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Links 6/16/2025

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Strange radio pulses detected coming from ice in Antarctica Penn State University

World faces new nuclear arms race, researchers warn Business Times

Humans Have Now Seen the Dawn of Time from Earth After Breakthrough 404 Media

RECONDUCTORING: BUILDING TOMORROW’S GRID TODAY Hackaday

Climate/Environment

Deadly flash flooding in West Virginia Balanced Weather

How fungi are surviving—and even thriving—in a warming world Food & Environment Reporting Network

Blue Line Medicine Orion

Could this city be the model for how to tackle the housing crisis and climate change? NPR

Pandemics

Covid vaccination protects against severe kidney damage, study suggests NBC News

Amazon’s Return-to-Office Mandate Sparks Disability Complaints Bloomberg

Long COVID is Now the Number One Chronic Illness in Children The Gauntlet

China?

US, China leave issue of military-use rare earths, AI chip curbs unresolved in new trade truce FirstPost

($) Oracle Cloud: the Largest “Chinese Cloud” in America? Interconnected

China’s nuclear arsenal surges 20% in one year, reaching over 600 warheads: SIPRI Breaking Defense

India – Pakistan

Secret US agenda behind India-Pakistan ceasefire Asia Times

O Canada

Canada Is Gathering Global Leaders in a Province That Wants Out of the Country WSJ (resilc)

Syraqistan

Sources: US Will Enter Israel’s War With Iran Antiwar

Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, US officials say Reuters. Sure.

Scoop: Trump pressed to take hard line with Iran after Israel strikes Axios

Pentagon split over Trump’s Israel policy Semafor

Trump’s Schizophrenic Middle East Policy, Facilitating Disaster Larry Johnson

US backing Israeli attacks, Iran to respond decisively: Pezeshkian Al Mayadeen

***

Nuclear Claims Are a Smoke Screen for Hopes of Toppling Iran Foreign Policy

Israel’s attacks on Iran hint at a bigger goal: regime change Dawn

Iran reports 5 car bomb explosions in Tehran by Israel Anadolu Agency

Exiled crown prince says Iranian people have ‘tremendous opportunity’ to topple weakened regime Fox News

***

Pakistan to drop nuclear weapon on Israel if Israel nukes Iran, says Rezaei Türkiye Today

India breaks with China, Russia on Israel-Iran war Asia Times

***

Do the Kurds and Baluch Have a Plan Following Israel’s Blow to Iran’s Regime? Middle East Forum. Wishful thinking from the neocon outfit?

Kurdistan Region Presidency Condemns Israeli Attack on Iran, Urges Swift International Response Kurdistan24

Hussein Yazdanpanah, Leader of Separatist Kurdistan Freedom Party, Urges Kurdish Youth to Attack Iranian Regime Targets, Avenge “Kurdistan’s Martyrs” MEMRI

EU brings Turkiye into its security fold Arab News. Usually a sign that Turkey is “cooperating” elsewhere.

Türkiye denies claims of Mossad infiltration through Iran border Turkiye Today

Azerbaijani FM tells Iranian counterpart it won’t allow Israel to use territory for strikes AFP

Opinion: The Engine of Turkic Integration – Why TURKPA Is No Longer “Just Talk” Times of Central Asia

Iran says it foiled attempt to establish land route linking Azerbaijan to Turkey through Armenia Turkish Minute

***

‘They Fire Indiscriminately’ | Gaza Residents Say IDF Escalated Attacks in Strip Since Israel Launched War on Iran Haaretz

Old Blighty

‘Renewing Britain’ by failing homeless children System Change

New Not-So-Cold War

HOW TO SAY IN RUSSIAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONALD, HAPPY US ARMY AND FLAG DAY John Helmer

Russia air attack damaged Boeing offices in Ukraine FT

Mr. Market’s Stress

Oil prices climb as Israel-Iran conflict heightens supply disruption fears Business Times

The Stress of Wall Street Is Sending Men to Pelvic Floor Therapy Bloomberg

“Liberation Day”

How Tariffs Are Breaking US Trade Apricitas Economics

Imperial Collapse Watch

Industrial Policy and Imperial Realignment Phenomenal World

Petrostate America Foreign Affairs

Was it all just a bribery and money laundering scheme?

