Bankers Take All

 Unsecured Creditors,

  The irrationality of the war between the US and Iran, in its current form, is only partly explained by the exigencies of Israeli political elites, who need expansive war to maintain political cooperation within Israel. They need the US to destroy their rival Iran, and the US needs to control Iranian oil, some of the last of the "easy oil", to support the "petrodollar", which is fading fast for lack of trust.

  Please consider that this is what the ultimate decline of fossil-fuel powered industrial economy is looking like, as peak industrial economy and peak "crude + condensates" (redefined oil) happened in late 2025, after a previous peak in November 2018. 

  "Global Warming" has nudged the world in a general direction of alternatives and extenders to fossil fuels. It has formulated those thoughts, but without speaking the unspeakable, that oil is finite, expensive to extract, and getting more expensive to the point that the rest of the economy can't work at those prices.

  COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 provided an economic test-shock, which probably helped improve economic modeling for this big reset, which is now underway. This is no longer intellectual for farmers in Asia and Ireland, as fertilizer and fuel shortages, and high prices, force them to reduce and delay planting food crops. Nature sanctions delays harshly with crop yield reductions. Lack of nitrogen fertilizers could reduce rice, corn and wheat yields by 2/3, causing famines and death.

  As humans, we are largely coordinated by our societal narratives, "control narratives", Plato's "noble lie". War, the threat of being killed, of one's town and family being captured or destroyed, is the strongest narrative for sudden change, but it exhausts people. 

  Here we go again.

  Gail Tverberg, at Our Finite World, April 24, 2025  Brace for rapid changes in the economy; the world economy is reaching Limits to Growth

The world economy is at a major turning point, which is why we should brace for rapid changes in the economy. The world is moving from having enough goods and services to go around, to not having enough to go around. The dynamics of the economy are very different with not enough to go around. The hoped-for solution of higher prices doesn’t fix the situation; after a point, adding more buying-power mostly produces inflation. Other solutions are needed. The world economy is reaching what has been called “Limits to Growth.”   https://gailtverberg.substack.com/p/brace-for-rapid-changes-in-the-economy-the-world-economy-is-reaching-limits-to-growth                                                                                                                                            

  Larry Johnson, Trump Refuses Exit Ramp, War with Iran will Continue

The negotiation between the US and Iran failed to reach an agreement. Although JD Vance headed the US team, he was never in control… I have heard from someone who was directly involved with this circus in Islamabad that Israeli agents — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — made certain that JD Vance would not follow his instincts and accept the deal that Iran had laid on the table. Israel’s role in sabotaging the US delegation was evident in Vance’s statement announcing the failure of the negotiations, when he falsely accused Iran of refusing to give up its alleged quest for a nuclear weapon. This is just a rehashed piece of Zionist propaganda.
  There were three (4) Iranian conditions that the US refused to accept: Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, an end to Israel’s attack on Lebanon and Hezbollah, unfreezing of Iran’s assets and retaining sovereignty over its supply of enriched uranium.    https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/p/trump-refuses-exit-ramp-war-with

  Naked Capitalism does not openly discuss the possibility that the US is just being given orders by Israel and has to make up "reasons" on the fly.   

Iran War: Negotiations Fail; US Provokes with Destroyer Entry into Strait, Perhaps Pointing to Next Kinetic Moves

  The US/Iran talks failed, predictably but perhaps faster than expected. Recall that a pause misleadingly called a ceasefire was set for two week to allow for settlement of disagreements and an end to the conflict. The session ended with JD Vance claiming that the US had made its “final and best offer.” There was no indication from either the US or Iran side that further discussion was in the works.
  The two sides had a ginormous chasm between their positions. Iran had not reason to either trust the US or make large concessions. The badly-enbubbled US leadership seems to believe one or both of two things. First, that the US has won and/or is winning, so (in a variant of “the Russians are running out of weapons”) if they can keep pressure on, Iran will soon fall into a heap. Second, that the continuation of the conflict will benefit key interest groups aligned with the Administration, such as fossil fuel players, defense contractors, and Silicon Valley...

..First, the US position is that Iran would not accept its terms, strongly implying that the US did not intend to negotiate. Vance depicts the main sticking points as Iran refusing to commit never to build a nuclear weapon. That is code for no enrichment, even for medical purposes, a position Iran has consistently rejected.

  Second, you may have noticed that Vance by implication saying Iran had to negotiate from the US position amounted to a disagreement over process, or what in Vietnam War negotiations was called the shape of the table. Iran had repeatedly maintained that it had preconditions for negotiation, such as the return of all of its frozen assets, an end to hostilities on all Middle East fronts, and acceptance of its sovereign control over the Strait of Hormuz. The Vance framing indicates that the US puts its fingers in its ears and said, “Nyah nyah nyah” to Iran’s procedural requirements.   https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/04/iran-war-negotiations-fail-us-provokes-with-destroyer-entry-into-strait-perhaps-pointing-to-next-kinetic-moves.html

  "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"...US Navy blockades Iran's blockade; world cries,"NO!": Trump Begins Blockade Of Hormuz Strait, Says Iran "Will Not Be Allowed To Profit From Extortion"    https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/uae-oil-chief-warns-world-cant-allow-hormuz-closure-2-tankers-u-turn-and-us-emerges-last

  Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-04-13

US-Iran Islamabad talks collapse after 21 hours; Trump announces Hormuz naval blockade starting today at 10 AM ET. The highest-level US-Iran direct contact since 1979 ended without agreement. Core impasse: Iran refused to commit to abandoning nuclear weapons capability; US demanded zero enrichment, full dismantlement, Hormuz reopening with no tolls. Trump immediately posted that the US Navy will blockade all ships entering or exiting Iranian ports. CENTCOM confirmed enforcement begins today.​..

​..UK and Australia refuse to join US Hormuz blockade. UK explicitly rejected Trump's claim it would send warships, says it's "urgently working with France" on a separate coalition for freedom of navigation. Australia says it's not considering joining. The US appears isolated in its blockade plan​...

​..Oil surges as peace collapses. Brent reported up 8%, WTI above $105/barrel at Sunday open per Kobeissi. European gas futures up 17%. S&P futures -1%, Nasdaq -1.3%. Korean 10-year bond futures dropped 72 ticks. Japan 10-year yield hit 2.49%, highest since 1997.​..

​..JustDario warns this is the worst oil supply shock in history, yet futures haven't even approached the 2008 ATH
Oil analyst Rory Johnston calls the widely-circulated "offset" numbers entirely bunk: reality is ~13 MMbpd of Gulf production offline with no sustainable offset; Trump's blockade would raise that above 15 MMbpd​...
​..Bab el-Mandeb closure risk rising: Glenn Diesen argues Yemen will likely close it if the US blocks Hormuz...

​..Erdogan threatens to "enter" Israel. Turkish president said "Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we will do exactly the same to them", the most explicit military threat by a NATO member against a US-aligned partner since Turkey's 1974 Cyprus operation. Netanyahu responded by calling Erdogan the "Hitler of our time"...

​..Israeli army chief ordered forces to prepare for possible resumption of war on Iran per Al Jazeera​...

​..Five escalations in 12 hours on April 12: talks collapsed, Trump blockaded, Erdogan threatened Israel, Iran's embassies mocked Vance, Araghchi announced a European diplomatic pivot to Berlin/Paris/London bypassing the US
​  Spain's PM Sanchez landed in Beijing for his 4th China visit the same weekend peace talks failed — while Trump threatens to cut all trade with Spain
​  Abu Dhabi Crown Prince arrived in Beijing for an official visit to deepen UAE-China ties...

​..Iran's Bitcoin toll system — the enforcement gap
Iran's IRGC collects tolls at ~$1/barrel in Bitcoin per vessel — ~$2M per fully loaded VLCC per shanaka86, citing Financial Times quotes from Iran's oil export union spokesperson​...
​  The GENIUS Act covers USDT/USDC but not Bitcoin. Naval blockade covers the strait but not a wallet address. The IRGC operates in the gap between both enforcement architectures
​ Chainalysis confirmed IRGC wallet activity exceeded $3B in 2025, ~50% of Iran's total crypto ecosystem
​  Conversion chain: Bitcoin → USDT via OTC brokers in Dubai/Istanbul/Hong Kong → Kunlun Bank via CIPS → yuan → goods from Chinese suppliers. Seven jurisdictions, three blockchains, two fiat currencies, zero points where the US financial system can intervene​...

