Human Study Participants,
The context of our current global economy is that it is in terminal resource-decline, but that is not known to most people. This is like a movie I saw as a kid with a couple of guys fist-fighting on a barge headed for a waterfall. They went over the waterfall. I think one guy miraculously lived.
Everything that happens has to result in what is happening, decline in resources causing decline in real-economy, so things that would make resources available and economy boom will-not-happen.
They cannot happen. It all has to decline, but our owners intend to control the shaping of the decline. War is the control-narrative that facilitates this. The Strait of Hormuz is a control-valve being contested between rival power-alliances. Each can close it, but both have to agree for it to be open. It now defaults to closed.
The Honest Sorcerer, The Big Picture - On why having a plan does not equal having a well-thought-out plan
Let’s start with one of the basic laws governing life: energy is (almost) everything. Without energy, there is no movement, no light, no heat, no change—just the opposite: cold, darkness and slow decomposition. In other words: a steady and relentless rise in entropy, or disorderliness. What’s even more important than energy is its flow—power—the rate at which work is done or energy is transferred. This is the amount of heat, electricity, light, movement, physical or chemical change generated or done in a unit of time—a second, an hour, a year. Contrary what your local priest of economics tries to tell you, this is what really matters—GDP, inflation and all the rest comes only thereafter.
Throughout 99.3% of human history the rate of technological, societal or economic change was limited by the amount of energy we could capture from the Sun in any given year. Think: plants collecting sunlight and turning it into edible energy (food). Gusts of wind and the flow of rivers moving ships and mills—making us entirely dependent on the weather, which too was ultimately powered by the heat emanating from our central star. Much of our history revolved around how to capture even more of our Sun’s power and how to turn it into more humans and more affluence for those who ruled over us...
..Towards the end of the 18th century, in our relentless search for more power, we found a way to harness the power of conserved sunlight: fossil fuels. Long dead plants—buried deep underground in the form of coal, oil and natural gas—stored way more concentrated energy, than even the best firewood or the best crop could ever provide. Work was no longer limited by the amount of calories available, or the ability of humans and their animal slaves to convert food into work. Instead we got hold of a seemingly unstoppable 24/7 flow of high grade energy, which our machines, locomotives, ships, then later power plants trucks and planes converted into more products, food, raw materials, transport, trade or what have you. Our rate of energy consumption—a.k.a. power—shoot through the roof, together with the political power of a wealthy elite who controlled it all...
..The energy cost of extracting resources goes up in a slow but exponential fashion over time. The thing to note here is not the exact technique used to get a certain resource (be it fracking, or various secondary and tertiary recovery technologies) but the slow and ever worsening trend. Simply put: as it takes more and more energy and other resources to get the same amount of coal, oil, copper etc. year after year, more and more of the said resources will have to be returned into extraction—leaving less and less surplus for the economy to work with...
..The extraction of energy and raw materials, and the rate of which these are spent, defines economic and political power. High energy throughput → high GDP → high political (and often military) power. Money is just an intermediary in the process...
..And this is why America sees China—a country using almost twice as much energy and housing four times as much people—as a major threat...
..The world, near the definitive end of material growth, thus finds itself in a zero- then negative-sum game. In a global economy, where less and less is produced, mined, manufactured, there will be lower and lower need for services, insurance, banking etc.—not to mention the issue of our debt based money system requiring eternal economic expansion to avoid collapse...
..Depending on how fast and to what extent oil production in, and shipments from, the Persian Gulf can recover (my base case is to 40-50% of their pre-war levels by December, 2026) we are looking into a cumulative loss of 2-3 billion barrels by year end. Even if inventory releases make up for a billion barrels that were not produced this year, we are still about to lose 3-6% of world crude oil supply on an annual average for 2026...
..Knowing how tight the connection is between transportation, manufacturing, mining, construction, agricultural output and oil consumption is, that means we are facing a similar decline in real economic output, too. There is no other way around it: once inventories fall below critical levels and real world shortages begin, governments will be forced to curtail or ration fuel use—first and foremost in the industrial, mining and construction sector, and mostly in highly exposed Asian countries. Food production and transportation will be prioritized...
..Just as with COVID induced oil production shut-ins, the real world economic impact of the crisis will take many months if not a full year to arrive. And since this time agriculture will be especially hard hit with fuel, fertilizer and chemical shortages (on top of a massive El Nino added to already raging droughts and heatwaves from climate change) food prices will likely skyrocket in 2027...
..As for a cue what to expect, take a look at European industries 4 years after Russian gas has been shut off and pipelines were blown up. Electricity and gas prices in Britain and elsewhere in the EU are still 90% higher compared to other parts of the world, continuously eroding competitiveness and acting as a primary driver behind deindustrialization...
..Just as with COVID induced oil production shut-ins, the real world economic impact of the crisis will take many months if not a full year to arrive. And since this time agriculture will be especially hard hit with fuel, fertilizer and chemical shortages (on top of a massive El Nino added to already raging droughts and heatwaves from climate change) food prices will likely skyrocket in 2027...
..As for a cue what to expect, take a look at European industries 4 years after Russian gas has been shut off and pipelines were blown up. Electricity and gas prices in Britain and elsewhere in the EU are still 90% higher compared to other parts of the world, continuously eroding competitiveness and acting as a primary driver behind deindustrialization...
..As our efforts to get the next batch of resources require more and more complexity and hit diminishing returns, the economics of extraction and production begins to break down. Again, not everywhere, all at once—but one place after another. These small changes do add up, however, and we eventually get to the stage where the global material economy simply stops growing. See, for example, the case of copper and silver, two highly sought after and essential inputs to all things high-tech and electric from solar panels to microchips and data centers. Silver is already past its production peak, and copper is expected to reach it before 2030. (If it haven’t hit it already due to the Hormuz crisis limiting sulfur exports—a key input to processing certain copper ore types.) ...
..Last week I reiterated and expanded on an argument from Simon Watkins, saying that the aim of the United States as part of its ‘Energy Dominance’ agenda is to control the majority of world oil trade, in order to maintain its global primacy—even if it comes at the cost of permanently shutting in production in some parts of the world and destroying infrastructure in other places. Hence the CIA directed drone attacks on Russian refineries, prompting Russia—the third largest producer of crude oil in the world—to import gasoline. And hence the attempted, then miserably failed regime change attempt in Iran, with stopping Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons development program being used as a diplomatic cover. See, had Operation Epic Fury turn out be a roaring success—as the abduction of the Venezuelan president had earlier—the entire Middle East would’ve eventually fallen under US/Israeli rule...
..Once the SPR starts to run low, and as diesel and lubricant shortages begin to bite, though, the US will likely have to do more to accommodate Iranian demands / find alternative routes—so more Gulf oil could reach the market. Not too much, though, just barely enough to prevent a financial / economic meltdown… In this situation, no matter how bad it will be for the rest of the world and the global economy as a whole, neither the States, nor Iran will have the incentive to fully reopen the Strait. Both will likely want to use it as leverage: Iran over the US, the US over China (and other Asian economies).
But wait, there is much more to the story than oil. America has a surplus of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas liquids (NGL) to sell—which it can now push on to Taiwan, among many other countries in East Asia and India, at a premium price. And, as an added bonus, thus becoming the largest supplier of these fuels—used in power plants and for cooking respectively—Washington gains direct leverage over these countries, just as it did over Europe after becoming its largest LNG vendor. Remember, nothing happens in this Universe without energy. Energy directly translates into political power and becoming “the world’s leading energy producer and exporter” by starting and funding wars, blowing up pipelines and refineries, imposing sanctions etc. is nothing but a pure market and power grab...
