested for 9 days; Odesa ports pounded
Russia’s MoD claims liberation of Bachivsk in Sumy (MilitarySummary, GudadzeLevan); geolocation shows Russian control of northern Konstantinovka (MilitarySummary).
 Ukraine’s air defense is described as collapsed - roughly nine days without interceptions, Kyiv hit by Iskanders and jet-powered Geran drones that now make up 25-30% of Russian UAVs (MilitarySummary, MilitarySummary).
 Russia ramped strikes on Odesa/Chornomorsk port infrastructure and cargo ships (AMK_Mapping, MilitarySummary); Ukraine hit back at the Syzran oil refinery (MilitarySummary) and closed the Azov Sea after destroying 28 vessels... ..AI bubble: capex tops $1tn, now a quarter of US GDP growth

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-12

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 57 likes · 12 comments · No1

Iran crowned champion at 2026 International Mathematics Olympiad in China https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/07/10/771981/Iran-crowned-champion-2026-China-International-Mathematics-Competition

The Manufacture of Impunity. How a Political Apparatus Secures Its Crimes and Captures American Power
Gaza, Lebanon, and the Architecture of a State’s Violence A thousand days. - Say it slowly, because Gaza no longer can.
A thousand dawns over a strip of land smaller than a city, each one breaking not upon rooftops but upon their absence.
A thousand nights beneath the same drone that does not sleep, does not blink, does not forgive. There, time is no longer counted in seasons, or harvests, or the growth of children — it is counted in funerals, and in the funerals that could not be held, for want of hands to dig. A thousand days, and the arithmetic is unbearable: more than 73,000 dead, over 173,000 wounded, 9,500 more still folded into the concrete, waiting for hands that will not come.
More than half of them women, the old, the very small. Twenty-one thousand of them children — a generation entered into a ledger before it could learn to read one. And twelve thousand pregnancies lost — miscarried or ended under starvation and the ruin of the hospitals: a people struck at the root, before breath.
They killed the ones who film it — 262 journalists. They killed the ones who dig for the living — 145 rescuers, 1,700 healers. They did not merely wage a war. They made a method of it — and the world, for a thousand days, agreed to call the method by another name.
This is not about a people, a religion, or a supposed nature. It is about a state, a specific government, and the machinery that has kept its crimes running in broad daylight for a thousand days. Name it precisely — and the thousand days become an indictment that no delay at The Hague, no veto in New York, no bomb out of Washington can any longer disguise.
In 2026 the question is no longer whether crimes are being committed. An unprecedented convergence of independent bodies has settled that. The question is by what mechanism a state commits them in full view, theorizes them, replicates them from one theater to the next, and secures the guarantee of the world’s foremost power. That is the machinery to dismantle. https://www.globalresearch.ca/manufacture-impunity/5932595

Israel launches fresh airstrikes in southern Lebanon, injuring 7 despite US-brokered deal
Israeli forces hit several towns in south as framework agreement calls for phased withdrawal from Lebanese territory https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-launches-fresh-airstrikes-in-southern-lebanon-injuring-7-despite-us-brokered-deal/3995104

Power cuts plunge Gaza hospitals into darkness as Israeli attacks persist
Gaza is suffering from an energy crisis that is affecting hospitals struggling to treat patients amid Israeli bombing. Medical staff describe working under increasingly dire conditions as fuel and power run short. https://www.vespernews.com/en/news/63a3470f-6122-4b88-a4c4-138602e0a565

Detained Palestinian woman documents the escalation of violations inside Israeli prisons Shahd Muhammad Adi, 23, revealed her testimony regarding the escalation of assaults and violations that Palestinian women prisoners are subjected to inside Israeli occupation prisons.
The prisoner, Adi, who is a nursing graduate from the town of Beit Ummar and detained since last March 25, reported that she has been subjected to harsh mistreatment since the moment of her arrest, as she was forced under threat to take off her jilbab in very cold weather.
She explained in her testimony that the jailers recently stormed the women prisoners’ rooms numbers 6, 7, and 8 while they were performing the Qiyam al-Layl prayer, where they blindfolded them, and forced them to lie down on the ground, before they confiscated their copies of the Quran.
She described the raid of last May 13 as the “most violent”, clarifying that the prison forces used stun grenades and police dogs during it, and carried out physical assaults while voicing verbal insults and brandishing weapons. https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/11/366494/

Report documents 1,183 Israeli violations in West Bank in one week https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/07/11/366491/

Ro Khanna gets street-cred: US lawmaker harassed, held at gunpoint by Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank The Jewish settlers reportedly wielded US-made rifles to intimidate the US lawmaker and his delegation Rep. Ro Khanna says that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrived on the scene and continued his detention, which is unsurprising considering their documented cooperation with settlers. https://thecradle.co/articles/us-lawmaker-harassed-held-at-gunpoint-by-israeli-settlers-in-occupied-west-bank

Turkey Seeks Moscow Permission To Offload S-400s, Paving Way For US F-35 Deal In a move that could break a years-long defense procurement deadlock with Washington, Turkey is finalizing the sale of its Russian S-400 air defense systems to Gulf states, potentially clearing the way for Ankara to buy US F-35 fighter jets, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports Friday.
For Ankara, offloading the Russian hardware resolves a years-long costly diplomatic and military bottleneck and controversy - a situation which dramatically improved after President Trump gave a clear greenlight during the annual NATO summit in Ankara this week. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/turkey-seeks-moscow-permission-offload-s-400s-paving-way-us-f-35-deal

This corridor would not use the Israeli Port of Haifa: France eyes Syria as ‘vital energy corridor’ amid Hormuz crisis Macron visited Syria this week along with the head of TotalEnergies The announcement follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus on Tuesday, where he met with former Al-Qaeda chief and self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to discuss regional stability.
Joining Macron on his visit, TotalEnergies head Patrick Pouyanne described the nation as being “at the crossroads of the Middle East,” positioning it as a vital transit link between Iraq and the Mediterranean Sea.
Since April, Iraq has been transporting oil through Syria by truck for re-export, exporting over 600,000 tons of fuel oil between April and June to bypass the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Last month, officials from both countries discussed rehabilitating the shared Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline and establishing energy transit mechanisms. https://thecradle.co/articles/france-eyes-syria-as-vital-energy-corridor-amid-hormuz-crisis

The Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline is a currently defunct crude oil pipeline built by the Iraq Petroleum Company from the Kirkuk oil field in Iraq to the Syrian port of Baniyas. The pipeline went into operation in April 1952... It was the second “Big-Inch” oil pipeline in the Middle East after the 1,080-mile Trans-Arabian Pipeline in 1950. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk%E2%80%93Baniyas_pipeline

Simplicius 7/8/26, Trump and Rubio Hopeful Ukrainian Deep Strikes Bring Russia to Negotiating Table

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

Trump and Rubio Hopeful Ukrainian Deep Strikes Bring Russia to Negotiating Table

Much is being made about Rubio’s new statements during the NATO summit regarding Ukrainian long-range strikes. Both he and Trump appeared to support the idea of Ukraine striking deep Russian targets, remarking that this campaign is creating the “space” for Russia to be brought to negotiations…

a month ago · 627 likes · 590 comments · Simplicius

Simplicius reports Russian oligarchs are getting patriotic since sanctioned: Russian Oligarch’s True Warning Hidden in Plain Sight The Economist published two important pieces centered on Russian “oligarch” Andrey Melnichenko, who is labeled one of Russia’s most ‘enigmatic’ wealth titans despite at times occupying first place amongst Russia’s richest men as, what Economist calls, the world’s “fertilizer king” and Russia’s “biggest industrialist”. He’s presented as particularly unique due to his more “centrist” position as someone who’s both inhabited Putin’s inner circle, yet also spent years living the Westernized liberal and Europhile lifestyle typical to Russian billionaires....The journal admits that Western sanctions actually did the opposite of their intent, and pushed Russian elite back into the state’s bosom, with Melnichenko—who chose to live in Switzerland for a long portion of his life—himself admitting that for the first time he felt Russia was his only home... ..Melnichenko was amongst the first and most astute to recognize what must be done. He decided to get back in good favor with his motherland, which he had begun to use merely as a source of extraction and profits while he enjoyed life abroad. He returned and began to ingratiate himself with Russian elites, re-learning the system and re-absorbing the true national ‘pulse on the ground’... ..He then notes that Russia is seen as standing at a crossroads between four different potentialities, all of which sound grim, and which the Economist uses as the chief centerpiece to hook the series’ narrative on.
But it is a deliberately misleading hook, because they disingenuously present it as Melnichenko’s visions of a collapsing Russia with no options. In reality, Melnichenko presented the four “doom” scenarios in order to really pose his fifth redemptive one... ..Critically, the theme of his entire piece can be condensed into one word: Sovereignty.
He accuses the West of trying to undermine and sabotage Russian sovereignty, and carefully implies that the broader conflict between Russia and the West revolves around the West’s disintegrating security architectures viewing Russian sovereignty as a threat to them—which is precisely accurate and true... ..He goes on to pose the four scenarios, though it must be said, he specifically notes these are scenarios being discussed in the West... ..The four scenarios Melnichenko gives are:
“A humiliated Russia lingering on the periphery of the West.”
Russia becomes a vassal of China, ending its relationship with the West.
 Russia becomes fragmented and falls apart like the USSR.
Russia becomes a “fortress: closed, mobilized, in permanent siege”, and a state of “perpetual emergency.”
As stated, these are Western fantasies, and the ‘Overton window’ of Russia’s future that Western politicians and pundits alike would like us to believe is the only trajectory of Russia’s fate. Melnichenko tacitly disagrees, but cleverly makes sure not to make this too obvious as he’s writing for a Western audience for the purpose of reconciliation. Melnichenko finally reaches the inescapable conclusion, which is that the very heart of the conflict revolves around the issue of Russian sovereignty, and by ignoring this, the Europeans doom the conflict toward existential escalation:
“How Russia conducts its own political process and towards what ends it directs its sovereignty is a question that can be resolved only inside Russia itself, without deference to external preferences. Any attempt to manage this process from outside is not only doomed but counterproductive: it destroys the very condition—sovereignty—without which sustainable peace is impossible in principle. This must be accepted, not out of sympathy for Russia but from the understanding that no alternative to this recognition exists.” ... ..In reality, what he’s laying out is his accurate portent for Russia’s future, one where businesses, oligarchs and citizens alike, all work toward a common sovereign revolution. This is sold as being beneficial to the West because, as he foresees things, it creates “predictable” stability—but the real threat is hidden in the message that the West is pushing Russia to become more unified and powerful than ever before.

Gilbert Doctorow, Russia is losing the war! Those who listen to Scott Ritter, to Colonel Macgregor, to Larry Johnson on their nearly daily podcast appearances and believe that the inexorable progress of Russian forces on the line of contact in Donbas, moving towards the Dnieper and conquest of the entire Donbas mean RUSSIAN VICTORY are being deceived. As I have been saying for some time, loss of the Donbas, even loss of Odessa will not force Ukraine to capitulate and will not put an end to the ever more damaging Ukrainian attacks on Russian critical infrastructure in the energy sector. Moreover, those attacks deep inside Russia directed against infrastructure could just as easily be directed against President Putin, against his family, against the State Duma. In a word, the Russian Federation is now as vulnerable to “Ukrainian” attacks as is Kiev to Russian attacks. In that sense, the war is now at a stalemate and is going against Russia, because Kiev is waging all-out war while Russia is still holding one arm behind its back while seeking the approval of progressive humanity for its forbearance and humane behavior.
Why do I come to this conclusion? I was prodded to it by the latest news that the broadcaster wanted me to comment upon, namely a successful drone attack on a major refinery near Samara. Look at the map: Samara is more than 1,000 km southeast of Moscow in the heartland of European Russia. It must be close to 2,000 km from wherever in Ukraine these drones were launched. This strike was most likely using highly advanced drones supplied from Europe which are guided by military intelligence provided to Ukraine by the USA. In short, Russia is under attack from NATO, for which the Ukraine is only a dummy warrior.
Today’s New York Times has an article on a secret factory in Germany now providing AI controlled drones to Ukraine. This is a state-of-the-art attack system and it makes Germany a co-belligerent just as the formerly proposed delivery of its Taurus missiles would have been.
The consequences of these infrastructure attacks, on attacks on Russian oil tankers inside Russia as well as on the open seas, is that Russia has severe fuel shortages in many regions. It has now banned export of diesel fuel so as to compensate for shortages at home. Vice Prime Minister Novak has just announced that Russia is importing refined petroleum.
This situation is no longer just an inconvenience for car owners in one or another locale. It is going to cripple Russian industry, including military industry if it continues and escalates, which now seems likely.
Note that until recently Russia accounted for 12% of global diesel exports. That loss now is driving up fuel costs globally.
But for Russia, there has to be a response appropriate to the now developing existential threat: the factories producing these drones, wherever they are, in Germany or elsewhere, must be destroyed. Now! If Russia fails to act, it is going to lose the war and to lose its sovereignty, regardless of how many speeches President Putin makes calling his citizens to sit tight and ignore what is happening to them.

Armageddon Newsletter

Russia is losing the war!

I have just said this on my morning interview with News X World (podcast to be posted here when it becomes available). And I repeat the point now in writing: Russia is losing the war…

a month ago · 36 likes · 11 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

7/8/26 John Helmer, The Ankara Summit Declaration is vague enough and precise enough to mean everything and nothing to President Donald Trump and those he regards as his subordinates, clients, and marks in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In White House politics, it balances between the party for escalation of the war against Russia and the party for de-escalation and peace; that’s to say, pause in the war against Russia... ..As for the Ukraine, whose drone warfighting against Russia is now being integrated within NATO strategy, plans, and staffs, Trump has extracted the new promise for this year and next of €140 billion of British, European and Canadian state budget spending in the US: “€70 billion in military equipment, assistance and training for Ukraine and…sustaining at least equivalent levels in 2027”. This is the NATO strategy of two more years of war to bring down Putin and Trump profiteering from the first war on Russian territory fought by the allies since their seven-year regime change operations between 1918 and 1925.
In exchange, Trump has promised to curb his tongue and tweet: “Allies underscore that this support must be equitable, predictable, and sustainable in the long-term.”
To exemplify what Trump thinks this means for himself, he told Vladimir Zelensky on the summit sidelines: “with respect to Ukraine. Well, we’re going to talk about that [Patriot missile systems]. Look, it’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon. It’s the best… those companies that make the Patriot and make all of the great stuff, the Tomahawks, all of the great stuff. We have the best stuff, many things… one of the things I think we’re going to be talking about today, just a little birdie told me this, about the fact that we’ll give them [Ukraine] the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it. It’s very complex, actually. But you’ll figure out the complexity quickly. And we’re talking about that and we’ll — the company that makes them, which is building now four plants. You know, all of our companies will be able to do this in two to three months...” https://johnhelmer.net/the-nuclear-option/#more-94604

Trump’s ‘cruel gift’: Why Patriot license will be useless for Ukraine
The production rollout will likely face nearly impossible technological and security challenges, multiple experts argue https://web.archive.org/web/20260711022421/https://www.rt.com/news/642844-trumps-cruel-gift-patriot-ukraine-useless/

Ukrainian Expert Dismisses Trump Pledge On Patriot Missile License As Empty PR Anatolii Khrapchynskyi, development director of the Fly Group Ukraine defense company, said Trump’s wording was ambiguous because he referred broadly to producing “Patriots,” without specifying whether he meant missiles, launchers, radar systems, command centers or components.
Missile production alone involves a vast supply chain, Khrapchynskyi said, with hundreds of companies making parts such as control surfaces, engines, guidance systems and communications equipment.
Following this, on Saturday Ukrainian economist and financial analyst Alexey Kushch - considered an expert of Ukraine’s defense production - was cited in regional media as dismissing Trump’s promise as mere empty PR. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukrainian-expert-dismisses-trump-pledge-patriot-missile-license-empty-pr

Politician says Kiev behind Monaco attack over tycoon’s plan to expose Ukraine corruption
Viktor Medvedchuk says the uncovering of the schemes “would have spelt a disaster for the Kiev regime ahead of the NATO summit” https://tass.com/world/2158413

