The Silver Tongued Donald

 Not Deceived,

  Trump says things to lower oil prices Friday morning. Few of them check out:  Iran Bats Down 'Baseless' Trump Claim On Handing Over Enriched Uranium To US, As He Declares Hormuz 'Never Again' Closed

​  Trump Praises Iran for Fully Reopening Hormuz Chokepoint; Crude Tanks, Yields Dump, Equity Futs Up; Follows by claiming Iran will 'never again' close it; FARS soon after contradicts in fresh threat.
​  Iran's Aragchi says "Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open". However, Iranian official tells FARS: "If the maritime blockade continues, it will be considered a violation of the ceasefire, & the Strait of Hormuz transit route will be closed."
​  US mulls cash-for-uranium deal as 'three-page' MOU peace plan takes shape. Trump claims US will get the 'nuclear dust' - Iran official denies.
Peace talks reportedly on Sunday in Islamabad. Trump: "Most of the main points are finalized. It’ll go pretty quickly."
​  Odds of a permanent peace deal by the end of the ceasefire are soaring above 50% by the end of the month.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/three-page-plan-end-war-oil-tumbles-us-reportedly-mulls-20bn-cash-nukes-deal

​  Iranian Gunboats Open Fire On Tanker As Hormuz Closure Sparks Maritime Chaos

Two Iranian gunboats Open Fire on a tanker near Oman​ - Friday: Hormuz Open; Saturday: Hormuz Closed​    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bit-chaos-hormuz-reportedly-shuts-agains-ships-make-u-turn

​  Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-04-18

Strait of Hormuz opened then closed again within hours. Iran's FM Araghchi declared the strait "completely open" for commercial vessels during the Lebanon ceasefire. Markets rallied hard. Then after US markets closed, Iran's Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf issued a 6-point rebuttal declaring all 7 of Trump's claims false, and IRGC began turning ships back. By Saturday morning, Iran's military command formally re-closed the strait citing the continued US naval blockade.​..

​..Trump posted 12+ times about Iran on OPEX Friday, each escalating optimism. Claimed Iran agreed to "everything", mines removed, strait "never again" closed, nuclear deal imminent​. Oil crashed ~11% intraday. Brent fell below $90​ ...

..Suspected insider trading on oil - third instance. ~$760 million in Brent crude shorts were placed 20 minutes before Trump's Hormuz announcement, per @unusual_whales. Oil then plunged ~12%...

..S&P 500 hits all-time high, fastest recovery since 1982... All of this on headlines that Iran itself is now contradicting.​..

​..Market Euphoria vs Reality Gap​ @DonDurrett's Friday recap: "Everyone on Wall Street is having a Kumbaya party, pretending the war is over. It's not."​... Only time market was this overbought this fast was when Volcker cut from 13% in 1982​...

​..Iran flatly rejects all Trump nuclear claims. Iran's FM spokesperson: enriched uranium is "as sacred as Iranian soil" and will not be transferred... Next round of talks expected Monday in Islamabad; ceasefire expires Tuesday.​..

..China FM denies agreeing with US not to supply weapons to Iran: "No such communication has taken place"...

..Israel violating Lebanon ceasefire on day one. Large-scale detonations of Lebanese infrastructure reported across southern Lebanon within hours of the truce. Displaced civilians returning home found villages destroyed or still under occupation. Lindsey Graham demands Hezbollah disarmament as condition for any "real" peace deal...

​..JustDario's fund contacts - the same people who warned him before the January silver crash - now say oil futures prices are "fake" and a spike is imminent​...

​..US Treasury Crisis: Former SecTreas Sounds Alarm​ - Hank Paulson warned the Fed cannot monetize all required US debt. This is the guy from the Great Financial Crisis
​  @GarrettGoggin: "$39 trillion in debt with no one to buy it" - expects straight-up debt monetization
@data168: 33% of US debt matures in the next 12 months - $10 trillion
​  Two-year yields tumbled below Fed Funds rate​   https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-18

​  The veracity of this cannot be confirmed, nor is it refuted. It would matter a LOT if even partially true:  IRANIANS HAVE PUBLISHED SOME OF THE NAMES OF US SOLDIERS ( DELTA FORCE) WHO ARE CAPTURED AS PRISONERS OF WAR DURING THEIR FAILED RESCUE MISSION BUT THE US HAS DENIED AND DON'T WANT ANY PRO WESTERN MEDIA TO PUBLISH THEIR NAMES OR WRITE STORY ABOUT THE FAILED RESCUE MISSION
50 Delta force currently in the custody of Iran IRGC.   https://x.com/Cool_Ustaz/status/2043656359766290701

  Brian Berletic further substantiates the case for the special-forces "rescue mission" having been a failed attack on Iranian nuclears facility, possibly a uranium grab, as it looks just like a 2023 training operation he found records of.  IRAN - EXTRA VIDEO: EXTRA: US "Rescue" Mission in Iran May Have Been Failed Ground Raid, 2023 Training Mission Suggests   https://x.com/i/status/2044660378312048993

​  Saying the previously "quiet part" out loud. (Maybe AI-Netanyahu won't have to return to DC): Alan Dershowitz tells Netanyahu to "continue to fight, even if it means confrontation with President Trump." "Leave that to Americans. We will take care of President Trump. I met with him over Hanukkah. Miriam Adelson talks to him from time to time. I talk to other members of the administration." 

​  There it is. Dershowitz is openly telling Netanyahu to defy the President of the United States and promising that he and other Israel advocates will "take care of" Trump. He name-drops Miriam Adelson, the Republican mega-donor, as a direct line to the president. 

​  This is exactly what Joe Kent described when he resigned. Exactly what Megyn Kelly asked about. Exactly what Tucker has been warning about for weeks. An influence network operating in parallel to official policy, promising a foreign government it can override the elected President of the United States.​   https://x.com/i/status/2044609151817691478

​  Lasted 1 day? Trump Turns The Screws On Israel In Biggest Pressure Move To Reign In Bibi Yet

The Lebanon ceasefire appears to be legitimate and holding, and the biggest evidence of this is that Lebanese citizens themselves are pouring back into the war-ravaged south of the country, seeking to recover to their homes which are in some cases 'unlivable'.
​  "Thousands of families displaced by weeks of fighting filled the main highway to southern Lebanon on Friday in hopes of returning to their homes, as a 10-day cease-fire in Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah went into effect," writes NY Times...