Trump 2.0

US tycoon pours $100mn into Trump crypto project after SEC reprieve FT

Crypto Bill Chaos: White House Blocks Conflict Clause in Bipartisan CLARITY Act Tron Weekly

Trump’s FAA pick has claimed ‘commercial’ pilot license he doesn’t have Politico

Democrats en déshabillé

Stablecoin bill marks emergence of Sen. Ruben Gallego as crypto power player AZ Central

Teachers union head Randi Weingarten resigns from DNC The Hill

Antitrust

Monopoly Round-Up: The Luxury of War BIG by Matt Stoller

Weimar Republic

Man suspected of shooting 2 Minnesota lawmakers caught, AP sources says AP

Suspect in Minnesota Shooting Linked to Security Company, Evangelical Ministry Wired

Minnesota lawmaker shootings underscore frequency of US political violence Semafor

Trump says he ‘may’ call Walz after Minnesota shootings, calls him ‘grossly incompetent’ ABC News

Police State Watch

ICE Agent Fled From Angry Residents Outside New York School — and Got in a Car Crash The Intercept

CIA Analyst Sentenced To Prison For Releasing Documents On Israel’s Plans To Strike Iran The Dissenter

Immigration

Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities, undeterred by protests AP

Reconquista Archedelia

AI

Is AI the Reason for Your Layoff? New York Becomes the First State to Require Companies to Disclose If So. Entrepreneur

The launch of ChatGPT polluted the world forever, like the first atomic weapons tests The Register

Silicon Valley/Venture Capital Pentagon

The U.S. Navy is more aggressively telling startups, ‘We want you’ Tech Crunch

US Army signs up Band of Tech Bros with a suitably nerdy name The Register

A 17-year-old designed a cheaper, more efficient drone. The Department of Defense just awarded him $23,000 for it. Business Insider

Abortion

EXCLUSIVE: Is the ‘tech bro-ification’ of abortion here? Prism

Zeitgeist Watch

Bananas are the worst food on earth Internal Exile

Class Warfare

Workers’ Rights Are Collapsing Globally. Canada Is No Exception The Maple

Pedagogy and Class Power: Reclaiming Freire in an Age of Reaction MR Online

When We Are All Enemies of the State Boston Review

How Exactly Did Hunter-Gatherers Sleep? On Rest and Relaxation in the Prehistoric Era Lit Hub

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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89 comments

  1. Antifa

    The Grunt Parade

    Trump’s Birthday Parade was a humid affair
    Too many old tanks and too much of hot air
    Those soldiers strolled past like they just didn’t care
    ‘Yay! A big Grunt Parade for a fat billionaire!’

    There was robotic dogs, and machine guns on trucks
    Why, I even seen me a pair of Canucks!
    A giant white cake with a logo deluxe
    For about fifty million of taxpayer bucks

    But Trump kept saluting while everyone sat
    Blue suit and red tie, no gloves, and no hat
    The only clown standing, not much to look at
    (I doubt he can pull off his own Koodee Tat)

    Two and a half were the miles soldiers trod
    Under the gaze of our Emperor Fraud
    It was probably this or the firing squad
    So they walked for the man who stands right next to God

    They barely found people to fill half the bleachers:
    Some MAGAT’s who’d been written off by their teachers
    Some yellers and yahoos, some cretinous creatures,
    Some JD Vance cousins with good ol’ boy features

    Though his soldiers seemed lost like some wandering sheep
    Though Trump lost his battle to not fall asleep
    Trump kept this one promise he swore he would keep
    Though like Trump steak and vodka, the whole thing felt cheap

    What a show for the world’s greatest military!
    Howitzers huger than ordinary!
    Trump will honor this day when he builds his Liberry!
    We will do this next year, but next time make it Very!

    And Bigly! And Beautiful! Make it go faster!
    Throw in some Storm Troopers firing their blasters
    Some grand local foe like the dread Snallygaster
    We must never repeat something like this disaster

    Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    “Exiled crown prince says Iranian people have ‘tremendous opportunity’ to topple weakened regime’

    ‘The Iranian regime is weaker now than ever, and it’s only a “matter of time” before it’s toppled, exiled crown prince HRH Reza Pahlavi said Sunday on Fox News.’

    At the end of the interview when asked, he said modestly that he would be willing to serve the people atop the Peacock Throne for the good of the peace and security that he could bring – along with his good friend al-Jolani to act as the King’s Hand.

    Reply ↓
    1. JohnA

      In such a scenario, I would expect him to have a shorter shelflife than the Austrian archduke who became Maximilian I of Mexico.

