“.. What we are talking about is nothing short of the sitting president of the United States looting from the Treasury for his own gain,” she said. @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/5733...

There was something different about this summit. While Tom's criticism was a reoccurring theme, the whole of the republican party was holding its breath that Xi would bail them out. It created for the first time the appearance of a superpower China while it projected a diminished United States.

Mediators and U.S. officials say Iran’s position in talks has changed little from previous failed rounds, casting doubt on a breakthrough despite Trump pausing planned strikes to allow more negotiations.-WSJ

First time I've seen this being admitted to by the administration.

Serious alarm bells running in German politics. It used to be argued that the AfD has a ceiling around 15-20%. Now, despite having become one of the most radical far-right parties in Europe, it is getting closer to 30%

Several Gulf officials from some of the countries Trump mentioned said they were not aware of the imminent plan to attack Iran he described.-WSJ

I found the source story for this tweet.

Welcome to Bluesky, @news.abc.net.au!

This is an interesting signal from Iran. Iran appears to be confident that an imminent strike is unlikely.

The pressure on Trump to act one way or another is growing.

"the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond now exceeds the earnings yield on the S&P 500 to an extent not seen since the tail-end of the dot-com bust early in 2002, which should be a major warning signal for stocks."

U.S. 10-YEAR TREASURY FUTURES SURGE 10 TICKS, 30-YEAR FUTURES RISE 13 TICKS

Someone needs to tell Trump to either shit or get off the pot.

Tasnim news, the IRGC continues its trolling…..

HUNGARY'S GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCH AUDIT OF PUBLIC MEDIA CONTRACTS AND EDITORIAL PRACTICE -SPOKESWOMAN

🚨 US REJECTS LATEST IRANIAN PEACE PROPOSAL AHEAD OF SITUATION ROOM MEETING ON TUESDAY

IRAN CLAIMS US MAY ACCEPT OIL SANCTIONS RELIEF IN NEW NEGOTIATION TEXT SEMI-OFFICIAL TASNIM SAYS WASHINGTON HAS AGREED TO DISCUSS LIFTING IRAN OIL SANCTIONS AND TEMPORARILY SUSPENDING OFAC RESTRICTIONS UNTIL A FINAL DEAL IS REACHED.

Iranian Media Said US Offered Interim Waiver on Oil Sanctions -Bloomberg

I don't think anything short of ground troops will work, and you might as well commit to a full regime change by then.

CNN is so lazy. This is a multi industrial input shock.

Fears Grow That Iran May Be Using Proxy Groups Beyond Mideast A criminal complaint against an Iraqi man that was unsealed in a U.S. court, accusing him of plotting attacks, has raised fears that Iran is increasingly wielding its proxy forces to target Western interests far beyond the Middle East.

China’s industrial production growth slows ft.trib.al/GN3OWmS

"Preparing for Simultaneity" is what appeared in #OrbisJournal ... orbisjournal.org/commentary/p...

Yen is getting closer and closer to 160.

U.S. officials say Trump is expected to hold a national security meeting in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday amid expectations of a possible resumption of military operations with Iran.

Some of President Trump’s close advisers believe the recent Trump-Xi summit in Beijing had a major unintended consequence: it may have increased the perceived risk of China attempting to seize Taiwan by force within the next five years.

I think this has been occurring in all age groups to one degree or another, but yes, 20 years from now, our current politics may look philosophical by comparison.

in the appetite for U.S. investors to put money into "diversify from China projects at any costs" with the exception of some hedging (critical minerals) at the margins. My sense is that risk calculations are shifting back to "China risk" is more acceptable than ... 2/

Police in Saône-et-Loire, France, are warning residents about erratic deer that they believe may be drunk on fermented fruit.

At this point, I anticipate that Xi will make the calculation that war with Taiwan should happen before Trump leaves office.

Thousands are marching in Selma calling for a full restoration of the voting rights act.

Great, he's going to provoke exactly the clarification that we don't need, which will set Beijing off and endanger the status quo we all want to preserve.

⚡️ Explosion in West Jerusalem and the Beit Shemesh area

Mexico's Pemex says brief fire at Olmeca refinery controlled, operations normal reut.rs/49SJlYR

You also can't bomb their knowledge of nuclear science away. They will still retain control of the SOH, and they will have over time more funding to rebuild that stockpile or whatever else they seek.

I think the only practical mission would be to blow up the stockpile on site, but you would give the Iranians the argument that the US/Israel did a dirty bomb attack or something to that effect. They could respond by taking out energy infrastructure on the ports opposite of the SOH.

Yeah, it took us 19 years to lose South Vietnam, and only 2 months to lose the Strait of Hormuz. Weird flex, man.

Something lost on people is that Israel is committing suicide with its foreign policy. We had a diplomatic window with a new generation and a whole deal in place that could have led to a happy ending, but Israel screwed it up because it thought nukes would be a better argument for regime change.

I don't think they'll nuke Iran either. I think they are going to end up accepting an outcome they don't like.

North Korea is a rational nuclear actor in the sense that its arsenal is built around regime survival, coercion, and deterrence. It is not suicidal. Frankly, I don't think Iran is either.

Israel will have demonstrated itself to be an unstable actor with Nukes. Every country on earth is going to respond to that situation.

When Moscow and China steps into that situation, you may feel very differently. They'll step in with support for Iran maybe even give it nuclear weapons, and isolate Israel.

A preemptive nuclear strike on Iran would be a strategic catastrophe for Israel unless it were responding to an unmistakable imminent existential threat. US-Israel started the war. You can't just start shooting nukes when it doesn't go your way. That comes with serious consequences.

Nukes aren't going to save them no more than it has Russia with Ukraine.

If we withdraw our support, Israel will eventually run out of anti-defense missiles and the situation will start sorting itself out. There is no alternative unless someone is willing to put troops on the ground and root them out. Nobody wants to accept those kinds of losses. It is what it is.

Israel isn't going to put boots on the ground of Iran which means the decision is already made. We're just killing time before markets forces everyone's hand.