CIRCLE WITH A DOT

@rpolenz Narcissism is the surface level reasoning. Easy to convey, accept, and then ignore. There is some truth to it, but...The deeper reason is the grift: they assume that's what others are doing because that's what they would do and so they believe they're entitled to it. They want a portion of every deal made anywhere they think they can get leverage. Branding things is a control mechanism.

@sundew Yes. However, the pollies are mere puppets of the filthy rich.Icoi, Carter was put into power by David Rockefeiier et al. as the first neoliberal president:https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-excess-of-democracy-how-corporations-killed-the-campus,15165 .

Trump, Hegseth, et al. may not know what the backroom war-policy guys are up to.A declining US empire is trying to stop rising power, China. They're trying to do it in Iran.~Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, "Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity"Plus a great deal more...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlArwg-2vvM #USPol #EUpol #IranWar #China #USImperialism #news .

Report: The US Air Force has lost at least seven aircraft in its war with Iran:* on Friday, two US fighter jets, a US Air Force F-15 & an A-10 were shot down;* on March 27, an E-3 Sentry aircraft was reportedly destroyed on the ground in Saudi Arabia;* on March 12, six US personnel were killed when a KC-135 refueling tanker crashed in Iraq;* on March 2, three F-15s were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260404-us-air-force-has-lost-at-least-7-aircraft-in-war-with-iran-report/ #USPol #EUPol #USAirForce #IranWar #news .

@bweller @DrALJONES Israel?

@PaulWermer Ummm, look up? Lol

...Those delays, it seems, are due to a key bottleneck: electrical components manufactured abroad. Batteries, electrical transformers, and circuit breakers all make up less than 10 percent of the cost to construct one data center, but as Andrew Likens, energy and infrastructure lead at Crusoe’s told Bloomberg, it’s impossible to build new data centers without them...Poetry in architecture.https://futurism.com/science-energy/data-centers-construction-supply#datacenter #ai #iranwar

"Oil and gas giants, big banks, industrial agriculture companies and defence companies are likely to make RECORD profits from the crisis, profits made possible by soaring prices and global instability.No company should be allowed to profiteer from a crisis leaving millions struggling to afford the basics. That’s why the Government must introduce bigger taxes on companies making eye-watering profits off the back of the Iran war, and use the money raised to provide direct cost of living support and head-off the next crisis by investing in renewable energy."https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/raise-taxes-on-companies-profiteering-from-iran-war#IranWar #profiteering #UKpolitics #petition

@amalia22 Exactly the question no one in the White House seems to be asking. Kharazi was the last credible backchannel. With him gone, Iran has every reason to accelerate — not negotiate. The deadline clock is still ticking. #Iran #Diplomacy

IRAN WAR — 60 HRS TO DEADLINETrump April 6 ultimatum: open Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on Iranian power plants. Closed 35 days — 20% of global oil blocked. Tehran denies any talks.Key signals: Brent above 15 = real escalation. US carrier movements = strike prep. https://newsgroup.site/iran-war-day35-april6-countdown-hormuz-2026/#Iran #Hormuz #IranWar #Geopolitics #OSINT

IRAN WAR — 60 HOURS TO DEADLINETrump April 6 ultimatum: open Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on Iranian power plants. The strait has been closed 35 days — 20% of global oil blocked. Tehran denies any negotiations.Watch: Brent above $115 = real escalation. US carriers entering Arabian Sea = strike prep. Oman silence = diplomacy alive. https://newsgroup.site/iran-war-day35-april6-countdown-hormuz-2026/#Iran #Hormuz #IranWar #Geopolitics #OSINT #MiddleEast

Our President simply can't understand why the rest of the world is laughing at him (hint: it's not because he's funny...)#Trump #TheEconomist #China #Politics #IranWar

#Trump #TrumpEpsteinFiles #TrumpEpsteinCoverup #TrumpWars #IranWar #TrumpEconomy #ThisIsWhatYouVotedFor #Project2025 #NoKings #LetsGoTACO #TrumpAlwaysChickensOut

@parismarx In-depth article detailing how the "kill chain" i.e. target acquisition and mission execution, has degraded in quality due to increased "efficiency" demands--and how that mindset is responsible for this tragedy.https://artificialbureaucracy.substack.com/p/kill-chainalso, this is what we can expect more of (missed and misdirected hits), as "ai" is increasingly integrated into targeting evaluation.

ABC7:California gas station charging $10 for a gallon of gas"... A gas station in Big Sur is charging nearly $10. The owner of Gorda By The Sea says the only reason his premium gas costs $9.99 is because he's limited by the number of digits on his pump...."(autoplay)https://abc7.com/post/big-sur-california-gas-station-charging-10-gallon/18828531/#IranWar #war #gasoline #gas

@parismarx congrats, take a holiday!!!

@Nonilex Arguably

Before launching "an illegal war on Iran, Trump should have noted Israel’s complete failure to destroy Hamas after pounding this small territory from the air for two years."... a failure all the starker given the US's endless supply of munitions. Even "Israeli ground forces failed to quell Hamas’ resistance."These were the strategic lessons the US should have learnt.https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-making-sure-trump-cannot-find-ramp-iran #USPol #EUPol #iranWar #israeliFailure #GazaGenocide #palestine .

@GeofCox @DrALJONES ah but equality and prosperity for their neighbours is anathema for the Israeli extreme right wing government, who want permanent war to remain in power and for a significant portion of them expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they say this it’s not a metaphor. In the words of Angelou, when someone tells you who they are, believe them.

@NewsGroup There is an "eastern" (China, Pakistan, more) 5 point plan and Western leaders are meeting soon to think on it. Peace plans and pressure to open Hormuz are going to be attenuated by a balance between the strategic interest in seeing the #USA lay in the bed we made, and on the other hand real needs for oil, particularly China. The key thing for a unilateral USA is that we might not be part of any deal as we face the conclusion of Pax Americana. It may be that NOTHING is in our hands.