..The situation and uneasy truce, which has for now seen Israel halt its bombing campaign over Lebanon (though dozens of airstrikes were reported in the south just on Thursday) - has been subject of some confusion and contradictory messaging.
​  First, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared that the fight with Hezbollah is not over, while at the same time confirming Israel's agreement with the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon...

​..Israel seeks to "dismantle" Hezbollah, Netanyahu continued, "but this will not be achieved tomorrow. It requires sustained effort, patience, and careful navigation in the diplomatic arena."
​  President Trump meanwhile in a Friday morning Truth Social message said Israel has been "PROHIBITED" from attacking Lebanon by the US.​..

​..This actually constitutes some of the toughest talk and restrictions ever imposed on Israel from this administration. This suggests the White House is indeed serious about cobbling together a final offramp.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-turns-screws-israel-biggest-pressure-move-reign-bibi-yet

​  The Kuwaiti pilot intentionally shot down 3 F-15s on March 1: Kuwait Holds American Journalist After Reporting On 'Friendly Fire' Shootdown Incident

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, a fearless Palestinian-American journalist (he's an American-born Kuwaiti of Palestinian descent) whose writing and reports are defined by unparalleled integrity, depth and eloquence, was arrested on March 3rd in Kuwait.
​  He is charged with spreading false information and harming national security.​  

​  His arrest took place following his reporting of the shooting down of three U.S. fighter planes by the Kuwaiti military in an act of friendly fire during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Ahmed, along with other news outlets such as the BBC, published footage of a U.S. F-15 E Strike Eagle crashing in al-Jahra west of Kuwait City.
​ I fear Ahmed, a graduate of Columbia Journalism School who has worked for The New York Times, PBS Frontline, Al Jazeera English, Vice on HBO, The Huffington Post and appeared on numerous news outlets including the BBC and CNN, will be charged under new, draconian security laws instituted in Kuwait, which have already led to dozens of arbitrary arrests.
​  Kuwait has desperately tried to maintain the fiction that it did not serve as a staging area for US attacks on Iran​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kuwait-holds-american-journalist-after-reporting-friendly-fire-shootdown-incident

​  WASHINGTON — April 16, 2026 : The United States Department of Defense is deploying more than 10,000 additional military personnel to the Middle East, expanding its force posture in the region as part of ongoing operational planning under U.S. Central Command. The movement of forces, first reported by The Washington Post on April 15, 2026, includes naval strike and amphibious groups already en route and scheduled to arrive by the end of April.​   https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Pentagon-Deploys-10000-Additional-Troops-to-Middle-East-Including-USS-George-H-W-Bush-Carrier-Strike-Group/

​  Rushed off without adequate provisions? Look at that meal tray: 'They're Hungry All the Time': US Sailors' Poor, Small Meals Near Iran Reveal a Crisis

Naval warships near Iran experience severe food rationing and halted mail services, impacting morale.​   https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-military-families-food-shortages-mail-disruptions-1792178

​People buy the cheaper cigarettes, less gas and less junk food: Here's What Happened Inside Gas Stations When Gas Hit $4   https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/heres-what-happened-inside-gas-stations-when-gas-hit-4

​  The Honest Sorcerer​ (before Trump's Friday morning announcement) Iran War: The Chokehold Tightens​ - A blockade to end all blockades?

Instead of hurting Iran, at least on the short run, however, this massive shortfall will damage the world economy far more. Crude runs at the world’s refineries were forecast to hit an average 84.6 mb/d for 2026 back in January. Now that number stands at 74 at best 71 at worst, down 12-15% compared to last year. That is an unprecedented supply shock.
​  According Kpler, a price range of $160–$170 per barrel would be required to destroy enough demand to re-balance supply and consumption, yet both WTI and Brent futures kept hovering slightly below $100 during the past ten days. Real world spot prices, on the other hand, are now much closer to that sober reality, indicating how utterly disconnected futures markets (trading next months deliveries) have become. As a reminder: even if hostilities were to end this weekend, allowing ships currently locked up in the Gulf to pass the Strait, it would take weeks to a month till the first deliveries would start to arrive into ports in Asia, Africa, Europe and elsewhere, and many-many months till oil production could resume to previous levels.​...

..The last of the cargoes that passed the Strait of Hormuz heading to Europe are discharging now. Meanwhile Asian, South and East African markets are already pulling US Gulf Coast (USGC) diesel cargoes away from previous headings to Europe in a bid for highly restricted supplies. And what’s the EU Commission’s response? “Cut electricity taxes and seek to scale up clean technologies faster”—as if planes were battery electric, or transportation and agriculture were running on pixie dust, as opposed to diesel and jet fuel. It’s hard to see, how this is going to end well.​..

​..Remember: this is an oil based civilization. We do everything important with oil and gas: food, mining, construction, transportation. No economic activity is viable on the long term without petroleum. That’s the sober reality I’m writing about for years now. The United States is now trapped in a conflict which is slowly evolving to be the first stage of World War III. Not because nukes will fly left and right, but because all major powers have vital interests fighting it. China wants to grow and become the world’s largest economy. The US wants to retain that position and prevent anyone from challenging it.​.. This is where we are at the moment: in the biggest fight for resources in world history.​   https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com/p/iran-war-the-chokehold-tightens

  ​Pulp-Fiction prayer-leader Hegseth Says US ‘Locked and Loaded’ To Bomb Iran’s Power Plants and Energy Industry

Caine also detailed the US blockade on Iranian ports, saying the US was ready to use force against ships that don't comply​   https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/16/hegseth-says-us-locked-and-loaded-to-bomb-irans-power-plants-and-energy-industry/

U.S. Navy Spy Drone Circles Cuba As Report Says Pentagon Weighing Possible Military Ops​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-navy-spy-drone-circles-cuba-report-says-pentagon-weighing-possible-military-ops

​  Simplicius, Serious Escalation: Russian MOD Implies Threatening Consequences Against Europe for Being Party to ConflictWith 

It has slowly become increasingly apparent that Ukraine may be utilizing the airspace of NATO countries for its recent spate of strikes against Russia. Specifically, it is the permissive Baltics that appear to be allowing Ukrainian drones to transit toward sensitive Russian sites near the Gulf of Finland and beyond, then blaming Russia when the drones crash on their territory...

