Non Club Members,
Eleni sent this well detailed article about the close and long-lasting family and working relationships binding-together the Financial War Cabinet of the Trump Admin. This is presented as anti-democratic, which it is, but that ship sailed long ago. Jimmy Carter's study group declared the US to be an established Oligarchy in July 2015. The zionist-coherence, internal trust and proven talent of this group enable the USrael to engage in the monetary and financial operations of World War.
The Family Business - Donald Trump didn't just pick a Fed chair. He picked his donor's son-in-law, his hedge fund patron's protégé, and a man whose fortune depends on the people he'll now regulate. What has been built is a closed economic system in which the institutions that set policy, the people who run those institutions, the donors who fund the political party that placed them there, and the family that bridges all of the above hold overlapping financial interests in the same set of foreign and domestic outcomes. The system does not require any of its participants to act corruptly. It requires them only to act in their own clear, documented, mutually reinforcing interests.
The Federal Reserve was designed to be the one part of the United States government that no president could pressure, no donor could buy, and no dynasty could inherit. As of today, the president nominated his college friend’s son-in-law. The donor manages a hundred and forty-eight million dollars of the new chair’s personal wealth. And the dynasty, by marriage, now extends through the chairman’s office of the central bank of the United States of America. https://ddgeopolitics.substack.com/p/the-family-business
The Federal Reserve was designed to be the one part of the United States government that no president could pressure, no donor could buy, and no dynasty could inherit. As of today, the president nominated his college friend’s son-in-law. The donor manages a hundred and forty-eight million dollars of the new chair’s personal wealth. And the dynasty, by marriage, now extends through the chairman’s office of the central bank of the United States of America. https://ddgeopolitics.substack.com/p/the-family-business
Mary sent this article detailing the fissure within global financial and power-elite factions after the failure of the WEF "great reset" program, catalyzed by COVID mandates, lockdowns and digital-ID requirements.
The Quadpolar World Order at the Beijing Summit..This is not a war between nations. It is a war within capitalism — between four competing visions of what capitalism should look like, who should run it, and on what terms the rest of us should live under it. The architects of this system are transnational in their operations but national in their bases of power. They are born somewhere, headquartered somewhere, and increasingly dependent on the state apparatus of somewhere to enforce their will. Geography and the nation state are still relevant — because when push comes to shove, each faction retreats into its territory: Davos, Washington, Silicon Valley and Beijing...
..This quadpolar world is not defined, however, by traditional geographic borders, but by competing models of political economy (i.e., capitalism), technology control, and state sovereignty). Each pole wields a distinct weapon to enforce its will globally.
..Each faction has the power to block each other. They can veto each other's projects, sabotage each other's institutions, sanction each other's allies, and block each other's standards. What none of them can do is construct a new global architecture that the others are forced to operate inside. The dollar order worked because the United States could compel the rest of the world to use it.....Every claim to universality gets met with three competing claims to universality. The result is not a new order. The result is a fragmented infrastructure of half-built systems, none of which can become the standard because the others won't allow it...
..This new arrangement didn’t exist five years ago. In 2019 the world order was Davos plus three challengers: a transnational capitalist class still nominally united around the Great Reset agenda, with state capitalism, techno-libertarianism, and right-wing populism as dissident movements. The pandemic was supposed to consolidate Davos’s hegemony.....The Great Reset project failed because populism exploded under the pressure of international health mandates that crushed the working class. Amazon and Walmart stayed open and Mom and Pop had to shut down the restaurant. The largest wealth transfer in modern history drove the working class out into the streets — they threatened a MAGA revolt and then elected Trump as their political savior.
The 2020–2022 period is when the Imperial Nationalists discovered they had their own political base — angry, vocal, and motivated. The Techno-Sovereigns discovered they had their own ideology. The State Capitalists discovered they could survive sanctions. Each faction positioned itself in opposition to Davos’s attempt to consolidate its power base.....The quadpolar order is the four broken pieces of a Davos project that shattered...
..The Iran war is the event that broke the previous balance of power. Before Iran, the four factions were in a slow drift. After Iran, the alignments hardened: the Davos faction retreated decisively into the middle-powers coalition; the Imperial Nationalists committed to bilateral dealmaking and abandoned what was left of the multilateral pretence; the Techno-Sovereign Silicon Valley discovered their supply chains ran through Hormuz; the State Capitalists discovered they were now indispensable to resolving the crisis their rivals had created.....The plane that landed in Beijing this week tells the whole story.