      Reply ↓
    1. Anonted

      I’ve been biting my tongue. Figure they’ve been waiting for enough Palestinian blood to wash up on American shores, that Bibi’s tears can’t launder Israel’s image.

      We may not identify with that Arab/Muslim willingness to embrace suffering, but damn is it powerful at scale, and all the more impressive in its selflessness.

      Who knew the Jews had that in them too?

      Reply ↓
        1. Anonted

          I thank you, for providing context, that the reader may observe my wit.

          As an aside, the eschatological implications are getting more profound by the hour.

          Reply ↓
  5. Nikkikat

    I do thank whoever sent in that cat picture! It’s great. My cat is a gray and white Turkish van cat. He makes those kinds of faces and has the most comical expressions. Always fitting for what is happening around him. Love this photo.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Agreed. That is a great foto of that cat. After scrolling through the depressing headlines, it was just the thing to bring a bit of cheer back again.

      Reply ↓
      1. Nikkikat

        Yes, the cat photo was what we all needed today. Such a grim few days we have had in Trump world. Only other thing that could make my day was the sad photo of a guy in foolish military parade carrying a drone?!? Just sad.

        Reply ↓
  6. Colonel Smithers

    Thank you, Conor.

    I went hiking with a diplomat friend, not a career diplomat, but a latecomer from the City, on Saturday. She’s based in Africa, but also had some tidbits with regard to the Foreign Office view of Russia and Ukraine:

    Britain is at war with Russia. If that means reducing the budget for health and social services, so be it.

    Putin is corrupt and has little support outside Moscow and people who depend on the oligarchs that form his inner circle.

    Ukrainians and Russians are the same people. Most Russians support Ukraine.

    Ukraine will ultimately prevail. Ukraine’s use of technology is keeping at bay Russia’s throwing of bodies at Ukrainian defences. Russia has not changed from its traditional tactics.

    Russian casualties are over a million, so will eventually run out of soldiers.

    Britain is developing drones that are superior to what even the US has. Once deployed, they will be game changers.

    I did not know what to say and drank more than usual at the pub en route.

    With regard to Africa, the UK is wooing France’s former colonies, especially Algeria, and offering Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal help with breaking away from the west African Franc. Japan, Turkiye and South Korea have joined the UK and France, the US, Russia, India and China in the African great game.

    Starmer is off to Mozambique soon, eyeing deals in the gas fields that stretch from Kenya to Mozambique. Mozambique’s development is being helped by increasing use of English and interaction with anglophone business, unlike Angola, still wedded to Portugal.

    Reply ↓
    1. JohnA

      Hi Colonel, it cannot have been easy keeping a straight face while upping your beer consumption en route. Her beliefs appear to be the very epitome of groupthink in Whitehall, even if she is based in Africa.

      Reply ↓
      1. Colonel Smithers

        Thank you, John.

        We were hiking near Chequers, my native county. The local beer wasn’t good, unfortunately.

        I tried hard not to laugh. I also desperately hoped that there are alternative voices at King Charles Street.

        Reply ↓
        1. upstater

          Unfortunately it is probably a false hope, Colonel. The FSO seems to have successfully culled the likes of Craig Murray, Alastair Crooke and Ian Proud. The US flushed them out 25 years ago. Neocon groupthink is a death cult.

          Reply ↓
          1. Colonel Smithers

            Thank you.

            Former ambassador Oliver Miles has spoken about the Arabists being forced out of the State Department, first, and, later, the Foreign Office.

            During the Blair years and “sofa government”, many civil servants became drinking buddies of ministers and political appointees. There was some in the Thatcher years, but not as much. Blair also brought in many “special advisers” (spads, often fresh from university, like the Miliband brothers or from think tanks and newspapers). The 40 odd under Blair grew to over 100 under Johnson.

            One hopes the likes of Anonymous 2 and Aurelien, both retired officials, pipe up.

            Reply ↓
    2. The Rev Kev

      Thank you for that comment, Colonel. I would go so far to suggest that because of those beliefs that your hiking friend has, that they would automatically be accepted into the Foreign Office. If she was a hard-core realist, then she would have never been accepted by them as she was not signed up to the narrative and may possibly be a Putin supporter. These days it is all binary and you are either one or the other.

      Reply ↓
    3. Indus

      This is pretty much my experience too, working in the city when speaking to colleagues (althought at much lower level than Colonel).
      It’s extremely difficult to get a different point of view.