But wait, there is much more to the story than oil. America has a surplus of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas liquids (NGL) to sell—which it can now push on to Taiwan, among many other countries in East Asia and India, at a premium price. And, as an added bonus, thus becoming the largest supplier of these fuels—used in power plants and for cooking respectively—Washington gains direct leverage over these countries, just as it did over Europe after becoming its largest LNG vendor. Remember, nothing happens in this Universe without energy. Energy directly translates into political power and becoming “the world’s leading energy producer and exporter” by starting and funding wars, blowing up pipelines and refineries, imposing sanctions etc. is nothing but a pure market and power grab...
..China is not the enemy, nor is the United States. The real enemy to confront here is an economy built on infinite growth driven by Wetiko—a psychosis devouring not only the living world but its own subjects as well...
..The bad news is: this decline cannot be stopped—only hastened—as it is driven by not political or individual decisions, but the logic of a complex system with all its economic and cultural incentives built on the fastest possible draw-down of non-renewable resources. This civilization is rapidly passing its sell-by date, and faces a long tumultuous decline—and neither trying to build an electrified surveillance utopia, nor reinstating oneself as the petro-king of the world can change that. The good news is, on the other hand, that there is a way to restore what has been broken; if not fully, then at least to a degree where subsequent generations—of not just humans but all living beings—can live a materially poorer but certainly more fulfilling life. In order for us to live, the Megamachine must die. https://thehonestsorcerer.
Thanks Zerosum: Pepe Escobar, Why neo-Crassus desperately needs to cling to HIS deal
One of my recent columns on How Iran engineered its multipolar breakthrough provoked some serious response by top old school U.S. Deep State intel operatives, now involved in global business. I was sent a consistent, detailed breakthrough about what they maintain is the main reason for President Trump to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran, which he is frantically spinning as his (italics mine) deal.As one of these sources bluntly put it, “the main point you are missing is that Trump was scared stiff by June 15 being only 60 days away from the final emptying of the world reserve oil supplies, leading to the complete destruction of Donald J. Trump. That is the only reason for his about face. If he waited much longer, he would by August 15 be so behind the eight ball that he would not be able to recover And that may happen anyway.”
The source was referring to a detailed risk assessment where the hard data points to mid-August 2026 as “the moment the U.S. must legally halt the emergency dumping. When that tap closes, the global oil supply deficit will instantly widen by millions of barrels per day, creating a world crisis.”...
..The sources are careful to remind those willing to listen that “what we have now is a rebellion at the Strait of Hormuz. 20% of global oil goes through there, and Iran wants that power to protect itself. When it is cut off the price of oil according to Goldman Sachs will go to $700 a barrel. It does not today as the U.S. and allies are dumping their storage on the market to hold the price down. They have about 2.5 months supply to do this. Then everything explodes. You have here the rebellion of the slaves.”...
..Crucially, the sources maintain that “a precise look at the operational data reveals that the system’s absolute breaking point – and the fuse on the derivatives bomb – will likely occur by mid-August 2026.”
Enter the interplay between the physical depletion of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR); the true, practical limits of oil prices; and the terrifying, hidden two-quadrillion-dollar derivatives market. The sources analyse this interplay as a highly synchronized endgame.
Let’s summarize it. As of late May 2026, only a month ago, the SPR has been drained to 365.1 million barrels, “the lowest operational level in over 40 years.”
With the Strait of Hormuz virtually closed – including by the Trump blockade – the U.S. is currently drawing down an historic 1.41 million barrels a day (nearly 10 million barrels a week) to artificially suppress prices.
Then comes “the critical policy number to watch”. It is not “zero barrels”, but actually 243 million barrels. Why? Because the Department of Forever Wars has certified that drawing the reserve below 243 million barrels explicitly impairs the American capability to wage war.
Once again the sources refer to their analysis: at the current velocity of 1.41 million barrels a day, the U.S. would burn through its 122-million-barrel discretionary cushion in exactly 86 days.
Enter the interplay between the physical depletion of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR); the true, practical limits of oil prices; and the terrifying, hidden two-quadrillion-dollar derivatives market. The sources analyse this interplay as a highly synchronized endgame.
Let’s summarize it. As of late May 2026, only a month ago, the SPR has been drained to 365.1 million barrels, “the lowest operational level in over 40 years.”
With the Strait of Hormuz virtually closed – including by the Trump blockade – the U.S. is currently drawing down an historic 1.41 million barrels a day (nearly 10 million barrels a week) to artificially suppress prices.
Then comes “the critical policy number to watch”. It is not “zero barrels”, but actually 243 million barrels. Why? Because the Department of Forever Wars has certified that drawing the reserve below 243 million barrels explicitly impairs the American capability to wage war.
Once again the sources refer to their analysis: at the current velocity of 1.41 million barrels a day, the U.S. would burn through its 122-million-barrel discretionary cushion in exactly 86 days.
In their risk assessment, the sources chose to point to 60 days – accounting for potential infrastructure failures or increased military consumption. That’s how we get to mid-August 2026 as the breaking point.
And that’s not all. The sources note that “prices could easily breach the historic 2008 and 2022 peaks if refined product shortages trigger cascading shutdowns across European and Asian industrial sectors. However, a multi-hundred-dollar figure like $700 is widely considered a theoretical maximum that would instantly destroy global demand and collapse the entire international financial architecture before it could ever be sustained.”
And that’s not all. The sources note that “prices could easily breach the historic 2008 and 2022 peaks if refined product shortages trigger cascading shutdowns across European and Asian industrial sectors. However, a multi-hundred-dollar figure like $700 is widely considered a theoretical maximum that would instantly destroy global demand and collapse the entire international financial architecture before it could ever be sustained.”
.. We have a scenario of the SPR being depleted compounded with the Strait of Hormuz still blocked, “prices will violently spike past the 2008 records, testing $150 to $200 a barrel.”
At that threshold, “the physical economy experiences immediate demand destruction. Airlines grounded, shipping networks halted, and industrial manufacturing ceased. The price cannot physically sustain $700 because the global economic machine using the oil will disintegrate at $200, causing consumption to drop to near zero.”
And here we come to the clincher: “The danger is not the price tag itself, but the fact that the price spike will trigger the structural collapse of the underlying debt infrastructure”...
At that threshold, “the physical economy experiences immediate demand destruction. Airlines grounded, shipping networks halted, and industrial manufacturing ceased. The price cannot physically sustain $700 because the global economic machine using the oil will disintegrate at $200, causing consumption to drop to near zero.”
And here we come to the clincher: “The danger is not the price tag itself, but the fact that the price spike will trigger the structural collapse of the underlying debt infrastructure”...
..Neo-Crassus – prone to apocalyptic vociferations and non-stop threats to bomb Iran – simply cannot afford to have the SPR running dry. Yet that’s the way things will go if Hormuz does not revert to total free flow sooner rather than later. And it’s Tehran that controls the flow, not War-a-Lago.
Either neo-Crassus contains himself, or he may even become responsible for a global crisis linked to widespread sovereign debt implosion. https://strategic-culture.su/
Either neo-Crassus contains himself, or he may even become responsible for a global crisis linked to widespread sovereign debt implosion. https://strategic-culture.su/
IAEA Chief Confirms Nuclear Inspectors Returning To Iran, No Timeline Given https://www.zerohedge.com/
US & Iran Set For New Talks, Trump Says, Hours After Tehran Denied Plans Due To Days Of Hormuz Attacks https://www.zerohedge.com/
Iran Foreign Ministry contradicts Trump on Doha talks: "We will not hold any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days."
US-Iran talks may resume Tuesday in Doha, Trump declaring the plan in a Monday Truth Social, with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveling to Qatar, though Tehran denies technical negotiations are scheduled. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-iran-set-new-talks-trump-says-hours-after-tehran-denied-plans-due-days-hormuz
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian home and destroy vineyard in West Bank https://english.palinfo.com/
Hamas: Israeli bulldozing near Jerusalem prepares ground for new settler outpost https://english.palinfo.com/
Obliterating Gaza’s Children: The Damning UN Report
‘The Doctor Said: I Came to Torture You’: Gaza Detainees Describe Israeli Prison Abuse https://www.