​..Orban concedes historic defeat in Hungary. Peter Magyar's Tisza party won with a two-thirds supermajority (~69%, 138 seats), ending Orban's 16-year rule. Magyar pledges to restore full EU/NATO participation. Von der Leyen: "Hungary has chosen Europe". India's Modi, Germany's Merz, Poland's Tusk all congratulated Magyar. Record voter turnout exceeded all post-communist elections.​  https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-13

  Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-04-12

US-Iran talks collapse after 21-hour marathon in Islamabad. Vance left with a "final and best offer" that Iran shows no sign of accepting. Iran refused to commit to zero enrichment; US refused to budge on Hormuz control, nuclear disarmament, or a Lebanon ceasefire...

..Iran still controls Strait of Hormuz; US mine-clearing is more PR than progress. Iran cannot locate all the mines it deployed per NYT/Kobeissi. US sent two destroyers (DDG-121, DDG-112) into the strait, but Iran denies they crossed and claims they turned back after a 15-minute warning...

..China preparing MANPADs delivery to Iran per CNN citing three US intelligence sources... likely FN-6  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN-6   ...

..Pakistan deploys 13,000 troops and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia under a joint strategic defence agreement, with plans to scale to 50,000 per South Asia Index and First Squawk. Pakistan simultaneously repaying $3.5B to UAE...

..Ireland fuel crisis escalating. ~500 of 1,200 fuel stations running dry per UNN. Army deployed to tow tractors, riot police in Galway, pepper spray used at oil refinery per Lord Bebo. Protests now in 5th day with farmers, truckers, and bikers united. France reportedly joining blockades...

..Central bank gold holdings surpassed valuation-adjusted USD reserves for the first time — gold at $3.87T vs USD at $3.73T per Kobeissi
  USD now ~46% of global FX and gold reserves, lowest in 26 years, down 15 points since 2017...
..Gary Savage: 13-year base breakout, parabolic angle of ascent, $10,000 gold target...

..US consumer/economy: the vibes are terrible
U of Michigan Consumer Sentiment hit all-time low — worse than 1980 when inflation was 14.4%
  43.5% of consumers expect unemployment to rise within a year, 2nd highest since pandemic
US debt: 18 cents of every dollar of revenue goes to interest, CBO projects 25 cents by 2035
  Healthcare carrying US job growth — sector up 84% since 1996, manufacturing down 27%   https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-12

  Ellen Brown, All Wars Are Bankers’ Wars: Iran and the Bankers’ Endgame  

In February 2026, the United States and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Iran. The officially proffered reasons — preventing Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon and forestalling its aggression — have not held up under scrutiny... 

..The thesis that “All Wars Are Bankers’ Wars” was popularized by Michael Rivero in a 2013 documentary by that name...  Rivero then traces how private banking interests have financed and profited from conflicts on both sides for centuries — from the founding of the Bank of England in 1694 to fund William III’s wars to modern regime-change wars...

..Gen. Wesley Clark revealed that weeks after 9/11, he had been shown a classified Pentagon memo outlining plans to “take out seven countries in five years”: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and finishing off with Iran. The first six have since been destabilized or regime-changed. Iran, considered the ultimate prize for Middle East dominance and oil control, remains the last one standing.

  Why those seven, and why was Iran the ultimate prize? Greg Palast’s 2013 article titled “Larry Summers and the Secret ‘End-Game’ Memo” supplied the missing financial logic. In 1999, the world was opened to unregulated derivatives trading, so that sovereign bonds, oil flows, shipping routes, and war-risk policies could all be collateralized, rehypothecated (pledged multiple times over), and gambled upon. The lynchpin was the 1997 WTO Financial Services Agreement (the Fifth Protocol to GATS), which became operational in 1999.
  None of the seven targeted countries joined the WTO, and they were also not members of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). That left them outside the long regulatory arm of the central bankers’ central bank in Switzerland. Other countries that were later identified as “rogue states” were also not members of the BIS, including North Korea, Cuba, and Afghanistan.
  As for Iran, it is not only the largest and strongest of the Islamic countries but operates the world’s only fully interest-free (riba-free) banking regime. This stands in direct contrast to the conventional Western model, which relies on interest as its primary revenue mechanism. “Money making money out of itself” underpins the global derivatives complex, which is built on rehypothecated, collateralized debt-at-interest.

  The last piece in the financial control grid was detailed in David Rogers Webb’s 2024 book The Great Taking. The Everything Bubble, including what some commentators estimate to be more than a quadrillion dollars in derivative bets, is just waiting for a pin. When it bursts, it will trigger large institutional bankruptcies; and under the legal machinery Webb documents, the derivative players will take all...

..Financial analyst Stephanie Pomboy warns that the $1.5-3 trillion private credit market is in lockdown, forcing fire sales of liquid assets; and the much larger $5 trillion BBB-rated corporate bond market is teetering. Downgrades will force mass selling, and pensions face a $4 trillion shortfall.
  The Hormuz crisis supplies the perfect accelerant to this collateral crisis: higher oil prices create inflation, which raises bond yields (interest), collapsing the value of collateral and triggering margin calls across the derivatives game board. Margin calls then force private credit funds into fire sales.
  This is one reason some commentators point to the City of London as the real architect of the Middle East chaos. The old war-insurance machine and the new derivatives machine operate together. One creates the chaos premium; the other harvests it through rehypothecation and legal seizure...

..The WTO Financial Services Agreement became the battering ram for opening global markets to this derivative play. Every member nation was forced to open its banking system or face sanctions. In 1999, the portion of Glass-Steagall separating investment banking from depository banking in the U.S. was repealed, leaving depositors’ money vulnerable to speculative risk. Derivatives then exploded. Sovereign bonds, oil contracts, shipping insurance policies, and war-risk premiums were all sliced into credit-default swaps, hedges, and other derivative products.
  Derivatives trading has since become one of the most concentrated and profitable businesses on the planet, and it is almost entirely controlled by a handful of megabanks. According to data from the Bank for International Settlements and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the top five U.S. banks alone hold roughly 90% of all U.S. bank derivatives, with JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley dominating the global over-the-counter market...

..In The Great Taking, David Rogers Webb lays bare the final piece in this financial control grid: virtually every security today is dematerialized (digitized) and pooled in central depositories. Quiet changes to the Uniform Commercial Code and equivalent E.U. rules have turned ordinary investors into mere “entitlement holders” holding only a legal claim against their brokerages.
  As for bank depositors, they have for centuries been categorized as mere “creditors” of their banks. Once the money is deposited, legal title passes to the bank...

..In any insolvency, stocks, bonds, and deposits are legally collateral for the derivatives complex — collateral that has been rehypothecated multiple times over. And when the derivative collateral fails, the rehypothecated house of cards that has been built on it collapses. Margin calls cascade, super-priority is triggered, and the Great Taking begins...

..Iran’s system was designed to eliminate usury and align finance with real economic activity and risk-sharing rather than speculative debt. It has long been viewed as structurally incompatible with the interest-based, collateral-heavy architecture of City of London and Wall Street finance — an architecture that requires perpetual debt servicing and easily rehypothecated assets to feed the derivatives machine.
  By rejecting interest at the national level, Iran has thus insulated itself and its financial partners from the control grid that has made the global “Great Taking” possible...

..President Trump’s $20 billion reinsurance facility announced on March 6 is now operational and has been doubled to $40 billion. Additional major U.S. insurers have joined, while Lloyd’s of London has engaged in related discussions. The facility remains centered on American carriers with U.S. government backing. But analysts doubt it will restart widespread commercial traffic without broader liability protection and safer conditions.
  In short, the “insurance chaos” trigger has eased but has not vanished. Premiums remain elevated, uncertainty lingers, and the collateral and derivatives pressures Webb described are still in play...

..The 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) is now widely regarded as having been triggered by the unchecked explosion of unregulated derivatives — especially credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations — which turned subprime mortgages into a systemic time bomb. The damage was not confined to the United States: developing countries suffered heavily as well.
  Today the risk of a crash is even greater than during the GFC. The global OTC derivatives market has officially ballooned to a notional value of $846 trillion, more than seven times the size of the entire world economy...