      Reply ↓
      1. Colonel Smithers

        Thank you.

        Even, with regard to China, Britain’s colonial era companies and oligarchs have struggled to get alternative views across.

        Reply ↓
    4. Adam1

      “I did not know what to say and drank more than usual at the pub en route.”

      Now that sounds familiar in my life. Talking politics and arguing about it is normally what my family calls a good time, but my parents have drunk so much of the Kool-Aid on evil Russia and victim Ukraine that my eyes glaze over as soon as it comes up. There is no hearing that maybe their “facts” are at best ill-informed or ill-sourced. At best now I just bite my tongue and wait for a good moment to change the topic of conversation (or leave the room if it just gets worse).

      Reply ↓
  7. The Rev Kev

    ‘SIMPLICIUS Ѱ
    @simpatico771
    Jun 15
    🇨🇳⚔️🇺🇸Chinese vs. US parade….’

    Big difference. Here is a video showing the Chinese doing their parades and the last part of it showing the insane levels of preparation for them-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6L9XqXLgsI (6:00 min)

    Funny thing is that the US used to be able to do these sorts of parades. I have an autobiography of the late Col. David Hackworth who at the beginning of his career was stationed at Trieste. The old guard made sure that those soldiers were immaculately turned out and took pride in themselves and their uniforms and were like a US Marine drill team in precision. Trump’s parade was just a bunch of guys in fatigues walking in the same direction at the same time.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      A friend was stationed in Germany from 1973 to 1977 and related that GI Joes there at the time had a very relaxed uniform protocol in that they left their shirts untucked almost on the verge of sloppy, and keep in mind that morale among the troops was lower than the underside of a snail at the time on account of the Vietnam War, and this was during the transition from a drafted army to all volunteer armed forces.

      One fellow in his outfit had longer hair and had a ‘short wig’ of sorts to hide his mane when in an official capacity on duty.

      The ‘marching’ at the parade over the weekend was sloppy, no?

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        Sloppy is being kind. Rag tag comes to mind.
        If Trump’s parade was supposed to inspire confidence…
        Fail

        Reply ↓
    2. AG

      That´s where I tend to fall into a schizophrenia which is basically: every thing if existing long enough developes its own culture and some way or the other gains legitimacy simply by quantity – even if I personally am against it.

      That is to say, all this parading around is a joke and cannot be taken seriously. A total waste of time.
      In the same line of thinking I used to go as far as to argue, we don´t need armed forces.

      Now if you are member of the “Axis of Evil” which is an Orwellian term as any – you cannot do without armed forces, and not just of any quality, and with that – I assume – all these, in my private view, idiotic minutes – might be necessary for psychological reasons after all?

      Unlike doctors soldiers mostly are usefless – unless there is a war. But then how do you keep up quality over the decades of inaction.

      I don´t know if there parading around and these ancient forms are truly necessary and helpful.
      Is this parading, this concept of total ritualisation truly necessary to have high quality armed forces?

      Wasn´t one cause of conflict in the Spanish Republic how to handle this very issue in a nation potentially under attack? Anarchism vs. military logic?

      p.s. This ultimately leads to the question of truth: Were I a male Russian citizen with the same view of geopolitics that I have now, were I be willing to go to the front? No, I would not. Is that consequential? No.

      I used to defend leftists´ right to sabotage military installations and in general obstruct armed forces.
      It was easy to argue this way because those forces were NATO and simple to hate.

      But does it make sense to sabotage Russian armed forces if one understands enough of what this war is about?
      No.

      So what about my principles? They don´t apply any more as far as “principles” ought to be universal.
      That´s a new experience. And I don´t really like it.

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        Russia is the largest country in the world, and I feel confident in claiming that over half of my fellow citizens couldn’t locate it on a map of the world with delineated borders.

        Reply ↓
    3. The Infamous Oregon Lawhobbit

      “Nine to the front and six to the rear, that’s the way we do it here.”*

      Having been one of “Those Guys” marching in “That Formation” I will have to agree that the clip does look fairly sloppy compared to the 80s. That said, once you were out of Basic/AIT or OSUT, there wasn’t all that much marching to be done, other than ambling down to, say, the motor pool.

      But the Soviets and Chinese always did have better looking and more synchronized formations.** THAT said, pretty soldiers marching don’t win wars. Unfortunately, the US is also not noted for having much in the way of the skills that DO win wars.