Israel is still pushing for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. They keep trying different angles and rebranding it under different names, but the end goal has remained the same since October 2023: the removal of all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
From The Times of Israel:
“Israel is seeking to revive its moribund plan for the voluntary migration of Gazans out of the Strip, and has rebranded it in an effort to soften the blanket international opposition to it, Channel 13 news reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials.
“Security agencies have in recent days been told to abandon the “voluntary migration” title due to the global opposition, and it will from now on be officially referred to as a ‘plan for free movement,’ the report says. https://www.caitlinjohnst.
Trump’s Board of Peace plans to grant itself sweeping immunity, documents show
Draft resolution seeks to shield board members and security forces from potential prosecution for work in Gaza https://www.theguardian.com/
Israel’s Greatest Fear Revisited: An America Less Committed
UAW Divests from Israel Bonds Over Gaza https://theanalysis.news/uaw-
..The Ukrainian army is in its worst ever position. Morale is terrible, losses are high and the recruitment methods are getting more and more brutal.
The Ukrainian Commander in Chief General Syrski has long insisted on creating new ‘assault’ brigades instead of filling up the shrinking regular brigades which attempt to hold grounds.
A recent investigation by the Ukrainian outlet Babel reveals murder and torture in the recruit training camps of the 425th Assault Regiment Skala (Rock)...
..The newly recruited soldiers, snatched from the streets, are living in guarded tents. Going to the toilet is only allowed in groups and under the eyes of an armed soldier. Grounds around the training camp are mined. Torture is routine. People who try to flee will be shot and/or get brutalized to death. US-Iran talks may resume Tuesday in Doha, Trump declaring the plan in a Monday Truth Social, with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveling to Qatar, though Tehran denies technical negotiations are scheduled. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-iran-set-new-talks-trump-says-hours-after-tehran-denied-plans-due-days-hormuz
Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-06-29
The big delta: the Iran-US "ceasefire" turned into theater inside one trading session — futures popped on an Axios "halt strikes" headline an hour before Sunday's open, then Iran no-showed the scheduled Tuesday technical talks.
The other material move is institutional: the BIS put the AI bubble and its circular-financing plumbing in writing as a top systemic risk, the same week hedge funds dumped tech at a record pace and the dollar hit a 13-month high. Hormuz remains physically broken, China's gold-policy machine keeps grinding, and the Donbas front keeps closing.
US-Iran deal announced, then collapses within hours. A "halt strikes and meet this week" agreement broke an hour before futures reopened (BarakRavid, Kobeissi) — then Iran didn't attend the scheduled technical talks (BRICSinfo, michaelh992, Mark4XX). "Carbon copy headline every Sunday evening" (zerohedge); "Weekend War so we don't upset markets"...
..IRGC claims it destroyed eight US sites in Kuwait and Bahrain (AJEnglish); Friday's US strikes hit Iranian storage and coastal radar after a drone strike on a commercial vessel.....Hormuz physically still shut despite the headlines. Traffic has moved almost entirely to the Iran-designated corridor (MenchOsint); tanker crossings fell 58→24 vs ~120 pre-war (ekwufinance); odds of normal flow by July 31 down to 37% (KarelMercx). Iran reportedly lost track of its own minefield...
..Oil paradox: the "worst oil shock in history" left crude cheaper than pre-war, because reserves were drained to a 43-year low to hold the line (per Shanaka)...
..BIS names the AI bubble + circular financing as a top systemic risk. The central bank of central banks flagged "peril" from circular AI/data-center/shadow-bank financing, with the same asset pledged multiple times...
..The "three alarms" framing: record tech selling, dollar at a 13-month high, and the BIS naming debt-funded capex out loud (per Shanaka).....Zhipu AI reportedly matches Claude Mythos at security-bug detection... Ex-Meta PM argues enterprises will ditch OpenAI/Anthropic for self-hosted Chinese models (quxiaoyin)...
..Gold/silver: central-bank floor vs. Western retail capitulation:
Since April, US gold and Bitcoin funds bled ~$12B while semiconductor funds pulled in ~$20B (per Shanaka) — gold's "death cross" forming.
The bull case: death crosses in gold have repeatedly marked sentiment resets, not tops (Macrobysunil).
Silver in a top-5 drawdown of the past 30 years, weekly RSI near historic oversold (TheApeOfGoldStreet)...
Since April, US gold and Bitcoin funds bled ~$12B while semiconductor funds pulled in ~$20B (per Shanaka) — gold's "death cross" forming.
The bull case: death crosses in gold have repeatedly marked sentiment resets, not tops (Macrobysunil).
Silver in a top-5 drawdown of the past 30 years, weekly RSI near historic oversold (TheApeOfGoldStreet)...
..China imported 163 tons of gold in May, the largest monthly haul since March 2024 (thesiriusreport, minenergybiz).
PBOC is revamping gold import/export rules (oriental_ghost); accumulate-gold accounts now yield interest and serve as loan collateral (DavidLe)...
PBOC is revamping gold import/export rules (oriental_ghost); accumulate-gold accounts now yield interest and serve as loan collateral (DavidLe)...
..Russia–Ukraine: Donbas pincers tighten; a brigade commander shot in the rear...
..Ukrainian Army 154th Mechanized Brigade commander Kononnikov found shot in the back, plus an intel officer (Fakhriev) — both dead the same day...
..Iraq: Green Zone corruption sweep, days before the PM's Washington trip ... One framing: a US-backed cleanup of Resistance-aligned figures before PM al-Zaidi's Washington visit (DD_Geopolitics)...
..Venezuela: quake toll passes 1,400; US humanitarian-military operation lands
1,430 dead, 3,238 injured, 68,900 reported missing by families (Osint613); 900+ US sanctions complicating relief (AlanRMacLeod).
US begins a humanitarian operation — warships, heavy-lift aircraft, a $150M aid package (zerohedge). On the ground: a 100-ton crane idle for 24h+ for lack of an operator with a key...
1,430 dead, 3,238 injured, 68,900 reported missing by families (Osint613); 900+ US sanctions complicating relief (AlanRMacLeod).
US begins a humanitarian operation — warships, heavy-lift aircraft, a $150M aid package (zerohedge). On the ground: a 100-ton crane idle for 24h+ for lack of an operator with a key...
..Europe heatwave / AC culture war — genuinely high-volume, mostly framing. France reports 1,000 additional heat deaths (Lord Bebo), German trains halt as track sealant liquefies (zerohedge), and a public broadcaster runs an anti-AC campaign mid-heatwave (Polymarket, zerohedge). Real deaths, but the feed is dominated by "pigs get AC in China" trolling... https://no1sdailydigest.
..Oil: physical at prewar levels, paper market eerily calm
Physical crude prices sank to prewar levels even as tankers burn, and the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to its lowest since 1983...
..WTI futures volumes ran ~30% below average Friday and weekend prices "didn't flinch" at fresh tanker strikes — algorithmic, detached from the tape (DarioCpx). Someone bought "an absurd amount" of WTI calls expiring July 16...
Tehran Retaliates Against Bahrain, Kuwait After US Bombing Campaign Along Iranian Coast
Strikes on Iran violate War Powers Resolution, US lawmaker says https://www.iranintl.com/en/
Another ‘bombshell’ has been released by WSJ regarding the extent of the damage dished out by Iran onto US regional bases, corroborated by detailed new satellite photos...
Hezbollah Supporters Block Roads, Encircle Govt Buildings In Beirut Over Israel Deal: 'They Sold Us Out'
I have been informed of an attack today in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel which passed through the Strait of Hormuz. This vessel did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework. I have always reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained. …”
No one got hurt in the drone attack. There was only minor damage to the ship.