Donald Trump arrived as the Imperial Nationalist faction’s front man, the man dismantling the multilateral order in favour of bilateral leverage. Beside him: Larry Fink of BlackRock and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone — the two most institutionally embedded figures in transnational finance, as well as David Solomon of Goldman Sachs and Jane Fraser of Citigroup. The CEOs of Mastercard and Visa. Tim Cook, whose Apple empire is manufactured inside the People’s Republic. Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, hoping to close a 500-aircraft order. Elon Musk, whose Shanghai gigafactory is Tesla’s largest plant, and who six months ago was tearing down the federal government on behalf of the Techno-Sovereign faction.
Three of the four factions of the Transnational Capitalist Class, flying together to negotiate with the fourth...
..Fink runs the asset manager whose entire model — passive global allocation, ESG, stakeholder capitalism — the Imperial Nationalists have spent two years attacking. Cook needs the Chinese consumer market the tariff hawks want to decouple from. Musk needs the supply chains the Imperial Nationalists want to sever. Trump needs Xi’s cooperation on Iran, on rare earths, on the Strait of Hormuz — and Xi knows it. Donald Trump arrived as the Imperial Nationalist faction’s front man, the man dismantling the multilateral order in favour of bilateral leverage. Beside him: Larry Fink of BlackRock and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone — the two most institutionally embedded figures in transnational finance, as well as David Solomon of Goldman Sachs and Jane Fraser of Citigroup. The CEOs of Mastercard and Visa. Tim Cook, whose Apple empire is manufactured inside the People’s Republic. Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, hoping to close a 500-aircraft order. Elon Musk, whose Shanghai gigafactory is Tesla’s largest plant, and who six months ago was tearing down the federal government on behalf of the Techno-Sovereign faction.
Three of the four factions of the Transnational Capitalist Class, flying together to negotiate with the fourth...
China needs semiconductors to survive.
Jensen Huang of Nvidia was initially absent from the announced list. Then Trump personally called him, overriding staff objections, and Huang boarded Air Force One during the Alaska refuelling stop. Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips (H100 and H200) have been restricted from Chinese buyers...
..The two presidents announced a “Strategic Stability Framework” and a new “Board of Trade.”
Translated: we have agreed to keep talking, and we have built a mechanism to manage our future inability to agree...
..They jointly declared that the Strait of Hormuz “must remain open to ensure global trade flow,” but Iran was not at the summit. Iran has not agreed. What was announced was a sphere-of-influence statement — two superpowers agreeing that a third country’s war should now resolve in a way convenient to both of them.Translated: we have agreed to keep talking, and we have built a mechanism to manage our future inability to agree...
The State Capitalist faction is being asked to deliver Iran, but Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref delivered a sharp message directly targeting the summit, declaring “Our right to the Strait of Hormuz is established, and the matter is closed.”...
..Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) explicitly exempted Chinese ships from the blockade, allowing the Chinese supertanker Yuan Hua Hu to pass through the strait completely toll-free...
..Washington cleared roughly ten Chinese firms to buy Nvidia’s second-most powerful chip. Not the H200. Not Blackwell B200. Second-tier silicon, carefully calibrated to let China’s AI sector continue functioning at a deliberately throttled level. Nvidia preserves market access.....Boeing got an aircraft order. But only 200 planes, not 500, causing Boeing stock (BA) to drop roughly 4% to 5%...
..Cargill and the agricultural delegation got nothing. Soybean prices plummeted this morning.....The Davos financial faction came for market opening — broader access to Chinese capital markets, expanded asset management mandates, processing rights for Visa and Mastercard, the long-stalled liberalization that BlackRock and Blackstone have been pursuing for a decade.
So far, they got nothing.
And then, after a day of warm optics and ceremonial banquets, Xi took Trump into a two-hour meeting and warned him that Taiwan is “the most important issue” and that if it is mishandled, the two superpowers will “have clashes, or even conflicts.”
So far, they got nothing.
And then, after a day of warm optics and ceremonial banquets, Xi took Trump into a two-hour meeting and warned him that Taiwan is “the most important issue” and that if it is mishandled, the two superpowers will “have clashes, or even conflicts.”