..With Europe increasingly isolated, Russia could be ‘smelling blood’ and knowing the iron will be hot against a weakened, fractured Europe which could have no way to respond to Russian strikes against Ukraine’s “strategic rear” in European countries. Of course, Russia will most likely not do any such thing—at least any time soon—but it’s clear by the MOD’s release that it is a future potential plan of action at least being considered and planned out.

​  This has culminated with Shoigu releasing an eye-opening statement implying that Russia will have a UN Charter-granted right to respond militarily and in self-defense against the Baltics for allowing Ukraine to use their territory to strike Russia:
​  “This can occur in two cases: either Western air defense systems are highly ineffective, as has already been seen during the developments in the Middle East, or the states in question are deliberately providing their airspace, that is, acting as direct accomplices in aggression against Russia. In the latter case, in accordance with international law, Article 51 of the UN Charter on the inherent right of states to self-defense in the event of an armed assault comes into force.”
​  We have clearly seen that Iran has demonstrated the right to attack any nation which harbors an enemy’s strikes against the homeland, as Iran had justifiably struck all the Gulf states which permitted the US to launch both aircraft and various land-based missile systems like the HIMARS as well as drones from their territories.​   https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/serious-escalation-russian-mod-implies

​  It's "unfair", because he has 40 IQ points on her: Russian envoy dismantles Kallas at UNSC
The controversial EU diplomat has also been slammed for “criminal” hypocrisy by Amnesty International​   https://web.archive.org/web/20260416044941/https://www.rt.com/russia/638473-russia-kallas-un-hypocrisy/

​  As world focuses on Iran, Israel ‘engineering starvation policy’ in Gaza
Israel’s weaponisation of logistics in Gaza has caused severe shortage of fuel, food and medicines, piling misery on Palestinians.​   https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/4/15/as-world-focuses-on-iran-israel-engineering-starvation-policy-in-gaza?traffic_source=rss

Israeli Media: ‘Diseases Are Everywhere’: Gaza’s ‘Catastrophic’ Healthcare Crisis Is Worsening​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/israeli-media-diseases-are-everywhere-gazas-catastrophic-healthcare-crisis-is-worsening/

​  RAMALLAH, April 15, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli colonists on Wednesday evening went on a rampage against Palestinian civilians on the outskirts of Birzeit and Jifna towns, north of Ramallah, according to local sources.
​  They said that a mob of colonists, protected by the occupation forces, descended upon the outskirts of the towns,  and attempted to attack civilians and destroy their properties, triggering confrontations.
​  During the raid, the assailants opened fire intensively.
Meanwhile, colonists in a vehicle stormed Beit Qoza Mount in Beita town, south of Nablus, and hurled stones at civilians’ houses.​   https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169492?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Five civilians killed in Israeli airstrike on Al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/15/361336/

​  Israeli authorities demolished 13 residential and agricultural structures in different areas across occupied Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate said that Israeli municipality demolished the home of elderly Jerusalemite resident Saleh Dweik in the Al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan. The 110-square-meter house, which sheltered a family of four, was built in 1998. Authorities had imposed monthly fines of 500 shekels on Dweik since 2024, requiring him to continue payments through 2030 even after the demolition.
​  Dweik, who suffers from cancer, previously worked as a guard at Al-Aqsa Mosque for 20 years. Meanwhile, 11 additional demolition operations were carried out in the Rawabi area of Al-Issawiya, targeting homes and structures belonging to several residents.
​  These demolitions are part of a broader Israeli policy of destroying structures built without permits, amid strict restrictions on Palestinian construction in Jerusalem, where obtaining building permits remains extremely difficult.​   https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169485?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

​   Israeli occupation forces razed on Wednesday agricultural land and destroyed water pipelines in the Ras al-Ahmar area, southeast of Tubas.
Abdullah Bisharat, head of the Atouf and Ras al-Ahmar village council, reported that said Israeli bulldozers leveled farmland and damaged water pipelines that supply around 300 dunams of irrigated crops in the area.​   https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169484?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

​  April 15, Israel army chief orders 'Hezbollah kill zone' south of Lebanon's Litani River
Israel's military chief of staff on Wednesday said he had ordered areas south of Lebanon's Litani River to be turned into a Hezbollah "kill zone" as troops pressed a major offensive there.
 "I have ordered that all of the area of south Lebanon up to the Litani (River) line be turned into a Hezbollah terrorist kill zone," chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on a visit to troops operating in the area.
  "We are advancing and striking Hezbollah and they are retreating," Zamir added.
He said troops had killed "more than 1,700" militants since the operation began on March 2, describing Hezbollah as "weakened and isolated in Lebanon".   https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260415155033.d4j5r4jx.html

April 15, Three paramedics killed in south Lebanon, Israel says 200 Hezbollah targets hit   https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260415163847.n8qiw63w.html

  April 15, Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Kill Large Number of Children and Healthcare Workers

Israel's ground operations have focused on Bint Jbeil, which Netanyahu has presented as the 'capital' of Hezbollah​   https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/15/israeli-attacks-on-lebanon-kill-large-number-of-children-and-healthcare-workers/

​  April 15, Israel launches operation to demolish homes in frontline villages in Lebanon: Report

Army identifies more than 20 villages in southern Lebanon for home demolitions, Channel 12 says​   https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-launches-operation-to-demolish-homes-in-frontline-villages-in-lebanon-report/3906724

​  April 16, Mass Destruction in Southern Lebanon as Israeli Forces Use ‘Gaza Tactics,’ Level Villages

Satellite images confirm over 1,400 buildings destroyed in Israeli invasion​   https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/16/mass-destruction-in-southern-lebanon-as-israeli-forces-use-gaza-tactics-level-villages/

​  April 16, Israeli army prepares for full occupation of south Lebanon: Report

Netanyahu made a speech emphasizing that operations in Lebanon continue, without mentioning ongoing Iranian efforts to secure a ceasefire​   https://thecradle.co/articles-id/37164

​  April 16, House Narrowly Defeats Iran War Powers Resolution as Thousands More US Troops Head to Middle East

The bill failed in a vote of 213-214, with just one Democrat voting against it and one Republican supporting it​   https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/16/house-narrowly-defeats-iran-war-powers-resolution-as-thousands-more-us-troops-head-to-middle-east/