The U.S. however used the incident, in which it was formerly not involved, to escalate the situation. Several U.S. airplanes launched stand-off missile attacks on Iranian radar installations near Sirik, a port city in southern Iran, near Hormuz.
Last night Iran announced that it had hit back...
Watch: Giant Explosion Rocks Lebanon As IDF Destroys Hezbollah's Underground Drone Complex
Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-06-28
The big delta is overnight: US aircraft hit Iran's southern coast a second time since the Memorandum of Understanding, Iran answered with ballistic missiles and drones on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, and Trump openly threatened that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist." Meanwhile Beirut is besieging its own government over the Israel framework, Iraq's Green Zone got raided with politicians arrested, and China's May gold imports printed another monster number...
Physical crude prices sank to prewar levels even as tankers burn, and the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to its lowest since 1983...
..WTI futures volumes ran ~30% below average Friday and weekend prices "didn't flinch" at fresh tanker strikes — algorithmic, detached from the tape (DarioCpx). Someone bought "an absurd amount" of WTI calls expiring July 16...
..Tech/AI-bubble cracks: record outflows, MSTR below NAV, dangerous concentration
US tech-sector funds saw -$15B outflows, the largest weekly withdrawal in 2.5+ years, right after a record +$19B inflow the prior week...
Iran War: Struggle Over Strait of Hormuz Intensifies as US and Iran Strikes and Counterstrikes Escalate, US Escorts Tankers on Oman Side; Yet More on Oil and Diesel Squeeze US tech-sector funds saw -$15B outflows, the largest weekly withdrawal in 2.5+ years, right after a record +$19B inflow the prior week...
..Gold: central banks set the floor as Western retail dumps
Central banks bought 244 tonnes in Q1 — and reportedly ~15x more than officially reported, per WGC data...
..Europe's heatwave + EU AC class war: national temperature records (Germany 41.3°C), 109 deaths in Paris in 24h, and the EU Commission switching off AC on the lower 7 floors but not the commissioners'. https://no1sdailydigest.Central banks bought 244 tonnes in Q1 — and reportedly ~15x more than officially reported, per WGC data...
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has thrown down a hard marker, that Iran will control the Strait of Hormuz - Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi):
Under the memorandum of understanding, the Strait of #Hormuz will return to its pre-war operating capacity within 30 days under the management adopted by Iran and after the obstacles are removed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
These arrangements are currently being implemented, and responsibility for them rests solely with the Islamic Republic of Iran. No other institution or country bears responsibility in this regard.
According to the memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the United States, any interference in this matter, or any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being implemented by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only complicate the situation, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and increase tensions.
As we witnessed over the past two nights, incidents in the Strait of Hormuz have already contributed to rising tensions and confrontations.
I call on all parties not to interfere in the management of the Strait of Hormuz or in the arrangements being made by the Islamic Republic of Iran for its reopening. They should abide by the signed memorandum of understanding and not allow it to deviate from its intended course.
The IRCG has also issued fresh warnings. From Aljazeera’s live feed:
IRGC warns it will ‘respond even more forcefully’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has pledged to meet any US attacks with a more forceful response as tit-for-tat strikes continue in the Gulf.
“As we predicted, the enemy is an enemy that breaks its commitments, is deceitful, and cannot be trusted. At any moment, at any stage of the negotiations, it may take certain actions,” IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi told state-run SNN TV.
“Whatever action the enemy takes in this regard, we have responded to it, and we will respond to it. We repeat: If the enemy breaks its commitments and violates the ceasefire, we will respond more strongly than before, and we stress we will respond even more forcefully. We regard such moves by the enemy as natural because we know the enemy’s nature,” Mohebi said. https://www.nakedcapitalism.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the Strait of #Hormuz will return to its pre-war operating capacity within 30 days under the management adopted by Iran and after the obstacles are removed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
These arrangements are currently being implemented, and responsibility for them rests solely with the Islamic Republic of Iran. No other institution or country bears responsibility in this regard.
According to the memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the United States, any interference in this matter, or any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being implemented by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only complicate the situation, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and increase tensions.
As we witnessed over the past two nights, incidents in the Strait of Hormuz have already contributed to rising tensions and confrontations.
I call on all parties not to interfere in the management of the Strait of Hormuz or in the arrangements being made by the Islamic Republic of Iran for its reopening. They should abide by the signed memorandum of understanding and not allow it to deviate from its intended course.
The IRCG has also issued fresh warnings. From Aljazeera’s live feed:
IRGC warns it will ‘respond even more forcefully’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has pledged to meet any US attacks with a more forceful response as tit-for-tat strikes continue in the Gulf.
“As we predicted, the enemy is an enemy that breaks its commitments, is deceitful, and cannot be trusted. At any moment, at any stage of the negotiations, it may take certain actions,” IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi told state-run SNN TV.
“Whatever action the enemy takes in this regard, we have responded to it, and we will respond to it. We repeat: If the enemy breaks its commitments and violates the ceasefire, we will respond more strongly than before, and we stress we will respond even more forcefully. We regard such moves by the enemy as natural because we know the enemy’s nature,” Mohebi said. https://www.nakedcapitalism.
Iranian state media is also confirming the fresh 'retaliation' for limited US airstrikes over the last two days, triggered initially by the Iranians seeking to enforce 'control' of the Strait of Hormuz, by attacking no less than two foreign vessels in as many days.
Latest via the same publication:
The US has bombed Iran for a second day, hitting the city of Sirik, Bandar-e Lengeh and Qeshm Island, following a drone attack on a commercial vessel near the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, killing at least one person, a day after signing a framework agreement with the Lebanese government to end hostilities.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asks Trump to help prevent Israeli violations, as Hezbollah rejects the agreement with Israel, describing it as “a surrender of sovereignty”. https://www.zerohedge.com/
Latest via the same publication:
The US has bombed Iran for a second day, hitting the city of Sirik, Bandar-e Lengeh and Qeshm Island, following a drone attack on a commercial vessel near the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, killing at least one person, a day after signing a framework agreement with the Lebanese government to end hostilities.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asks Trump to help prevent Israeli violations, as Hezbollah rejects the agreement with Israel, describing it as “a surrender of sovereignty”. https://www.zerohedge.com/
Strikes on Iran violate War Powers Resolution, US lawmaker says https://www.iranintl.com/en/
Simplicius, New Report Reveals True Extent of Devastation of US Fifth Fleet HQ in Bahrain
..US’s NSA (Naval Support Activity) Bahrain base, where the Fifth Fleet Headquarters are housed.
Less than 150 miles from Iran’s southern coast, NSA Bahrain has been the anchor of American naval power in the Middle East for more than three decades. The base can host every type of ship in the U.S. fleet, and has played a critical role in countering Iranian weapon smuggling, minelaying and tanker attacks.
They report that the US Fifth Fleet Headquarters has been rendered “unusable”—at least in part—after taking a huge ballistic strike...
..The damage to that HQ and other bases was so extensive that the US is apparently considering moving some of them “further west” rather than rebuilding them...Less than 150 miles from Iran’s southern coast, NSA Bahrain has been the anchor of American naval power in the Middle East for more than three decades. The base can host every type of ship in the U.S. fleet, and has played a critical role in countering Iranian weapon smuggling, minelaying and tanker attacks.
They report that the US Fifth Fleet Headquarters has been rendered “unusable”—at least in part—after taking a huge ballistic strike...
..They write that the CSIS estimated the damage to the bases could be as high as an eye-watering $5 billion dollars:
Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst told Congress last month that the department’s estimated cost of the war, then at $29 billion, didn’t include damage to U.S. bases...