Everything else this week is theatre...
..What flew into Beijing this week was not a de-risking delegation.It was the four factions of the new quadpolar world order ironically jammed into the Great Hall of the People.
None of them represents the People...
..And the war will not end, because the war is not something the participants want to end. It is the structure they exist inside. They cannot leave it without ceasing to be what they are. https://www.themargins.ca/p/the-quadpolar-world-order-at-the
Xi told Trump that missteps on Taiwan would put the US and China at war. Trump said nothing: Trump Talk, Taiwan, & 'Thucydides Trap' Threat Triggers Market Mayhem Overnight https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-talk-thucydides-trap-threat-triggers-market-mayhem-overnight
The future of global trade, the limits of U.S. containment strategy, and whether Washington and Beijing can escape the Thucydides Trap they now openly acknowledge. In a rare moment of candor, Xi warns Trump that Taiwan remains “the most important issue” and mishandling it could “jeopardize the entire China–U.S. relationship.” https://scheerpost.com/2026/05/14/trade-war-tech-war-energy-war-xu-qinduo-breaks-down-the-trump-xi-negotiations/
It's being discussed. Trump will export America's oil and gas somewhere. We'll get less: The Media Missed the Biggest Story from Trump’s China Summit: Making China Dependent on Texas Oil! https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2026/05/15/the-media-missed-the-biggest-story-from-trumps-china-summit-making-china-dependent-on-texas-oil-n4952898
John Helmer, WHO BELIEVES THE US EMPIRE IS TOPPLING LIKE THIS?
For Xi the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party to have proposed the formulation of the Thucydides Trap as the foundation for China and the US to accept peaceful coexistence (aka “constructive peaceful stability”) is exceptional. The last senior Communist Party figure to have proclaimed as much was Mikhail Gorbachev. His overthrow followed in six years — planned, promoted and financed by successive US governments. https://johnhelmer.net/who-believes-the-us-empire-is-toppling-like-this/New geospatial intelligence indicates that Iran's main crude export terminal has gone quiet, while a separate report suggests seaborne oil exports have effectively been halted for the past month.
The first report comes from Bloomberg, which cited European satellite imagery showing a massive bottleneck developing at Iran's energy complex: no ocean-going tankers at Kharg Island, the country's main export terminal, on May 8, 9, and 11. This marks the longest stretch in no crude tanker loadings since the US-Iran conflict began nearly three months ago. https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/bessents-suffocating-iranian-regime-strategy-materializes-kharg-island-satellite-imagery
The first report comes from Bloomberg, which cited European satellite imagery showing a massive bottleneck developing at Iran's energy complex: no ocean-going tankers at Kharg Island, the country's main export terminal, on May 8, 9, and 11. This marks the longest stretch in no crude tanker loadings since the US-Iran conflict began nearly three months ago. https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/bessents-suffocating-iranian-regime-strategy-materializes-kharg-island-satellite-imagery
"We can't confirm that because we'll never look": CENTCOM chief dismisses reports of civilian casualties in Iran war
His comments came after a New York Times investigation documented damage to dozens of civilian sites, including schools and healthcare facilities, during the conflict.
The report said at least 22 schools and 17 medical facilities were allegedly damaged or destroyed during the war, prompting renewed scrutiny of US targeting practices and civilian harm assessments. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605141455
The report said at least 22 schools and 17 medical facilities were allegedly damaged or destroyed during the war, prompting renewed scrutiny of US targeting practices and civilian harm assessments. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605141455
"We won't let you rebuild those bases": No US weapons will transit Strait of Hormuz into regional bases, Iran’s Army warns https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/05/13/768543/No-US-weapons-will-transit-Strait-Hormuz-into-regional-bases-Iran-Army
They signed something limited last year: Separate Peace? Saudi Arabia Floats Regional Non-Aggression Pact With Iran https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/separate-peace-track-saudi-arabia-floats-regional-non-aggression-pact-iran
If they ever line-up enough votes to pass it, it won't be allowed to the floor, right? Senate Votes 49-50 against Iran War Powers Resolution https://www.theamericanconservative.com/senate-votes-49-50-against-iran-war-powers-resolution/
Nakba commemorations serve as remembrance and a call for justice, self-determination and the right to return. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/5/15/millions-of-palestinians-mark-78-years-since-the-nakba
Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-16
No faith in fiat-money: Global bond selloff intensifying across all major markets simultaneously. UK 30Y at 5.86% (highest since 1998), US 10Y at 4.59%, Japan 30Y above 4% for first time in history, France 10Y now higher than Portugal/Italy/Greece/Spain. VaR shock territory in UK Gilts.....Silver flash-crashed ~15% in two days — from weekly highs near $89 to $75-76. Largest single-day move of the year. OPEX timing. However, Japan physical premium at +36.8% over COMEX and lease rates NOT falling with price — physical market remains tight...