Polish MEP tears up Ukrainian Nazi collaborator flag at EU parliament (VIDEO)
Ewa Zajaczkowska-Hernik lashed out at Kiev, insisting that “there is no moral difference between honoring the SS and honoring the UPA” https://web.archive.org/web/20260708132857/https://www.rt.com/news/642715-polish-mep-tears-ukrainian-nazi-flag/

Andrew Korybko, The European Parliament’s Condemnation of Zelensky’s Nazi Glorification The European Parliament overwhelmingly voted to approve an amendment to last year’s Commission report on Ukraine to include language criticizing Zelensky’s recent glorification of the OUN-UPA... ..Former conservative Prime Minister Beata Szydło shared some critiques of the amendment, which are worth paying attention to. In the words of this sitting MEP, “the UPA’s murders of Poles were not defined as genocide, and there is no condemnation of the currently widespread promotion of Banderism in Ukraine. In contrast, there are many provisions (in the overall document) facilitating Ukraine’s access to the EU market—which will harm the Polish economy.”
Despite the symbolism of this move, including that it happened just before Poland commemorates the “National Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Citizens of the Polish Republic Committed by Ukrainian Nationalists” on 11 July, Zelensky and company weren’t fazed. Nawrocki candidly disclosed that his meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines of last week’s NATO Summit in Ankara didn’t resolve this issue, nor did he expect it to, and he reaffirmed that it’s “non-negotiable” for him.
Lvov (known to Poles as Lwów and Ukrainians as Lviv), which is the cradle of Ukrainian nationalism, also isn’t backing away from its Regional Council’s plans to honor the UPA, its genocidal commander Roman Shukhevich, and ideologue Oleg Olzhich across the coming year. The chairman also “propose[d] to ask the regional military administration to develop a set of actions aimed at counteracting disinformation, perhaps to establish an appropriate center staffed by specialists in Polish-Ukrainian relations.”
Nowhere near as provocative but still extremely disrespectful was the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urging Poland not to revive Nawrocki’s bill from last year banning Banderism, which was rejected by the ruling liberal coalition but might now be approved by them given their policy reversal. This echoes Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Kirill Budanov’s false warning about allegedly “immature escalatory steps” by Poland ahead of 11 July in which he also falsely compared Poland with Russia in an attempt to maximally enrage Poles.
Reflecting on the context in which the European Parliament just criticized Zelensky’s glorification of the OUN-UPA, it was a positive step but also an incomplete one since their WWII-era crimes weren’t described as genocide and the overall document backs Ukraine’s access to the EU market at Poland’s expense. Zelensky and company also weren’t fazed by this development either. Therefore, the Polish-Ukrainian dispute is far from over. https://www.globalresearch.ca/european-parliament-criticism-zelensky-oun-upa-glorification/5933047

‘We are not at war’ – NATO state questions bloc’s Ukraine strategy
Escalation against Russia does not guarantee a peaceful resolution, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has warned https://web.archive.org/web/20260710070041/https://www.rt.com/news/642800-babis-nato-ukraine-strategy/

Mark Carney and Volodymyr Zelenskyy Announce Creation of New Canadian Bank for NATO/Climate Money Laundering, with $900 Million Seed Money from Canadian Taxpayers To establish part of the background, remind yourself that former Canadian Minister Chrystia Freeland was appointed by Zelenskyy to lead a Ukraine redevelopment operation. Today, speaking from Ankara, Turkey, Carney and Zelenskyy announced a $900 million fund for short, mid-term and long-term investment in Ukraine... ..A few hours later Prime Minister Carney and Volodymr Zelenskyy announced a new Canada-based financial institution called the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB). {citation}
CANADA – […] “Mark Carney, welcomed the support for the Canada-led DSRB by: Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Türkiye, and Ukraine. These countries will be entrusted with defining the initial policies and directives of the Bank, shaping its operations and ensuring benefits flow to members’ economies.” […] Leveraging a strong credit rating, the Bank will provide long-term, low-cost financing for defence, security, and resilience initiatives across supply chains.” (more)
When you see the term “resilience initiatives” think climate change. Specifically, think carbon capture and carbon trading mechanisms. The DSRB banking approach, in combination with Chrystia Freeland heading the Ukraine Economic Development operation, then takes us to the carbon capture deal with Alberta [carbon capture and storage (CCS) project] and then, wait for it,…. The TKMS (Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems) submarine purchase contract with Germany. You see, unbeknownst to most people, TKMS has a subsidiary that was just founded, literally just founded weeks before Carney announced the $20 to $30 billion submarine contract.
In announcing the TKMS contract, CBC noted: “The German government also proposed establishing a carbon capture facility deploying TKMS technology in partnership with Alberta.” That would be TKMS Calvion GmbH (TKMS-CG) which was a company formed within TKMS on May 16, 2026.
So, think about this. Mark Carney tells Alberta Premier Danielle Smith that a condition for the Alberta pipeline is authorization of a carbon capture scheme that will be contracted to the recently created subsidiary of TKMS, TKMS-CG. who Carney knows is about to get the submarine contract. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/07/07/mark-carney-and-volodymyr-zelenskyy-announce-creation-of-new-canadian-bank-for-nato-climate-money-laundering-with-900-million-seed-money-from-canadian-taxpayers/

Ceasefire is ‘worst-case scenario’ for Ukraine – head of Zelensky’s favorite arms maker
Reaching a truce with Russia will prompt “all” Ukrainian men to flee the country, while the West will forget Kiev, the head of corruption scandal-plagued firm Fire Point has claimed https://web.archive.org/web/20260710052755/https://www.rt.com/russia/642818-ukraine-ceasefire-worst-scenario/

Paul Craig Roberts, Latest US Supreme Court Decision Places the US in the Hands of the Monied Interests “Whether the Democratic Party, the Republican Party or other parties, all political parties and candidates going forward can compete equally under the same rules regarding coordinated expenditures and can structure their fund-raising, spending and political speech on a level playing field as they see fit within the law.”
This is ignorant nonsense. The Supreme Court is saying that the monied interests it has empowered can compete on equal terms. This competition excludes the American electorate. What the Supreme Court has done is to remove any influence of voters on government policy. The government’s policy is determined by the money of the interest groups that elects presidents, federal and state representatives and senators, governors, mayors and county commissions. All American voters are permitted to do is to vote for the candidates financed by vested interests. Every American vote is pointless.
We, in our stupidity, call this “democracy,” and we recently celebrated our “independence” instead of acknowledging our captivity. https://paulcraigroberts.org/latest-us-supreme-court-decision-places-the-us-in-the-hands-of-the-monied-interests/

Caitlin Johnstone thinks face-recognition “robot-dogs” might be programmed to kill citizens: It’s A Race Between Revolutionary Consciousness And The Implementation Of Police Robots

Caitlin’s Newsletter

It's A Race Between Revolutionary Consciousness And The Implementation Of Police Robots

Reading by Tim Foley…

a month ago · 347 likes · 104 comments · Caitlin Johnstone

Communist-Terrorists are worse than armed robots with face recognition! Rubio Convenes 60-Nation Summit To Confront Transnational Far-Left Terrorism https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rubio-convenes-60-nation-summit-confront-transnational-far-left-terrorism

LAPD ending deal with company operating license plate-reading cameras https://abc7.com/post/lapd-ending-agreement-surveillance-company-flock-safety/19483200/

OPENAI ALLEGEDLY STOLE APPLE’S ENTIRE PLAYBOOK - “Hundreds of billions of dollars, decades of work”

Apple sues Open AI, accusing it of stealing trade secrets https://www.semafor.com/article/07/10/2026/apple-sues-open-ai-accusing-it-of-stealing-trade-secrets

What a Nazi! Scores Fell 50% When College Professor Made Students Take In-Person Final: Artificial Intelligence Trends When a college professor suspected students were using AI, he made them take an in-person final. Scores fell 50% – for those who took it. https://ediscoverytoday.com/2026/07/10/scores-fell-50-when-college-professor-made-students-take-in-person-final-artificial-intelligence-trends/

A Midwestern Doctor, How Medicine Became “Too Big to Fail” Dissecting the Anatomy of Corruption that Took Over the Federal Health Agencies and Our Economy Large randomized controlled trials cost tens of millions of dollars, which turns drug approval into a pay-to-play process only industry can afford and creates enormous pressure to manipulate the results (a playbook I detailed last month).
The agencies meant to catch this are financially and professionally captured: industry user fees now fund roughly half the FDA’s budget, nearly every recent FDA commissioner has left for a pharmaceutical company, and scientists who push back are marginalized, surveilled, or driven out.
At the NIH, compliance is enforced through control of research grants (which Fauci was notorious for weaponizing) and through massive royalties from partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry.
Because the agencies cannot legally take corporate money directly, industry routes it through nominally independent “foundations” that act as legal bribery channels, shielded from FOIA and staffed by future pharmaceutical executives.
Leaked NIH emails show Bill Gates used this foundation structure to effectively merge his private foundation with the NIH (much like he did with the WHO).

The Forgotten Side of Medicine

How Medicine Became "Too Big to Fail"

Story at a Glance…

2 months ago · 537 likes · 184 comments · A Midwestern Doctor

Bill Rice Jr. seems to have it about right: Here’s what I think really happened with Covid
This is speculation and, while based on actual events, I used dramatic license to punch up a few scenes.

Bill Rice Jr.'s Newsletter

Here’s what I think really happened with Covid

Following my own advice to “post while you still can,” I might as well go ahead and publish a piece where I…

a month ago · 225 likes · 143 comments · Bill Rice, Jr.

From the UK, David Hughes, Why Try to Inject Everyone? Promises that only the most vulnerable groups would be vaccinated were quickly reneged on. Within a matter of weeks, the rhetoric shifted to vaccinating everyone...

David A. Hughes

Why Try to Inject Everyone?

For the reasons given in Part 2, the idea of mandatory vaccination for the population should never have been on the table…

a month ago · 79 likes · David A. Hughes

Pierre Kory MD, Medical Record Review Of the Twins Who Died After Vaccination And A Review Of The Literature Proving SIDS Is Caused By Vaccines I was asked by Children’s Health Defense and the parents to review the medical records of twins found dead in their bed eight days after multiple vaccinations. Related? Yes, says the hidden science.

Pierre Kory’s Medical Musings

Medical Record Review Of the Twins Who Died After Vaccination And A Review Of The Literature Proving SIDS Is Caused By Vaccines

Tyson and Dallas Shaw were found dead in their crib at 18 months of age…

a year ago · 1262 likes · 357 comments · Pierre Kory, MD, MPA

Study of 208 Infant Deaths Highlights ‘Unsafe’ Sleep — But Omits Key Data on Vaccination Status
Cook County, Illinois, recorded 208 sudden unexpected infant deaths from 2019 to 2023. A new analysis of the deaths focused heavily on sleep environments, concluding that “unsafe” sleeping was largely to blame. But what other conditions could account for the alarming rate? And what data did the researchers ignore or exclude? https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/infant-deaths-study-unsafe-sleep-omits-vaccination-status/

Half of SIDS Cases Occurred Within 48 Hours of Vaccination, Former Police Detective Says
In a video interview today with The Defender, a former police detective involved in the investigations of roughly 250 sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, cases said coroners didn’t include vaccination history in their reports, even when police reports included the information. “Jennifer” and her husband were detectives in the police department of a major U.S. city with a population of over 300,000 from roughly 2003 to 2010. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/half-sids-cases-occurred-within-48-hours-vaccination-former-police-detective/

Pub-Peer is an industry-weapon: Decade-Old Studies Linking Aluminum and Vaccines Come Under Fire After Anonymous PubPeer Complaints After U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized a Danish study widely cited as proof of no association between aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines and chronic childhood disorders, two journals launched investigations into decade-old peer-reviewed papers suggesting a link. Both journals cited anonymous PubPeer comments as the basis for their investigations. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/old-studies-linking-aluminum-vaccines-under-fire-pubpeer-anonymous-complaints/

Don’t look: CDC Study Confirms Short-Term COVID Vaccine Reactions — But Fails to Capture Serious Delayed or Long-Term Injuries
A new CDC study presents the most comprehensive summary yet of the CDC’s V-safe active surveillance program. However, the study couldn’t establish either the absence or presence of rare or long-term vaccine-related adverse effects — questions that require different epidemiologic designs and complementary surveillance systems. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-study-short-term-covid-vaccine-reactions-fails-capture-serious-delayed-long-term-injuries/

BREAKING: Peer-Reviewed Study Finds mRNA, SV40, and Spike Protein Can Persist in Humans for At Least 3.5 Years After COVID-19 “Vaccination”
We report the longest documented persistence of COVID-19 vaccine-derived material to date following YEARS of investigation spanning 200+ specialist evaluations and 200+ advanced lab/imaging tests.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: Peer-Reviewed Study Finds mRNA, SV40, and Spike Protein Can Persist in Humans for At Least 3.5 Years After COVID-19 "Vaccination"

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

a month ago · 231 likes · 34 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Paul Marik MD, What the Public Is Not Told About Cancer Prevention The Hidden Role of Metabolism, Lifestyle, Inflammation, and Environmental Exposure in Modern Cancer

Paul Marik

What the Public Is Not Told About Cancer Prevention

Most people believe cancer is primarily a genetic disease caused largely by bad luck…

a month ago · 184 likes · 33 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Paul Marik MD, Part-2 of story above: COVID-19 mRNA-Induced “Turbo Cancers”

Paul Marik

COVID-19 mRNA-Induced "Turbo Cancers"

NOTICE…

a month ago · 124 likes · 17 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Eat fresh veggies, avoid BBQ & beer, exercise outside, sleep... Paul Marik MD, Preventing Colo-rectal Cancer - Keeping your POOP Healthy

Paul Marik

Preventing Colo-rectal Cancer

Basic Definition…

a month ago · 71 likes · 34 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Paul Marik MD with another Part-1, Preventing Breast Cancer

Paul Marik

Preventing Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide and represents a major global public health issue. Understanding its epidemiology helps clarify who is affected, why it occurs, and how prevention and screening strategies can reduce mortality…

a month ago · 99 likes · 29 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

[Medroxyprogesterone/Provera is horrible.] Dr. Marik with Part-2, Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Reevaluation and the Role of Bioidentical Hormones In yesterday’s post, “Preventing Breast Cancer,” I listed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a risk factor for breast cancer. Many subscribers immediately asked whether that statement also applies to bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).
The short answer is: not necessarily.
On reflection, my original statements were too broad. The relationship between hormone therapy and breast cancer is one of the most misunderstood and controversial topics in modern medicine. The landmark Women’s Health Initiative dramatically changed clinical practice, but subsequent research has shown that its findings cannot simply be applied to every form of hormone therapy. Today, we recognize that the type of estrogen, the type of progesterone, the route of administration, the timing of treatment, and the characteristics of the individual woman all influence risk.
This article reviews the current evidence on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer... ..The 2002 WHI dramatically changed clinical practice, but it studied specific regimens rather than all forms of HRT. In women with an intact uterus, the trial evaluated conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) plus the synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). After about five years, this regimen was associated with an approximately 24% relative increase in invasive breast cancer, along with increased breast density, more abnormal mammograms, and a small increase in breast cancer mortality on long-term follow-up. The absolute increase was modest, about 8 additional breast cancers per 10,000 women per year.
By contrast, women who had undergone hysterectomy received CEE alone. Long-term follow-up showed no increase in breast cancer in that group and suggested a statistically significant reduction in breast cancer incidence and mortality.