..As the only U.S. posting in the Middle East where families could live, the base functioned like a small American city, with a softball field, restaurants, a naval exchange and a school. Sailors who spent weeks at sea would pull into Bahrain and head to the base to decompress. https://simplicius76.Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst told Congress last month that the department’s estimated cost of the war, then at $29 billion, didn’t include damage to U.S. bases...
Katz Says the US Hasn’t Asked Israel To Withdraw from Lebanon
The Israeli defense minister said civilians cannot return to the IDF-occupied area https://news.antiwar.com/Mass protests broke out in Beirut on Friday into Saturday, with supporters of Hezbollah voicing their outrage at the Lebanese government having just signed a 'trilateral peace framework' with Israel and the United States, despite the IDF occupation of southern territory and sporadic Israeli bombings persisting. https://www.zerohedge.com/
Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: – New Clash Over Strait Passage – Lebanon’s Capitulation Ignites New Civil War
The last days there were two developments in Lebanon and Iran that will likely cause the war to reignite into a much larger conflagration.
Iran insists on having control over the Strait of Hormuz. But at least half of the passage way is under Oman’s jurisdiction.
Oman is, unlike Iran, a member of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and has as such a different view of the international law with regards to the Strait situation. Oman is also a (former) UK/U.S. dependent. Iran’s attempts to pull the traditionally neutral Oman onto its side of the conflict have failed...
..Iran’s response to the challenge was a (harmless) drone attack on a container ship under the flag of Singapore which had used the IMO organized convoy to slip out of the Persian Gulf on its own. As the head of IMO announced during a press conference:The last days there were two developments in Lebanon and Iran that will likely cause the war to reignite into a much larger conflagration.
Iran insists on having control over the Strait of Hormuz. But at least half of the passage way is under Oman’s jurisdiction.
Oman is, unlike Iran, a member of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and has as such a different view of the international law with regards to the Strait situation. Oman is also a (former) UK/U.S. dependent. Iran’s attempts to pull the traditionally neutral Oman onto its side of the conflict have failed...
I have been informed of an attack today in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel which passed through the Strait of Hormuz. This vessel did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework. I have always reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained. …”
No one got hurt in the drone attack. There was only minor damage to the ship.
The U.S. however used the incident, in which it was formerly not involved, to escalate the situation. Several U.S. airplanes launched stand-off missile attacks on Iranian radar installations near Sirik, a port city in southern Iran, near Hormuz.
Last night Iran announced that it had hit back...
..While Iran, through the MoU, set the retreat of Israel from Lebanon as a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the Lebanese government, under the pressure of U.S. sanctions, insisted on finding its own solution by selling out to the U.S. and Israel.
Yesterday it signed a Tripartite Agreement with the U.S. and Israel which will allow Israel to keep control over south Lebanon including over some 60 townships which it had cleansed of their Shia population. The agreement commits the Lebanese government to disarm Hizbullah, which it can not do, while allowing Israel to stay indefinitely... It is even more than that. Israel’s clear intention here is to reignite a Lebanese civil war and may well succeed. https://www.moonofalabama.
Yesterday it signed a Tripartite Agreement with the U.S. and Israel which will allow Israel to keep control over south Lebanon including over some 60 townships which it had cleansed of their Shia population. The agreement commits the Lebanese government to disarm Hizbullah, which it can not do, while allowing Israel to stay indefinitely... It is even more than that. Israel’s clear intention here is to reignite a Lebanese civil war and may well succeed. https://www.moonofalabama.
In a move bound to test the limits of the fragile Washington-brokered regional ceasefire, Israel has unleashed massive ordinance on southern Lebanon, saying it has utterly destroyed a huge underground complex built and used by Hezbollah.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have freshly announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completely demolished a massive Hezbollah underground fortress embedded deep beneath the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun. The village itself was leveled, with the IDF having released footage showing an unusually strong explosion. https://www.zerohedge.com/
Lebanon Could Become ‘Gaza Strip 2’ under New US-Backed Framework – Haaretz https://www.
Iran Challenges US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have freshly announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completely demolished a massive Hezbollah underground fortress embedded deep beneath the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun. The village itself was leveled, with the IDF having released footage showing an unusually strong explosion. https://www.zerohedge.com/
Iran Challenges US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare
In 1989, Michael Klare and Peter Kornbluh edited a book titled Low-Intensity Warfare: How the USA Fights Wars Without Declaring Them.
They wrote that the official description of low-intensity warfare was deliberately broad and ambiguous, embracing drug interdiction in Bolivia, the occupation of Beirut, the invasion of Grenada, the airstrikes on Libya in 1986, as well as covert “special operations,” “special activities,” and “unconventional warfare.”
They concluded that low-intensity conflict was in fact “a strategic reorientation of the US military establishment, and renewed commitment to employ force in a global crusade against Third World revolutionary movements and governments.”
Today’s nominal but false ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf fit squarely within that doctrine. They allow the US and Israel to continue illegal uses of force while appearing to respond to international demands for negotiations and diplomacy.
But the US involvement in low-intensity conflict today is not limited to the Middle East. It also encompasses the proxy war on Russia centered in Ukraine; the savage, deadly siege of Cuba; US and western piracy on the high seas; the kidnapping of President Maduro of Venezuela and his wife; and economic and financial coercive measures or “sanctions” that impact about 40 countries.
Today’s low-intensity warfare also includes deploying US special operations forces in up to 140 countries. Since 2001, US special operations forces claim to have suffered 40% of all US military casualties, including many of the 8,492 American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Concentrating such a large share of US war casualties in such a small force – about 70,000 men and women at any one time – helps to give most American families the illusion of living in peace, even as the United States projects military force across the world and kills thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of people abroad.
The doctrine of low-intensity warfare depends on a fundamental assumption: that the countries targeted by the United States and its allies will remain too weak, too isolated or too divided to effectively resist. But that assumption is increasingly being tested. https://www.nakedcapitalism.
West Bank settler violence poses “existential threat” to Palestinians, analyst says https://english.palinfo.com/
They wrote that the official description of low-intensity warfare was deliberately broad and ambiguous, embracing drug interdiction in Bolivia, the occupation of Beirut, the invasion of Grenada, the airstrikes on Libya in 1986, as well as covert “special operations,” “special activities,” and “unconventional warfare.”
They concluded that low-intensity conflict was in fact “a strategic reorientation of the US military establishment, and renewed commitment to employ force in a global crusade against Third World revolutionary movements and governments.”
Today’s nominal but false ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf fit squarely within that doctrine. They allow the US and Israel to continue illegal uses of force while appearing to respond to international demands for negotiations and diplomacy.
But the US involvement in low-intensity conflict today is not limited to the Middle East. It also encompasses the proxy war on Russia centered in Ukraine; the savage, deadly siege of Cuba; US and western piracy on the high seas; the kidnapping of President Maduro of Venezuela and his wife; and economic and financial coercive measures or “sanctions” that impact about 40 countries.
Today’s low-intensity warfare also includes deploying US special operations forces in up to 140 countries. Since 2001, US special operations forces claim to have suffered 40% of all US military casualties, including many of the 8,492 American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Concentrating such a large share of US war casualties in such a small force – about 70,000 men and women at any one time – helps to give most American families the illusion of living in peace, even as the United States projects military force across the world and kills thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of people abroad.
The doctrine of low-intensity warfare depends on a fundamental assumption: that the countries targeted by the United States and its allies will remain too weak, too isolated or too divided to effectively resist. But that assumption is increasingly being tested. https://www.nakedcapitalism.
From Gaza and beyond, Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children. It is in line with the new Obliteration Doctrine and the topic of a new UN report...
..The testimony of Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a young American trauma and general surgeon who had volunteered in Palestine including the European Hospital in Khan Younis, was particularly compelling.