..Jerome Powell's final day as Fed Chair. Kevin Warsh takes over — market pricing 60%+ chance next move is a rate HIKE. Rate cuts entirely priced out. "More concerned about stable prices than full employment"...
..Trump-Xi Summit: Optics Over Substance - Trump left Beijing with "no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war" per WSJ via zerohedge
200 Boeing jets ordered (analysts expected ~500); Boeing shares fell 4% per shanaka86
China declined to buy Nvidia H200 chips despite US approval — prefers domestic development per KobeissiLetter
Tariffs "not brought up", no commitment on Taiwan, no rare earth solution per KobeissiLetter
US delegation threw away ALL Chinese-provided items before boarding Air Force One, operated on burner phones only per visegrad24
Xi to visit US in September — first state visit in over a decade per Lord Bebo
China recognizes Iran's "exercise of sovereignty" over Hormuz, contradicting White House readout...
200 Boeing jets ordered (analysts expected ~500); Boeing shares fell 4% per shanaka86
China declined to buy Nvidia H200 chips despite US approval — prefers domestic development per KobeissiLetter
Tariffs "not brought up", no commitment on Taiwan, no rare earth solution per KobeissiLetter
US delegation threw away ALL Chinese-provided items before boarding Air Force One, operated on burner phones only per visegrad24
Xi to visit US in September — first state visit in over a decade per Lord Bebo
China recognizes Iran's "exercise of sovereignty" over Hormuz, contradicting White House readout...
..Strait of Hormuz: Tactical Chess - Chinese supertanker Yuan Hua Hu with 2M barrels sailed through Hormuz — IRGC let it pass, CENTCOM didn't stop it per shanaka86
UAE doubling bypass pipeline capacity to 3M bpd by 2027 per Lord Bebo
UAE declared Hormuz weaponization "piracy" under UNSC 2817 per shanaka86
India-UAE sign petroleum + defence pacts, $5B investment, SPR expanded to 30M barrels per Lord Bebo
Brent crude up 8% on the week per Lord Bebo
Iran FM: "no trust in Americans", insists "no military solution" per zerohedge
Oil surplus cushion "dwindling at record pace" — acute shortages within weeks if Hormuz stays shut...
..Energy Supply Emergency - European diesel reserves "in freefall — nothing left in a few weeks" per philippilk UAE doubling bypass pipeline capacity to 3M bpd by 2027 per Lord Bebo
UAE declared Hormuz weaponization "piracy" under UNSC 2817 per shanaka86
India-UAE sign petroleum + defence pacts, $5B investment, SPR expanded to 30M barrels per Lord Bebo
Brent crude up 8% on the week per Lord Bebo
Iran FM: "no trust in Americans", insists "no military solution" per zerohedge
Oil surplus cushion "dwindling at record pace" — acute shortages within weeks if Hormuz stays shut...
Art Berman: Hormuz loss = 11-12M bpd offline, rate of loss 100x greater than 1979 shock. July will be brutal...
..Equity Market Euphoria Cracking - S&P 500 worst day since March; Nasdaq 100 worst since March 26 per Hedgeye, KobeissiLetter
Hindenburg Omen triggered on BOTH Nasdaq and NYSE simultaneously per Barchart
KOSPI crashed 8.4% intraday after hitting new ATH of 8,000 — wiped $370B in 6 hours https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-16
Japan bond market in full meltdown. 10Y yield hit 2.7% (highest this century), 20Y at 3.605% (highest since 1996), 30Y above 3.9% (first time in history)...