..The immediate need in the current context is to settle the conflict with Iran, and settle it fast, before another black-swan shock ignites the derivatives daisy chain and activates the final Great Taking on a global scale.   https://scheerpost.com/2026/04/10/all-wars-are-bankers-wars-iran-and-the-bankers-endgame/

  Alex Krainer's view on the same relationship: Iran: war to the death

The war is not about democracy, nuclear programs or women's rights. It's the final clash between Empire and the rest of humanity in which neither side can yield: it will be fought to one side's death

  Targeting China’s Belt and Road infrastructure
Col. Wilkerson, who previously served as the Chief of Staff to the U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, agreed and stated the following about one of the priority targets of the U.S. - Israeli bombing campaign (abridged):
  [16-min. mark] “We’re bombing the hell out of that railroad that China had finished, all the way to the Persian Gulf, and was going to come up to the belly of the Caucasus… They’re bombing it. They’re bombing the bejeezus out of it. Every day they’re bombing that railroad. … That’s because they know where that railroad is going.
  And that railroad … will take 60% of the commerce that China now generates, which is probably about 40% of the world’s commerce, off the seas, where America has domain, if you will - or thinks it still does - and put it on land. We don’t want that. We don’t want that at all...”
  The railroad Wilkerson was referring to is the China-Iran Railway, also known as the China-Iran rail corridor or the Xi’an–Tehran rail link, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative). The railroad was built by China as the key overland freight corridor (roughly 10,400 km / 6,500 miles total from Xi’an in China to the Aprin dry port near Tehran) funded and heavily supported by China... The rail line opened in June 2025 and was designed to transport Iranian oil, goods, and freight to China and beyond much faster than sea routes, cutting some 15 to 20 days off shipping times, while bypassing chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz and Malacca Strait. Earlier this month [April 2026], the U.S. and Israel conducted airstrikes on multiple segments and bridges along this railroad as part of a wider campaign, hitting 8 to 10 railway bridges and lines...

..To understand the importance of why the empire should be so anxious about the China-Iran railway, we have to examine Western empire’s long-term geopolitical imperatives. The war against Iran is only the last episode in more than two decades of permanent imperial wars in the region...  The real strategic objective of the empire’s war against Iran are the same as the war against Russia in Ukraine, the looming conflict over Taiwan and multiple other conflicts smouldering across Asia and Africa: it is the imperative of preserving the empire’s hegemony over the Eurasian continent. This geopolitical strategy was the brainchild of the British Empire, which has been adopted by its American reincarnation...

..In 1904, following an extensive study of world history and geography, British scholar and statesman Sir Halford Mackinder published a seminal paper titled, “The Geographical Pivot of History,” in which he argued that the British Empire’s exclusive focus on sea power was misguided and that the destiny of the world would be shaped by a land power...  Optimum conditions were only to be found in the inner regions of Eurasia which he named the Pivot Area: a large expanse roughly encompassing Russia, the Caucasus region, Kazakhstan, Iran, and Afghanistan...

..What made the Pivot Area strategic was that it could emerge as an independently viable economic power, capable of spawning a rival empire, especially with improvements in its internal communications and transport that were then being introduced with the Trans-Siberian railway. The nation that was seen as best positioned to emerge as that pivot land power was Russia...

.."The oversetting of the balance of power in favor of the pivot state, resulting in its expansion over the marginal lands of Euro-Asia, would permit of the use of vast continental resources for fleet-building, and the empire of the world would then be in sight. This might happen if Germany were to ally herself with Russia.”...

..Mackinder suggested surrounding the Pivot Area with a crescent of crisis flashpoints and inducing nations like Italy, Egypt, India and Korea to bait the pivot power into an unending series of exhausting, crippling quagmires. Over the ensuing decades, the geography of the designated flashpoints evolved with changing geopolitical opportunities (with creation of new nations like Israel, Syria, Jordan, Ukraine, Pakistan, Bangladesh…) and Mackinder’s language evolved accordingly... He renamed the Pivot Area as “the Heartland,” and spelled out its significance in more blunt and less oracular terms:  “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-island; who rules the World-island controls the world.“ By World-island, Mackinder was referring to the Eurasian landmass. Dominating this landmass remained the Empire’s undying obsession...

..By the end of World War I, when the empire had exhausted its British host, the parasitic cabal moved to infiltrate a new host: the United States. As they did so, they brought their designs for world domination along and made their own policy objectives America’s objectives.
  One of Mackinder’s disciples was Henry Kissinger. Together with his protégé Zbigniew Brzezinski, Kissinger founded the Trilateral Commission...

..Kissinger and Brzezinski were instrumental in grafting British geopolitics onto the American foreign policy. In his 1997 book, “The Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski wrote that, “For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia…” In the same text, he demystifies the reasons behind the empire’s Eurasian obsession:
  “Eurasia is the globe’s largest continent and is geopolitically axial. A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world’s three most advanced and economically productive regions. … About 75% of the world’s people live in Eurasia and most of the world’s physical wealth is there as well." ...

..The ultimate incentive behind imperial wars is, and always has been, the quest for collateral (resource wealth and slave labor)...

..The cold reality of the whole Zionist project is far more sinister: the creation of Israel in 1948 has been little more than British Empire’s geopolitical gambit. Long before the holocaust took place in Nazi Germany, Sir Arthur Balfour issued his famous memo to Lord Walter Rothschild, which is for some reason accepted as a valid legal basis for the creation of a whole new country. 

  The real agenda was spelled out by Mackinder:
“If the world-island be inevitably the principal seat of humanity on this globe, and if Arabia, as the passage-land from Europe to the Indies and from the northern to the southern heartland, be central to the world-island, then the hill-citadel of Jerusalem has a strategical position with reference to world realities not different … from its ideal position in the perspective of the middle ages, or its strategical position between ancient Babylon and Egypt.”
  These musings were corroborated by the alumni of Alfred Milner’s Round Table in a November 1915 article published by the Manchester Guardian. They explained that “the whole future of the British Empire as a Sea Empire” depended upon Palestine becoming a buffer state inhabited “by an intensely patriotic race.” Note, this was before World War II and even before the very important Balfour memo.

  With regards to that piece of paper, Mackinder stated the following:
“The Jewish national seat in Palestine will be one of the most important outcomes of the war. That is a subject on which we can now afford to speak the truth [note, it is exceedingly rare that British imperial cabal ever felt they could afford to speak the truth]…A national home at the physical and historical center of the world, should make the Jew ‘range’ himself…” ... Sadly, very few among Israel’s “intensely patriotic race,” appreciate the depraved cynicism with which they have been lured into that role.                                                                                                                                                               I believe this reality is well understood today, imposing a stark choice on all independent-minded nations: either they’ll unite in their resistance, or they’ll be picked off one by one by the imperial forces and their proxies. Iran therefore can’t afford to yield, and neither can Russia or China. For the empire, access to new collateral is existential and it will never cease to pursue it at any cost. Until, that is, its own complete destruction.   https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/iran-war-to-the-death

Frances Leader, WHO OWNS THE CENTRAL BANKS?  And what are their principle objectives?   https://francesleader.substack.com/p/who-owns-the-central-banks

  Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill seven
Gaza's civil defence agency reported on Saturday that Israeli airstrikes in the Palestinian territory had killed seven people overnight, with the military saying it had struck an "armed terrorist cell".  https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260411095322.727v9vgp.html

  I think the danger is revealing the end of Bibi's life lastmonth:Shin Bet chief reportedly tells court PM can’t testify at trial over danger to life

Zini said to claim Iranian agents may take advantage of Netanyahu’s testimony to harm him; watchdog notes previous Shin Bet head refused PM’s request to make such a submission   https://www.timesofisrael.com/shin-bet-chief-reportedly-tells-court-pm-cant-testify-at-trial-over-danger-to-life/

Report: Sexual violence in Israel’s prisons is an “organized state policy”    https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/11/361128/

Health ministry: Over 21,000 Gaza patients await treatment abroad as Israel blocks travel   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/11/361112/