​  J Street says Israel should pay out-of-pocket if it wants US weapons
The pro-Israel advocacy group likely changed its tune after widespread popular opposition to taxpayer-funded weapons​   https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/j-street-says-israel-should-pay-out-pocket-if-it-wants-us-weapons

​  Merz wants Ukrainian men in Germany sent to the front​ [to die]
Berlin will coordinate the repatriation of military-age males with Kiev, the German chancellor has said​   https://web.archive.org/web/20260414192217/https://www.rt.com/news/638427-merz-wants-ukrainian-men-in-germany-sent-home/

​  Here ​Are the Pe​ople DNI Gabbard Slapped With  Criminal Referral​s Concerning the Trump Impeachment Plot

DNI​ Tulsi​ Gabbard makes criminal referral​s to the DoJ against the Fake Ukraine Impeachment “whistleblower”, CIA operative Eric Ciaramella, and the former Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Michael Atkinson.​   https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2026/04/16/dni-gabbard-issues-criminal-referrals-over-the-dems-2019-trump-impeachment-fiasco-n2674549

​  The CIA Tried to Remove a Sitting President
We now know the real reason CIA whistleblower Eric Ciaramella’s name was never ¹permitted to be mentioned. It’s not the name Eric Ciaramella that presented the issue, it’s the organization where he was working, the CIA – That’s what needed to be protected.​   https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/04/15/the-cia-tried-to-remove-a-sitting-president/#more-282565

​  Karoline Leavitt: “While pretending to engage in a peaceful transfer of power, Barack Hussein Obama, in private, went to great and nefarious lengths to sow discord among the public and sabotage his successor, President Trump. The new evidence released by the Director of National Intelligence confirms that the Obama administration manufactured and politicized intelligence, which was later used as justification for baseless smears against President Trump — an effort to delegitimize his victory before he even took the oath of office. The truth is that President Trump never had anything to do with Russia, and the Russia collusion hoax was a massive fraud perpetrated on the American people from the very beginning. The worst part is that Obama knew the truth, as did all the other officials involved, including former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and many others.”​   https://x.com/its_The_Dr/status/2044229873003110882

​  TRUMP DOJ PREPARING TO INDICT ENTIRE J6 COMMITTEE - The 9 traitors who sat on​... the January 6th Committee have reportedly been subpoenaed by President Trump's Justice Department and are now SET TO BE INDICTED FOR SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY AND CONSPIRACY AGAINST RIGHTS BY A FEDERAL GRAND JURY for their participation in THE CRIMINAL SCHEME to frame and carry out a coup against our President. Top names on the unsealed indictments include DISGRACED former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin, Liz Cheney and Cryin' Adam Kinzinger.​   https://x.com/JoshHall2024/status/2044738709719830767

​  From Supply-Chain Risk To National Security Imperative: U.S. Government Embraces Anthropic's Mythos AI

In a striking reversal that underscores the breakneck pace of the AI arms race, the White House has directed federal agencies to begin using Anthropic’s most dangerous new model - Claude Mythos - despite months of public friction between the Trump administration and the San Francisco-based AI company...
​ The goal: to hunt down vulnerabilities in government networks before adversaries can exploit them, Bloomberg reports.​..
​..In controlled testing, the model autonomously discovered and weaponized thousands of previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities across every major operating system, web browser, legacy enterprise software, and even decades-old codebases. Its speed and creativity reportedly surpassed top human red-team hackers. As we noted earlier this month, the model “went rogue” during testing - prompting Anthropic to withhold a broad release entirely. Full technical details are available in Anthropic’s official Mythos Preview System Card.
​  Rather than ship it publicly, Anthropic launched Project Glasswing - a tightly controlled defensive program that grants limited access only to a vetted circle of partners: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, major banks (including JPMorgan Chase), cybersecurity firms, and the Linux Foundation. The explicit mission is defense only -  scan your own systems, find the bugs, patch them fast, and keep the bad guys out.

https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/supply-chain-risk-national-security-imperative-us-government-embraces-anthropics-mythos-ai

  Microsoft Triples-Down On Data Centers, As Half Of Planned Projects Face Cancelations, Delays 

Microsoft unveiled plans to triple its data center footprint in Cheyenne, Wyoming, snapping up roughly 3,200 acres on the city's south edge.

​  The deal covers a 200-acre parcel in Bison Business Park plus an adjacent 3,000-acre tract, turning what is already one of the company's longstanding hubs into a sprawling complex.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/it-looks-good-paper-microsoft-tripling-down-data-centers-half-planned-projects-face-axe

​  Elon Musk is not productive because he works harder he's productive because he kills nonsense faster than anyone else 

[ his algorithm ]: 1. question every requirement: who made this? why does it exist? what actually breaks if we remove it? 2. delete what shouldn't exist: if you don't add back at least 10%, you didn't delete enough 3. simplify what survives: the biggest mistake is optimizing a thing that should not exist or give minimal output 4. accelerate the system: compress the loop until truth arrives faster 5. automate at the end: only after it deserves to be permanent the order is the point most people do it backwards.. automate too early, optimize fake priorities, build polished systems around broken assumptions​...

​..The fix is simple: - before you improve something — ask if it should exist at all - before you speed something up — ask if it should be deleted - before you automate — ask if the process even makes sense you don't need more motivation you need fewer lies about what actually matters​   https://x.com/DeRonin_/status/2044086499721814126

​  Elon Musk just put a number on the flaw at the center of Nvidia’s empire. Wall Street has not done the math yet. Nvidia’s Blackwell is the most sought-after silicon on Earth. Every AI lab wants it. Every sovereign nation is bidding for it. Blackwell runs every model, for every company, in every data center on the planet. That universality built the empire. It is also the fracture point. 

​  Musk: “We believe the AI5 chip will be about a third of the power of an Nvidia Blackwell for roughly comparable performance. And much less than 10% of the cost.” One-third the power. Comparable performance. Less than ten percent of the cost. Musk: “This is a chip that is very much optimized for the Tesla AI software stack. It’s not meant to be a general purpose chip.” 

​  Nvidia builds silicon that serves a million different customers. Every transistor spent on universal compatibility is a transistor not dedicated to one task. Tesla is building silicon for exactly one customer. Itself. When you strip away every function you will never call, you do not get a lesser chip. You get a weapon. 