      *a reference to how far hands were supposed to swing when marching in formation – something quite lacking in the videos

      **though “Double to the left flank, double to the right flank, double to the rear with a slight hesitation,” when properly executed, looks pretty darned kewl!

      Reply ↓
    4. Old Canuck

      The parade certainly was ragtag. The question is why? Is it a sign of incompetence or of low morale or of defiance? And if the later, was it defiance by the troops, the officers, or both?

      Reply ↓
  9. Wukchumni

    I am Sam
    Uncle Sam I am

    That Sam-I-am!
    That Sam-I-am!
    I do not like that Sam-I-am!

    Do you like
    China and Iran?
    I do not like them, Sam-I-am
    I do not like
    China and Iran

    Would you like them
    here or there?

    I would not like them
    here or there
    I would not like them anywhere

    I do not like
    China and Iran
    I do not like them, Sam-I-am

    Would you like them in a house?
    Would you like them with a mouse?

    I do not like them
    in a house
    I do not like them
    with a mouse
    I do not like them
    here or there
    I do not like them
    anywhere
    I do not like
    China and Iran
    I do not like them
    Uncle Sam-I-am

    Reply ↓
  10. disc_writes

    Somehow I doubt the plan is to fight them to the last Israeli.

    I would love to hear what people in Taiwan are thinking right now.

    Reply ↓
    1. pjay

      Perhaps it’s a signal from our interstellar overlords that their experiment has failed and it’s time to terminate. If so, I’m not sure I’d blame them. Maybe they’ll get it right next Yuga.

      Reply ↓
    2. The Infamous Oregon Lawhobbit

      Good morning, KSIL listeners and welcome to the Best In Silurian Music!

      Coming in at Number 10 on the charts, “Let Me Be Your Thunder Lizard!” by Al O. Saur!

      Reply ↓
  12. MicaT

    Hackaday gets it wrong.
    Reconductoring is significantly less expensive than installing new towers and way faster.

    One of the reasons for the ACCR is the composit core is both lighter and stronger allowing for more aluminum to transport more electrons for the same weight on the towers and because of less sagging due to heat.

    As to the aluminum strands having to do custom work to shape to them vs being round, that is already done with most all aluminum wire you buy in the larger sizes.

    But I’m not sure that’s an advantage as in the higher voltages diameter of the wire is actually more important due to the corona effect.

    Here is a link from 3M showing round conductors.
    https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00014620/

    Reply ↓
  14. The Rev Kev

    ‘Trita Parsi
    @tparsi
    Israel’s Channel 14 – a mouthpiece of Netanyahu – reports that Israel is preparing the “Dahiyeh Doctrine” for Iran.
    This entails the destruction of civilian infrastructure on a very large scale – as Israel did in Lebanon.
    It has nothing to do with the nuclear program…’

    So if they go after high rise buildings as part of a terror campaign, what if Iran drops a few skyscrapers in Tel Aviv to return the complement? That would do the Israeli economy a world of good-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Tel_Aviv

    Would you believe that Oz’s Foreign Minister actually said that Israel has a right to defend themselves? Seriously, WTF.

    Reply ↓
  15. Expat2uruguay

    Why does the tweet from this guy Sohrab Ahmari about nation building in Iran remind me of the “world building” narrative of a science fiction novel?

    Reply ↓
  16. The Rev Kev

    “How Exactly Did Hunter-Gatherers Sleep? On Rest and Relaxation in the Prehistoric Era”

    I think that there is something missing in that article. I can hardly see a prehistoric encampment or ones in a cave all nodding off to sleep at the same time. Mega fauna was still a thing back then so you would expect there to be a standard watch. Maybe women took part too but you would have to have at least one tribesman awake and keeping watch on everybody or maybe two so that you did not have somebody nodding off to sleep while on watch. And that might suggest that tribesman would be used to being woken to take their turn and keep the fires stoked before being relieved. I would further guess that watching the movements of the stars would tell them when their “shift” was at an end.

    Reply ↓
    2. Alice X

      Greenwald on Thursday on his show dedicated to Iran (but finished just before the attack) opined that if the ZE did attack but DJT didn’t join in, he would be impeached. Probably the only thing a prez could be impeached for.