“I’ve seen violence and worked in conflict zones,” Sidhwa said. “But of the many things that stood out about working in a hospital in Gaza, one got to me: Nearly every day I was there, I saw a new young child who had been shot in the head or the chest, virtually all of whom went on to die.” https://scheerpost.com/2026/
“I’ve seen violence and worked in conflict zones,” Sidhwa said. “But of the many things that stood out about working in a hospital in Gaza, one got to me: Nearly every day I was there, I saw a new young child who had been shot in the head or the chest, virtually all of whom went on to die.” https://scheerpost.com/2026/
Caitlin Johnstone, They're Still Pushing The Ethnic Cleansing Of Gaza
From The Times of Israel:
“Israel is seeking to revive its moribund plan for the voluntary migration of Gazans out of the Strip, and has rebranded it in an effort to soften the blanket international opposition to it, Channel 13 news reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials.
“Security agencies have in recent days been told to abandon the “voluntary migration” title due to the global opposition, and it will from now on be officially referred to as a ‘plan for free movement,’ the report says. https://www.caitlinjohnst.
Draft resolution seeks to shield board members and security forces from potential prosecution for work in Gaza https://www.theguardian.com/
[Since LBJ] The US–Israel relationship has been regarded as one of the most durable strategic partnerships in modern international politics. Successive American administrations have provided Israel with extensive military, political, intelligence, diplomatic, and economic support, often shielding it from international criticism and blocking resolutions perceived as hostile to Israeli interests in global institutions.
However, recent developments suggest that the traditionally unquestioned nature of this alliance may be entering a new phase. Growing tensions between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, combined with Washington’s evolving approach toward Iran and regional diplomacy, have raised questions about the future of American support for Israel and the broader balance of power in the Middle East. https://www.globalresearch. Schrodinger's Prime Minister: Could Israel’s coming election see an end to Netanyahu’s political career?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting political, legal and US pressure ahead of crucial elections. https://www.aljazeera.com/ Russia is runninng a marathon, not a sprint. Moon of Alabama, Ukraine Isn’t Winning
There is an ongoing Ukrainian propaganda campaign to depict the country as winning the conflict with Russia.
The campaign is accompanied by drone attacks on energy targets within Russia. While burning fuel tanks at this or that of many Russian refineries may look impressive the effects on Russia have so fare been mere nuances. Ongoing drone attacks on Crimea have led to inconveniences for the inhabitants of the island.
The Ukrainian campaign is supported by the Europeans who are trying to pull the U.S. back into the conflict. The U.S. however had never left. After the meeting between President Trump and President Putin in August 2025 in Anchorage there was talk about an agreement between the two presidents but no announcement of any specifics.
After the meeting Trump had called for Ukraine to leave the Donbas area to make peace with Russia. But he never applied any pressure to achieve that outcome. Meanwhile U.S. intelligence and weapon support for Ukraine continued.
For a while Russia had seemed to believe in the ‘sprit of Anchorage’ and had expressed hope for an end on the conflict along Trump’s proposal. That view has long since gone away.
Now U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has officially dismissed any talk of an Anchorage agreement:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump failed to secure any final agreements on Ukraine settlement at their meeting in Anchorage.
“There was no agreement in Alaska. There was a proposal in Alaska, but there was no agreement in Alaska. If there had been an agreement, we would have had an end to the war,” Rubio told journalists in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, in the course of his state visit.
Now Rubio’s underling even declares that Ukraine is winning:
Speaking ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, US Deputy Secretary of State Jeremy Levin said the conflict has shifted in Kyiv’s favor, Mezha reported.
“As of now, we are in a position where Ukraine is winning the war at this moment” Levin said, adding that the situation on the battlefield has shifted in Kyiv’s favor, allowing Washington to speak about Ukraine’s success as a current reality instead of a distant goal...
..The facts on the ground are contradicting the view of Mr. Levin...There is an ongoing Ukrainian propaganda campaign to depict the country as winning the conflict with Russia.
The campaign is accompanied by drone attacks on energy targets within Russia. While burning fuel tanks at this or that of many Russian refineries may look impressive the effects on Russia have so fare been mere nuances. Ongoing drone attacks on Crimea have led to inconveniences for the inhabitants of the island.
The Ukrainian campaign is supported by the Europeans who are trying to pull the U.S. back into the conflict. The U.S. however had never left. After the meeting between President Trump and President Putin in August 2025 in Anchorage there was talk about an agreement between the two presidents but no announcement of any specifics.
After the meeting Trump had called for Ukraine to leave the Donbas area to make peace with Russia. But he never applied any pressure to achieve that outcome. Meanwhile U.S. intelligence and weapon support for Ukraine continued.
For a while Russia had seemed to believe in the ‘sprit of Anchorage’ and had expressed hope for an end on the conflict along Trump’s proposal. That view has long since gone away.
Now U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has officially dismissed any talk of an Anchorage agreement:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump failed to secure any final agreements on Ukraine settlement at their meeting in Anchorage.
“There was no agreement in Alaska. There was a proposal in Alaska, but there was no agreement in Alaska. If there had been an agreement, we would have had an end to the war,” Rubio told journalists in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, in the course of his state visit.
Now Rubio’s underling even declares that Ukraine is winning:
Speaking ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, US Deputy Secretary of State Jeremy Levin said the conflict has shifted in Kyiv’s favor, Mezha reported.
“As of now, we are in a position where Ukraine is winning the war at this moment” Levin said, adding that the situation on the battlefield has shifted in Kyiv’s favor, allowing Washington to speak about Ukraine’s success as a current reality instead of a distant goal...
The Ukrainian Commander in Chief General Syrski has long insisted on creating new ‘assault’ brigades instead of filling up the shrinking regular brigades which attempt to hold grounds.
A recent investigation by the Ukrainian outlet Babel reveals murder and torture in the recruit training camps of the 425th Assault Regiment Skala (Rock)...
Strana reports that the “Rock” is far from the only such unit.
The mass death of Ukrainian soldiers due to torture while in training is probably what the State Department considers as ‘winning’.
Russia has meanwhile initiated a new campaign against Ukrainian transport infrastructure and logistics. Targets are locomotives, truck depots, large post office warehouses (which run Ukraine’s military logistics), oil storage facilities and petrol stations of which more than 150 have been destroyed so far.
The slow squeeze continues. Ukraine isn’t winning. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/06/ukraine-isnt-winning.html
President Vladimir Putin made a rare admission over this past weekend, belatedly acknowledged Sunday that Russia is facing a "certain shortage" of fuel following weeks of ramped-up drone warfare coming out of Ukraine, which has chiefly targeted oil refineries and domestic supply facilities, including in the Moscow region.
"As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course, these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems," Putin said in the new interview published by the Kremlin. "That's obvious."
"Right now we're observing a certain shortage, but it's not critical," he added. He also made wide-ranging public remarks at a major summit of the ruling 'United Russia' party. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-concedes-fuel-shortages-after-ukraine-strikes-plays-it-cool-problematic-not
"As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course, these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems," Putin said in the new interview published by the Kremlin. "That's obvious."
"Right now we're observing a certain shortage, but it's not critical," he added. He also made wide-ranging public remarks at a major summit of the ruling 'United Russia' party. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-concedes-fuel-shortages-after-ukraine-strikes-plays-it-cool-problematic-not
Gilbert Doctorow, News X World: Putin admits Russian fuel crisis
Let us be frank: the admission by President Putin that there is a serious fuel shortage as a result of destruction of refineries is inviting his own overthrow. Gasolene availability and pricing is a highly political issue in Russia just as it is in the USA and Western Europe. https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/news-x-world-putin-admits-russian
Simplicius, 'Mystery' Valdai Meeting Between Putin and Lukashenko Stirs Speculation Amidst Zelensky's Latest Threats
The meeting was reportedly unannounced and Kremlin spokesperson Peskov revealed that no official transcript or statements would be provided—which is certainly odd. “Officially” the agenda was said to include Union State matters, economic and trade agreements, etc. But the implication given the nature of the meeting is clearly that, instead, matters of grave military importance were discussed, which required Putin and Lukashenko’s direct face-to-face contact at Putin’s own private retreat...