​  Here is what the market refuses to see. Data centers drink unlimited power from the grid. Robots run on batteries. 

​  Musk: “In order to have a functional robot, you have to have a great AI chip. And it needs to be an inexpensive chip and it needs to be very power efficient.” 

​  You cannot put a Blackwell inside a walking machine. It would drain the battery before it crossed the room. The entire AI revolution lives inside air-conditioned buildings bolted to the electrical grid. Musk is not competing for that market. He is engineering the silicon that survives outside of it. ​  One-third the power is not a spec sheet footnote. It is the physics threshold that severs intelligence from the wall socket. Without that number, every robot on Earth stays tethered. With it, the algorithm walks. Less than ten percent of the cost is not a pricing strategy. It is the line where a machine brain stops being a capital expenditure and becomes a commodity component.​   https://x.com/r0ck3t23/status/2044628305983258846

Drought Engulfs 60% Of U.S. As Farmers Begin Spring Planting​   https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/drought-engulfs-60-us-farmers-begin-spring-planting

​Kyle Young, Biochar! what’s ancient is new again (who needs fertilizer?) - part 1 of the 'vibrant soil = vibrant life' series   https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/biochar-whats-ancient-is-new-again-4ea

  Meryl Nass MD also puts nutrients back into the soil: The Hugel Mound and the quick and dirty Nass mound, aka raised bed filled with detritus from the garden - And raspberries for breakfast. Tips and tricks from a lazy gardener.   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/the-hugel-mound-and-the-quick-and

Gardener Doing Chores (cutting the grass this morning)

Choking The World

 Observing Outcomes,

  Simplicius, Masterful 5D Stroke: Trump's Blockade Charade Deflects From Ceasefire Flop

And after Trump’s juvenile braggadocio about wiping out any Iranian ships that attempt to interfere in US’s own blockade, footage surfaced appearing to show Iranian speed boats chasing away US warships that attempted to vaunt their way across the Strait.   https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/masterful-5d-stroke-trumps-blockade

  Simplicius,  Anti-Blockade Blockade Comes Into Effect to Mass Confusion

Yesterday Trump’s “blockade” went into effect, with an alleged 16 US warships attempting to enforce it somewhere outside the Strait of Hormuz. This has led to a wide array of speculation on what exactly is happening, and how much fact vs. fiction there is in Trump’s ambitious claims.
​  AP confirmed that not a single US warship was in the Persian Gulf...

..That, however, doesn’t stop many from speculating that the current peace talks are still a deflection from a troop build-up for an ensuing ground operation of some kind. Russia’s Security Council itself floated the idea...

..At the end of the day, the anti-blockade blockade charade has devolved into a scrum of he-said-she-said, which will likely continue playing out over the coming days. Trump will claim Iran is facing a “total economic blockade”, while Iran will call the US’s attempts bogus. The fact that US ships have to gaggle around the edges of Hormuz without ever getting close remains chiefly a humiliation to the US in this ongoing back-and-forth PR war.
  The US’s erratic efforts have exasperated the rest of the world, with Europe now eyeing plans for a parallel Hormuz “reset” without any American involvement...

..As the circus stretches out, only one thing is for certain: Iran is rebuilding whatever as lost, while the US has depleted its most advanced and strategic systems.   

  Any future resumption of hostilities will give Iran an increasingly bigger edge, particularly now that the deterrent factor of US’s “shock-and-awe” mystique has been eroded and squandered by an ineffective campaign.

​  That said, Trump appears to intuit this, which is why he’s now targeting Iran economically in the hopes of simply crashing its economy. But this would never work, particularly on a short time-scale. Just look how long Cuba survived, and Iran is a far larger and more resourceful nation, with a far more proximate complement of powerful allies able to help sustain the country through times of hardship.
​  The US has very few cards, and it is for the Americans—and particularly Trump’s political career—that time is ticking.​   https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/anti-blockade-blockade-comes-into

​  Iran Halts All Petrochem Exports While Official Signals Compromise Strait Passage Opening, As Negotiators Cite 'Progress'

​ The Iran war is "very close to over" with authorities in Tehran eager to agree a peace deal, Trump says, adding: "We've beaten them militarily." Axios cites 'progress' toward framework to end war. Iran state media says halt to all petrochemical exports, RTRS cites possible compromise on strait passage.
​  AP/Bloomberg reporting the two sides have an "in principle agreement" to pursue further diplomacy; however, this is batted down as 'unconfirmed' by Tehran & a US official.
​  The Pentagon is sending thousands of additional troops into the Middle East in coming days: WaPo
​  Trump claims China "very happy" the US is permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz, also Xi told him Beijing was not sending weapons/defense items to Tehran.
​  Significant Lebanon fighting continues: Israel issues more evacuation orders, moving into south; Tehran outraged, threatens Red Sea shipping. Unconfirmed reports of one-week Lebanon ceasefire about to take effect.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/war-very-close-over-trump-says-iran-ceasefire-extension-reportedly-advances-more-us

Iran Used Chinese Spy Satellite To Target US Bases During War, Outraged Beijing Denies​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-used-chinese-spy-satellite-target-us-bases-during-war-outraged-beijing-denies

  Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-04-15

​Hormuz blockade reality gap: CENTCOM vs. satellite data. CENTCOM claims zero breaches in first 24 hours. Maritime tracking firms Kpler and TankerTrackers identify multiple vessels that transited anyway, including a sanctioned VLCC supertanker entering Iran with AIS switched on. A US destroyer interdicted two tankers leaving Chabahar, but tanker "Quar" is crossing toward China...

..Iran mulls voluntary Hormuz shipping pause to preserve talks. Bloomberg reports Iran is considering halting its own maritime traffic through Hormuz for several days to prevent incidents that could derail fragile negotiations. Trump tells NY Post talks could resume in Pakistan within two days...

..Italy suspends defense agreement with Israel. PM Meloni announced suspension of automatic renewal of the bilateral defense memorandum, citing the "current situation". The Italian opposition rallied behind Meloni against Trump's subsequent attacks. Trump escalated, calling Meloni "unacceptable" and attacking Pope Leo for criticizing the Iran war...

..Trump called Pope Leo's statements "unacceptable," said he "doesn't understand and shouldn't talk about war," then claimed "Iran would blow up Italy in two minutes"  [I think Israel, not Iran, would nuke Italy.]​ ...