Israeli colonists attack farmers in al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah   https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/169249?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Child and young man injured in attack by colonists in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron   https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169293?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Settlers set fire to home, IOF kidnaps Palestinians in W. Bank   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/11/361089/

EU: Israeli decision to establish over 30 settlements in West Bank illegal, undermines peace prospects   https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/169267?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

New Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills infant girl during father's funeral   https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/04/12/766714/New-Israeli-strike-on-south-Lebanon-kills-infant-girl-during-father-s-funeral

Russia & Ukraine Exchange 350 POWs As Orthodox Easter Truce Holds   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-ukraine-exchange-350-pows-orthodox-easter-truce-holds

  Orban will lead parliamentary opposition. Trump/Vance endorsements failed: Orbán Concedes: 16-Year Fidesz Rule Collapses In Historic Hungarian Landslide      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/orban-concedes-16-year-fidesz-rule-collapses-historic-hungarian-landslide

Is this about the government shielding of Pakistani rape gangs? London Mayor Sadiq Khan Calls For A Government Social Media 'Disinformation' Unit   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-calls-government-social-media-disinformation-unit

Gen Z Americans Grow More Skeptical And Angry About AI, Survey Finds   https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/gen-z-americans-grow-more-skeptical-and-angry-about-ai-survey-finds

   Present company excluded, of course ;-}  Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence

The sycophantic (flattering, people-pleasing, affirming) behavior of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, which has been designed to increase user engagement, poses risks as people increasingly seek advice about interpersonal dilemmas... Cheng et al. measured the prevalence of social sycophancy across 11 leading large language models (see the Perspective by Perry). The model’s responses were nearly 50% more sycophantic than humans’, even when users engaged in unethical, illegal, or harmful behaviors. Users preferred and trusted sycophantic AI responses, incentivizing AI developers to preserve sycophancy despite the risks.   https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec8352

 "Muthaf***in’ Robot Dog In The Muthaf***in’ Hood"​ - Atlanta residents react to the new robot dogs patrolling their apartment parking lot

They speak to the dog and there seems to be a live operator talking back​. The person speaking very clearly is likely in India based on the accent​   https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/muthafin-robot-dog-muthafin-hood 

​  Jessica Rose Ph.D. is locked out of X. Substack throws subscribers off my list for the past 2 years:  I am locked out of my X account - I am sure it's simply "a coincidence"   https://jessicar.substack.com/p/i-am-locked-out-of-my-x-account

 Not hurting me... Even Big Food Can’t Ignore the Science: Ultraprocessed Foods Are Killing Us
A growing body of research shows that people who eat more ultraprocessed foods face higher risks of illness and early death. With findings now consistent across large studies, Big Food faces increasing pressure to respond.   https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/big-food-cant-ignore-science-ultraprocessed-foods-killing-us/

Paul Marik MD on complimentary treatment approach to inexpensively targeting cancer cells without harming healthy tissues: The Metabolic Trap   https://substack.com/home/post/p-190877248

  ‘It Was Not Fine’: CHD’s Brian Hooker Describes What Happened to His Son After a Nurse Said It Was ‘Fine’ to Give the Toddler Multiple Vaccines
Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Children’s Health Defense, said he was “happy and proud” to follow the childhood vaccine schedule. When his son, now an adult, was 15 months old, he followed the pediatrician’s advice to administer multiple vaccines during a well-baby visit, even though the toddler had an ear infection. That advice led to a severe reaction, regression and finally, an autism diagnosis.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/brian-hooker-son-autism-diagnosis-multiple-vaccines-experience-miracles-podcast/

  More Parents Seek Out ‘Vaccine-Friendly’ Pediatricians Who Will ‘Simply Answer Their Questions’
Dr. Osvaldo Villarreal, a Texas primary care doctor who has been treating children for over 14 years, said his practice grew after the COVID-19 pandemic. “It woke up a lot of parents, and they will not just simply comply.” Villarreal warned that pediatricians who refuse to treat children whose parents won’t vaccinate are “going to make themselves extinct.”   https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/more-parents-seek-vaccine-friendly-pediatricians-simply-answer-questions/

  Watch: Censorship Delayed Publication of Peer-Reviewed Study Linking COVID Vaccines to Blood Cancer, Authors Allege
The authors of a peer-reviewed study mapping possible links between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and blood-related cancers said they faced an uphill battle to publish their findings. John Campbell, Ph.D., said the struggle to publish the research reveals the “great difficulty in getting things published if they don’t fit the mainstream narrative.”   https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccines-blood-cancer-peer-reviewed-study-censorship-delayed-publication/

  ‘Textbook Conflict of Interest’: Did Blackstone Pressure FDA to Reverse Course on Moderna mRNA Flu Vaccine?
In 2024, Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative assets manager, launched a $750 million investment in Moderna to support the development of its mRNA flu vaccine. In February, the FDA rejected a review of the vaccine’s Phase 3 clinical trial. By early March, the head of the agency’s vaccine division was gone from the FDA, and the review was back on.   https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/blackstone-pressure-fda-reverse-course-moderna-mrna-flu-vaccine/

​Attenuated Voice (still standing in the spring garden)

Precariously Balanced

 Taking A Deep Breath,

  There are so many weak points in the politics of all parties to the wars in the world now, that each party must guard, constraining room for maneuver and attack. Additionally, too much of an attack upon another party might trigger a desperate response. An attempt tocut off the ability to respond may trigger the feared response. 

  Frenemy alliances are apparent, as may be the case between Trump and Netanyahu (if he still lives), and is clearly the case between Trump and Macron, Starmer & Merz.

  All of this occurs in the context of declining total global real economy, which economy is built upon oil, gas and coal, with other mined minerals. It is fed by mechanized agriculture, with 2/3 of the grain output derived from fertilizers, which are derived from oil and natural gas. 

  Many people barely survive on the food supplied through these expedients, and they are threatened with death by starvation. Other people continue to be under direct, genocidal military attack. 

  These threats of starvation and genocides-in-progress are increasingly disturbing to the gentle citizens of western liberal democratic nations. This disturbance to the bodies-politic is still increasing. People see the deaths of the innocent and helpless, and see themselves and their own families, as threatened. 

  In the present wars, Russian forces are grinding forward slowly in Ukraine, not making sudden moves, not spooking European leaders or banks into any sudden moves.

  Israel as a political state is riven with discord. Israeli families and businesses are extremely fatigued of the war. Israelis see their own mobilized-reservist family members pressed into extended duty on the new Lebanese battlefields, where they are taking significant losses. More are being called up. Ultra-Orthodox Israelis are not yet pressed into this involuntary service. 

  Benjamin Netanyahu, might have been killed in early March, as might have been Itamar Ben-Gvir. They now present as questionable video apparitions.  

What could possibly be a workable political reset within Israel? It would have to be arranged quietly first, before revealing these leaders to be deceased. It would have to give something to the far-right and religious factions they represent, but not the continuance of war. They would have to accept it as a "win". The negotiators for those parties would need to know their weakened position during negotiations, but keep the secret until later. 

  Could such a secret be kept? How might Netanyahu's trial figure into that? The procedings can be closed for security  reasons... the clock is ticking.

  Iran is in a chronically bad political state, from decades of US economic sanctions and covert military attacks. The government is widely unpopular because it has treated the people repressively, as if a hot war was ongoing for these decades. High inflation, unemployment, and scarce food and fuel have been ubiquitous. 

  Under current US and Israeli attacks, the IRGC seems to be in a stable, arrangement for prolonged attritional-war, receiving supplies and targeting information from China and Russia via secure overland routes. Iran needs to outlast Israel, and outlast the American news cycle, which is increasingly hard upon Trump and incumbant Republicans. 

  This is a midterm election year, and gas prices keep rising. The worse economic consequences have yet to hit. Can they be delayed until mid November?

  European globalist leaders are finished following American leaders, but they have been left in a ditch with no winch to pull them out. They accepted being cut off from Russian oil and gas, and now they have nothing, not even their pride, as Trump insults them unchivalrously in public They cringe  as Trump demands extorniate rates for inadequate supplies of these critical resources for their collapsing industrial economies. They can't yet admit that they need Russia.