      Reply ↓
  18. Mikel

    Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, US officials say – Reuters

    Not comforting at all after seeing how Trump likes to play deniability.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      They probably got him in their deepest mountain bunker as they know that the Israelis are crazy enough to think that killing him will win them the war. This whole story, come to think of it, might be a Trump ploy to flush the old boy out. After the past few months, who has any trust in Trump at all anymore? He still has three and a half years of his Presidency but no nation has any trust in him to keep his word or honour any agreement or literally anything. Internationally, the Trump brand is trash. That is why there has been no more news of any more trade agreements with Trump after the UK signed. With Trump it is always a zero-sum game.

      Reply ↓
    2. nippersdad

      Which implies that all of the other assassinations had Trump’s sign off on them. As far as deniability goes, that PR ploy may not ultimately be as effective as they thought it was.

      Reply ↓
      1. Carolinian

        Well he signed onto the thousands of assassinations in Gaza. Just reading Ian Welsh saying that

        Khameini is cautious, even timid. He has underplayed his hand ever single time during this crisis, most importantly when not sending ground troops to stop the fall of Assad. This caused great problems with the younger members of the Revolutionary Guard, who are hardliners almost to a man. The elimination of senior members of defense and government is not strengthening moderates, it is strengthening hardliners.

        Israel has said that Khameini is not off-limits for murder. If they do so, it will be a huge mistake. It will end the non-nuclear fatwa (though the Iraniams will lie about that) and put hardliners in charge. Ironically, the best thing Khameini could do for Iran right now is be Martyred.

        https://www.ianwelsh.net/

        Spielberg even made a movie called Munich about the misguided Israeli assassination mania as it took place after the Olympics massacre. As Larry Johnson says this only works if you are fighting one man.

        Reply ↓
  19. Mikel

    Workers’ Rights Are Collapsing Globally. Canada Is No Exception – The Maple

    The globalist dream: most labor being some kind of easily controlled migrant labor.

    Reply ↓
  20. ciroc

    >HOW TO SAY IN RUSSIAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONALD, HAPPY US ARMY AND FLAG DAY

    If both Moscow and Tehran expect Iran to be defeated, then Iran could collapse as quickly as Syria did.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      I think that there might be a tone of panic and pessimism in that article. Iran is fighting back and holding their own. They spent eight years in a war against a western-backed Iraq and lost 500,000 people people but still survived. Yeah, Israel packs a punch but it is only a fraction of the size of Iran and they are not going to let themselves be turned into the next Syria. I have read that the US will supply it with military equipment until the cows come home but how realistic is this? The weapons stocks of the US military have been drained the past three years in the Ukraine and the needs of the Gaza genocide. To help out Israel, they even had to strip the Ukraine of air-defenses so that it could be sent to Israel. Sorry, Big Z. I would suggest that Russia and China are seeing if the Iranians will not fold or crumple. And if they do not, then that is when the big equipment goes in. But as it stands, do we even know which countries are sending supplies to Iran and in what quantities? That is something that Iran will not publish.

      Reply ↓
      1. jsn

        Helmer’s hate for Putin gets him, periodically, onto one of the predictable waves of Russian pessimism.

        While is points all have a superficial truth, one must assume there are better, less public channels of communication between Moscow, Tehran, & Beijing, and circumstantial evidence points to those channels being active at the moment.

        Mirandi was good with Dima this morning on the death cult Israel has become, it dovetails nicely now with the Western capitalist death cult, though they’re each based on different Old Testament Gods, so no real reason for optimism all around.

        Reply ↓
  21. Unironic Pangloss

    Cracks me up that Trump would have better poll numbers today if he just spent every day since 31 Jan on the golf course.

    Looks like Steve Bannon rrally was the intellectual framework that kept Trump from indulging in his worst impulses

    Reply ↓
  22. thoughtfulperson

    The Netanyahu photo with the maps and the discussion of trade routes from yesterday (?). Gives rise to the question of the recent attacks in Kashmir that led to the hostilities between India and Pakistan. One wonders if these attacks were a false flag intended to break India apart from BRICS. Same with SCO events of late.

    From air force movements it is looking like the usa will enter the war in full, beyond the usual supplier of proxies.

    One wonders if Russia and China will stand by and watch while Iran is vaporized? I doubt it.

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      Did they defend Iraq or Syria?

      I seem to recall Putin was hoodwinked over the destruction of Libya, which he later regretted.