Paul Marik

Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Reevaluation and the Role of Bioidentical Hormones

One of the most valuable aspects of writing this Substack is hearing from thoughtful readers who challenge me when I oversimplify a complex topic…

a month ago · 97 likes · 31 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

The Honest Sorcerer points out reality: We Are Not Mining with Renewable Energy …and when we do, shit’s going to get real

The Honest Sorcerer

We Are Not Mining with Renewable Energy

There are no “renewables” without mining, an unsustainable practice turbocharged by the burning of fossil fuels. Yet, advocates of green technologies still believe that we could “somehow” electrify the recovery of critical miner…

a month ago · 188 likes · 51 comments · The Honest Sorcerer

Escape Key, Settled Science We’re routinely told that the science behind climate change is settled, that the models are reliable, and that the institutions behind it would catch and correct any errors. Each of these claims deserves scrutiny, because none of them withstands it particularly well.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Settled Science

We’re routinely told that the science behind climate change is settled, that the models are reliable, and that the institutions behind it would catch and correct any errors…

a month ago · 102 likes · 28 comments · esc

Unsettled Scientist (pictured again with Jenny and our new black-eyed pea bed)

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Escalation Dominance

John Day MD — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:29:34 GMT

Subjects of Empire,

The current version of western financial empire operates upon value-extraction through $US banking and finance, necessitating that wealthy people and countries participate in the system to sustain it. Creating $US to lend at interest, which must be repaid via deliveries of actual goods and services to the financial institutions and their investors, is a very profitable arrangement. It does require continuing expansion of the debt-based $US money supply.

Participants can be induced to remain in this system by carrots for wealthy investors, who are assured real returns on their investments, and military sticks for nations who might be reluctant to be bled by the system, countries such as Iran and Russia, for instance.

This imperial financial system replaced and grew out of the system promulgated under the British Empire, run from London, but now $US based and run from multiple nodes, including London, New York, Washington, Frankfurt, Paris and Tel Aviv.

Both rewards for large investors and threat of military attack are important to keep the world engaging through this system. SWIFT transaction framework makes this very smooth, unless a country or bank is excluded, when it is forced to find or devise a workaround. Exclusion from SWIFT has been done repeatedly in recent decades, including to Russia and Iran. Other large countries like China and India have seen that the existence of an alternative settlement mechanism is in their interest, so as to maintain national autonomy against such a coercive attack.

Somehow, both Russia and Iran have weathered financial and military attacks from this financial and military empire, and are now sustaining wars of attrittion against the empire. The empire is low on defensive missiles like Patriot and PAC-2&3 family, each of which takes 2 years to make, and which manufacturing lines cannot be readily expanded, due to complexity and lack of both materials and expertise. There are about 400 contractors required to make a Patriot or PAC-2&3 missile.

Russia, China and iran all have more centralized manufacturing, at far higher production rates, already scaled-up for attrittional war, and not diminishing towards any limits during ongoing warfare. Iran has deeply buried critical facilities rather than invest heavily in anti-missile systems, which it has bought from Russia and China, and largely holds in underground reserves.

US/NATO have ramped up offensive drone and missile supplies to Ukraine, in an effort to force Russian battlefield concessions, but it has not worked yet, as Russia has also escalated strikes against Ukrainian fueling stations and trucks, which supply the forward armies, drones and missile attacks. This has successfullly pushed the Ukrainian launch points hundreds of miles farther away from the Russian border, allowing ample time for Russian air defenses to prepare and engage, shooting down most Ukrainian missiles and almost all drones.

Russia has accellerated ground advances, also, getting close to taking all of Donbas this summer, and also other historically Russian areas, like Kharkiv and Odessa. Odessa is Ukraine’s remaining Black Sea port, in which the UK has a lot of interest. The UK might lose most interest in Ukraine if it lost that asset. Russia continues to prevail in the war of attrittion, with long civilian gas lines, but a highly functional military economy, as well as strained, but functional civilian economy.

President Trump would like to negotiate a ceasefire to rebuild Ukrainian capabilities, but Russia will not do that. Russia still insists upon a signed treaty to end the war on Russian terms, which remain the same for over a year, and will be realized militarily if not diplomatically.

Iran has now unified during the largest funeral in history for assassinated leader Ali Khameini. The unjustified US/Israeli murders of schoolgirls, civilians and elected political figures, scientists, diplomats and military leaders are very much in the public mind, along with realizations that the US and Israel have thrown their worst at Iran, except for nuclear weapons, and have run low on both defensive and offensive missiles. Iran sees traffic in the Strait of Hormuz diverting from the US-approved Omani corridor to the Iranian-approved corridor, especially after Iran hit Omani-corridor tankers with anti-ship missiles, not just drones. No ship can afford to take that route now, as there will be no insurance policy sold under those conditions.

European NATO members are invested in the Ukraine proxy-war against Russia, and are unwilling to let it be settled, presumably for the financial losses they will be forced to admit, but also for maintenance of their control-narrative of Russia-the-external-threat, which is not even much believed in those countries.

The US under Trump wants to disengage from the Ukraine-war tar-baby without losing too much prestige, and with some case to make for “winning” something. Trump needs Putin to give up something big enough for him to show as a trophy. That does not appear likely this summer.

Putin’s party needs to win elections in September, and is likely to escalate the war to some decisive victory in August, perhaps by decapitation strikes against Zelensky and other high Ukrainian officials. Ukraine is making noises about holding September elections to re-legitimize Zelensky, but such elections might replace him with former army Commander in Chief, Zaluzhny just as well.

In the Mideast the Strait of Hormuz is again closed, with a lot of Iranian tankers out to sea, storing oil in international waters, vulnerable to the US Navy, and which Treasury’s Bessent now says that nobody can buy. Saudi Arabia is currently exporting about 70% of its pre-war baseline through its Red Sea port, which the Houthis could block, if they decided to, but it is moving.

Liquified natural gas remains in short global supply, especially in Europe, which will need it badly again this winter. The US can’t increase export to Europe much more, if at all.

China used oil reserves for a few months, but is now buying oil again, after demonstrating that it was immune to attacks on supplies on a scale of months. The Strait closure has been shown to pressure Europe and Asia, but not to significantly pressure China.

It appears that the hostages to the Strait of Hormuz are global agriculture, which already missed spring-planting fertilizer, Europe, Asia, and the $US based global financial system, which needs investors to stay invested, not sell assets, and needs to maintin the position of the $US as global reserve currency, in the face of sustained central bank increases in gold holdings, which are now the primary reserve currency holding, having replaced $US recently.

Trump is in a position of needing to appear to hold the upper hand militarily, to hold escalation-dominance, while Iran sees the opportunity to prove decisively that the US has lost escalation dominance, and is now a “paper-tiger” before the world.

At such time as Trump may be forced to back down and accept Iranian terms of control of the Strait of Hormuz, and the right to collect transit fees, the US will have been demoted from “hegemon” to “has-been”.

Some kind of nuclear-agreement would be face-saving, but Iran has said for decades that it will not develop immoral nuclear weapons, and has not been willing to discuss further constraints than that until the US makes Israeli troops leave Lebanon, which was an agreed precondition with JD Vance, promptly undercut by Marco Rubio’s negotiations with Israel and the corrupt and ineffectual Lebanese government.

Iran closing the Strait and keeping it closed will eventually cause western financial system rupture, which Trump is certain to be monitoring. He can further attack Iran, but he can’t open the Strait, and he apparently can’t make Iran relinquish the right to control passage of tankers carrying oil, gas and fertilizer out of the Strait. The government of Iran is in a position to stand-firm on moral principles with the backing of the people of Iran, and help from Russia, China, coast-hugging shipping and overland transportation routes. Iran, Russia, China and neighbors can already do business without SWIFT.

If the current Western financial system is brought to crisis, and undergoes a collapse like 2008, it will not be able to negotiate a return to a dominant position in global finance. Various forms of trade and investment arrangement will probably take a decade or more to be forged into a new global financial system, and it may be multipolar. It would apparently be gold-based initially.

New Strikes On Iran Significantly Stronger Than Earlier Attacks, As IRGC Targets US Navy Warships US strikes on Iran announced, as ‘heavy costs’ for earlier targeting of multiple commercial vessels
Oil rises as Treasury revokes June 21 Iran oil waiver
Hormuz Threat Level Raised To “Severe”
Three maritime incidents reported on Hormuz in last 24 hours https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/qatari-lng-tanker-hit-iranian-missile-hormuz-chokepoint

Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: Both Sides Declare Their MoU To Be Ineffective At the beginning of the week more tankers took the southern route along the Omani coast instead of the northern route on which Iran, following the Memorandum of Understanding, insists. The Omani route is under observation and protection by U.S. military assets.
Iran is not the only one which interprets clause 5 of the MoU – “the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements …” – to give it exclusive rights to regulate the traffic in the Strait.
Gérard Araud @GerardAraud – 19:59 UTC · Jul 7, 2026
At the first reading by any diplomat, the MoU was obviously giving Iran a free hand in the strait of Hormuz. …
On Tuesday Iran fired drones against some five cargo ships which took the U.S. protected Omani route. Other ships on the same route immediately started to divert. Some returned to their anchoring positions while other proceed along the northern route.
Late Tuesday the U.S. canceled its regulation which had lifted U.S. sanctions against the sale of Iranian oil. The lifting of sanctions had been one of the MoU provisions.
On Wednesday morning a large U.S. attack was launched against targets along the Iranian coast. Some 60 of the targets were random civilian fishing vessels which the U.S. claimed to be IRGC speed boats.
Iran announced ‘consequences’ and stated that the U.S. was (again) in breach of the MoU provisions:
The [foreign] ministry said the strikes constituted “a flagrant violation” of the first clause of the Pakistan-brokered MoU, which requires the cessation of military operations.
It said that the attacks, coupled with the US Treasury Department’s decision the previous night to revoke Iran’s oil sales authorization, were in violation of arrangements concerning the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the continuation of Israeli military aggression and terrorist acts against Lebanon, had rendered “important and fundamental parts” of the agreement ineffective.
“The responsibility for the dangerous consequences of this escalation rests with the treaty-breaking US regime,” the statement said.
Iran warned its neighboring Gulf states of providing bases for U.S. aggression:
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has declared that the origin of any support provided to the “aggressor US military” in attacks against Iran’s sovereignty and territory would be regarded as a legitimate target for the Iranian Armed Forces.
Iran responded to the U.S. attack by launching missiles and drones against U.S. military positions in Kuwait and Bahrain. It also downed an expensive U.S. MQ-9 ‘Reaper’ drone.
Trump declared the ceasefire to be over:
Asked whether the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with Iran is now over after the latest attacks, Trump said it was.
“It’s a very interesting question to me. I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” Trump said.
“They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by people, and they’re vicious, violent people.” He added: “And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
Oil prices have risen 6% and are now likely to increase further.
Should the oil prices continue to increase it is likely that Trump, who spoke of “the Islamic Republic of Japan”, will again change his mind. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/war-on-iran-both-sides-declare-their-mou-to-be-ineffective.html

Iran Threatens To Choke Off Hormuz Again As US Readies Blockade; Trump Says Tehran Wants To Assassinate Him Iran threatens to reclose the Strait of Hormuz and suspended final talks with the US.
The US earlier revoked an Iranian oil waiver & now signals readiness to restore a maritime blockade.
Trump said the ceasefire is over and warned of fresh US strikes on Iran, probably “tonight”.
Oil jumps above $80 as fears of renewed conflict & return to Hormuz Strait closure intensifies. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/theyre-scum-trump-says-us-iran-ceasefire-over-sending-oil-higher

Rutte the sycophant: NATO Chief Backs Renewed US Strikes On Iran As ‘Absolutely Necessary’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nato-chief-backs-renewed-us-strikes-iran-absolutely-necessary

Iran War: Expected Hardening of Iran Posture in Wake of Funerals for US-Israel War Martyrs; Iran Hits Two Tankers Transiting on Oman Side; China Buying Non-Iran Gulf State Oil, Opposes Iran Control Plans; Yet More on Oil Price Anomalies as Crack Spreads Widen Further Iran may have decided not to make any big moves while the services for the Supreme Leader and other martyrs are still underway.
Or it may be that they decided that a few actual strikes that seriously damaged tankers would be sufficient for Mr. Market, here insurers and reasonably-prudent ship operators, to pull back. As Shanaka Anslem Perera said on Twitter:
Iran fired missiles at two civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, according to two US officials, and the missiles were never meant to actually sink them.
The missiles were rather meant to reprice them.
The tankers were hit for using the route drawn by Uncle Sam and Oman instead of the one drawn by Iran, and a single strike on that lane does something a blockade cannot. It makes this particular whole route “uninsurable”. An uninsurable lane is actually a closed lane, and Iran just found how to shut the strait without shutting it. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/iran-war-expected-hardening-of-iran-posture-in-wake-of-funerals-for-us-israel-war-martyrs-iran-hits-two-tankers-transiting-on-oman-side-china-buying-non-iran-gulf-state-oil-opposes-iran-control-pl.html

From July 3, Times of Israel: Trump claims ‘spoiled child’ Iran has agreed to most US demands in negotiations US president asserts Iran defeated militarily, now has ‘more rational’ leadership, ponders how American Jews can vote for Democrats when he is ‘best president in history of Israel’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-claims-spoiled-child-iran-has-agreed-to-most-us-demands-in-negotiations/

From July 3, Iran’s Mehr News: Iran to come out victorious over US: Russia’s Medvedev says https://en.mehrnews.com/news/245861/Iran-to-come-out-victorious-over-US-Russia-s-Medvedev-says

July 3, Mehr New, Iran: Lebanon’s peace, security Iran’s principled approach: MoD https://en.mehrnews.com/news/245860/Lebanon-s-peace-security-Iran-s-principled-approach-MoD

ANKARA, July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. ⁠President ⁠Donald Trump said ⁠on Wednesday that he thought Israel would withdraw troops from southern Lebanon ‌because it wanted to take ‌that step, despite comments from ⁠Israel’s ⁠leader indicating otherwise.
Trump told reporters at the NATO Summit in Ankara that he had discussed a withdrawal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Yeah, I think they’re going to. I ⁠think ⁠they want to,” Trump ⁠said. “So we have a deal with Israel and Lebanon. Yeah, they’ll ⁠leave. And I think it’s going to work out very well.” Netanyahu visited Lebanese territory occupied by the Israeli ⁠military last week, telling soldiers that Israel would not ⁠withdraw from the country’s south as long as Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to pose a threat. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-07-08/trump-says-he-thinks-israel-will-withdraw-troops-from-southern-lebanon

July 7, Double-Tap Bombing Rips Through Damascus Near French President Macron’s Hotel https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/double-tap-explosion-rips-through-damascus-near-french-president-macrons-hotel

Today, July 8: Why the Damascus blasts during Macron’s visit are a blow to al-Sharaa
The twin blasts that rocked Damascus during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Syria this week underscore the fragility of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s authority and the security challenges he faces. They also undermine the message of stability that Damascus is striving to convey to the international community. No group has taken responsibility for the explosions. Syria’s interior ministry said one bomb was placed inside a car parked on the side of a road and the second was planted in a garbage bin. It said they exploded “while preparations were underway” to dismantle them. “These acts of sabotage carried out today... were intended to undermine the French president’s visit,” said Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab, who visited the scene. https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260708-why-the-damascus-blasts-during-macron-visit-are-a-blow-to-al-sharaa

Hamas Announces Dissolution Of Gaza Government, But Israel Warns It’s A Sham Hamas formally announced Monday the final dissolution of its government in Gaza amid preparations to hand power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal... ..The development has been met with mixed reactions, with Israeli officials asserting this is a deceptive PR stunt with no real significance.
“The alleged resignation of the Hamas government, where all of the Hamas members stay in their positions, is a spin that has no significance,” an Israeli official told the Times of Israel.
The response came on the heels of Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, having announced that “only technical and professional staff” would remain in their positions to run the Gaza Strip’s daily administrative affairs.
“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” he said at the press event held in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
Additionally, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem touted that it marks “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”
At the start of this year, back in January, special envoy Steve Witkoff said the second phase of the ceasefire plan would move the Palestinian enclave into a period that will see the demilitarization of Hamas and the establishment of a technocratic governance model. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hamas-announces-dissolution-gaza-government-israel-warns-its-sham