..US Treasury market cracking. 10Y above 4.50% for first time since June 2025. 30Y bonds auctioned above 5% - first since pre-GFC 2007. Rate HIKES now the base case for the Fed's next move - odds of a cut before July 2027 at just 1%. Kevin Warsh named new Fed Chair...
SPR collapsing at record pace. Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped -8.6M barrels last week, the largest weekly drawdown on record, 7th consecutive weekly decline. Nearly half the crude released is being exported...
..Iran-Hormuz escalation cluster. Indian-flagged ship sunk in Omani waters. Iranian commandos seized Honduras-flagged vessel off UAE. UAE declared Hormuz weaponization "piracy" under UNSC 2817. Iran allowed 30 ships to pass the Strait - each after paying $2M...
..Russia launches largest aerial attack of the war. 1,500+ drones and 64 missiles over 48 hours, with 1,428 drones in a single day — the highest ever. Interception rate plummeted to under 30% as Western air defense stockpiles are diverted to the Middle East...
Hindenburg Omen triggered on BOTH Nasdaq and NYSE simultaneously per Barchart
KOSPI crashed 8.4% intraday after hitting new ATH of 8,000 — wiped $370B in 6 hours https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-16
Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-15
..US Treasury market cracking. 10Y above 4.50% for first time since June 2025. 30Y bonds auctioned above 5% - first since pre-GFC 2007. Rate HIKES now the base case for the Fed's next move - odds of a cut before July 2027 at just 1%. Kevin Warsh named new Fed Chair...
SPR collapsing at record pace. Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped -8.6M barrels last week, the largest weekly drawdown on record, 7th consecutive weekly decline. Nearly half the crude released is being exported...
..Iran-Hormuz escalation cluster. Indian-flagged ship sunk in Omani waters. Iranian commandos seized Honduras-flagged vessel off UAE. UAE declared Hormuz weaponization "piracy" under UNSC 2817. Iran allowed 30 ships to pass the Strait - each after paying $2M...
..Russia launches largest aerial attack of the war. 1,500+ drones and 64 missiles over 48 hours, with 1,428 drones in a single day — the highest ever. Interception rate plummeted to under 30% as Western air defense stockpiles are diverted to the Middle East...
..Trump-Xi Beijing Summit: pageantry, no breakthroughs - Trump arrived with the largest CEO delegation ever assembled on a diplomatic mission: Musk, Cook, Huang, Fink, Solomon, Schwarzman, Ortberg, Fraser, and others. All carried burner phones...
..Xi issued the sharpest Taiwan warning in decades: mishandling could lead to "collision or even clashes", independence and peace are "irreconcilable as fire and water". Trump was asked five times about Taiwan and said nothing
Trump says Xi offered to help on Iran, pledged no military equipment to Iran, wants Hormuz open. The Chinese readout omitted Iran specifics entirely, mentioning only "Middle East situation"...
..China confirmed it will continue buying Iranian oil. Iran allowed Chinese ships to transit Hormuz specifically, neutralizing US pressure on Beijing.....Xi issued the sharpest Taiwan warning in decades: mishandling could lead to "collision or even clashes", independence and peace are "irreconcilable as fire and water". Trump was asked five times about Taiwan and said nothing
Trump says Xi offered to help on Iran, pledged no military equipment to Iran, wants Hormuz open. The Chinese readout omitted Iran specifics entirely, mentioning only "Middle East situation"...
..Oil supply crisis deepening - Russian Urals oil soared to $94.87/barrel, highest since Oct 2023, up 18% vs April. Russian tax revenues in rubles up 60% YoY
Hormuz transits collapsed from 100+/day to fewer than 15 per Kpler/Lloyd's
Chinese tankers running the blockade — will the US dare stop them?
Japan secured safe passage for two tankers through direct talks with Iran
UAE accelerating West-East pipeline to double export capacity through Fujairah by 2027...
Hormuz transits collapsed from 100+/day to fewer than 15 per Kpler/Lloyd's
Chinese tankers running the blockade — will the US dare stop them?
Japan secured safe passage for two tankers through direct talks with Iran
UAE accelerating West-East pipeline to double export capacity through Fujairah by 2027...