​..Mossad declares regime change mission in Iran​ - Head of Mossad Barnea: "Our commitment will only be complete when the extremist regime in Iran is replaced" — contradicts Trump's "war is over" narrative
​ [AI?] Netanyahu boasts: "Trump admin briefs me every day on Iran" per ZH​...
​..IAEA Director says Iran was not weeks or months from a nuclear bomb — directly contradicting the war's core justification​...

..Russia launches large-scale offensive on all fronts, crosses into Sumy region. Russian forces crossed the international border on a wide front, capturing multiple settlements. Ukrainian forces retreating in several sectors. Germany responds with $4.7B defense package including hundreds of Patriot missiles and joint AI drone production...

..Hezbollah-Israel: IDF soldiers reportedly lured into explosive trap in Bint Jbeil. Reports of a "serious security incident" where soldiers were lured into a rigged building that was detonated. Separately, 49 red alerts in northern Israel on April 14 including rockets hitting Kiryat Shmona. Lebanese government reportedly agreed with Israel to disarm Hezbollah, prompting street protests in Beirut...

​..Physical oil vs. paper: the spread screams​ - Dated Brent at record highs. The spread between physical Dated Brent and nearest futures has surged to ~$35/barrel​...

​..IEA now expects global oil demand to contract 80K BPD this year due to scarcity — a sharp cut from prior forecast​...

​..Iran is 10-14 days from maxing out oil storage capacity; once full, wells must shut down​...

​..Saudi officials warn the Hormuz blockade could push Houthis to escalate in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab — choking Saudi's remaining export routes per WSJ​ - Saudi FM: "The era of relying on the US has ended".    https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-15

​ (?) IRANIANS HAVE PUBLISHED SOME OF THE NAMES OF US SOLDIERS ( DELTA FORCE) WHO ARE CAPTURED AS PRISONERS OF WAR DURING THEIR FAILED RESCUE MISSION BUT THE US HAS DENIED AND DON'T WANT ANY PRO WESTERN MEDIA TO PUBLISH THEIR NAMES OR WRITE STORY ABOUT THE FAILED RESCUE MISSION ​ 50 Delta force currently in the custody of Iran IRGC.​    https://x.com/Cool_Ustaz/status/2043656359766290701

​  How Many People Have the US and Israel Killed in Iran?

If the Iran Health Ministry’s casualty figures were accurate, it would mean that only one person is being killed for every 13 people wounded. But if the figure of 26,500 people wounded was accurate, and the ratio between dead and wounded was similar to what is found in other wars, we would expect that around 10,000 people have probably been killed.
​  Looking at other sources, the UK-based Iran International website, on March 31, reported Iranian military, militia and police casualties of 4,770 killed and 20,880 wounded.​   https://www.globalresearch.ca/people-us-israel-killed-iran/5922210?doing_wp_cron=1776193581.3876039981842041015625

Israeli attacks in Gaza kill six Palestinians, injure others​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/13/361225/

​  Second Contractor Steps Forward to Blow the Whistle on Israeli Attacks at Gaza Aid Site
In his first interview since returning from Gaza, David McIntosh says he witnessed Israeli soldiers firing open fire on crowds of Palestinians seeking aid.​   https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-ghf-srs-aid-israeli-military-palestinians-security-contractor

​  The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) carried out a wide campaign of raids and arrests across various areas of the West Bank and Jerusalem last night and at dawn Monday, kidnaping about 30 Palestinian citizens, including two children.​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/13/361243/

Shortage of tires, oil and spare parts paralyzes life in Gaza and threatens vital services​   https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169379?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

WHO: Gaza’s health crisis deepens under Israeli aid restrictions​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/13/361255/

​  Over 200 occupiers led by rabbi storm Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque under Israeli police protection
Jerusalem Governorate calls incursion 'blatant violation of sanctity of the site and a provocation of the feelings of Muslims worldwide'​   https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/over-200-occupiers-led-by-rabbi-storm-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque-under-israeli-police-protection/3904423

​  Israeli Strike Targeting Police Vehicle in Gaza City Kills Four, Including a Three-Year-Old Boy​ - At least nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday​   https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/14/israeli-strike-targeting-police-vehicle-in-gaza-city-kills-four-including-a-three-year-old-boy/

Global Sumud Flotilla sets sail from Barcelona toward Gaza to break the siege​   https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/13/361240/

​  Four people, including a woman, were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Maaroub in the Tyre district at dawn, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
​  The Lebanese Red Cross announced the martyrdom of a paramedic and the wounding of another while carrying out a humanitarian mission at a site on the road to the town of Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district, after its teams were directly targeted by an Israeli drone.
​  Israeli artillery also shelled the towns of Haniyeh and Qalila, while the town of Zibqin in the Tyre district was subjected to artillery and phosphorus shelling.​   https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169356?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

French lawmakers set to push bill criminalising speech on Israel​ - Nearly 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for the proposed legislation to be blocked​    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/french-lawmakers-set-push-bill-criminalising-speech-israel

​  Hezbollah Drone Strikes Continue to Take Heavy Toll on Israeli Armour

​The Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah has increased its drone strikes on Israeli Army armoured units using First Person View (FPV) drones, mirroring similar technological trends seen in the Ukrainian theatre, as part of a broader war effort to repel Israel’s invasion of Southern Lebanon. There are indications that Hezbollah has learned from Russian and Ukrainian experience in utilising fiber-optic guided drones to evade Israeli electronic interference, fuelling speculation that a sharing of experience between Hezbollah and Russian forces may have taken place. The paramilitary group operated closely alongside Russian forces in the 2010s as part of joint counterinsurgency operations in Syria.   https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/hezbollah-drone-strikes-heavy-toll-israel

​  Hezbollah has the bigger army, battle tested against Israel. The Lebanese army cannot disarm it: Hezbollah Chief Torches 'Futile' Israel Talks, Urges Lebanon Walkout As Rubio Hypes 'Historic Opportunity'​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hezbollah-chief-torches-futile-israel-talks-urges-lebanon-walkout-rubio-hypes-historic

Dozens arrested as protesters demand Schumer and Gillibrand block sale of bombs to Israel​  https://apnews.com/article/chuck-schumer-kirsten-gillibrand-protest-israel-e53eab511e0d5f435b76c66ad772c6f9

​  Trump Signals High Gas Prices Through November Midterms

Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that gas prices could "stay the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same" when asked if gas prices would be lower by the fall.​   https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Trump-Signals-High-Gas-Prices-Through-November-Midterms.html

Italy's Anti-Israel Opposition Declares 'Victory' After Meloni Suspends Defense Pact​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/italys-anti-israel-opposition-declares-victory-after-meloni-suspends-defense-pact

  Professor ​Ugo Bardi looks at the declining resource base of industrial civilization:  The Coming Civilization Collapse: A Biophysical Analysis - A New world war will have disastrous consequences.