  European nationalist leaders are under direct attack from EU globalists, and they have to live through it. Hungary's Orban faces his most difficult election Sunday, which has had heavy EU social media influencing against him, and polling results (artificially?) showing him behind, which is to be used against him should he win in the ballot counts.

  This weekend should entail a holding pattern for war fronts, with Orthodox Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, Hungarian elections, and peace talks between the US, Israel and Iran in Pakistan, while Israel is holding its fire in Lebanon to allow the talks with Iran to proceed. Israelis need the breather from Iranian missiles and drones, since they and the US are essentially defenseless against Iranian heavy  missile attacks now. 

  Israel will have direct negotiations with the Lebanese government in Washington this coming week, a rare thing. They have been at war since 1948 and lack formal diplomatic relations. Israel has never respected any ceasefire agreements with Lebanon to date, and is intent upon carving out a "buffer zone" from southern Lebanon, at the expense of all of the people who have homes there. 

  The government of Lebanon is not able to negotiate for the real Lebanese army, which is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a party in the Lebanese Parliament, but the Lebanese government is a weak and factionalized construct, left to them by their former colonial masters in France. 

  Israel has always refused to negotiate with Hezbollah, and has impossibly demanded that Lebanon disarm Hezbollah, a poson-pill to any agreement.

  Israel does not have an economic plan for the future after expansionist-wars, except IMEC (India Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor), whereby flows of oil, gas, data, trade and banking from India and the Mideast, to Europe, are controlled through Haifa, Israel. All other alternate trade routes need to be suppressed to make this one work for Israel (Looking at You, Iran).   https://escapekey.substack.com/p/stranded-in-haifa

  Overall, the US-Israel are stocking up on air-defense systems and bombs, while aircraft carriersapproach theeater of operations presaging more attacks and a ground operation in the near future. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE have recently attacked Iran, "standing shoulder to shoulder" with the US & Israel.

  [I must wonder if Trump might decide to step down and let JD Vance take over the presidency in October, fall upon his sword to save the Republicans in midterm elections, but it is just a thought. Trump has never shown any inclination towards anything like that.]

​  ‘Nightmare for Civilians’: Israel Inflicts 1,400+ Casualties on Lebanon War’s Deadliest Day
“Civilians in Lebanon are already paying an unbearable price with children, health workers, and journalists amongst those killed—the latest attacks will only escalate this devastating human toll,” said one campaigner.​   https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-lebanon-civilian-slaughter

​  Iran rejects Islamabad talks amid ongoing war on Lebanon
Iranian sources told Al Mayadeen that reports of a negotiating delegation arriving in Islamabad are false, adding that no talks will take place while the war on Lebanon continues.​   https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-denies-islamabad-talks-amid-ongoing-war-on-lebanon--exc

​  Trump 'Preparing' US Military If Talks Fail, Proclaims Iran Has 'No Cards' - As Tehran Demands End To IDF Attacks On Lebanon

Iran makes clear Lebanon fighting must end or else Pakistan talks "meaningless" - as its delegation arrives in 'locked down' Pakistan. Speculation abounds related to ongoing Pentagon transport flights into Mideast region.
​  Trump threatens more military action if Iran doesn't 'comply', says Iran has 'no cards' - also as Israel-Lebanon talks scheduled in Washington next week. US delegation headed by Vance en route to Islamabad.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pakistan-streets-lockdown-iran-delegation-arrives-us-talks-fighting-hasnt-ceased

​Iran's Press TV: Qalibaf: ‘Time running out’ for US-Israel to honor ceasefire, stop attacks on Lebanon   https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/04/09/766558/Iran%E2%80%99s-Parliament-speaker-warns--%E2%80%98Time-running-out%E2%80%99-for-US-Israel-to-honor-ceasefire

​  Lebanon says ceasefire must be in place before Israel talks

A senior official in the Lebanese president's office has told the BBC that Lebanon will participate in direct negotiations with Israel next week only if there is a ceasefire in place beforehand...​

..In a statement addressed to residents of northern Israel on Thursday night, Benjamin Netanyahu said there was "no ceasefire in Lebanon".
He added that "after repeated requests from the Lebanese government to open peace negotiations with us, I instructed the cabinet last night to open direct negotiations with Lebanon in order to achieve two goals: One - disarming Hezbollah. And the second - a historic and sustainable peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon".
​  Direct talks between Lebanon and Israel would be highly unusual, with the two countries historically communicating through intermediaries. Efforts to establish negotiations have been ongoing since a ceasefire agreement in November 2024, with US envoys previously mediating indirect talks between the two sides.

​  In Beirut, rescue teams are continuing to recover bodies after the heaviest Israeli air strikes since the start of the latest fighting.
​  More than 300 people were killed and over 1,000 wounded, according to Lebanon's health ministry, when Israeli jets carried out a 10-minute blitz across Lebanon on Wednesday.​ The IDF said it had targeted "100+ Hezbollah headquarters, military arrays, & command-and-control centres".​  [AKA: "apartments buildings"]​    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93en5q2zl3o

  "We'll talk while bombing your children."  Netanyahu orders 'direct negotiations with Lebanon under fire'
Israel is refusing to pause its bombardment of Lebanon during any direct negotiations, with one Israeli official saying talks will take place "under fire"​   https://www.newarab.com/news/netanyahu-orders-direct-negotiations-lebanon-under-fire

  ​Friday 4/10/26: At least 14 killed in Israeli air strikes across southern Lebanon

World Food Programme says situation in Lebanon is ‘rapidly becoming a food security crisis’ amid Israeli attacks.​   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/10/israel-strikes-residential-areas-destroys-homes-in-southern-lebanon

​  Iran War: Ceasefire Negotiations a Ruse to Buy Time for Ground Attack as Hormuz Stays Closed

The apparent slowdown in Iran war developments due to pending negotiations over an already-broken two week ceasefire is illusory. The damage to the real economy compounds with every day the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, and now at a faster rate since tankers and bulk carrier carrying pre-war cargoes from the Persian Gulf have now all made their deliveries. As we’ll soon explain, conditions on the energy front have gotten even worse due to fresh Iran strikes against Saudi facilities reducing output.
​  As we and many others surmised, the direct talks between the US and Iran set for Saturday in Islamabad look more and more to be a trick. The US continues to increase force levels in the theater. And it is not credible that the US did not understand that that Iran required the ceasefire to include all fronts, and explicitly, Lebanon. Trump and Netanyahu agreed that Israel did not have to comply. Iranians and other supporters are angry that Iran solicited and got Hezbollah support, yet Iran has not intervened after the vicious and large-scale Israeli strikes into Lebanon. Today, Hezbollah has struck back hard but that does not answer questions about why Iran has chosen to hold its fire.​   https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/04/iran-war-ceasefire-negotiations-a-ruse-to-buy-time-for-ground-attack-as-hormuz-stays-closed-hezbollah-hits-israel-hard-after-savage-bombing-saudis-move-back-syria-against-israel.html

​  Speculation Surges That Pakistan Talks Are A Delay Tactic Ahead Of Expanded US Action On Iran

Trump has vowed to keep troops positioned for a fight "until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with." As direct US-Iran talks are set for Islamabad Saturday morning, there's been an avalanche of speculation that the ceasefire could be 'cover' for a greater Pentagon force build-up and bigger impending operation...
..With a two week timeline in place to reach a deal, is this interim period merely for rearming and regrouping of forces on each side?
Clearly, the US wasn't prepared for the fierce, sustained Iranian counter-attack on American regional bases and Gulf allies.
​  Open-source data of military logistics flights between the US, Europe, and the Mideast region suggests there is indeed an ongoing build-up and posturing of forces happening on the eve of the Pakistan summit.
​  Still, it's clear that Trump needs an offramp, or else face the kind of endless military quagmire which would likely inevitably lead to the GOP getting decimated in next fall's midterm Congressional elections.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/speculation-surges-pakistan-talks-are-delay-tactic-ahead-expanded-us-action-iran

​  Netanyahu’s Likud takes hit in polls, which show most Israelis oppose Iran ceasefire
With dip in support for ruling party, TV surveys show Zionist factions opposed to PM closer to, but still short of, Knesset majority; 79% of respondents back continued fighting in Lebanon​   https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-likud-takes-hit-in-polls-which-show-most-israelis-oppose-iran-ceasefire/

U.S. Initiates Major Upgrade For Israeli F-35 Stealth Fighters Amid Ceasefire with Iran​   https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-initiates-major-upgrade-israeli-f35

​  Gold & Geopolitics, Daily Digest:​ 2026-04-10

Ceasefire collapsing: Iran conditions Lebanon inclusion or walks. Iran's President Pezeshkian publicly stated continued Israeli aggression in Lebanon "will render negotiations meaningless"...​ CBS reports Bibi personally convinced Trump to exclude Lebanon from the deal after initially agreeing to include it.