...Stock market euphoria reaches historic extremes - S&P 500 hit 7,500 for the first time, up +19% since March 30 bottom — +$11 trillion in 7 weeks. Dow above 50,000
Breadth is atrocious: Mag 7 contributed +47.34pts Mon-Wed while remaining 495 stocks subtracted 2pts net (UBS)
Shiller PE within 5% of Dot Com peak. Nasdaq "dirty Sharpe" ratio at highest ever. Semiconductors most overbought since Dot Com. https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-15
Breadth is atrocious: Mag 7 contributed +47.34pts Mon-Wed while remaining 495 stocks subtracted 2pts net (UBS)
Shiller PE within 5% of Dot Com peak. Nasdaq "dirty Sharpe" ratio at highest ever. Semiconductors most overbought since Dot Com. https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-15
Earlier, the US paper doubled down on report highlighting testimonies of Palestinians raped in Israeli detention https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-sue-new-york-times-article-describing-its-rape-palestinians
They test munitions on them. US colleges sold donated bodies for Israeli military training: Report https://www.dailysabah.com/world/americas/us-colleges-sold-donated-bodies-for-israeli-military-training-report
Jerusalem Post, NYT doubles down in support of controversial op-ed claiming abuse of Palestinians in Israel
The New York Times said Nicholas Kristof’s opinion piece was extensively fact-checked and based on corroborated accounts. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-896131 They supplied immediate-targeting data for "Where's Daddy" program to assassinate men when they got home to their families. Leaked Documents Show Cisco Systems’ Deep Relationship with Israeli Security State
“Never Let a Good Crisis Go To Waste”: Internal documents show Cisco’s growing collaboration with the Israeli military over the course of the genocide in Gaza. https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/cisco-systems-israel-genocide-gazaAgain, read "immediate-targeting data": Microsoft fires head of Israeli subsidiary and other managers over surveillance of Palestinians https://israelpalestinenews.org/microsoft-fires-head-of-israeli-subsidiary-and-other-managers-over-surveillance-of-palestinians/
No more pictures of Ben-Gvir in crowds, just pics that could be AI, like Netanyahu: Israeli MP calls for Al-Aqsa’s destruction to build Jewish temple during mass raid
Ministers and lawmakers lead large settler incursions into the Jerusalem site ahead of the provocative Flag March, as Israeli forces restrict Palestinians access https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-closes-al-aqsa-muslims-amid-mass-settler-raids-and-flag-marchAnnual Jerusalem Day march fuels tensions with shouted slogans and fears of violence against Palestinian residents. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/5/14/israeli-ultranationalists-chant-racist-slogans-during-jerusalem-day-march
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli airstrikes had pounded around 40 locations in Lebanon's south and east.
The fresh raids came on the eve of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington brokered by the United States, as Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah remains strongly opposed to the move. https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260513213003.tunsln8c.html
Simplicius, Russia Rocks Ukraine With Unprecedented 1,500+ Drones in One of Largest Aerial Attacks Ever https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/russia-rocks-ukraine-with-unprecedented
Russia tracks these high-value targets: Zelensky Claims Leaked Russian Intel Docs Show Russia Preparing to Take Out "Decision-Making Centers" of Ukraine https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/zelensky-claims-leaked-russian-intel
Another "free money" idea: US Wants To Restore Nord Stream & Purchase From Europeans At Steep Discount: Lavrov https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/us-wants-restore-nord-stream-pipeline-purchase-europeans-steep-discount-lavrov
Different from removing 5000 troops from Germany: Pentagon 'Blindsided' As Hegseth Pulls Plug On 4,000-Troop Deployment To Poland https://www.zerohedge.com/military/pentagon-blindsided-hegseth-pulls-plug-4000-troop-deployment-poland
Nobody remembers the Spanish Civil War now, I guess: Spain wants an EU army: What would it mean?
Madrid has joined a chorus in Europe calling for a standalone force amid the growing rift with the US https://web.archive.org/web/20260514104026/https://www.rt.com/news/639939-spain-wants-eu-army-explainer/In a remarkable development, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Cuba on Thursday to meet with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro. Also present at the meeting was Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services.
In late April of this year, a few State Department officials visited Havana and held talks with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro about a potential diplomatic deal...
..“CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana, Cuba, on Thursday for a rare meeting with senior Cuban officials, an agency official told CBS News, using the visit to deliver a message that the U.S. was prepared to expand economic and security engagement with Cuba if Havana “makes fundamental changes.”