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-08 The truce didn’t just fray, it died: overnight the US struck 80+ targets across Iran, revoked Iran’s oil-export waiver in the same hour, and Iran answered with missiles and drones on 85 Gulf sites in Bahrain and Kuwait — Trump then declared the MOU “over.” Oil gapped +5-6%, and the Korean market broke separately from the war news, entering a bear market as Samsung’s record profit still triggered a chip-wreck. Continuation underneath it all: JGB and US long-end yields at multi-decade highs, China’s gold-hub machinery switching on, and Russia’s ballistic strikes on Kyiv still going uníntercepted.....Trigger was a tanker campaign in Hormuz. Iran hit the Qatari LNG Al Rekayyat, Saudi VLCC Wedyan and UAE LPG Al Maryah — 4-5 vessels over 24h (MenchOsint, HormuzLetter). Traffic has collapsed onto Iran-designated lanes; the US-Omani corridor is effectively empty... ..Long-end yields at multi-decade highs on both sides of the Pacific. Japan’s 10Y hit 2.87%, a 30-year high (Barchart, Hedgeye); the US 30Y jumped to 5.05%, highest since May... ..Iran’s Foreign Ministry formally declared the war-termination deal “ineffective” and put Gulf hosts on notice as complicit (MarioNawfal). Iran also fired anti-ship missiles and drones at US warships in the Sea of Oman... ..Saudi Arabia is selling crude at a discount for the first time since 2020 (Barchart) even as 321 crack spreads scream tightness (chigrl). The US SPR sits at a 43-year low (Hedgeye) — a thin buffer heading into a reopened conflict.
Russia’s side of the ledger is worse: Urals crashed to $42/bbl (zerohedge), and Ukraine’s deepest strike of the war (~2,500km) halted the Omsk refinery, Russia’s largest at 8-10% of national capacity... ..Gold/silver: Hong Kong’s clearing machinery goes live as the West drains its vaults
Hong Kong’s central gold-clearing hub launched with a “Delivery Connect” link to the SGE and planned yuan-denominated gold futures, targeting >2,000 tonnes storage by 2030 (KingKong9888); SGE is closing leveraged retail gold accounts by July 24 and migrating the business offshore (Dioclet). HSBC is expanding its HK vault to 200 tons (David Lee). Confidence: HIGH.
PBOC added 15 tonnes in June — 20th straight month, now 2,346 tonnes (KrishanGopaul); 82% of central banks now hold physical gold, up from 71% (KobeissiLetter).
COMEX open interest is at a 10-year low with 448t gold and 6,000t silver drained from vaults... ..US trade deficit widened 40%+ to $77.6B, tied partly to AI-datacenter hardware imports — a real drag hiding inside the capex boom...
..Russia-Ukraine: ballistic strikes on Kyiv keep landing unopposed; the fuel war widens
Overnight Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles hit Kyiv with 9 impacts across 2 waves and zero intercepts — no Patriot PAC-2/3 interceptors left — striking a Nova Poshta logistics warehouse (Russia claims a Flamingo/drone component plant) (AMK Mapping, AMK Mapping). Confidence: HIGH.
Ukraine hit back at the shadow fleet: 8 oil tankers, a dry-cargo ship and a ferry struck in the Azov Sea (AMK Mapping); Russia claims 415 drones downed overnight with the Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Saratov refineries reportedly hit.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-08

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 67 likes · 17 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-07 Israel-Turkey friction: Netanyahu made the Fox case for confronting Turkey and asked Trump not to supply F-35s (atrupar); separately he asked Trump not to sell Turkey air-defense arms (zerohedge/Axios).

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-07

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

a month ago · 62 likes · 17 comments · No1

Thoughtful and well informed, by Irishman Conor Gallagher, A Bang or a Whimper? Comparing Imperial Collapse in the US to the UK’s Decline https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/will-the-us-empire-end-with-a-bang-or-a-whimper-comparing-imperial-collapse-in-the-us-to-the-uks-decline.html

Trump calls Putin on US Independence Day
The US and Russian leaders spoke for nearly 1.5 hours on the 250th anniversary of American independence, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov
According to Ushakov, Moscow initiated the previous phone call on June 14, Trump’s 80th birthday, while this time it was the American side that proposed speaking on the day of the 250th anniversary of US independence.
The presidents agreed to remain in contact and hold another call in the near future, according to Ushakov. Putin also reminded Trump that he has a standing invitation to visit Moscow. https://web.archive.org/web/20260705081908/https://www.rt.com/news/642587-putin-trump-phone-call/

John Helmer, HOW NOT TO LOSE (JOB, ELECTION, WAR) This question, published on July 4, has been put bluntly by Dmitry Rogozin — former Russian ambassador to NATO, former deputy prime minister for the military-industrial complex, former chief of Roskosmos, and currently senator for the Zaporozhye region and front-line commander.
Rogozin, 62, also a veteran of Russian presidential election campaigning, is still campaigning. “The winner is not the one who can shoot down more drones. The winner will be the one who will be able to make each subsequent enemy strike less effective and more expensive, and his own defense will become cheaper, more massive and automated. That’s what the real technological race is about today.” ... .. When he spoke with President Donald Trump on July 4, according to the Kremlin’s version of their conversation... Putin — said his spokesman Yury Ushakov — was trying to persuade Trump not to sign a statement of unified warfighting strategy against Russia at the NATO summit meeting; this will be held later this week in Turkey.
With the Europeans at the G-7 summit meeting in France on June 16-17, Trump had already signed his backing for escalation of the drone war. “We commit to increase the pressure on the Russian war economy,” Trump signed with the Europeans. “In this context, we will strengthen our sanctions, including those on the oil and gas sectors. We consider this the right moment to proceed with additional measures.”
To Putin, according to Ushakov, Trump replied that “his special envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – will carry on their mediation efforts and are ready to come to Moscow at our convenience.” Putin’s answer to that has not been reported.
Putin did remind Trump of the bribes Witkoff and Kushner have been discussing with Putin’s representative, Kirill Dmitriev. “There is colossal potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries,” Putin reportedly said. Trump replied: “for these prospects to be realised, it is necessary to put a stop to the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible.”
A Moscow source in a position to know claims the Russian bribes have not yet been paid to the Americans...
..This is Rogozin’s answer:
“The military use of drones seems cheap only at the level of an individual product. An FPV [First-Person View], a copter, or a simple aircraft UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] can cost disproportionately less than the target they hit and the means by which they have to be shot down. But at the system level, the opposite is true: drones dramatically increase the cost of war for both sides.
The attacker buys a cheap entrance ticket: housing, motor, camera, communications, warhead. But then operator training, reconnaissance, retransmission, logistics, repairs, batteries, ground stations, losses, failed launches, defects, modernization and a constant change of tactics begin.
The defender pays even more. He needs a continuous loop: detection, confirmation, communication, duty shifts, electronic warfare, optics, thermal imagers, radars, mobile groups, ammunition, training, redundancy, exercises, false alarm analysis, situation centers and interaction with air defense. A cheap goal forces you to build an expensive counteraction environment. And all this happens symmetrically.
This is how the war economy spirals. The problem is not that the drone cannot be shot down — the problem is that it is often too expensive to shoot it down. You can technically win every single interception and economically lose the war. An expensive rocket versus a cheap FPV plane is bad math. But an interceptor drone without a detection, classification, and guidance system loop does not work either.
Therefore, the main question now is not just ‘how to shoot down?’, but ‘at what cost to disrupt the enemy’s task?’. A massive cheap threat cannot be countered with massive expensive interception. It is necessary to transfer the struggle from destroying the apparatus to disrupting its function (ideally, the functions of its operators). The real answer is a layered defense economy: first, the cheapest sufficient measures, then the more expensive ones, and only as a last resort, the most technically complex and expensive means. But we must act decisively, systematically and without delay.
The winner is not the one who can shoot down more drones. The winner will be the one who will be able to make each subsequent enemy strike less effective and more expensive, and his own defense will become cheaper, more massive and automated. That’s what the real technological race is about today.” https://johnhelmer.net/how-not-to-lose-job-election-war/#more-94582

Presumably guided to Azov Sea targets by NATO: Ukrainian Drone Swarm Attack Hits Eight Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tankers https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/ukrainian-drone-swarm-attack-hits-eight-russian-shadow-fleet-tankers

Trump Greenlights Patriot Missile Production In Ukraine, Praises Deep Strikes Into Russia While in Turkey for the annual NATO summit, President Trump commented on the issue of Ukrainian drone strikes deep into Russian territory on its oil refineries and defense manufacturing facilities, which has unleashed a fuel crisis in various parts of Russia and especially Crimea.
“It’s an escalation but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end [of the war],” the US President told the NATO summit. After heaping lavish praise on Ukraine forces for supposedly turning the tide of battle and momentum in Kiev’s favor, Trump also said, “We have a lot of pressure on President Putin. I don’t think he likes what’s going on.” He added: “But I talked to President Putin a lot. He wants to end the war.”
The Wall Street Journal comments in the wake of Trump’s remarks:
President Trump said he supported Ukraine striking targets deep inside Russian territory, calling it an escalation that could help end the war.
...In a marked contrast to past meetings between the two leaders, Trump opened his press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky by offering warm words and fresh promises of military cooperation with Ukraine, providing a major boon for Kyiv and its supporters in Europe. Trump praised Ukraine’s bravery, signaled he would consider granting Kyiv a license to produce U.S. Patriot missile interceptors and said he would consider travel to Kyiv at the right time in peace talks.
On this, Trump said Washington would give Ukraine “the right to make Patriots” - after Zelensky has for at least six months been relentless in requesting this, framing it as urgent and for the protection of cities and civilians.
“We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump stated, describing the system as “very complex” - though he also said the Ukrainians would “figure out the complexity quickly.”
Trump continued by saying that American defense firms are already building “four plants” and claimed that “all of our companies will be able to do this in two to three months.”
However, there have notoriously been immense backlogs when it comes to Patriot production, and there’s said to be great global demand among US allies, especially given depletions which have come as a result of the Iran war. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-greenlights-patriot-missile-production-ukraine-praises-deep-strikes-russia

Zelensky In Ankara Still Insistent On Ukraine Joining NATO: ‘Alliance For The Future’ Zelensky said “Europe urgently needs its own capability to produce anti-ballistic systems and the missiles they require.” He added: “The one thing we still need to do here in Europe is build a strong defense against Russia’s ballistic missiles. It’s a big challenge… this is Russia’s last major advantage.”
It’s interesting that Zelensky is arguing that his country should become a full-fledged NATO member based on already in effect being militarily integrated.
This was one of the Kremlin’s very rationales for launching the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine in the first place. Also interesting is that Moscow is now referencing it as a ‘war’ on a much more official level... ..Russia still has as a main front-and-center demand that Ukraine definitively and permanently reject aspirations to join NATO. Moscow also still requires full political recognition over the four eastern annexed oblasts, as well as Crimea.
Western officials have still been reluctant to fully back some kind of rapid NATO membership track for Ukraine, knowing it would take the Ukraine crisis from more of a proxy war situation strait into WW3-style direct war between Russia and NATO. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-ankara-still-insistent-ukraine-joining-nato-alliance-future

Military Summary: CONTROLLED ESCALATION - US Licenses PAC-3 for Ukraine - Kyiv Hammered - Azov Fleet Blocked, MS 08.07.2026

Trump lashes out at NATO as first day of summit wraps in Turkiye United States President Donald Trump has declared he is “very disappointed with NATO” on the first day of a summit of leaders of the mutual defence alliance in Turkiye that exposed tensions over European defence spending, the Russia-Ukraine war and the future of Greenland.
Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for the summit along with other NATO leaders. The main session will be on Wednesday.The summit comes at a fragile time for the 77-year-old alliance, which has seen Trump sow discord over Iran, Greenland and Washington’s commitment to protecting fellow members.
After criticising NATO allies during a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said that if the summit “weren’t held in Turkiye, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended”.
Trump also named European countries who he perceived as unsupportive during the US-Israel war on Iran, saying, “We weren’t treated well because we did something in Iran.”
“Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars when they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them,” he said.
“Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down.”
The US president cast a brighter eye toward Ankara, remarking on the “chemistry” between the US and Turkiye, vowing to remove sanctions and saying he would soon decide about the potential sale of F-35s. “We have a very good relationship,” he said. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/7/trump-lashes-out-at-nato-as-first-day-of-summit-wraps-in-turkiye

Recap of the final day of the NATO summit Trump hailed a “very successful” NATO summit and praised President Erdogan for hosting the alliance.
The NATO summit declaration has reaffirmed its “ironclad commitment” to collective defence under Article 5.
Turkiye’s President Erdogan says the summit in Ankara laid the foundation of a stronger NATO, adding that Turkiye hosted an “historic summit”.
Trump said he ⁠has not yet decided ⁠whether to sell F-35 jets to Turkiye, but was ‌considering how good an ally Erdogan had been.
Zelenskyy said he had a ⁠good meeting with Trump that emphasised strengthening Ukraine’s air ‌defences amid intensified Russian attacks.
The US president had earlier said Ukraine will be allowed to produce US Patriot missile systems.
Trump also said NATO nations will send minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/7/8/nato-summit-live-trump-world-leaders-meet-in-turkiyes-ankara

Trump Tells Bessent To Halt US Trade With Spain, Calls Madrid A “Wasted Cause” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-tells-bessent-halt-us-trade-spain-calls-madrid-wasted-cause

Spain: 70% Of Tested ‘Unaccompanied Minor’ Immigrants Are Actually Adults https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/spain-70-tested-unaccompanied-minor-immigrants-are-actually-adults

John Helmer on those prank-calling Russian rascals, at it again: GREECE HAS DECLARED DRONE WAR ON RUSSIA – “IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT” – ON CONDITION THE WAR DOESN’T DAMAGE GREEK TOURISM AND SHIPPING BUSINESS The war against Russia is being won in each capital of the NATO alliance, and will continue to be a winner, so long as there are no money-costing and vote-losing “accidents” or “incidents”.
Those are two terms from Athanasios Dokos, who acknowledged “that’s a bit scary, to be honest.”
Dokos is the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Educated at Cambridge and Harvard, he was an academic, think tanker and advisor to the Greek Defence and Foreign Ministries until 2019 when he became the National Security Advisor. Last year Mitsotakis promoted Dokos to cabinet-level rank as Secretary-General for National Security.
When he was telephoned from Kiev on June 24, he thought he was talking to Rustem Umerov, now the head of the National Security and Defense Council, formerly Ukraine’s Defense Minister and part-time resident of Florida. They had met the week before (June 18-19) Umerov reminded Dokos at the start of their call, but Dokos didn’t recognize the bogus voice; he thought he recognized Umerov, but never suspected he was looking at an AI-generated image, a deepfake. Dokos also didn’t know that Russia’s intelligence services have his personal telephone number and the security codes in use at the Prime Ministry. Dokos was talking to Russia’s most famous penetration spies – the telephone pranksters Vovan and Lexus. To them pretending to be Umerov, Dokos revealed that as part of Greece’s long-term war strategy against Russia, it is continuing to implement plans for co-production of Ukrainian drones and Ukrainian drone warfare operations on Greek territory... ..Onshore Ukrainian drone command and control systems – this is the top secret which Dokos has revealed he was asking Umerov and Zelensky to continue running without “incidents” and “accidents”.
Dokos also revealed that the head of the Greek intelligence agency EYP, Themistoklis Demiris, was in Kiev shortly before his conversation was recorded to meet his SBU counterpart Yevgeny Khmara to go over the secret terms of the drone plan and its deployment in Greece without further public discoveries and embarrassments.
Dokos and Demiris, “Umerov” was told, want to make sure that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian vessels in the waters off Greece, launched from “onshore Ukrainian drone command and control systems” – Greek and NATO bases in the region — should not interfere with Greek shipping operations or deter tourism in the Greek islands... ..Manos Tzafalias, a Greek investigative journalist who has been reporting on the “incident” and “accident”, has exposed the misreporting of the Greek press and the misinformation issued by the Greek Defence Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Prime Ministry. The cover-up is an attempt to conceal from Greek voters the collaboration between Athens and Kiev in the drone war against Russian tankers on the high seas, especially the Mediterranean. Greek voter sympathy for Russia and opposition to the US and NATO war are the highest in Europe. https://johnhelmer.net/greece-has-declared-drone-war-on-russia-its-as-simple-as-that-on-condition-the-war-doesnt-damage-greek-tourism-and-shipping-business/#more-94565

Exclusive: The EU banning the ESN party is a ‘realistic scenario,’ warns German MEP and president of Sovereignty Foundation
“I think this is the easier route for them than banning the AfD at national level. There is less attention on the European political party,” MEP Alexander Sell tells Remix News in an exclusive interview about EU efforts to destroy the right-wing ESN The Europe of Sovereign Nations Group (ESN), which includes nine right-wing European parties, has been relentlessly attacked by the EU establishment since its founding in 2024. The ESN’s largest party member, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has also been the target of efforts for an outright ban at the national level in Germany. While left-wing and establishment parties are struggling to implement a ban on the AfD in Germany, at the European federal level, democratic checks and balances and the rule of law are far weaker.
Now, the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) is seeking to de-register the ESN, which would strip it of all its funding and de facto lead to the end of the party. https://rmx.news/article/exclusive-the-eu-banning-the-esn-party-is-a-realistic-scenario-warns-german-mep-and-president-of-sovereignty-foundation/

Ian Davis, on our current form of governance, often called by nicer names: Functional Oligarchy Oligarchy is a very old system of governance and one we have never really escaped. More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle stated that oligarchy (oligarchia) becomes the governance system “when men of property have government in their hands.” Today, we define “oligarchy” as “government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes.” When oligarchs exercise political power by virtue of their wealth, we call it “plutocracy.”... ..We are told that we live in “representative democracies” precisely because oligarchy is widely viewed as unacceptable. Despite the fact that “representative democracy” is the antithesis of democracy, the purported virtues of our fake democracies are constantly extolled simply to convince us that we don’t live in oligarchies. Political science, though, clearly reveals that we do.