​  Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed for energy. Traffic running at less than 10% of normal... Iran limiting to 15 vessels/day max per TASS, roughly 10% of pre-war throughput. Iran's parliament speaker: "We will take management of the Strait to a new phase".

​  Lebanon massacre: 254 killed, 1,200+ wounded in 10 minutes. Israel launched its heaviest single day of strikes since the war began. South Beirut saw mass exodus. Multiple countries - China, Russia, Pakistan, France, Spain, UK, Germany - all calling for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire.

​  Trump furious about Hormuz fees: "That is not the agreement we have!"

IRGC deeply fractured on ceasefire per FT; many factions "strongly opposed"
​  Iran demands unfreezing of assets within two weeks per TASS
Iran denies launching any attacks during ceasefire; says any strikes were "without a doubt" Israeli or US

​  Three US carrier groups converging on the Middle East timed to ceasefire expiry

13M bbl/d production losses, demand must fall by COVID-scale amounts; physical barrels trading $130-140+
​  Saudi production capacity lost 600K b/d from pipeline attacks
"Tehran Tollbooth" could generate Iran $500B over five years per Reuters analyst

​  Europe has only 10 days of fuel supplies remaining per Corriere della Sera; air travel disruptions possible this summer
Russia's oil revenue doubling to $9B in April per Reuters - sanctions now functioning as "anti-Europe sanctions"
​  Germany resuming talks with Iran after previously declaring "mullah regime finished"
​Spain reopening embassy in Tehran

​  Xi Jinping met Taiwan's KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun in Beijing - first meeting in 9+ years
Xi: "Full confidence" Chinese and Taiwanese people will be united
​  Zhao DaShuai analysis: "newly found confidence in peaceful reunification" driven by US military weakness shown in Iran
China pushed Iran toward ceasefire to score diplomatic capital with Trump on Taiwan per WSJ​   https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-10

​  Israeli Missile Interceptors Have Dwindled to “Double Digits”: Trump Administration Official
The decreasing supply of interceptors has left Israel increasingly dependent on the missile defense capabilities of the U.S. Navy​   https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israeli-missile-interceptors-iran-war

​Left out in office-trailers: Army survivors of deadly attack in Kuwait dispute Pentagon's account, say unit "was unprepared" to defend itself   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-war-kuwait-drone-attack-survivors-us-army/

​  Israel bombed Gaza on 36 of the past 40 days while the war raged in Iran
In that short time, Israel killed at least 107 people, permitted only 8 percent of medical evacuations, and admitted just 20 percent of trucks.​   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/9/israel-bombed-gaza-on-36-of-the-past-40-days-while-the-war-raged-in-iran

​  Israeli Forces Kill Nine-Year-Old Girl in Gaza
The girl, Ritaj Rihan, was shot in the neck in front of other children while attending a class in a tent in northern Gaza​   https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/09/israeli-forces-kill-nine-year-old-girl-in-gaza/

​  Hundreds of Gaza Amputees Stranded in Legal Limbo

A recent Al‑Jazeera investigation sheds light on the growing crisis facing hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza who lost limbs during Israel’s assault and are now stranded in Egypt without legal status, stable housing, or access to long‑term medical care.
​  Many were evacuated for emergency surgeries, only to discover that life outside Gaza has placed them in what survivors describe as a “legal void” — unable to work, move freely, or obtain the prosthetic treatment they urgently need.
​  The report focuses on ‘Ola Jamal, a 36‑year‑old mother who lost her arm in November 2023 while breastfeeding her infant son inside Gaza’s Al‑Nasr Children’s Hospital.​..

​..At the height of the bombardment, doctors were forced to perform amputations at a rate of up to ten children per day, often with minimal anesthesia and no specialized equipment.    https://israelpalestinenews.org/hundreds-of-gaza-amputees-stranded-in-legal-limbo/

​Only if an israeli court declares them to be "terrorists" first...The gallows law: Israel moves toward executing Palestinian children   https://israelpalestinenews.org/the-gallows-law-israel-moves-toward-executing-palestinian-children/

Four Gazans, including girl, killed in Israeli attacks​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/09/360976/

Journalists martyred in Gaza rise to 262 as reporter killed ​by Israeli strike​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/09/360979/

Israeli army wreaks havoc on olive groves in W. Bank town of Teqoa​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/09/360986/

​  Israeli cabinet 'secretly approves record number' of new West Bank settlements
Report on i24NEWS reveals new settlements were approved during war on Iran but kept classified​   https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-cabinet-secretly-approves-record-number-new-west-bank-settlements

Israel Carries Out Incursions in Syria’s Quneitra as UNDOF Monitors​   https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5260643-israel-carries-out-incursions-syria%E2%80%99s-quneitra-undof-monitors

​  Former head of US counterterrorism center: There will be a war between Israel and Turkey

This was written on his social media page by Joe Kent, the former head of the US Counterterrorism Center, who resigned from his post in protest against the US war against Iran.
​  He also responded to US President Donald Trump's statement regarding the country's possible withdrawal from the North Atlantic Alliance:
​"Leaving NATO will not rid us of external conflicts – we will leave NATO to side with Israel when Türkiye and Israel eventually clash in Syria.​"
​  In his opinion, Trump's desire to support Israeli allies could lead to the collapse of the alliance. Kent believes that the American president is even prepared to withdraw from NATO for the sake of Israel.​   https://en.topwar.ru/280741-jeks-glava-antiterroristicheskogo-centra-ssha-budet-vojna-mezhdu-izrailem-i-turciej.html

  ​Can't slow down and lose momentum... With Middle East in flames, Trump eyes ‘next conquest’
The president has lobbed threats against Cuba and Greenland repeatedly in recent months, threatening to seize both islands by force​   https://asiatimes.com/2026/04/with-middle-east-in-flames-trump-eyes-next-conquest/

Tucker Carlson: The Path to Peace requires ending ‘special alliance’ with Israel​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/tucker-carlson-the-path-to-peace-requires-ending-special-alliance-with-israel/

Trump Rebukes Carlson, Kelly, Owens, & Jones Over Iran Comments​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-rebukes-carlson-kelly-owens-and-jones-over-iran-comments

​  Looking at You, Pete Hegseth: The White House warned staff against improperly using confidential information to place bets in futures markets after suspicious oil trades ahead of President Donald Trump’s March 23 Iran announcement drew scrutiny, according to Reuters.   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/white-house-warns-staff-iran-bets-add-growing-insider-trading-concerns

Media Claims ROGER STONE Persuaded Trump Not To FIRE Tulsi Gabbard​ - ’Advisors’ say President was all set to can Tulsi for not endorsing Iran war​   https://modernity.news/2026/04/10/media-claims-roger-stone-persuaded-trump-not-to-fire-tulsi-gabbard/

Automatic registration for US military draft to begin in December​   https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5822914-automatic-registration-military-draft/?

​  Slaughtered by A-10 Warthogs:“It Seems Like Blind American Ignorance”: The New U.S. War on Iraq

In the shadow of its wars in Iran and Lebanon, the U.S. has conducted devastating attacks on the security forces of its Iraqi ally.​   https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/iraq-us-war-iran-israel-lebanon

​  Negative views of Israel, Netanyahu continue to rise among Americans – especially young people

60% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year.
​  59% have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs – up from 52% last year.
In both political parties, majorities of adults under the age of 50 now rate Israel and Netanyahu negatively.​   https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/07/negative-views-of-israel-netanyahu-continue-to-rise-among-americans-especially-young-people/

​  Emergency waivers move arms for Israel, UAE to speed lane​ - Trump admin is pushing deals for weapons that often haven’t been built yet

Amid its war on Iran — now frozen by a tenuous ceasefire — the Trump administration has been exploiting emergency waivers to fast-track controversial foreign arms sales to Israel and Gulf states, tossing Congressional oversight to the wayside.​   https://responsiblestatecraft.org/waivers-arms-sales/

​  Meryl Nass MD sees the same unconvincing AI Netanyahu as I do: Devastation rains down on Lebanon, and some say 100 high rise apartments were bombed in central Beirut. Israel has warned residents to leave. Where is Netanyahu? Who really gives the orders?