..We can therefore only logically infer that this was a kind of emergency meeting where the two leaders ironed out a coordinated plan as to how their respective countries should proceed militarily should Zelensky continue his upward spiral of provocations.....As previously seen, Zelensky has announced a new “campaign of terrors” lasting 40 days that is meant to be a kind of grandiose final arc to top the war. The ploy’s chief mechanic is obviously set to be a series of major escalations combined with an unprecedented information campaign to paint Russia as collapsing, and more importantly, Putin as being in the throes of an uprising. This is the age-old playbook used by Western intelligence agencies in Iran and elsewhere. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/mystery-valdai-meeting-between-putin
President Putin’s message to the German government and the German people:
‘We have no desire to attack you. Why would we? Those days are long behind us. Anyone who is thinking clearly can see that.
First:
Your national debt already stands at €2.5 trillion, and no serious economist seems to know how it will ever be repaid...
..Second:
Millions of migrants now live in your country, costing tens of billions of euros each year. Why should the Russian people bear any responsibility for that?
Third:
A sizeable portion of your population believes that riding bicycles and eating insects can change the climate. Perhaps such thinking could be corrected, but doing so would come at a cost.
Fourth:Millions of migrants now live in your country, costing tens of billions of euros each year. Why should the Russian people bear any responsibility for that?
Third:
A sizeable portion of your population believes that riding bicycles and eating insects can change the climate. Perhaps such thinking could be corrected, but doing so would come at a cost.
Your education system was once admired around the world. Today, in many German classrooms, meaningful teaching has become difficult because German is no longer widely spoken.
Fifth:
Your infrastructure is crumbling, and you are struggling to keep up with the repairs.
Sixth:
Your railways were once a source of national pride and an example to the world. Today, your trains are notorious for delays and declining reliability
Seventh:
We no longer depend on your renowned engineers. The sanctions taught us how to manage without them. And if we ever need outside expertise, we can turn to China, where it is not only less expensive but often more competitive.
Eighth:Your railways were once a source of national pride and an example to the world. Today, your trains are notorious for delays and declining reliability
Seventh:
We no longer depend on your renowned engineers. The sanctions taught us how to manage without them. And if we ever need outside expertise, we can turn to China, where it is not only less expensive but often more competitive.
You lack the natural resources and energy reserves that would make your country strategically attractive to conquer. Why would we take on problems that otherwise would not concern us?
Realistically, even if you invited us in, surrendered, and waved white flags, we still would not come.’ https://michaelwalshwriter.com/2026/06/27/address-to-the-peoples-of-europe-putin/
'It's like feudalism,' commission staffer tells Politico, referring to how the upper floors occupied by commissioners – the EU executive – kept their air conditioning https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/eu-commission-hq-shuts-down-air-conditioning-for-lower-staffers-but-keeps-it-on-for-most-commissioners/3979743
The World Cup has triggered one of the most surprising global cultural awakenings in decades and almost no one saw it coming. The establishment media had been running negative propaganda for months, claiming that the event was going to be a disaster because it was being held in the US. The machine had already decided that the World Cup in 2026 was going to be sold as a disaster from start to finish.
Rumors were spinning that because Americans don't care about "soccer" that the tournament would be mismanaged, that America was "racist", the players would be treated poorly, and that the US is such a dangerous place it would deter travelers from going overseas to attend the games.
The anti-American sentiment being generating by western journalists is staggering. However, all it took was a few weeks and around 1.2 million foreign visitors per city coming to see the World Cup at the same time. Suddenly, Europeans have realized they've been lied to about everything.
The US hosted event is now being called one of the most successful in history. The propaganda spell has been broken. Europeans are going on social media to apologize for the hate their countrymen have been dumping on the US over the years. And, most importantly, they've discovered air conditioning.
Strangely, it's not American gun rights that are sparking mass debate. Rather, it's the air conditioning issue that's causing the most friction with political leaders back in Europe, and the elites are not happy. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/did-world-cup-just-start-war-europe-over-air-conditioning
Rumors were spinning that because Americans don't care about "soccer" that the tournament would be mismanaged, that America was "racist", the players would be treated poorly, and that the US is such a dangerous place it would deter travelers from going overseas to attend the games.
The anti-American sentiment being generating by western journalists is staggering. However, all it took was a few weeks and around 1.2 million foreign visitors per city coming to see the World Cup at the same time. Suddenly, Europeans have realized they've been lied to about everything.
The US hosted event is now being called one of the most successful in history. The propaganda spell has been broken. Europeans are going on social media to apologize for the hate their countrymen have been dumping on the US over the years. And, most importantly, they've discovered air conditioning.
Strangely, it's not American gun rights that are sparking mass debate. Rather, it's the air conditioning issue that's causing the most friction with political leaders back in Europe, and the elites are not happy. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/did-world-cup-just-start-war-europe-over-air-conditioning
Xenophobia is a human-species characteristic in hard times: A new wave of xenophobia is sweeping through South Africa, with migrants murdered, homes destroyed and thousands displaced.
During the Biden years, Kash Patel accused Jan. 6 provocateur Ray Epps of being a federal asset.
Referring to the fact that Epps was taken off the FBI’s Most Wanted list in early 2021, Patel said there was only two ways someone could get off that list—either they died or they’re working for the government. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lawsuit-filed-records-jan-6-provocateur-ray-epps
Referring to the fact that Epps was taken off the FBI’s Most Wanted list in early 2021, Patel said there was only two ways someone could get off that list—either they died or they’re working for the government. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lawsuit-filed-records-jan-6-provocateur-ray-epps
Kyle Young, As I Predicted, the Investigation into the Death of Charlie Kirk now Goes All The Way To The Top
Why?
Here’s the sequence of events -
On August 8, 2025 Charlie says he thinks Israel will kill him if he leaves the Israeli cause.
On September 8, 2025 he announces he is leaving the Israeli cause.
On September 9, 2025 he tells 3 people he thinks he is going to be killed.
On September 10, 2025 he is assassinated.
The FBI, the state of Utah and local authorities think none of this is worthy of investigation.
At no point did Charlie Kirk say he had any concerns about transfurry people. Transfurry people were not pulling funding from TPUSA. They were not posing an existential threat to Charlie Kirk. That threat was coming from Israel. It was Netanyahu that offered to take Charlie Kirk and TPUSA to the next level at a meeting in the Hamptons sponsored by Jewish billionaire Bill Ackman in early August of 2025. Charlie turned Netanyahu down. Transfurries had nothing to do with any of that.
So what does the FBI do? The FBI decides to ignore the obvious avenue of investigative pursuit and instead, dreams up a lame narrative that a lone, transfurry gunman named Tyler Robinson shot Charlie Kirk in the neck with his grandfathers .30-06 rifle...
..Like Thomas Mathew Crooks, who we are told shot Trump in the ear at Butler PA, Tyler Robinson was to be shot to death by authorities at his house in Saint George, Utah. End of story. Except, a number of things went wrong.