Iain Davis Substack

Functional Oligarchy

Oligarchy is a very old system of governance and one we have never really escaped. More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle stated that oligarchy (oligarchia) becomes the governance system “when men of property have government in their hands.” Today, we…

2 months ago · 165 likes · 43 comments · Iain Davis

The worst wealth-disparity since 1929: How America’s Wealth Distribution Has Changed Over The Last 40 Years The top 1% built its wealth primarily through stocks and businesses, assets that have soared in value for decades. In fact, every group below the top 1% has lost share since 1989: even the next 9% of households, from the 90th to 99th percentiles, slipped from 38.0% to 36.4%.
Wealth further down the ladder is tied mostly to the family home, which appreciates far more slowly than the stock market. Much of the bottom 50%’s net worth is home equity, and many households in that group have little or no net worth at all. That’s why the gap between the top and the bottom has widened over the last 36 years. https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/how-americas-wealth-distribution-has-changed-over-last-40-years

How is the tulip-bulb reserve doing? US Bitcoin Reserve Stalls As Treasury And Commerce Vie For Control: Report https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/us-bitcoin-reserve-stalls-treasury-and-commerce-vie-control-report

The Ethical Skeptic, in an age of AI, and increasing technocracy, asks: What is Agency? Before the advent of social media, agency was largely a function of intent enabled through capability. An individual’s or institution’s ability to translate purpose into action depended primarily upon what they sought to accomplish and the means available to them. In the age of AI, however, agency becomes fundamentally reflexive. Every exercise of intelligence simultaneously generates information about itself, creating a continuous feedback loop between actor and observer. Effective agency is therefore no longer determined solely by intent and capability, but by the interaction between (1) intent and capability, (2) the ability of others to infer that intent and capability from accumulated behavioral traces, and (3) one’s own ability to accurately perceive and regulate one’s true motivations, assumptions, and operational footprint... ..Agency, in effect, transforms from being a property of the individual node to becoming a property of the network. In doing so, agency undergoes an ontological shift. It no longer resides principally within the individual, but emerges through the individual’s participation in a larger reflexive intelligence or club architecture... ..Perhaps the most visible societal example is the transition from one-to-many messaging toward AI-assisted microtargeting and synthetic media. Campaigns and influence operations can rapidly generate tailored content for different audiences while AI simultaneously measures reactions and refines subsequent messaging, creating a reflexive feedback loop between message, audience, and strategy. Increasingly, social media platforms learn what captures our attention and then give us more of it.
Over time, we are exposed to fewer ideas that genuinely challenge our thinking and far more that reinforce it. The result is not merely an echo chamber, but what might more aptly be termed a thunder chamber — an environment in which selected narratives are continuously amplified until they begin to feel like independent thought. Participants gradually come to believe that “consensus” shares their views, when in reality they are often experiencing a carefully curated representation of the world rather than the world itself. https://theethicalskeptic.com/2026/07/05/what-is-agency/

Tucker Carlson Unveils Major Political Plan Speaking with the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview published Wednesday, Carlson said he plans to “help build a third party,” just months after publicly breaking with President Donald Trump over the U.S.’s involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
“I’m going to help build a third party. There should be a good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country,” Carlson said.
During the same interview, Carlson insisted that he still has no interest in seeking public office. “I don’t want to be a candidate,” he said. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tucker-carlson-unveils-major-political-plan

Charles Hugh Smith points out, Without Subsidies, AI Is Unaffordable Let’s pull all this into an undeniable conclusion: AI is based on massively subsidizing users’ costs.

Charles Hugh Smith's Substack

Without Subsidies, AI Is Unaffordable

What’s already abundantly clear but verboten to say as it would pop the bubble of AI valuations and triumphalism is that AI is unaffordable once the direct and indirect subsidies are withdrawn. Nothing that consumes this much electricity and requires such an immense scale of costly processing and memory capacity can be low-cost, never mind free…

a month ago · 18 likes · 3 comments · Charles Hugh Smith

DeepSeek Developing In-House AI Chip In Bid To Cut Nvidia Reliance https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/deepseek-developing-house-ai-chip-bid-cut-nvidia-reliance

Air Force Engineer Accused Of Cutting Down AI Cameras Becomes Unlikely Hero, Raises Thousands For Legal Defense Jeffrey Sovern, a 41-year-old Air Force engineer and mechanic from Virginia, is accused of cutting down multiple Flock Safety license plate reader cameras. He now faces 13 counts of destruction of property, along with six counts each of petit larceny and possession of burglary tools.
The case comes as Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader network continues to spread rapidly across the country. Supporters say the cameras help police solve crimes, while critics argue they create a growing surveillance network that tracks the movements of ordinary Americans and raises serious privacy concerns...
..Sovern has made no secret of his views. In a GoFundMe campaign created to cover his legal expenses, he framed the case as a fight over privacy rights. “My name is Jeff and I appreciate my privacy. I appreciate everyone’s right to privacy, enshrined in the fourth amendment,” Sovern wrote... ..Originally seeking $8,500, the campaign has gained momentum as news of the case has spread. It has now brought in more than $15,000 from over 400 contributors, far surpassing its initial goal. [It is up to $34,158 as pf this writing.]
In a recent update following a preliminary hearing, Sovern thanked supporters for helping bring attention to the issue.
“Thank you to those that had the time to show support this week!” he wrote. “We have seen a huge uptick in awareness of the system and this case.”
He also urged supporters to continue advocating against what he called an expanding surveillance network, encouraging people to “reach out to the local governments and demand that these systems are taken down.” https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/air-force-engineer-accused-cutting-down-ai-cameras-becomes-unlikely-hero-raises-thousands

This pleasant and informative video advises stock investors to hold their positions until December. Why? THIS is The EXACT Date of The Next Stock Market Crash.

EPA Greenlights PFAS Pesticides Never Before Used in U.S. for Use on Corn, Wheat, Soy and Other Food Crops
The controversial approval of the two new “forever chemical” pesticides came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Bayer and the Trump administration in limiting Americans’ ability to sue pesticide companies for harms linked to pesticides. Diflufenican and epyrifenacil, never before used in the U.S., can now both be used on the two most widely grown U.S. crops. Epyrifenacil has also been approved for wheat. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/epa-greenlights-pfas-pesticides-never-before-u-s-corn-wheat-soy-food-crops/

CDC Study Finds 24% of Adults in Hard-Hit States Carry Alpha-Gal Antibodies Linked to Meat Allergies
New data suggest Alpha-Gal Syndrome is far more widespread than previously recognized.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

CDC Study Finds 24% of Adults Carry Alpha-Gal Antibodies Linked to Meat Allergies in Hard-Hit States

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

a month ago · 133 likes · 49 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Mother of Twins Who Died 8 Days After Vaccinations Charged With Murder
Police in Payette, Idaho, arrested Andrea Shaw on Tuesday afternoon, more than a year after her two children — fraternal twins Dallas and Tyson Shaw — were found dead at their home on May 1, 2025, eight days after receiving their 18-month vaccines. Police charged Shaw with two counts of first-degree murder. Shaw said doctors ignored her when she warned that the twins’ father had previously experienced a bad reaction to a flu vaccine. A 23-year-old mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her twin toddlers was set to be arraigned later today, after an Idaho grand jury indicted her late Monday, the Payette Police Department said in a press release.
Police arrested Andrea Shaw on Tuesday afternoon, more than a year after her two children — fraternal twins Dallas and Tyson Shaw — were found dead at their home in Payette on May 1, 2025, eight days after receiving their 18-month vaccines.
The Payette Police Department said the arrest follows “a lengthy and thorough investigation” and said it would have no further comment regarding evidence in the case. “Future information will be presented through the judicial process,” officials said.
Shaw alleges that her twins’ deaths were caused by the vaccines they received at a routine doctor’s appointment.
Nurse Angela Wulbrecht, an advocate for people injured by vaccines and who has been supporting the Shaws, told The Defender she was “ shocked and heartbroken” to learn of Shaw’s arrest.
“Over the past year, I have had the privilege of walking alongside Andrea and her family after the unimaginable loss of her twin babies,” Wulbrecht said. “I have witnessed a mother’s profound grief, unwavering love for her children, and determination to seek answers.”
Andrea gave birth to a new baby, born three weeks prematurely, on June 25, Shaw’s attorney Joseph Filicetti told the local KTVB7 news station. Her husband is caring for the newborn while she is incarcerated. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/andrea-shaw-idaho-mother-twins-died-8-days-after-vaccinations-charged-murder/

K.P. Stoller MD, They Vaccinated Her Twins. The Babies Died. Now They’re Charging the Mother With Murder. The heartbreaking case of Andrea Shaw exposes everything wrong with America’s untouchable vaccine program Andrea Shaw did what responsible parents are supposed to do. She told the pediatrician there was a family history of severe reactions to vaccines, specifically the flu shot.
The doctor dismissed her concerns.
On April 23, 2025, the twins received the flu vaccine, Hepatitis A, and DTaP. Within hours they became lethargic and ill. The next morning their lips were blue. They could barely move.
The emergency room doctor literally diagnosed them with a “post-immunization reaction.”
The symptoms continued. One week later, Andrea found both toddlers unresponsive. She called for help.
And from that moment, the system turned on her.
Police immediately treated the parents as suspects. They floated theories of asphyxiation and “postpartum blackout.” They ignored the documented medical reaction that began the day after the shots. The family filed a VAERS report.
Instead of investigating the vaccines, authorities spent over a year building a homicide case against the grieving mother.

KP’s Substack

They Vaccinated Her Twins. The Babies Died. Now They’re Charging the Mother With Murder.

A 23-year-old mother in Idaho has been indicted for first-degree murder — not once, but twice. Thanks for reading KP’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work…

2 months ago · 20 likes · 17 comments

Exclusive: Sen. Ron Johnson Demands Journal Turn Over Records Related to SIDs and Vaccines Study
In a letter made public today, Sen. Ron Johnson called on the editor-in-chief of Toxicology Reports and the CEO of Elsevier, which owns the journal, to release all records related to the decision to remove vaccine researcher Neil Z. Miller’s peer-reviewed analysis of VAERS data showing that many more SIDS reports were filed in VAERS in the first few days after vaccination compared to later on after vaccination. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/exclusive-sen-ron-johnson-demands-journal-turn-over-records-related-sids-vaccines-study/

Steve Kirsch, Data from a large autism specialty medical practice shows over 50% of sudden regression autism happened within 2 days after vaccination I was finally able to find an autism specialty practice to share their patient data summary statistics with me. The data is preliminary but the statistics leave little room for doubt.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Data from a large autism specialty medical practice shows over 50% of sudden regression autism happened within 2 days after vaccination

Executive summary…

2 months ago · 560 likes · 98 comments · Steve Kirsch

Maryanne Demasi, Ph.D. ‘Germ Games’: Gates, World Bank, NIH Modeled Pandemic Response After U.S. Military War Games In January 2016, senior figures from the Gates Foundation and the World Bank proposed a new approach to pandemic preparedness: large-scale simulations modeled on military war games. Newly obtained internal emails show how the idea — referred to as “Germ Games” — gained rapid momentum and gained favor with the NIH. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/germ-games-gates-world-bank-nih-pandemic-response-u-s-military-war-games/

Jessica Rose Ph.D details stated-assumptions which are just wrong: Fact check of new Lancet paper authored by mRNA tech developer Anna Blakney et al. Persistence, integration, and the gene therapy questions

Unacceptable Jessica

Fact check of new Lancet paper authored by mRNA tech developer Anna Blakney et al.

I met Anna Blakney - Assistant Professor (with tenure) in the Michael Smith Laboratories and School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC - during a podcast 4 years ago where we congenially disagreed on the so-called transformative magic of nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNP therapeutics and…

a month ago · 179 likes · 57 comments · Jessica Rose

Meryl Nass MD, Evidence showing who paid to go after doctors who challenged the COVID narratives: Big Pharma. But there is a lot more to be discovered about money changing hands. I missed this from 2023.

Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS)

Evidence showing who paid to go after doctors who challenged the COVID narratives: Big Pharma. But there is a lot more to be discovered about money changing hands. I missed this from 2023.

And where did that money go? To help create pro-vaccine groups like “This is our shot” and “Shots heard round the world”. Shots heard is staffed with people like Ben Ernst, who was a Campaign manager for Amy Klobuchar’s failed 2020 presidential campaign. Repeatedly we found links to democrats in this pharma funded ‘non-profit…

2 months ago · 194 likes · 58 comments · Meryl Nass

Dr. Marian Laderoute explains how some cells of your immune system disappear in their successful efforts:Trained immunity of M1-like foamy macrophages: A key role of human endogenous retrovirus K102 particles. - How disappearing foamy macrophages generate reductions in all cause mortality.

HERV-K102 and Pandemic Responses

Trained immunity of M1-like foamy macrophages: A key role of human endogenous retrovirus K102 particles.

2 months ago · 6 likes · 1 comment · Dr. Marian Laderoute

Paul Marik MD shows evidence for benefits from green tea, vitamin-D, Curcumin, omega-3 fats, healthful diet and exercise: Preventing Cancer: The ROOT Protocols By Paul Marik, MD and Justus Hope, MD

Paul Marik

Preventing Cancer: The ROOT Protocols

Introduction…

a month ago · 121 likes · 21 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Dr. Marik on stress hormones facilitating cancer growth and spread, and blocking them: Propranolol and the Stress–Cancer Axis - Blocking the stress hormones

Paul Marik

Propranolol and the Stress–Cancer Axis

This chapter is based in part on the chapter on propranolol from the book by Jeffrey Dach, MD entitled Cracking Cancer Toolkit.(1) Chronic stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, which secretes catecholamines which feed cancer growth.(2, 3) Accumulating data indicate that the psychological stress caused by chronic stressors is a major risk fact…

2 months ago · 106 likes · 19 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

A Japanese frog intestinal bacterium, injected intravenously, eradicated colon cancer in mice. A Frog Derived Bacterium that Fights Cancer on Two Fronts

Paul Marik

A Frog Derived Bacterium that Fights Cancer on Two Fronts

Discovery and Characterization of Antitumor Gut Microbiota from Amphibians and Reptiles: Ewingella americana as a Novel Therapeutic Agent with Dual Cytotoxic and Immunomodulatory Properties…

2 months ago · 94 likes · 16 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Sustaining Healthy Microbiomes (pictured with repeatedly-weeded black-eyed pea patch)

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Helen of desTroy's Sesterocentennial False Flag Alert

John Day MD — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:13:07 GMT

Invited Guests,

Helen does good research, and her Spidey-Sense is tingling about a false flag attack with “unforgettable fireworks”, or something to that effect.