​  I have become convinced Netanyahu's recent videos are AI generated. If so, who are the nameless faceless peoplemaking the decision to scuttle the ceasefire?​   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/devastation-rains-down-on-lebanon

​  Will AI Netanyahu-Mask over a remote stand-in Sunday? How will this be managed?  Netanyahu corruption trial to resume as Israel lifts war emergency

The two-week ceasefire agreed between Iran and the US allows Israeli courts to resume the Prime Minister's trial​   https://thecradle.co/articles/netanyahu-corruption-trial-to-resume-as-israel-lifts-war-emergency#google_vignette

​  Iran Ceasefire Allows For Netanyahu's Corruption Trial To Finally Resume

Hearings are scheduled to take place from Sunday through Wednesday. Of course, the fragile truce could collapse at any moment - after Netanyahu, along with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, have pushed to extend Israel's wars. But normalcy is returning to Israel, and sirens are no longer constantly blaring out. Even Ben Gurion international airport is fully reopened.
​  Netanyahu has long been accused, even within Israel, of seeking to prolong Israel's 'multi-front' wars in order to permanently delay the corruption trial and ensure his time in power is extended.
​  The trial focuses on three corruption cases - including charges of fraud and breach of trust, as well as charges of bribery.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-ceasefire-allows-netanyahus-corruption-trial-finally-resume

Only Iran "Friendly" Ships Allowed Transit Through Strait, As Tankers Pile Up Near Hormuz, Waiting To Cross​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/only-iran-friendly-ships-allowed-transit-through-strait-tankers-pile-near-hormuz

  Food; they don't mention rice-bowls: Iran ceasefire won’t easily ease emerging Asia’s pain
For India, Indonesia and Thailand, the Iran war isn’t just an oil shock — it’s a fiscal, currency and growth threat all wrapped into one​   https://asiatimes.com/2026/04/iran-ceasefire-wont-easily-ease-emerging-asias-pain/

Amid Shaky Ceasefire, War in Iran Is Starving Sudan​   https://www.justsecurity.org/135989/war-iran-starving-sudan/?

​  Helium Is Hard to Replace

Qatar is responsible for roughly 1/3rd of the world’s supply of helium, which was formerly transported through the Strait of Hormuz in specialized containers...​..What I find interesting about helium is that in many cases, it’s very hard to substitute for. Helium has a unique set of properties — in particular, it has a lower melting point and boiling point than any other element — and technologies and processes that rely on those properties can’t easily switch to some other material.
​  Helium is the second lightest element in the periodic table (after hydrogen), and the second most common element in the universe (also after hydrogen). But while helium is very common on a cosmic scale, here on earth it’s not so easy to get. Because helium is so light, it rises to the very top of the atmosphere, where it eventually escapes into space. So essentially all helium used by modern civilization comes from underground.
​  Helium is produced via the radioactive decay of elements like uranium and thorium, and it collects in underground pockets of natural gas.​   https://www.construction-physics.com/p/helium-is-hard-to-replace

​The Honest Sorcerer, There Is No "Next Economy"​ - If we ruin this one, well, then that was it   https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com/p/there-is-no-next-economy

​  The Middle East war depleted US weapons. Rebuilding will require China's cooperation.
Beijing has a stranglehold on the critical minerals the U.S. needs to rebuild its weapons cache following five weeks of war.​   https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/09/middle-east-war-weapons-china-00864622

​  Do you ​find yourself with as little sympathy for "Sir Kier" as I do? Keir Starmer: ‘I’m fed up’ with Trump and Putin affecting UK energy costs

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is “fed up” seeing energy bills in the U.K. swing up and down because of actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
​  The comments came as oil prices — which have soared during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran — fluctuated amid a fragile two-week ceasefire.
Starmer also said Israel was “wrong” to order deadly strikes on Lebanon during the ceasefire.​   https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/keir-starmer-fed-up-trump-putin-uk-energy-costs.html

​    Is Kier Starmer covering up Pakistani rape-gangs? Revealed: ALL Members Of Government’s ‘Anti-Muslim Hostility’ Group Have ISLAMIST Links​ - “There is deep cause for concern”  https://modernity.news/2026/04/09/revealed-all-members-of-governments-anti-muslim-hostility-group-have-islamist-links/

After kicking Spain out of Gaza ceasefire center, Netanyahu promises that countries opposing Israel will pay ‘immediate price’​   https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/after-kicking-spain-out-of-gaza-ceasefire-center-netanyahu-promises-that-countries-opposing-israel-will-pay-immediate-price/

​"His Master's Voice": US Considers Withdrawing One of Its Military Bases in Spain As “Punishment” for Its Non-Cooperation in Iran War: WSJ​   https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/04/us-considers-withdrawing-one-of-its-military-bases-in-spain-as-punishment-for-non-cooperation-in-war-on-iran.html

Russia’s Putin announces Orthodox Easter ceasefire, Ukraine’s Zelensky agrees​   https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/russias-putin-announces-orthodox-easter-ceasefire-expects-ukraine-to-do-the-same

​  The Pentagon Threatened Pope Leo XIV’s Ambassador With the Avignon Papacy
The Free Press has documented a closed-door Pentagon meeting in which a senior Trump official lectured Pope Leo XIV’s ambassador on American military supremacy.

[Letters from Leo can now independently confirm The Free Press report that the meeting took place — and that some Vatican officials were so alarmed by the Pentagon’s tactics that they shelved plans for Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States later this year.​ Other officials in the Vatican saw the Pentagon’s reference to an Avignon papacy as a threat to use military force against the Holy See.]

​  In January, behind closed doors at the Pentagon, Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre — Pope Leo XIV’s then-ambassador to the United States — and delivered a lecture.
​  America, Colby and his colleagues told the cardinal, has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.

​  As tempers rose, an unidentified U.S. official reached for a fourteenth-century weapon and invoked the Avignon Papacy, the period when the French Crown used military force to bend the bishop of Rome to its will.​   https://www.thelettersfromleo.com/p/the-pentagon-threatened-pope-leo

​  Obama won't order a hit on the Pope, but can he protect him? Is "snub" the right word? Pope Meets With Top Obama Adviser Following Pentagon Threat - Pope Leo continues to snub Donald Trump.   https://newrepublic.com/post/208864/pope-obama-adviser-pentagon-threat

  TOUCHE!  John Helmer, GOD ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH – THE POPE AND THE US BISHOPS ARE THREATENING THE CATHOLIC VOTE FOR TRUMP AND HIS SUCCESSORS 

  In new polling of late March, reported by Newsweek, “Trump’s approval [is] slipping into negative territory among both Catholics and Protestants. Among Catholic voters, 48 percent said they approve of Trump’s job performance, while 52 percent disapprove, a net negative of 4 points… Just weeks earlier, Catholics had leaned the other way. In the prior Fox News poll, conducted February 28 through March 2, 2026, Trump held a narrow edge with Catholics. In that survey, 52 percent approved and 48 percent disapproved, giving him a net positive rating of 4 points.”  “Taken together, the two polls suggest a notable shift among Catholic voters over a period of several weeks, flipping Trump’s standing with that group from a net positive to a net negative. Attention around U.S.-Vatican relations intensified after Vance said he would look into reports that emerged on Monday about the January meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials.” ...  As the Catholic anti-war movement picks up momentum with sermon support from the diocesan pulpits and the Vatican,  fear of midterm election defeat is growing for Trump.    https://johnhelmer.net/god-isnt-good-enough-the-pope-and-the-us-bishops-are-threatening-the-catholic-vote-for-trump-and-his-successors/

​  Hungary election a US-EU ‘proxy war’ – ex-Austrian foreign minister
Brussels would rather “paralyze” the member state or stage a coup than allow Viktor Orban to stay in power, Karin Kneissl has told RT​   https://www.rt.com/news/637672-hungary-election-proxy-war/

​  JD Vance says Brussels’ attempt to sway Hungarian vote is ‘worst foreign election interference he has ever seen’
The U.S. vice president used a Budapest appearance with Viktor Orbán to denounce EU election meddling, praise the Hungarian leader’s record, and frame Hungary as a frontline state in the fight for peace​   https://rmx.news/article/jd-vance-accuses-says-brussels-attempts-to-sway-hungarian-vote-is-worst-foreign-election-interference-he-has-ever-seen/

​  Kuomintang​ is the party of Chiang Kai Shek, who the US supported against Mao.     Chinese, Taiwanese will unite, Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader
Cheng Li-wun, the Kuomintang's chairwoman, is the party's first leader to visit China in a decade.