      Reply ↓
      1. Bsn

        Well, as they say. “you got to pick your battles”. My guess is they will pick this one. Mercouris the other day mentioned how after the 6 day war, the Russians came to the aid of Egypt. It took a while, but Israel backed off. Of course Wankapedia mentions that it was the Egyptians that broke the cease fire. Who writes for W’pedia? Of course we all know it’s filtered for “truth”. I’m putting my money on Mercouris because when he makes errors, he admits it.

        Reply ↓
    2. Samuel Conner

      Ukraine provides a precedent for friends of a nation at war providing air defenses. RF and China MIC assuredly have much greater capacity to build air defense systems and consumables than the West has.

      It’s hard for me to believe that RF could as tranquilly contemplate regime change in Iran as it seems to have done in Syria.

      Reply ↓
  23. The Rev Kev

    “US, China leave issue of military-use rare earths, AI chip curbs unresolved in new trade truce”

    Now what could Trump possibly tell Xi to make him change his mind and to selll him military-use rare earths?

    ‘Now look, Xi. We need that stuff. How are we supposed to make all our weapons if you don’t sell it to us? You own us. Don’t make me sanction you again. What? What’s that? Who would we be using those weapons against? Not you, Xi, not you. I promise (snigger). Oh, you heard that. Never mind.’

    Reply ↓
  24. Erstwhile

    One way to resolve the problem is to remove trump from office. I have already suggested here that the u.s. military might forcibly remove trump- the immediate problem- from office. A compelling reason would be for national security interests, to prevent one man from starting a possibly catastrophic war. The constitution calls on congress to declare war, and trump has already acted in a capricious and arbitrary manner, delegating to himself powers that are denied him by the constitution. But it would remain unknown if congress would vote for war on Iran; more likely, the zionist entity’s concerns would be probably be addressed ,and not the wishes of a majority of american citizens. The american congress has been bought by the zionists, and I would hope that the military, if it recognizes the fearful consequences of such an invasion, might hold onto the reins of power a little longer, until members of congress might be made to see reason and represent their constituents, and not the settler colonists of the entity..this might take a little time, but there exist a number of ways to bring them to their senses.

    Reply ↓
    1. pjay

      “One way to resolve the problem is to remove trump from office…”

      Perhaps I’m too dense, but I don’t see how removing Trump from office resolves any of our major problems. First, Trump is not the *cause* of any of them. He’s simply the current (figure)head of our Executive branch that is just continuing our long-standing policies. The idea that this “one man” is the one “starting a possibly catastrophic war” is misleading at many levels. Second, as a number of commenters asked the other day, replace Trump *with whom*? I don’t know who in the “US military” is responsible or desirable enough to lead such a coup. As you say, Congress is bought and paid for, but I would trust our military leadership about as much as I’d trust the board of Raytheon. This is not to defend Trump at all, especially given everything he has done since taking office the second time. But he is just one element of a much bigger set of problems.

      If we were going to violate the Constitution so blatantly then I’d start by identifying every neocon agent in government and the media and throwing them in a Supermax prison and take it from there…

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    2. IM Doc

      Where were you when Biden authorized the use of long-range missiles into Russia? I do not seem to remember there being an act of Congress authorizing that act of war….

      Reply ↓
    3. Carolinian

      Senator Tim Kaine just asked for a War Powers resolution on the matter. Apparently Trump could still veto such a resolution but it would put politicians on the record for future defenestration.

      Perhaps more to the point if Trump acts immediately it would now be in defiance of some Senators objecting. One also suspects Trump might welcome an excuse to not get involved given the huge risks.

      Alastair Crooke and Judge Nap with some thoughts on current events.

      https://conflictsforum.substack.com/p/war-on-iran-israel-is-to-blame-but

      Reply ↓
  25. chuck roast

    US tycoon pours $100mn into Trump crypto project after SEC reprieve

    Scammer Singularity really is a thing.

    Reply ↓
  26. Mikel

    Secret US agenda behind India-Pakistan ceasefire – Asia Times

    Pakistan to drop nuclear weapon on Israel if Israel nukes Iran, says Rezaei – Türkiye Today

    Easy to get a headache trying to make heads or tails of this mess.

    Reply ↓
  27. Wukchumni

    It says a lot when a US Senator from Utah can’t even spell Walz’s name correctly on a misguided online dismissal.

    Reply ↓
  28. Wukchumni

    Suspect in Minnesota Shooting Linked to Security Company, Evangelical Ministry Wired
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Yet another odious evang in our midst, apparently only charged with second degree murder for a couple of cold blooded murders~

    …why are these clowns so protected?

    Reply ↓

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