There are foreshadowings and some scrubbed-trails she enumerates.

Substack does not want to disseminate this post. She had problems getting it out to readers, and I tried to restack it, but Substack would not restack it, somehow.

I am therefore sending it as a headline and a link for your consideration today. https://helenofdestroy.substack.com/p/urgent-potential-false-flag-warning

Urgent - Potential False Flag Warning - Please Share

Freedom 250 is Big Parasite’s ritual sacrifice of the American spirit. Let’s not let them pile a literal human sacrifice on top

Innocent Bystander with Sesterocentennial salsa, canned today

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Franz Kafka's Birthday

John Day MD — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 02:14:24 GMT

Weekend Partygoers,

Franz Kafka, born July 3, 1883 in Prague, Bohemia (Czech Republic, now) would be 143 years old today. Josh Mitteldorf wishes this prescient visionary of our post-modern epoch a Happy Birthday:

Inspiration, Science, and Mysticism

From Kafkaesque to Uber Kafkaesque

It’s hard for us to imagine how relevant Kafka’s writing was in 1924, when it was published after his death. There were no AIs; the modern usage of the word “propaganda” had not yet even been invented [Bernays, 1928]; humanity did not yet have the technical capacity to destroy all life on earth. If Joseph K was paranoid about his every move being watche…

2 months ago · 7 likes · 1 comment · Josh Mitteldorf

Kafka would “appreciate” our modern human struggles to thrive within a machine that promises growth, having just shrunken per-capita-prosperity for 25 years.

The Honest Sorcerer, Infinite Growth Delusions Continue - For Now - When conflict of interests meets reality According to the data published in the latest release of the Statistical Review of World Energy, infinite growth continued unabated in 2025—this time with “renewables” at the helm. But what is underpinning this unabated growth in energy consumption? Do we have the resources needed to continue with this trend? According to the report—or at least to the message it tries to convey—the answer is a resounding ‘Yes, without a doubt.’ In fact, and as you will see from the data presented below, the opposite is true: the world economy is facing a complex predicament, which will force it to contract... ..According to the newly released report, total energy supply in 2025 increased by 1.7% over the previous year, with solar power accounting for the vast majority of this growth. Despite solar’s rapidly increasing share of world energy—now at 8.7%—all other forms of energy use continued to expand in absolute terms, including fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas use have all increased throughout 2025, and still accounted for 86% of all energy supplied to the economy. Contrary to the stories we tell ourselves the energy transition still hasn’t started yet: wind and solar are still mere additions to an ever growing pile of carbon based fuels... ..The Authors of the Statistical Review are building a bridge to nowhere, based on a blind faith in infinite growth on a finite planet.
Perhaps the best example of this is Insight 2: Energy security in a changing world — How the 1970s oil shocks shifted energy patterns (page 8-9). After misidentifying the problem as an issue rooted solely in politics and war, while forgetting to mention that the then largest producer and consumer of oil in the world by far (the US) has passed it’s own domestic peak in conventional oil production in 1970, then suffered a 15% drop in output making its economy extremely vulnerable to external shocks, the report suggests that the crisis was eventually solved by other sources of energy (coal, gas, nuclear) taking up the slack. While the reference to the present crisis around Hormuz is not explicitly there, it is very hard to miss: ‘Don’t worry so much about oil, solar is here to save us!’...
..Looking at Oil Regional consumption by product group a number of slow changes in oil use over the decades becomes visible. After the dual shock of the 70’s refineries increasingly focused on making more diesel and gasoline from the same barrel at the cost of “sacrificing” fuel oil. In 1980 roughly a quarter of a barrel was refined into gasoline globally, another quarter found its way into diesel fuel, while slightly more than a quarter was burned as fuel oil (marine fuels and crude oil directly used in power plants). The remaining part was turned into jet fuel, naphtha, solvents, lubricants, bitumen, wax etc.—essential inputs needed by the wider economy. Over the 1980 to 2018 period, however, oil’s use as a fuel has shrunk to a mere 7%, while refineries were still turning half of each barrel into road fuels and a steady 7-8% into jet fuel... ..A growing portion of the barrels consumed around the world is increasingly coming in the form of ethane, naphtha, propane and butane. These substances are produced mostly as a by-product of processing natural gas (hence their name) but have very little to do with the real thing: a thick brownish-black liquid called crude oil. And while NGLs can still be used as precursors (raw materials) in manufacturing plastics and for filling cooking gas cylinders—they have little to no use in making more road and aviation fuels... ..Increases in the global consumption of transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel and jet fuel) have become strictly limited by the amount of “real” crude oil we could add into the mix. Consequently growth in fuel supply was capped at an average rate of 1.5% per annum from 1980 up until 2018, closely following increases in world crude oil supply. Then something broke—a full 2 years ahead of the pandemic... ..In 1980 every barrel of oil equivalent (boe) energy invested into drilling resulted in 30 new barrels recovered on a global average, this number is well below 10 by now, meaning that more and more energy needs to be reinvested into getting energy, leaving an ever smaller surplus for the rest of the economy... ..If Rystad’s estimates are correct, about a half as much oil will be available than today by 2050… Food for thought. So why is this alarming trend not discussed in the Statistical Review? Why have they removed the state of proven oil reserves from their report? Because, perhaps, these reserves stopped growing and had to be revised downward? Well, according to Rystad Energy this is precisely the case—too bad they, too, have removed this information from their website later (here is an archived version):
“Global recoverable oil resources, including estimates for undiscovered fields, stabilized at approximately 1.5 trillion barrels. The most significant revision over the last 10 years has been in yet-to-find resources, where our projection has been reduced by 456 billion barrels. This is due to a steep decline in frontier exploration, unsuccessful shale developments outside the Americas and a doubling in offshore costs over the past five years. Rystad Energy expects reserve replacements from new conventional oil projects to be less than 30% of production over the next five years, while exploration would replace only about 10%.”
Another study from the IEA, published last year, found that as oil fields mature (read: deplete) production decline accelerates. At first just by a little, which can be easily offset by enhanced oil recovery techniques, then ever faster and faster… Till the increased energy and material investment needed to keep the juices flowing no longer worth it, and extraction stops. Bad news is that, in 2024, around 80% of global oil production and 90% of natural gas production came from fields that had passed their peak in production... ..There is nothing left to be sacrificed: if oil production falls—either due to wars, or due to a global peak in production whenever it comes—the economy falls with it.
Diesel fuel, the most valuable portion of the barrel cannot be substituted with electricity at scale either, as agriculture, mining and long distance trucking (not to mention construction) are still completely dependent on this fuel. And without these activities, there is no copper, zinc, nickel, silicon—or anything needed to make “renewables” plus the gazillion electric devices, batteries, transformers, high voltage lines etc. needed to build a ‘smart’ grid to accommodate them. Average citizens buying electric vehicles will not and cannot change that picture—only worsen it by hasting mineral depletion. (In fairness the same goes for driving gas guzzlers.) See, contrary to the impression conveyed by the authors of this report various energy sources are neither fungible beyond a certain limited degree, nor infinite: as each depend on mining non-renewable resources to depletion.

The Honest Sorcerer

Infinite Growth Delusions Continue - For Now

According to the data published in the latest release of the Statistical Review of World Energy, infinite growth continued unabated in 2025—this time with “renewables” at the helm. But what is underpinning this unabated growth in energy consumption? Do we have the resources needed to continue wit…

2 months ago · 83 likes · 25 comments · The Honest Sorcerer

Surplus Energy Economics, Dr. Tim Morgan has a dark view, presented dip[lomatically here: PARKING THE THESIS It’s been said that travelling hopefully is better than arriving, but there comes a point at which even the most sluggish and reluctant train pulls into the station. When that happens, the locomotive and the rolling stock are parked in the sidings, leaving the passenger with new decisions to make.
Back in 2013, when the Surplus Energy Economics project began, it was possible to suspect that the fading out of the fossil fuel impetus, first harnessed during the industrial revolution, might be pointing towards a pretty imminent ending of economic growth.
Today, through the application of a series of fundamental precepts, we can know, and at very high levels of confidence, that the economy has stopped expanding, and is heading into contraction... [long, detailed part] ... ..A perfectly plausible post-growth model exists, one in which top-down, centralised institutions fail, and are replaced by localised, bottom-up alternatives, which operate at a more human scale, and are more in keeping with environmental sustainability. The astute will be starting to create these localised alternatives even before over-centralised systems collapse.
At the same time, and as the affordability of discretionary (non-essential) products and services retreats, an economy increasingly starved of surplus energy will become progressively more labour-intensive.
The problem, as ever, is ‘getting from A to B’, when “A” is a society hubristically wedded to notions of infinite growth whilst “B” is a more stable-state situation better geared to meeting needs than to fostering the avaricious psychology of consumerism and paper wealth.
Our understanding of finance, when benchmarked to the material, should inform us that the moment of monetary failure will coincide with the attainment of absolute peak valuation.
Policy desperation will combine with ignorance of economic processes to ensure that a theoretical wealth based on non-monetizable notation, and on a complete inability to match claim with substance, will hit its zenith at the very point at which markets complete their failure, and money is stripped of the only substantive value that it can ever possess. https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2026/07/01/327-surplus-energy-economics/#like-45966

Gail Tverberg, Why Oil Shortages May Bring Lower Prices–and Recession There have recently been many warnings about near-term oil shortages stemming from the conflict in Iran.Most analysts assume that shortages mean higher prices. As I will explain, thedynamics of a self-organizing economy suggestthe oppositeoutcome — lower prices, deepeningrecession, andshortages of goods and services that have little to do with price.

Our Finite World II

Why Oil Shortages May Bring Lower Prices–and Recession

There have recently been many warnings about near-term oil shortages stemming from the conflict in Iran. Most analysts assume that shortages mean higher prices. As I will explain, the dynamics of a self-organizing economy suggest the opposite outcome — lower prices, deepening recession, and shortages of goods and services that have little to do with pri…

2 months ago · 33 likes · 11 comments · Gail Tverberg

A “glut” is more supply than demand. Since oil supply can’t increase much, if at all, this prediction implies global economic Demand-Destruction, doesn’t it? Goldman Sachs Warns Oil Inventory Rebuild Won’t Prevent 2027 Supply Glut https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/goldman-sachs-warns-oil-inventory-rebuild-wont-prevent-2027-supply-glut

Iran Runs Into Big Problem: No Buyers For Its Oil, As Full Tankers Pile Up Off China As we suspected a month ago, China’s economy is in far worse shape than telegraphed, and as a result it does not need Iranian oil (what oil it does need it just sources from its massive strategic reserves).
In Early June we said that confirming our recent reporting on China’s oil demand collapse, crude oil imports to China in May fell to their lowest since October 2017 because of the price spike resulting from the Persian Gulf tanker traffic disruption, plunging refinery margins (due to price ceilings imposed by Beijing), of a slowing economy and the rapid slowdown in the economy.
The May total stood at 33 million barrels, or 7.8 million barrels daily, Bloomberg reported, citing Chinese customs data. This is roughly a 30% drop vs the average daily import rate of 11.6 million barrels last year. As previously noted, refinery run rates are down as well, as are fuel exports, with Beijing careful to make sure there is enough diesel and gasoline for the domestic market. All this is happening as the latest batch of Chinese data was “shockingly bad”, promptly fears of a China hard landing. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/iran-runs-big-problem-no-buyers-its-oil-full-tankers-pile-china

US officials feared Israel was plotting to kill head Iranian negotiators: report The US believed Israel was plotting to kill Iran’s head negotiators in the middle of the peace talks, with America going as far as to warn Tehran through third party countries of the risks, officials said.
Fears that Israel could derail the fledgling peace talks spiked in April as America believed the Jewish state had their eyes on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, The New York Times reported.
The two leaders would go on to approve the current peace deal with the US. If they were killed, it would have likely prolonged the conflict as previous assassinations by Israel have... ..American-Iranian negotiations had previously been halted with an Israeli strike that killed Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official who had been leading the negotiationsin March.
Despite the clear orders to keep Araghchi and Ghalibaf alive, American officials still held concerns that Israel would still try to assassinate them, pushing the US to ask countries in the Middle East to warn Iran about the possibility of an attack, sources told the Times... ..The fears appeared all the more real during Ghalibaf’s trip to Pakistan to meet with Vice President JD Vance in April...
..During the flight, Iran’s security forces notified the plane about an alleged Israeli plan to attack the aircraft, with two Israeli fighter jets detected entering the Islamic republic’s airspace, two officials told the outlet...
..Ghalibaf had previously survived two attacks from the US and Israel during the latest war and in the 12 Day war last year.
The account echoes the claims from Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Ghalibaf, who said the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Mashhad, Iran’s closest airport to Pakistan.
The delegation was forced to take an eight hour trip by land to Tehran due to the security concerns, Mohammadi said.
Ghalibaf would go on to travel with Araghchi to Qatar and then to Switzerland last month for another in-person meeting with Vance and American negotiators. https://nypost.com/2026/07/02/world-news/us-officials-feared-israel-was-plotting-to-kill-head-iranian-negotiators-report/

The Hormuz Letter: BREAKING: Israel was plotting to kill Iran’s chief negotiator Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Araghchi to undermine peace talks this spring, with Israeli fighter jets entering Iranian airspace to directly attack Ghalibaf’s plane returning from Islamabad talks with Vance, forcing an immediate emergency landing in Mashhad, per US officials speaking to NYT.
Shortly before, the US had gone as far as warning Iran through other countries in the region that Israel would target the two officials, which led to the emergency landing and other safety measures. An Israeli security official responded to the NYT report telling i24 News, “If and when Israel wants to eliminate anyone, it does so.”