Tyler had a family friend in law enforcement who recommended to Tyler’s parents that the safest place for Tyler was in jail. So, he turned himself in. That may be the only reason why he is still alive today. We can be sure that was not part of the overall plan to silence Charlies growing influence about the dangers of being aligned with Israel, and prevent his potential run for the White House in a few years. https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/as-i-predicted-the-investigation
Tyler had a family friend in law enforcement who recommended to Tyler’s parents that the safest place for Tyler was in jail. So, he turned himself in. That may be the only reason why he is still alive today. We can be sure that was not part of the overall plan to silence Charlies growing influence about the dangers of being aligned with Israel, and prevent his potential run for the White House in a few years. https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/as-i-predicted-the-investigation
Kyle Young, A Compendium of Information about the Assassination of Charlie Kirk https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/a-compendium-of-information-about-78d
$US-Tether has a no-recourse-kill-switch, held by several entities: Ellen Brown, AI Abundance, Part 4: THE CLARITY ACT AND THE STABLECOIN WARS https://scheerpost.com/2026/06/26/ai-abundance-part-4/
Jay Young, an oil operator and CEO of oil investment firm King Operating Corporation, explained on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio how the U.S. is currently in the sweet spot for oil prices, but that he expects the price to go up as supply is not meeting demand.
“You want to keep prices between $65-$85, at that level. You don’t want to overproduce, because then prices just go down, and it’s just Armageddon in the oil and gas industry,” Young said. “You’re producing so much oil, but you’re not making any money. Why do we need $78 a barrel, and why is that a good price? Because then you could drill a $10 million well, and you can make $15 to $25 million off that.
“If prices go down too far, you’re not making as much money; it’s not worth it,” he continued. “That’s what I’m surprised about right now, that rig counts stayed steady. It hasn’t gone up a lot because, you know, we saw $100 oil, a little higher than that, and it’s staying around the $70-$80, but there are so many countries that are coming back in right now that everybody feels like that oil could go down.” https://mynorthwest.com/john-curley/oil-gas-prices-summer/4251768
“If prices go down too far, you’re not making as much money; it’s not worth it,” he continued. “That’s what I’m surprised about right now, that rig counts stayed steady. It hasn’t gone up a lot because, you know, we saw $100 oil, a little higher than that, and it’s staying around the $70-$80, but there are so many countries that are coming back in right now that everybody feels like that oil could go down.” https://mynorthwest.com/john-curley/oil-gas-prices-summer/4251768
Korea rang the bell. Chosun Biz reported that SK Hynix found that commodity DRAM margins had risen sharply enough to sometimes beat HBM margins (HBM are specialized high-speed memory chips used in AI accelerators).
It’s only a rational business decision to follow the yield. But the yield isn’t from “AI”. So it’s not hype, not fancy enough for the crowd. https://no01.substack.com/p/the-bigger-the-boom-the-harder-the
It’s only a rational business decision to follow the yield. But the yield isn’t from “AI”. So it’s not hype, not fancy enough for the crowd. https://no01.substack.com/p/the-bigger-the-boom-the-harder-the
The tech-focused Nasdaq index fell about 3% by close of trade alongside international chipmakers, reigniting fears that dizzying market valuations have finally run out of momentum after a relentless three-month climb. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802gvxpyxzo
Frances Leader, HAND-HELD MICROWAVE WEAPONS
For years, governments have doubted the stories of those suffering from AHI, commonly called Havana Syndrome. Now reports of a newly acquired weapon from the black market will finally vindicate them. https://francesleader.substack.com/p/hand-held-microwave-weaponsNo RoundUp, attempts at soil-building and less chemical fertilizer, a modest start: Trump Signs Regenerative Agriculture Order To Boost Food Supply https://www.zerohedge.com/food/trump-signs-regenerative-agriculture-order-boost-food-supply
John Klar explains very modest goals, What President Trump’s Executive Order Boosting Regenerative Agriculture Gets Right
On June 25, President Trump issued an executive order broadly supporting regenerative agriculture. It’s a meaningful step in the right direction. Most organic producers understand that, short of a purist agricultural system in which all farms are organic, large conventional farms must be incentivized to use fewer polluting methods where possible, which means implementing what can only be called “regenerative” practices.
U.S. agriculture has been pressured to adopt industrial methodology and rapid consolidation for decades, resulting in a system that depletes soils, water resources, and nutrients. Such methods include the production of a massive amount of genetically modified corn and soy every year, used in animal feed and fuel production. These crops are not transitioning to organic overnight, and rely on routine applications of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
The June 25 executive order does not aim to convert all U.S. farmland to organic production rapidly, but rather to reduce the amount of chemicals used in existing industrial systems. Following decades of federal subsidies and regulations that pressured farmers to invest in chemical applications, the Trump administration is implementing unprecedented steps to reverse that trend.
The EO also specifically calls for research into the potential adverse health impacts of cumulative chemical residue [Glyphosate] exposures, the development of less toxic alternative chemical products to replace current agricultural chemicals, and a long-overdue study of the impacts of glyphosate and other chemicals used as pre-harvest desiccants. This information can serve as the foundation for future reductions in chemical applications to Americans’ food and ethanol supplies. https://www.themahareport.com/p/what-president-trumps-executive-order
The EO also specifically calls for research into the potential adverse health impacts of cumulative chemical residue [Glyphosate] exposures, the development of less toxic alternative chemical products to replace current agricultural chemicals, and a long-overdue study of the impacts of glyphosate and other chemicals used as pre-harvest desiccants. This information can serve as the foundation for future reductions in chemical applications to Americans’ food and ethanol supplies. https://www.themahareport.com/p/what-president-trumps-executive-order
Steve Kirsch, New Zealand vaccination records show 50% higher-than-expected all-cause mortality after vaccination; Health New Zealand refuses to investigate
Instead of analyzing their own data, they are spending millions of dollars to pursue criminal charges against their former database administrator Barry Young for exposing the records https://kirschsubstack.com/p/new-zealand-vaccination-records-showBarry is clear and well-spoken. Exclusive: Awaiting Trial, Whistleblower Barry Young Discusses New Zealand’s ‘Sham’ COVID Inquiry https://tdefender.substack.com/p/whistleblower-barry-young-covid-vaccine-interview
Paul Marik MD, Luteolin: A versatile anticancer agent (and Genistein).
Luteolin has one of the broadest anticancer profiles among naturally occurring flavonoids. Like curcumin and quercetin, it is not tumor-specific but instead targets multiple “hallmarks of cancer,” including proliferation, inflammation, cancer stem cells (CSCs), angiogenesis, epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and immune evasion. Most of the evidence, however, comes from cell culture and animal studies, with limited human clinical data.A Midwestern Doctor, on using DMSO down-there: The Simple Ways to Restore Sexual Health https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-simple-ways-to-restore-sexual
Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas
The research combined real-world ocean observations with the models to determine the most reliable, and this hugely reduced the spread of uncertainty. They found an estimated slowdown of 42% to 58% in 2100, a level almost certain to end in collapse.
The AMOC is a major part of the global climate system and brings sun-warmed tropical water to Europe and the Arctic, where it cools and sinks to form a deep return current. A collapse would shift the tropical rainfall belt on which many millions of people rely to grow their food, plunge western Europe into extreme cold winters and summer droughts, and add 50-100cm to already rising sea levels around the Atlantic.
Dr Valentin Portmann, at the Inria Centre de recherche Bordeaux Sud-Ouest in France and who led the new research, said: “We found that the AMOC is going to decline more than expected compared to the average of all climate models. This means we have an Amoc that is closer to a tipping point.”
Prof Stefan Rahmstorf, at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said: “This is an important and very concerning result. It shows that the ‘pessimistic’ models, which show a strong weakening of the AMOC by 2100, are, unfortunately, the realistic ones, in that they agree better with observational data.”
He added: “I now am increasingly worried that we may well pass that Amoc shutdown tipping point, where it becomes inevitable, in the middle of this century, which is quite close.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/critical-atlantic-current-significantly-more-likely-to-collapse-than-thought
Josh Mitteldorf asks the question on everybody's mind: Was the human genome engineered by ETs? (We would. Why wouldn't they?) https://mitteldorf.substack.com/p/was-the-human-genome-engineered-by
Human DNA-carrier (pictured with Jenny in garden this morning with Armenian cucumber that got big while hiding)