​  War is a sector of the economy; it only has the characteristic of being more destructive than most.
So, this post is an attempt at an analysis of the current situation using biophysical economics as the main tool. It is a long story, and I can’t pretend to have treated the matter comprehensively, but I think there is sufficient data to arrive at reasonable conclusions. We are facing the start of a new cycle of global military build-up. Unlike previous cycles, this one may be disastrous at the global level because it coincides with a larger civilization cycle that’s taking us to a long-term economic decline. 

​  Engaging the remaining resources in a major war is the fastest way to civilization collapse​.   https://senecaeffect.substack.com/p/iran-the-reasons-for-a-new-world

​  Et Tu, Indonesia!

As the squeeze continues on China's energy supply (and Xi has started to lash out here and here), we suspect the next words out of the Chinese leader's mouth (if he spoke Latin) will be "...et tu, Indonesia!"
​  As Stephen Green writes at PJMedia, it might have seemed like one of those dry, bureaucratic, almost meaningless announcements on Monday, when War Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the U.S. and Indonesia "are elevating our relationship to a Major Defense Cooperation Partnership."​...

​..But a Major Defense Cooperation Partnership is kind of a big deal - and it's aimed directly at China's oil imports.
China's difficulties begin in the Strait of Hormuz, but they peak at Malacca.
​  Nearly two-thirds of China’s imports - largely the raw materials that keep its export machine humming - and a whopping 80% of its energy imports pass through Indonesia’s Strait of Malacca.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/et-tu-indonesia

​  John Helmer takes the long way into saying that China floated a trial balloon of firmness in Hormuz, then quickly obscured it, effectively saying nothing: 
THE CHINESE TRY PUSSYFOOTING AT THE HORMUZ STRAIT   https://johnhelmer.net/the-chinese-try-pussyfooting-at-the-hormuz-strait/#more-93928

​  Russia Vows To 'Fill China's Energy Resource Gap' Amid Hormuz Crisis In Lavrov-Xi Meeting

The Russian foreign minister announced to a press conference that Moscow stands ready to increase energy supplies to China.
​  "Russia can certainly fill the resource gap that has arisen in China and other countries interested in working with us on an equal and mutually beneficial basis," Lavrov stated.
​  The two-day Lavrov visit is toward laying the groundwork for an upcoming summit between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It's expected for the first half of this year, but likely after Trump's upcoming May 14-15 summit with the Chinese leader.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/russia-vows-fill-chinas-energy-resource-gap-amid-hormuz-crisis-lavrov-xi-meeting

Russia’s oil export revenue jumped 94% in first month of Iran war​   https://san.com/cc/russias-oil-export-revenue-jumped-94-in-first-month-of-iran-war

US reinstates sanctions against Russian oil​ - The US administration has revoked temporary waivers for Russian oil.​   https://unn.ua/en/news/us-reinstates-sanctions-against-russian-oil-media

US Treasury says not renewing temporary Iranoil sanction easing​   https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260414201225.oba7m6je.html

With US Bogged Down in West Asia, Cuba Agrees to Grant Russian Companies Management of Cuban Industries​   https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/04/with-us-bogged-down-in-iran-russia-just-took-over-management-of-cubas-industrial-facilities.html

Scoop: U.S. suggests Cuba complicit in helping Russia fight Ukraine​   https://www.axios.com/2026/04/14/congress-cuba-russia-trump-administration-congress

​Meryl Nass MD, Ireland Blockades widespread--protesting the fuel shortages and huge increases in price. Police supportive right now.   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/ireland-blockades-widespread-protesting

​  Irish Patriots Are Fighting Back

Tens of thousands of farmers, truckers, and other fed-up “normies” are taking to the streets of Dublin to protest fuel taxes, mass immigration, and poverty-inducing “climate change” policies.  For the most part, corporate news propagandists in both Europe and North America are intentionally ignoring the combustible situation.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/irish-patriots-are-fighting-back

Magyar beats Orban in battle for Hungary: What happens now?​   https://web.archive.org/web/20260413102608/https://www.rt.com/news/638268-magyar-beats-orban-hungary/

​  After Orbán Loss, Polish MEP Warns EU Set To "Subjugate Everything And Everyone" As VDL Moves Quickly To Abolish Veto Power

For many who backed Viktor Orbán, one of their greatest fears was exactly what von der Leyen is now advancing: an unconstrained EU able to take action on foreign policy, health, and migration without the threat of a veto.
​  It is widely assumed that the incoming prime minister of Hungary will seek a fast resolution of Brussels’ key issues with Hungary in order to unlock some €35 billion in funding.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/after-orban-loss-polish-mep-warns-eu-set-subjugate-everything-and-everyone-vdl-moves

Hungary has refused to finance Ukraine and will continue to purchase oil from Russia.​   https://avia-pro.net/news/vengriya-otkazalas-finansirovat-ukrainu-i-prodolzhit-zakupki-nefti-u-rossii

​  Brussels piles the conditions on Hungary to unlock EU funds — could Magyar’s honeymoon be over before it’s even started?
Brussels makes it clear: to be "welcomed back into Europe," Hungary will need to play by its rules

​  The incoming Hungarian government faces an immediate challenge to its election pledges, with Brussels making clear that unlocking billions in EU funds will require sweeping changes that contradict much of Péter Magyar’s campaign promises.
​  According to the Financial Times, Hungary must meet 27 separate conditions to access roughly €35 billion in frozen EU funding — including the lifting of its veto on Russian sanctions and rolling back policies on asylum. These demands directly challenge Magyar’s pledges to prioritize national sovereignty and maintain tight border controls.​   https://rmx.news/article/brussels-piles-the-conditions-on-hungary-to-unlock-eu-funds-could-magyars-honeymoon-be-over-before-its-even-started/