Will Israel attack? Saudi Delegation Makes Unexpected Appearance In Tehran For Start Of Ayatollah’s Funeral Friday and Saturday kick off what will be up to a week of solemn funeral observances for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - a major historic event which is expected to draw some 15 to 20 million mourners in Tehran and across Iranian cities.
Iran on Thursday issued a warning to the United States and Israel, Reuters reported:
“We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime (Israel), to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country,” Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said... ..Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed El Khereiji and his delegation have showed up in Tehran to pay their respects- thoughthey weren’t officially expected, per Iranian state publications... ..One delegation which was indeed expected, and has arrived amid the cameras are the Russians, headed by Dmitry Medvedev, former president and now Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/saudi-delegation-makes-unexpected-appearance-tehran-start-ayatollahs-funeral

Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: – Vance-Rubio Struggle – Oman Supports ‘Fees’
Vice President JD Vance was heavily involved in the ceasefire MoU with Iran. The first part of the Memorandum extended the ceasefire to Lebanon and was supposed to guarantee it sovereignty.
At the same time or shortly thereafter Secretary of State Marco Rubio negotiated an agreement with Lebanon and Israel which guarantees a continuation of the Israeli invasion and occupation of Lebanese land.
The Lebanon agreement is thus a direct attack on the MoU with Iran.
Via The Cradle we find some interesting speculation how this is an expression of a power struggle within Trump’s White House coterie:
The agreement between Lebanon and Israel cannot be understood through bilateral negotiations alone. It also reflects shifting power dynamics in Washington, where US policy toward Lebanon is shaped not only by official institutions, but by competition within the administration and the Republican Party, alongside pressure from pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly the Zionist lobby and the hardline Lebanese Christian lobby.… [This] is reflected in the quiet contest within the American right, particularly between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who represents the traditional pro-Israel Republican establishment, and Vice President JD Vance, whose camp has been more cautious about US involvement in West Asia. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/06/war-on-iran-vance-rubio-struggle-oman-supports-fees.html

Vance Says US Will Use Iran MoU To Replenish Global Oil Supply Then ‘See Where the Hand Is’ “And … if the Iranians are willing to make the commitments that we would like them to make and are willing to back those up with verifiable milestones, then we are going to change our relationship with Iran. And if they don’t do that, then nothing has really changed except for what we’ve already accomplished from the military campaign, which is a lot. So, we kind of have two options here. We have the option of pursuing a long-term deal with the Iranians, but that requires a significant change in their behavior. We have the option of banking our wins and then, of course, doing things on top of that if the president feels that we have to. And I think both of those options are very much in play,” he added... ..Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in a post on X that Vance’s comments heightened suspicion in Iran that the war will restart despite the MoU. He made the comments in a post discussing the view in Iranian political circles that Israel may launch an attack before Israeli elections are held in October.
“Will Israel restart the war with Iran before the October elections? This is the consensus view emerging within Iran’s internal national security debate over the past week,” Parsi said. https://news.antiwar.com/2026/07/01/vance-says-us-will-use-iran-mou-to-replenish-global-oil-supply-stockpiles-then-see-where-the-hand-is/

Trump plays good-cop: Vance Warns ‘US Has Options’ As Iran Rejects Direct Doha Talks - Trump Insists Diplomacy Is ‘Very Good’ President Trump has simultaneously hailed “very good” talks on Iran in Doha- apparently just referencingenvoys Witkoff and Kushner merely dialoguingwith third countryintermediaries.
On the same day,Vice President JD Vance played a little ‘bad cop’ - warning that if Iran fails to acquiesce and destabilizes the region that the US could respond, escalating in several ways.”If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance said. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-briefed-full-scale-war-plans-still-eyes-diplomacy-iran-reminds-us-muzzle-your-pets

Gold & Geopolitics Daily digest: 2026-07-03 The June jobs print (57k, roughly half expected) was the hinge of the day: gold decoupled from stocks and ripped while the memory/chip complex cratered, dragging Korea to the edge of a bear market and turning the AI-capex reflexivity trade. New overnight: the NYT reported Israel plotted to assassinate Iran’s chief negotiators... ..June payrolls come in at 57k, ~half the ~113k expected — and gold treats bad news as bad news. Headline miss withApril/May revised down a combined 74k, unemployment falling to 4.2% only because the labor force shrank ~700k. Confirmed by zerohedge, Kobeissi, Hedgeye.Gold reportedly jumped ~$60/oz in a single minute... ..Largest strike on Kyiv of the war. ~570 air-attack means (74 missiles + 496 drones) per Ukraine’s Air Force (MilitarySummary); the mayor called it the most powerful strike since 2022 (MilitarySummary). At least 18 killed (zerohedge); civilian toll later put at 27... ..Iran–Israel–Hormuz: capitulation on fees, escalation on the ground - Europe made peace with an Iranian Hormuz transit fee as “inevitable,” urging only that Iran not discriminate on which vessels pay(zerohedge, dana916). WSJ says theUS offered to release frozen funds for fee-free passage; Iran rejected it(AryJeayBackup).
But the war track is re-arming: a source close to Ghalibaf says Israel is preparing a new round of operations, after Katz ordered the IDF to ready a “blue-and-white” op(HormuzLetter);Trump is moving more Marines to the Gulf(ProfessorPape).Khamenei’s funeral prompted a mediated US-Iran pause...
..Separately, IDF casualties reported in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; rocket sirens near the border... ..Oil: SPR at a 1983 low as paper and physical keep diverging - The SPR fell to 326M barrels, lowest since 1983, a 13th straight weekly decline (Kobeissi). Saudi exports approached pre-war levels at 6.3M b/d over six days (zerohedge), while Iran can’t place its barrels — 58M on the water, 90% with no destination (zerohedge).
The physical-vs-paper case: few ships will sail to Hormuz, so ME tanks stay full and traders misread discounts as glut (JustDario); China quietly drained ~450M barrels of imports in June, masking tightness... ..OpenAI floats handing the Trump administration a 5% stake. Reported to “clear political obstacles,” with other US labs expected to offer a similar cut... ..Trump Inc.: the stake, the“Trump Accounts,” the receipts - Beyond the OpenAI stake: Goldman is contributing to “Trump Accounts” for employees’ children(zerohedge); Micron’s $250M contribution earned a Trump “double pump” and a “+9 points” boast(Kobeissi) —the same Micron that took $3B of taxpayer money(JustDario).
The optics aren’t great: Trump says his kids made him $1.4B in crypto, which he “had no idea” about (Nostra) —more than every public crypto-treasury company combined in 2025 (Hedgeye); disclosures show 21,000+ trades across eight accounts, ~80/day...

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-03

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

2 months ago · 53 likes · 6 comments · No1

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-02 Big day, two deltas dominate. First, the AI trade inverted: Meta’s plan to sell “excess” compute added ~$100B to its cap in a morning while the picks-and-shovels names (CoreWeave, Nebius, Corning, memory) got monkeyhammered — the market is now rewarding capex cuts, and Palantir’s Karp went on TV to call the frontier labs parasites. Second, Russia hit Kyiv with the long-threatened “mega-strike” (~74 missiles incl. 12 un-intercepted Zircons, 10 civilians dead)... ..Korean market seizing up. Exchange activated sidecars to halt KOSPI and KOSDAQ program selling; leveraged KORU -30% “retail margin call massacre”; SK Hynix -8.2% (zerohedge). Koreans out of margin debt are now borrowing from banks to buy stocks... ..AI: Meta sells “excess compute,” market punishes the shovel-sellers
Meta reportedly building “Meta Compute” to rent data centers/models, rivaling AWS/Azure (zerohedge). The tell everyone seized on: if the biggest buyers are now sellers, what’s actually scarce? ... ..Broader accusation: an Anthropic mechanism covertly profiling users (ethnicity/timezone) via steganography (Arnaud Bertrand), with security researchers noting the jailbreaks matched existing open/Chinese-model capability (alexstamos). Sonnet 5 reportedly jailbroken in minutes.

No1's Daily Digest

Daily digest: 2026-07-02

TL;DR: today vs. yesterday…

2 months ago · 66 likes · 22 comments · No1

New Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Outlaw Criticism of Israel and Jewish Power Last year’s defeat of the Antisemitism Awareness Act (AAA) by a coalition of progressive Democrats and patriotic Republicans caught the Jewish community off guard.
According to a report by Jewish Insider, Chuck Schumer and his Republican collaborator’s attempt to sneak the AAA into the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act was thwarted when a coalition of nationalist podcasters such as Tucker Carlson and various Palestine sympathetic left-wing groups called attention to its draconian provisions and drew backlash to the bill.
Rather than give up, Jewish groups reeling from the defeat have decided to launch a renewed offensive, this time attacking opposition to their Zionist agenda at its root: freedom of speech, especially on social media.
In May and June, a bipartisan coalition of 15 House Republicans and 14 Democrats formally sponsored the Jewish American Security Act (JASA), a piece of legislation that if passed would constitute one of the most sweeping attacks on the First Amendment in American history. The bill enjoys practically universal backing from Jewish non-profits and Zionist activist groups.
The new law presents four major demands: the appointment of a specialized Anti-Semitism commissar to manage the Department of Education’s campaign combating pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses, a $1 billion dollar cash injection to “secure” Zionist non-profits and Jewish houses of worship, mandatory state monitoring of online social media platforms in order to force them to censor “anti-Semitic” political speech on their platforms, and officially reorienting the mission of the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and National Counterintelligence and Security Center as instruments for targeting critics of Jews and Israel as foreign enemy actors and domestic terrorists.
On the education front, JASA strengthens and makes permanent Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14188 (“Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism”), which emphasizes that Israelis are a protected class above criticism under the 1964 Civil Rights Act... .Such a law, if passed, would treat figures as prominent as Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Megyn Kelly, Thomas Massie, Ana Kasparian, Ilhan Omar and Candace Owens, as well as many smaller critics that have arisen in recent years, as terrorists and enemies of the state. https://www.unz.com/estriker/new-bipartisan-bill-seeks-to-outlaw-criticism-of-israel-and-jewish-power/

Dennis Kucinich, U.S.-Israel Military Merger Delayed: Here’s Why and How You Can Stop It - A procedural vote bought Congress—and the American people—one more chance to defend American sovereignty. Welcome to civics class, Washington, D.C. style. The Massie-Khanna Amendment, which would have removed the military merger from the bill, was not made in order by the House Rules Committee, which serves as the traffic cop on legislation, deciding which bills and which amendments move forward.
In this case, the Rules Committee played dirty cop and the fix was in to make sure the House would not be able to vote on the military merger because the amendment was simply not placed in the rule... ..Before Members can vote on the underlying legislation, they must first vote separately on the rule. The rule establishes the terms of debate and determines which amendments may be considered.
If the rule goes down, the bill goes down with it.
Why Was the NDAA Vote Delayed?
Here is what happened.
Because of a dispute over the SAVE Act, the House voted down the rule. The NDAA never came before the House for debate or final passage. A disappointed Speaker adjourned the House until July 13.
As a consequence, the NDAA has not passed and the U.S.-Israel military merger it authorizes has not become law.
Yet.
When the House returns, the Rules Committee must meet again and draft a new rule. Based on what just happened in committee, there is every reason to believe the new rule will once again prevent any amendment from being offered to remove the military merger.

The Kucinich Report

U.S.-Israel Military Merger Delayed: Here’s Why and How You Can Stop It

The U.S.-Israel military merger has not become law - yet…

2 months ago · 272 likes · 32 comments · Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich

Richard Revelstoke explains that within the necessary flows of global economy, there are certain choke-points, which are controlled by certain competing capitalist factions, through which each faction profits and may harm or impair other factions, but the flow must continue, or all factions lose. None can control it all. Rheopolitics: The Power to Deny - A civilization survives because things continue to flow. Water. Electricity. Data. Money. Software. Energy. Food. Every modern society depends upon uninterrupted circulation. The actor capable of interrupting those flows possesses a form of power that previous civilizations had no real conception of — primarily, because the technology did not exist. Consider SWIFT. - A sovereign state, domestically sound with its borders protected can be rendered impotent if it is unable to transact.Being excluded from SWIFT, by those who are able to exclude, is a far more deadly and cost effective weapon than tanks and artillery.A nation can be undefeated on land and sea, but destroyed by sanctions.

The Margins

Rheopolitics: The Power to Deny

A civilization survives because things continue to flow. Water. Electricity. Data. Money. Software. Energy. Food. Every modern society depends upon uninterrupted circulation. The actor capable of interrupting those flows possesses a form of power that previous civilizations had no real conception of — primarily, because the technology did not exist…

2 months ago · 6 likes · 21 comments · Richard Revelstoke

Richard Revelstoke presents the case that capitalism has recently broken down into 4 competing factions, is in decline, and that there is no apparent economic system to replace it. [I am not alone in asserting that post-growth economy must not allow usury, which necessitates economic growth, or slavery and collapse.] Permanent Planetary Turbulence - The Long Winter Wolfgang Streeck is a German political economist, former director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. His major work Buying Time (2014), and especially How Will Capitalism End? (2016) make the argument that capitalism is in a terminal crisis — not collapsing in a revolutionary moment, but running down over a long period because the institutions that stabilised it (the postwar settlement, the welfare state, embedded liberalism) are exhausted and there is no successor system being built.

The Margins

Permanent Planetary Turbulence

1. The Long Winter…

2 months ago · 8 likes · 2 comments · Richard Revelstoke

Caitlin Johnstone, The Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Agenda Continues To Roll Forward The Adelson-owned pro-Netanyahu outlet Israel Hayom reports thatin the coming weeks the so-called “Board of Peace” overseeing life in the Gaza Strip is planning to relocate Palestinians to “humanitarian shelters” that are not under Hamas control.
Israel Hayom reports that an area near the destroyed city of Rafah is the first location where such camps will be set up. This is noteworthy because one year ago defense minister Israel Katz stated that there was a plan to construct a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, where “the emigration plan” for the Palestinians would then be implemented, adding that Benjamin Netanyahu was working on finding foreign nations to accept the population of Gaza.

Caitlin’s Newsletter

The Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Agenda Continues To Roll Forward

Reading by Tim Foley…

2 months ago · 315 likes · 84 comments · Caitlin Johnstone

Thanks Lucy. Monsters Playing Victims - Danny Danon’s Twisted War on the Truth Whether Israelis will ever comprehend the irreparable damage inflicted upon their country’s reputation by their UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, is a moot point. The damage Israel has done to itself through its barbaric practices in occupied Palestine is simply impossible to overcome.
Danon, however, utilizes a peculiar approach to defending Israelwithin international institutions: he relies onbullying, intimidation, and an overt attempt to silence anyone who dares to challenge the official Israeli narrative—particularly women leaders. Yet, what makes his behavior most outrageous is his deployment of these abrasive tactics to suppress an issue that demands the utmost sensitivity: the systemic use of sexual violence and human rights abuses against Palestinians.
The confrontation took place during a UN General Assembly session convened to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Senior UN officials were presentingharrowing findings documenting sexual violence against Palestinian detainees....The immediate target of Danon’s wrath was Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Instead of reflecting on the grim findings, Danon demanded Patten’s resignation. He accused her and the broader international community of harboring an “obsession” with targeting Israel.
When Vanessa Frazier, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, attempted to intervene on a point of order per established protocol, Danon unleashed a vitriolic verbal assault. Refusing to yield, he shouted over her, ordering her to “be quiet” and drowning out the chamber with his outbursts. “Shame on you. You are part of this obsession,” Danon bellowed.

Savage Minds

Monsters Playing Victims

Whether Israelis will ever comprehend the irreparable damage inflicted upon their country’s reputation by their UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, is a moot poi…

2 months ago · 89 likes · 4 comments · Ramzy Baroud

Tibetan Man Sets Himself On Fire Outside UN Headquarters In New York The Tibetan National Congress of New York and New Jersey said in a July 3 statement posted to Instagram that the man was a 52-year-old Tibetan activist named Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen, who has “stated that the man was a 52-year-old Tibetan activist named Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen, who had “dedicated his life to participating in peaceful, non-violent demonstrations to expose China’s human rights abuses in Tibet.”
The organization said Rangzen broadcast a livestream on Facebook before self-immolating near the U.N. headquarters, in which he called for Tibetan independence and spoke about the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
The activist attributed his actions to his commitment to Tibet and emphasized that they were not driven by any personal circumstances, the Tibetan National Congress added.
In his final message, he said: “I don’t want you to mourn for me, I want you to continue the struggle for Tibetan independence, because the lack of independence is the root of all our problems,” according to the Tibetan National Congress.
“We must recognize and remember that Lobga Rangzen committed this act for the political freedom of Tibet,” Jamyang Norbu, founder of the Tibetan National Congress, said. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/tibetan-man-sets-himself-fire-outside-un-headquarters-new-york

White House Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller delivered a clear and forceful message: every Haitian national on Temporary Protected Status will be returned to Haiti under President Trump. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/miller-every-single-haitian-migrant-going-back-haiti-under-trump

Simplicius, SITREP 7/2/26: Another Massive Strike on Kiev, as Konstantinovka on the Brink Last night Russia again struck Kiev with one of the most massive attacks of the war, after having saved up missiles and drones for the past couple weeks... ..Now in his latest interview C-in-C Oleksandr Syrsky has declared that Russia is preparing a major offensive on neighboring Chernigov region with the aim of potentially having another go at Kiev... We’ve heard such rumors for years, but never directly from Syrsky himself. One interesting thing he notes is that the Russian General Staff appears to have made several different contingencies, depending on how the situation unfolds, particularly vis-a-vis Belarus and whether Lukashenko allows Russia the use of its territory for launching an assault. One of the things this appears to imply is that Russia is playing it by ear and will consider utilizing Belarus depending on how things play out.
And which things could those be, that could trigger such a contingency? The most obvious answer: Belarus being forced into the war after being attacked by Ukraine. In short, it’s possible that the Russian General Staff is providing for a plan that should Belarus forcibly be brought into the war, then Russian troops will be able to use its territory without creating any ‘thorny’ political issues.

Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge

SITREP 7/2/26: Another Massive Strike on Kiev, as Konstantinovka on the Brink

Last night Russia again struck Kiev with one of the most massive attacks of the war, after having saved up missiles and drones for the past couple weeks…

2 months ago · 496 likes · 432 comments · Simplicius

This quote is noteworthy: John Helmer, THANK YOU, PRESIDENT PUTIN, FOR TRYING TO HAVE A BALANCING ACT The Moscow source added: “I do not see Americans giving up on Pakistan again. It’s a cheap maintenance mistress to keep. Chinese tried the more expensive Belt & Road approach – investing in nation building and infrastructure for China. Pakistan is a loss and a problem for the Chinese too. They treated Pakistan like a real country – they did not understand the nature of khans and their khanates. Pakistani generals are Central Asian khans. Brits know how to deal with them and buy them. Chinese do not. The Americans simply pay the generals as they always have, and they get the biggest bang for their buck. That way they also keep the Indians all riled up, and the Russians nervous and unsure what to do.” https://johnhelmer.net/thank-you-president-putin-for-trying-to-have-a-balancing-act/#more-94509

John Helmer, THE ANCHORAGE FORMULA WAS A TRUMP TRICK – PUTIN FELL FOR IT FOR A YEAR, SO NOW WHAT: SACK DMITRIEV, DISMISS WITKOFF & KUSHNER, DESTROY NATO ARMS CONVOYS ENTERING UKRAINE FROM POLAND
Russia’s escalation options for ending the war on the original terms of the Special Military Operation of February 2022 are now too little, too late.
This is because demilitarization of the Ukrainian battlefield cannot stop or deter the rearmament of the NATO allies for permanent war against Russia.
Nor can denazification of the Kiev regime succeed when the NATO allies have become nazified, like the Trump regime in Washington. Militarization and nazification have become US empire war aims against Russia...They are planning the permanent war futurein which theterritorial concessions Putin agreed to in Anchorage a year ago – Crimea and the four Novorussian regions in exchange for a US guarantee of Russia’s security in Europe – will not produce the “the security of our country and our citizens, and the inviolability of Russia’s borders for decades ahead”. That was Putin’s promise to Russian voters in his first election campaign rally early this week (June 28)...
..So what is the end-of-war plan now? “Our primary objective [is] the final liberation of Donbass and Novorossiya,” Putin continued. “We know that the West continues to pursue Russia’s strategic defeat.There have been occasional suggestions that this is no longer the case, but officially no one has abandoned that objective. The goal remains Russia’s strategic defeat. If that is so, then why are they calling for a ceasefire and peace negotiations, and increasingly expressing a desire to take part in them? If Ukraine is, as they claim, capturing more and more territory and liberating it – in other words, if it is winning – then Western leaders simply need to wait. Russia’s strategic defeat would, it would seem, come about of its own accord. So let them wait. Meanwhile, our troops will continue doing their job and will do everything necessary to achieve the objectives of the special military operation.”... ..In the discussion, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement on the Anchorage Formula was contrasted with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s elaboration.
Rubio said: “There was no agreement in Alaska. There was a proposal in Alaska, but there was no agreement in Alaska. If there had been an agreement, we would have had an end to the war. So as I said, the President is prepared, as the United States remains prepared, to play whatever constructive role we can to bring about an enduring end to this war in Ukraine, and which has been bloody – 25 – 20,000 soldiers killed every month; 5,000 a week, most of them Russian. So it’s been debilitating for Europe, for the – but especially for Ukraine and for Russia increasingly.
So if they’re – we are prepared to step forward and play a constructive role, if there’s one for us to play, in bringing the parties together and bringing that war to an end. That’s what the President’s tried to do now for a year and a half, but there was no agreement in Alaska. There was a proposal made in Alaska, but it was never an agreement… ..Lavrov replied the next day with a special press release from his Ministry: “It is imperative to elucidate the situation as we perceive it. I trust this will provide clarity for our audience.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted that, in Alaska, there were only proposals and no agreements concerning a settlement in Ukraine. Consequently, as he put it, it is unclear why Moscow appears so concerned. The reality of the situation is that, viewed in the broader context, several days prior to the Alaska meeting, US President’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow bringing those very proposals from President Donald Trump. We duly took them into account. President of Russia Vladimir Putin pledged to present his response during the Alaska meeting.
Subsequently, in Anchorage, as the two presidents sat down for negotiations – and I must note that Marco Rubio and your humble servant were also present – President Vladimir Putin, addressing Steve Witkoff, who was likewise in attendance, began to enumerate the US proposals point by point. Following each item, in the presence of US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he enquired of Steve Witkoff whether he had accurately captured the ideas brought to Moscow ahead of Anchorage.
To each of these queries, Steve Witkoff responded in the affirmative. Therefore, when my colleague Marco Rubio contends that only proposals were made in Alaska and no agreement was reached, I am left to question what precisely is meant by “agreement.” If one party, in this case the United States, puts forward its proposals for a settlement – for an approach to resolving this crisis – and the other party expresses concurrence with these proposals, then to state that no agreement was reached appears, to put it mildly, somewhat inelegant.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also remarked, at another engagement somewhere in the Middle East, that the United States stands ready to move forward and play a constructive role, should the opportunity arise. In his words, bringing the parties together and bringing an end to this war is precisely what US President Donald Trump has been endeavouring to achieve for a year and a half.
All of this, presumably, may be “credited’ as confirmation that there were indeed American proposals in Alaska, which we accepted. However, the quotation I have just referenced prompts a further question. I am referring to Secretary Marco Rubio’s recent testimony during hearings in Congress, during which he stated that the United States cannot act as a mediator because it supports Ukraine.
Yet, when an interest is expressed in the United States playing a constructive role, in uniting the parties – this already begins to resemble a claim to mediation. It is, of course, necessary to bring clarity to the entirety of this situation. Nevertheless, the fact remains: in Alaska, the US proposals were discussed and were accepted by the Russian side.” https://johnhelmer.net/the-anchorage-formula-was-a-trump-trick-putin-fell-for-it-for-a-year-so-now-what-sack-dmitriev-dismiss-witkoff-kushner-destroy-nato-arms-convoys-entering-ukraine-from-poland/#more-94527

Gilbert Doctorow has insights as to Putin’s war strategy. Please read carefully: Further thoughts on ‘ethnic cleansing’ as a Russian war objective I am surprised that it took me so long to understand the logic to Vladimir Putin’s dragging out a war that he could conclude instantly via decapitation strikes on the political and military leadership in Kiev.
 I called this process ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the full knowledge that the term is highly emotive. Indeed, one reader wrote to me directly, telling me that it is a form of ‘genocide.’ That goes to show how our language has been corrupted.‘Ethnic cleansing’ such as one can see going on in Donbas is saving lives rather than taking lives. It is precisely the opposite of the American way of war, meaning indiscriminate carpet bombing of territory that you intend to take possession of. Moreover, the ongoing ethnic cleansing has the support of the Ukrainian government: it is they who try to withdraw to safety behind Ukrainian lines the entire population of towns under threat of Russian seizure. Indeed some residents of such towns and hamlets head West under compulsory evacuations. Others head east to the Russian side. And a minority of the core populations, mostly the elderly who cannot move, stay put and await ‘liberation’ by advancing Russian troops... ..Russia will rebuild these hamlets and towns just as it has done in the heavily destroyed cities in the eastern territories of Donbas, so that they will soon be repopulated by loyal pro-Russians... ..I do not believe that this was a war objective in February 2022, which was more aboutcountering animminent threat of Ukrainian armed recovery of the Donbas from rebel forces, which would have amounted to murderous ethnic cleansing in the traditional sense. It was also about pushing NATO out of Ukraine and thereby removing a strategic threat to the Russian Federation.However, as the war evolved, objectives of the Kremlin also changed and reversing the Ukrainization of the Donbas rose as a new and achievable objective. However, this process has dragged on and on, while rising U.S. and NATO attacks on the Russian heartland now render untenable the slow meatgrinder activities.A decisive end to the war by decapitation of the Kievan junta becomes more urgent. And I believe such a strike will take place now that nearly all of the Donbas is in Russian hands and now that the September Duma elections are approaching. ‘Neutralizing’ the neo-Nazi junta in Kiev would steal victory for the United Russia party out of the jaws of defeat.

Armageddon Newsletter

Further thoughts on 'ethnic cleansing' as a Russian war objective

Further thoughts on ethnic cleansing in the Donbas as a Russian war objective…

2 months ago · 23 likes · 2 comments · Gilbert Doctorow

Leader of Germany’s most popular party wants to restore ties with Russia Bringing back cheap Russian energy would help the German economy recover, AfD leader Alice Weidel has said https://web.archive.org/web/20260630223220/https://www.rt.com/news/642417-germany-party-restore-ties-russia/

Their banner says,“When the power of love defeats the love of power, the world knows peace”.An audacious climb turned into a marriage proposal. The couple was soon arrested A daredevil couple scaled the Empire State Building’s antenna Wednesday and unfurled a banner about “the power of love” and peace, apparently as part of an audacious, high-altitude marriage proposal — soon followed by their arrest.
The Russian climbers, who go by Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, were the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story” about their “rooftopping” exploits and budding romance. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/an-audacious-climb-turned-into-a-marriage-proposal-the-couple-was-soon-arrested

World’s Largest Data Center Project On Verge Of Collapse After Blackstone Unexpectedly Pulls Out https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/worlds-largest-data-center-campus-verge-collapse-after-blackstone-unexpectedly-pulls-out

Centrus Energy Signs Billion Dollar Contract With DOE For Uranium Enrichment https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/centrus-energy-signs-billion-dollar-contract-doe-uranium-enrichment

Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-strikes-down-trumps-birthright-citizenship-curbs

FBI Mole Wore Wire Inside Newsom’s Inner Circle: Lawyer https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fbi-mole-wore-wire-inside-newsoms-inner-circle-lawyer

The deep-state project to kill Trump failed embarrasingly: Secret Service Missed 102 Warnings Before Trump Assassination Attempt In Butler: Report https://www.zerohedge.com/political/secret-service-missed-102-warnings-trump-assassination-attempt-butler-report

Outgoing UK PM “Proud To Have The GAYEST Parliament Of All Time Anywhere In The World”
“I don’t think there is any Parliament that is gayer than this Parliament” https://modernity.news/2026/07/01/outgoing-uk-pm-proud-to-have-the-gayest-parliament-of-all-time-anywhere-in-the-world/

I think this is sometimesdone to reduce risk of deadly violence: Watch: Shocking Footage Of Britain’s Two-Tier Policing In the latest sickening example of two-tier policing under Keir Starmer’s government, a female officer in Birmingham charged straight into a street attack, shielded the three black aggressors, and then turned her aggression on their white British victim - an inebriated teenager who had just been randomly assaulted.
While the attackers dispersed without consequence, multiple officers swarmed the white lad, barked obscenities at him, shoved him into a police car the wrong way round, and then dragged him back out again.
A bystander who tried to explain that the white kid was the victim was completely ignored. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-shocking-footage-britains-two-tier-policing

Pakistan has not been offered the right amount of money yet, have they? You Simply Will Not Believe This… A convicted predator who helped destroy the lives of vulnerable girls as young as 13 is days away from freedom in Britain, while Pakistan refuses to take him and archaic rules shield him from removal.
Shabir Ahmed’s case lays bare how legal technicalities, political cowardice, and a refusal to enforce borders have turned the country into a revolving door for the most dangerous offenders.
Ahmed, now 73, arrived in the UK long before 1973 as a Commonwealth citizen. He was convicted in 2012 at Liverpool Crown Court on multiple counts of rape, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault, and trafficking for sexual exploitation. He treated at least one victim as property, abusing her on an almost weekly basis. Part of a gang of nine men operating out of takeaways in the Heywood area of Rochdale, Ahmed and his associates targeted working-class girls from broken backgrounds. https://modernity.news/2026/06/30/you-simply-will-not-believe-this/

BREAKING:Multi-Year Study of 808 Embalmers Across 5 Countries Finds 75.2% Observed Unusual White Fibrous Clots in Corpses
The anomalous clots were estimated to be present in 23.4% of all embalmed corpses overall.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: Multi-Year Study of 808 Embalmers Across 5 Countries Finds 75.2% Observed Unusual White Fibrous Clots in Corpses

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

2 months ago · 380 likes · 117 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Lots of deaths after the first dose: VAERS data shows the original Gardasil vaccine was unsafe If the vaccines are safe, the number of deaths reported after dose 1 vs. dose 3 should be statistically similar. They were not the same. There was a 13-fold difference in death reports.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

VAERS data shows the original Gardasil vaccine was unsafe

Executive summary…

2 months ago · 257 likes · 85 comments · Steve Kirsch

Cancers adapt to treatments and treatments have to adjust, based on tumor response: Why Randomized Controlled Trials Are Poorly Suited to Testing Repurposed Drugs and Nutraceuticals in Cancer - The Case for Well-Conducted Observational Studies, Paul Marik MD

Paul Marik

Why Randomized Controlled Trials Are Poorly Suited to Testing Repurposed Drugs and Nutraceuticals in Cancer

Press Release Date May 26, 2026…

2 months ago · 109 likes · 23 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Paul Marik MD, Honokiol: The Natural Compound That Reaches the Brain and Targets Cancer Stem Cells

Paul Marik

Honokiol: The Natural Compound That Reaches the Brain and Targets Cancer Stem Cells

Honokiol is a small biphenolic compound extracted from the bark, seed cones, and leaves of the Magnolia officinalis and related Magnolia species. It has been used for centuries in traditional Asian medicine for anxiety, inflammation, and gastrointestinal disorders. Over the past two decades, honokiol has attracted considerable interest in oncology becau…

2 months ago · 119 likes · 14 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Eat your curry: Dr. Marik, Curcumin: Nature’s Most Powerful Anti-Cancer Compound Why this ancient spice targets cancer metabolism, cancer stem cells, inflammation, and the tumor microenvironment.

Paul Marik

Curcumin: Nature's Most Powerful Anti-Cancer Compound

2 months ago · 135 likes · 26 comments · Cancer & Metabolic Healing

Steve Kirsch, Worldwide government statistics show deaths increased sharply after the COVID shots rolled out Both peaks and troughs increased post COVID vaccine. It was supposed to go the other way if the shots worked.

Steve Kirsch's newsletter

Worldwide government statistics show deaths increased sharply after the COVID shots rolled out

Executive summary…

2 months ago · 299 likes · 74 comments · Steve Kirsch

Liability shield remains:HHS Terminates the COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization Declarations Covering mRNA Shots, Drugs, and Biologics
The COVID emergency framework is finally ending, but the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA injections have already moved beyond it.

FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™)

BREAKING: HHS Terminates the COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization Declarations Covering mRNA Shots, Drugs, and Biologics

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH…

2 months ago · 296 likes · 62 comments · Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Kennedy Ends Emergency Use Authorization for Covid Vaccines - HHS Secretary Kennedy Pulls Emergency Use Authorization for Covid Vaccines, ButInsures They’re Still Available for All Who Want Them

The MAHA Report

Kennedy Ends Emergency Use Authorization for Covid Vaccines

On Tuesday, June 30, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminated the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), the Food and Drug Administration’s Covid-era declaration used in public health emergencies that enables the government to expedite critical medical counter-measures, such as authorizing vaccines…

2 months ago · 342 likes · 35 comments · Louis Conte

”Target Fixation”: Why Drivers Hit Cyclists They Clearly See (I’m a Lawyer)

Climate Physicist, Anastassia Makarieva, They Are Working: Forests, Rainfall, and Rethinking “Sustainable Forestry” An edited MEER Podcast conversation on the biotic pump, intact forest resilience, the climatic work of natural ecosystems, and the pace of scientific change

Biotic Regulation and Biotic Pump

They Are Working: Forests, Rainfall, and Rethinking “Sustainable Forestry”

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Arjana Ejupi and Kathy Posey for the MEER Podcast about forests, atmospheric circulation, and the biotic pump…

2 months ago · 29 likes · 5 comments · Anastassia Makarieva

Gardening Couple squinting into the sun with new pea-patch

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