The meeting came as Cuba is contending with a massive power failure to its national energy grid amid U.S. sanctions that have caused an oil and gas shortage crisis to the island nation.
Ratcliffe told Cuban leaders the administration was offering “a genuine opportunity for collaboration” and a chance to stabilize Cuba’s struggling economy, while cautioning that the opportunity would not remain open indefinitely and the administration would enforce “red lines” if necessary, the official said. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/14/cia-director-john-ratcliffe-travels-to-cuba-amid-hemispheric-security-push/#more-283418
The meeting came as Cuba is contending with a massive power failure to its national energy grid amid U.S. sanctions that have caused an oil and gas shortage crisis to the island nation.
Ratcliffe told Cuban leaders the administration was offering “a genuine opportunity for collaboration” and a chance to stabilize Cuba’s struggling economy, while cautioning that the opportunity would not remain open indefinitely and the administration would enforce “red lines” if necessary, the official said. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/14/cia-director-john-ratcliffe-travels-to-cuba-amid-hemispheric-security-push/#more-283418
Or... CIA Head Ratcliffe Spotted In Cuba As Trump Refocuses Crosshairs On Havana Communists https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cia-head-ratcliffe-spotted-cuba-trump-refocuses-crosshairs-havana-communists
James Erdmann III testifies before the Senate that senior CIA and DNI managers concealed lab origin of SARS-CoV-2 under the direction of Anthony Fauci. Ralph Baric resigns
CIA veteran James Erdmann III testified under oath before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in a hearing titled “Whistleblower Testimony on the COVID Coverup.”
Summoned as a whistleblower, Erdmann detailed what he described as systemic suppression of evidence pointing to a laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2. He explained to the committee—chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)—that CIA scientific analysts had, as early as 2020, strongly favored a lab-incident scenario in Wuhan (one account cited an internal 5-to-1 vote). And yet, senior CIA and DNI managers repeatedly softened, rewrote, or sidelined those assessments, ultimately issuing a “non-call” or inconclusive judgment. Most notably, he claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci played an “intentional” role in influencing the intelligence community’s analysis...
Summoned as a whistleblower, Erdmann detailed what he described as systemic suppression of evidence pointing to a laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2. He explained to the committee—chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)—that CIA scientific analysts had, as early as 2020, strongly favored a lab-incident scenario in Wuhan (one account cited an internal 5-to-1 vote). And yet, senior CIA and DNI managers repeatedly softened, rewrote, or sidelined those assessments, ultimately issuing a “non-call” or inconclusive judgment. Most notably, he claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci played an “intentional” role in influencing the intelligence community’s analysis...
..Erdmann was previously known for contesting federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and for co-founding the advocacy group Feds For Freedom to support federal employees and service members seeking religious exemptions. Until today, his position at the CIA since 2013 was not known to the public.
As it turns out, he is a decorated senior CIA operations officer with over a decade of service in the agency and decades of national-security experience. A military veteran who served as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and later in the National Guard, he also worked in the private sector as a senior bioinformatics and biometrics consultant before joining the CIA in 2013. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/cia-whistleblower-covid-origin-covered
As it turns out, he is a decorated senior CIA operations officer with over a decade of service in the agency and decades of national-security experience. A military veteran who served as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and later in the National Guard, he also worked in the private sector as a senior bioinformatics and biometrics consultant before joining the CIA in 2013. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/cia-whistleblower-covid-origin-covered
Study Finds that Mites can be Vectors for Hantavirus and can also Serve as Long Term Viral Reservoirs https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/study-finds-that-mites-can-be-vectors-for-hantaviruses-from-rodents-and-can-also-serve-as-long-term-viral-reservoirs
Peter McCullough MD explains that current tests alone are not reliable for Hantavirus. The Illusion of Precision: Molecular Diagnostics for Hantavirus
An examination of unstandardized testing, contamination risks, and the fragility of clinical reliance on blood PCR assays for "test positive" reporting https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/the-illusion-of-precision-molecular Times of Israel, Israeli tech company aiming to cool the Earth with masses of tiny particles
Stardust Solutions wants to combat global warming by releasing millions of tons of particles to reflect small amounts of sunlight, NYT reports, but critics warn of dangers in playing with weatherWeather Recipient (pictured meditating in mushroom-circle that Jenny spotted)