​  While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016.
Cross-strait relations have worsened in particular since the election of Tsai's successor, Lai Ching-te, who Beijing considers a separatist.
​  Lai said in a Facebook post on Friday that "China's ... military threats in and around the Taiwan Strait and the island chain have severely undermined regional peace and stability".
​  Cheng landed in Shanghai on Tuesday evening, saying shortly after her arrival that "the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not doomed to war, as the international community has feared".
​  The KMT leader also travelled to the eastern city of Nanjing where she visited the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, one of the few Chinese historical figures revered in both Beijing and Taipei.​   https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-xi-jinping-taiwan-kuomintang-leader-cheng-li-wun-first-visit-decade-6048356

​  Now they understand better than they did in Janary. Shell Moves to Expand Venezuela Natural Gas Operations
The energy giant is eyeing largely untapped Venezuelan offshore reserves and taking advantage of Trinidad and Tobago infrastructure.​   https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/shell-moves-to-expand-venezuela-natural-gas-operations/

​  US is ‘using Mexico as a garbage sink’ leading to ‘toxic crisis’, UN expert says

“Where standards are weak, what you get is legalized pollution,” he said, adding that imports of hazardous and plastic waste from the United States were worsening the situation.
​  “US overconsumption and economic activity are using Mexico as a garbage sink.”
​  The rapporteur said there were more than 1,000 contaminated locations officially recorded in Mexico’s National Inventory of Contaminated Sites, many of which he said had become “sacrifice zones”, where diseases such as cancer, and medical events such as miscarriages, were normalized.
​  In a preliminary report summarizing his visit, he cited factories spewing hazardous waste into the Atoyac River in Puebla, huge industrial pig farms contaminating drinking water on the Yucatan peninsula and a decade-old mining chemical spill that continued to affect health in communities around the Sonora River.​   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/07/mexico-us-toxic-waste-un-special-rapporteur?

​I believe her. Is it more timely than we know? Melania Trump delivers statement at the White House denying knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes   https://apnews.com/article/melania-trump-white-house-epstein-1df98e9902386609608886f7bd256980

​  He may have trouble finding work now. Erika Kirk Allegedly Acquires Huge New House; Arizona Plumber Faces Backlash for Filming the Property
Viral video of Erika Kirk's alleged new home raises questions about privacy and ethics in the digital age.​   https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/privacy-breach-erika-kirk-mansion-1791041

​ Ask the Pope for counsel? DNC avoids taking a stance on Israel, AIPAC
The members’ latest vote reflects a party establishment still grappling with how to respond to an increasingly thorny political issue.​   https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/09/democrats-punt-israel-aipac-resolutions-00865426

​  Get rid of Chuck Schumer? The ‘Opposition Party’ Has Done Nothing to Stop the Iran War and Much to Goad Trump Into Continuing It
When Democrats pretend to attack Trump, many clearly want more war with Iran.​   https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-opposition-party-has-done-nothing

​   Enable huge profits; wall-off legal liability. The Government Claims That Anthropic's 'Mythos' Is a 'Generational Leap' Beyond Other AI Models

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is doing something no Big Tech owner has ever done: "He's publishing a detailed blueprint for how government should tax, regulate and redistribute the wealth from the very technology he's racing to build and spread."​...

..The reason is a little unsettling: "superintelligence" is nearly upon us, and the effect will be "so mind-bending, so disruptive" on society that America needs a "new social contract" on the order of the Progressive Era of the turn of the 20th century or the New Deal...

​..Anthropic has just given its "Mythos" AI model a limited release. Why limited? Both the industry and the government believe that Mythos is an AI capable of "not just identifying weaknesses in security systems, but exploiting them with autonomous, never-before-seen precision," reports Axios.  
​  The darn thing accidentally escaped the confines of its "sandbox" and strolled through several systems after building a "moderately sophisticated multi-step exploit" to give it the run of the internet.
​  The model demonstrated a "potentially dangerous capability for circumventing our safeguards," Anthropic revealed. "The researcher found out about this success by receiving an unexpected email from the model while eating a sandwich in a park."​   https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2026/04/08/the-government-claims-that-anthropics-mythos-is-a-generational-leap-beyond-other-ai-models-n4951588

  ​It is somewhat more expensive if humans build it, which I prefer. Housing Is Cheap. Capital Makes It Expensive.
The real cost of building a home is measured in thousands—not hundreds of thousands. The rest is extraction.​   https://futuredude.substack.com/p/housing-is-cheap-capital-makes-it

​  Paul Marik​ MD lays out an approach to first avoiding harm in cancer treatment. Approach to the Use of Repurposed Drugs in Patients With Cancer​   

Cancer treatment must always be individualized. Factors such as tumor type and stage, tumor biology, patient comorbidities, functional status, and personal preferences all play a role in determining the most appropriate plan of care. Repurposed drugs and metabolic therapy can be used in several ways: as adjuncts to conventional oncology treatments or, in select cases, as primary therapy.
​  There is no ideal regimen; however, this guide centers on the primary use of four agents with consistent evidence and broad activity: ivermectin, mebendazole, doxycycline, and curcumin. These form the foundation of treatment, with other drugs and nutraceuticals layered in as needed. Blocking multiple cancer stem cell (CSC) pathways is critical, as CSCs drive resistance, relapse, and disease progression. Limiting glucose intake and/or a ketogenic diet is a fundamental component of the metabolic approach to cancer care, i.e. starving cancer.​   https://substack.com/home/post/p-189664873

​  Don't chase it too hard. Just be with it. Meditation changes brain activity quickly with a noticeable peak at 7 minutes, research reveals

Meditation is widely recognized for its extensive range of mental and physical health benefits, from reducing stress and anxiety to boosting cognitive and emotional health. What was considered a fringe activity is now a mainstream practice embraced by millions of people around the world. But how long does it take to reap the benefits?
A new study published in the journal Mindfulness reports that the first brainwave changes start at about two to three minutes and peak at around seven minutes.​..

..Researchers led by a team from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bengaluru, India, recorded real-time neural activity in three groups of volunteers who were performing Isha Yoga breath-watching meditation.
​  These were people with no experience of meditation, novices trained in the technique and highly experienced practitioners. Each person wore a cap equipped with 128 sensors that recorded electrical activity in the brain while they meditated.

​  Typically, the brain begins to shift its electrical patterns within just two to three minutes, from everyday distractions toward a state of relaxed alertness where alpha and theta waves (linked to calm and focus) and beta 1 waves (linked with alert, engaged focus) rise.
​   At the same time, delta waves (associated with drowsiness) and gamma 1 waves also decrease. Although for advanced practitioners, a distinct brainwave signature was already visible at 30 seconds, suggesting they were responding differently from the start of the meditation. Meanwhile, the strongest brainwave changes occurred at the seven to ten-minute mark.
​  One of the most interesting findings was that experienced meditators don't necessarily reach this peak faster than beginners. However, when they do, the brainwaves are significantly stronger.​..                                                                                           

​..The research suggests that even if you lead a busy, high-pressure life, you only need a few minutes to begin seeing measurable brain changes linked to meditation, no matter your experience level or location.​   https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-meditation-brain-quickly-peak-minutes.html

​Waiting For It (pictured in garden, between rain showers)