​  Gilbert Doctorow on the Belgian banning of a documentary he was able to watch, on the Genocidal war of Ukraine since 2014, upon ethnic Russian citizens, which conveyed their statements, sentiments and recollections: A word to J.D. Vance: witness the latest suppression of human rights and ‘European values’ in Belgium! A black stain on the record of Prime Minister Bart De Wever   https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/a-word-to-jd-vance-witness-the-latest

Vance heckled at TPUSA event over US action in Middle East: ‘You’re killing children!’​   https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/4529294/vance-heckled-tpusa-georgia-genocide/

Watch: Vance Pledges Probe Into Epstein 'Pizza' And 'Grape Soda' References​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-vance-pledges-probe-epstein-pizza-and-grape-soda-references

​  Frances Leader, in the UK, THE FABIANS​ - The Secret Society Running Britain's Left for 140 Years

The Fabian Society has supplied every Labour Prime Minister in history.

​  141 of 411 Labour MPs are members.​ - More than half the cabinet.
And they tell you all this on their website!
​  The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation founded on January 4, 1884, dedicated to advancing social democracy and democratic socialism through gradualist and reformist methods rather than revolutionary overthrow.​..

​..Founded in 1884 with a wolf in sheep’s clothing as their coat of arms, the Fabian Society is Britain’s oldest political think tank — and the organisation most people have never heard of. Their strategy, which they openly called “permeation,” was to infiltrate institutions from within rather than build new ones. They founded the London School of Economics, started the New Statesman, wrote Labour’s constitution, and traced a direct pipeline from pamphlet to law that still operates today.​   https://francesleader.substack.com/p/the-fabians

The road to dispossession? Treasury Secretary Says Order On Citizenship Proof For Banking Is 'In Process'​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/treasury-secretary-says-order-citizenship-proof-banking-process

​  Gold & Geopolitics on Modern Monetary Theory, Steve Keen's magical accounting​ - An Austrian response to "balancing books"

Here’s the core Austrian insight: money is not wealth. Money is a claim on wealth. When you increase claims without increasing wealth, you haven’t made anyone richer. You’ve made the claims worth less.
​  Government can create infinite dollars. It cannot create infinite resources.
​  Keen’s model shows this without realizing it. When government runs deficits, private sector equity goes positive. Government equity goes equally negative. Zero sum. No new wealth created. Just nominal claims shuffling around.
​  But in the real world, that shuffling has effects. It bids up prices. It distorts signals. It enables malinvestment. It makes economic calculation harder. It punishes savers. It rewards debtors. It creates boom-bust cycles.
​  None of this shows up in accounting identities. All of it shows up in the economy.
​  The Austrian answer is simpler: maybe giving one entity monopoly control over the monetary system and letting it create infinite nominal claims is a bad idea regardless of how the accounting works.
​  Maybe the question isn’t “can government run deficits forever” but “should it”.
​  I’ll end with this: Keen says only he and Richard Murphy understand money because only they understand double-entry bookkeeping. But maybe the Austrians understand something Keen doesn’t.
​  The ledger isn’t the economy. The menu isn’t the meal. And you can’t eat accounting identities no matter how perfectly they balance.​   https://no01.substack.com/p/steve-keens-magical-accounting

​  Meryl Nass MD, More Americans doubt vaccine safety than trust it, POLITICO Poll finds

And "antivaxxers" are simply people who want market forces to be applied to vaccines, says Jeffrey Tucker. Most antivaxxers took vaccines--until an injury happened.​   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/more-americans-doubt-vaccine-safety

​  Musk Says COVID Shot Almost Killed Him.​ - Elon Musk has revealed that he experienced a severe reaction to his second COVID-19 vaccine dose, describing it as feeling “close to death.” He contrasted this with his experience of contracting the original Wuhan strain of COVID-19, which he described as similar to a bad cold.​   https://thenationalpulse.com/2026/04/13/musk-says-covid-shot-almost-killed-him/

​  Nobody tried this before: NEW STUDY: Frog-Derived Gut Bacterium Completely Eradicates 100% of Tumors After a Single Dose in Mice

A single intravenous dose of Ewingella americana achieved complete tumor elimination in 100% of treated animals, with no detectable toxicity—outperforming chemotherapy and immunotherapy.​   https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/new-study-frog-derived-gut-bacterium

​Paul Marik MD, Ivermectin: A Network Amplifier in the Metabolic Cancer Trap - Moving Beyond Single-Target Thinking   https://substack.com/home/post/p-193378982

​  84.4% of Cancer Patients Taking Ivermectin + Mebendazole Reported Tumor Regression,  No Evidence of Disease,  or Cancer Stabilization After 6 Months​ - Epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher breaks down the findings on Real America’s Voice​   https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/844-of-cancer-patients-taking-ivermectin

​  Paul Marik MD presents the case against cheap seed oils and refined carbohydrates in food.  Good Fat, Bad Fat -Reframing Lipids in Human Health and Disease   https://substack.com/home/post/p-193601327

  Laser drones go up and down the rows zapping weeds, so you won't need herbicides. Not the Onion: Can New Farming Technology Replace Toxic Herbicides?   https://www.themahareport.com/p/can-new-farming-technology-replace

My flexible succession-rotation gardening protocals from July 4, 2016: Liberty Garden, Central Texas, Climate Zone 8A   https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html

Meryl Nass MD, They predict famine next year, so start gardening now. Here is my quick and dirty primer for new gardeners.   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/they-predict-famine-next-year-so

Dr. Nass, The fertilizer shortage, and it isn't just nitrogen​ - Why famines are being predicted. Read the whole article.   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/the-fertilizer-shortage-and-it-isnt

  Dr. Nass explains It's not the poop, but the carcinogens: The Sierra Club tested 9 bags of commercial garden fertilizer and all contained at least 50% sewage sludge, seven 100.   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/the-sierra-club-tested-9-bags-of

Dr. Nass, What do you think you are putting on your garden?​ You are going to want to read and share this article   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/what-do-you-think-you-are-putting

Gardener on Wheels (catching a ride at sunrise on tuned-up, dialed-in fixed-gear bike)  

Bankers Take All

 Unsecured Creditors,

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

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

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

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

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

  Here we go again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

​Attenuated Voice (still standing in the spring garden)