In just 2 months Cuba overhauled it's petrochemical industry to process it's native crude. A feat of engineering unrivaled by any other country in the world.

Thread breaking down the technical aspects

For decades Cuba had invested in petrochemical research, preparing for a day where their doctors for oil programs with Venezuela would end.

There were 2 key obstacles to overcome, the density of the crude available under their soil, and the high sulfur content

Cuba already refined its own crude but it required naphtha, an oil distillate, that they received via Venezuela, after the US intervention that supply obviously stopped

Naphtha works as a thinning agent, when mixed with their heavy crude it allowed their refineries to process it

Cuban engineers had already developed oil cracking methods that could thin out the oil but these were not implemented due to the economic costs, it was simply a better deal to import naphtha

But the foresight to invest in these technologies proved prophetic

The next hurdle is the high sulphur content in Cuban crude. Sulphur doesn't get pulled out of oil entirely in distillation, and it's extremely damaging to engines and pipes that carry it

Here too, anticipating this day, the investments in R&D saved the island

Sulphur is traditionally removed from oil with metals, usually palladium, which is not found in the island, so Cuban chemists had been experimenting with soils rich in aluminum, with great results

Thanks to the socialist political model, Cuban scientific research is focused on developing sovereignty, not foreign capital, if not for the political guadiance of the Cuban revolution, Cuba would forever be at the mercy of geopolitics

The cost is high, but Cuba proves, they will not bend, they will not surrender, no obstacle is too large to overcome.

Motherland or death, onwards to victory, we are Fidel.

🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺

Peter Thiel calls Pope Leo XIV the “woke American pope.”

He’s worried about Pope Leo working with a “woke American president like AOC” to create a Marxist “Caesar-Papist fusion.”

In leaked audio recordings, Peter Thiel revealed he told JD Vance to ignore Pope Leo XIV on moral issues, including the development of ethical AI.

He also suggested the American pope was a tool of the Antichrist.

https://www.thelettersfromleo.com/p/new-jd-vances-top-donor-suggests

Everyone who doesn't fully support me getting more money and power is the antichrist. This religion thing is great!

israeli military boats have illegally surrounded the flotilla in international waters and threatened kidnapping and violence.

Communications with 11 vessels have been lost and israeli media claims that 7 boats have been intercepted. Governments must act now to protect the flotilla, hold israel accountable for these flagrant violations of international law and for israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.

Protect the flotilla. End the siege. Free Palestine.

https://archive.ph/3An1C (the archiver seems to have messed up and only gotten the article partially for some reason, so here's the regular link too: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-02/beijing-tells-chinese-firms-to-ignore-us-sanctions-on-refiners)

Beijing Tells Chinese Firms to Ignore US Sanctions on Refiners

China ordered companies in the country not to comply with US sanctions on five domestic refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade, in a defiant move aimed at softening the impact of penalties. The refiners — including Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co. which was sanctioned last month and several other privately-owned processors — had been facing asset freezes and transaction bans. The US measures unlawfully restrict normal trade with third countries and breach international norms, the country’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Saturday. In a rare move, it issued an order banning recognition, enforcement, and compliance with the sanctions aimed at the five companies. “The Chinese government has consistently opposed unilateral sanctions that lack authorization from the United Nations and a basis in international law,” the department said.

https://xcancel.com/PacifistKab8/status/2050253259076432114

Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade fighters alongside a catholic nun in Gaza.

One of the more high profile activists in the gaza flotilla, brazillian Thiago Ávila, got tortured and beaten by isreal, may be permanently blind

The post is in Portuguese

https://xcancel.com/tiagoguilhermef/status/2050690529763971217#m

“We … land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” said Trump at a rally in Florida on Friday.

“We’re like pirates,” he added to cheers from the crowd. “We’re sort of like pirates. But we’re not playing games.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/02/trump-us-navy-pirates-iran-blockade

BREAKING: President Trump has "rejected" Iran's proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz and the US has prepared a plan for a "short and powerful" wave of strikes on Iran, per Axios.

Have these morons learned nothing? The Epstein Axis are not the folks who get to determine if their "limited strikes" are "short" or not. I know this is just more bluster in Trump's pathetic flailing to construct an off ramp, but it's insane that every time they can just pretend that they can shoot off a few "powerful" airstrikes that will do anything, and somehow Iran will just not respond?

🚨JUST IN: Kid Rock addresses The Pentagon on the Strait of Hormuz.

The first test flight of the Soyuz-5 medium-lift launch rocket was successfully completed earlier today from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

I’ve been thinking about doing space updates if people are interested, mostly for Chinese and Russian stuff as western coverage is either entirely nonexistent or incredibly dismissive.

The first few boats of the Sumud flotilla are now receiving radio broadcast warnings from the Israeli navy, it's likely at least some of them will be intercepted tonight. There's heavy signal jamming so many of the crews are currently incommunicado. There's no reports of any ships boarded yet but it's just a matter of time at this point. Also, this flotilla is a lot more scattered than the previous one. Some groups of ships are days away from even the yellow zone. (Source: internal channels)

[UPDATE] Apparently the Israeli navy is intercepting boats ~~in Greek national waters~~, which is causing a lot of confusion internally. The Greek coast guard is not responding to anybody's calls. Every national team is now calling their respective embassy in Athens' emergency number (supposed to be available 24/7), but not a single embassy is responding to calls so far.

[CORRECTION] The interceptions aren't happening in Greek national waters, but just outside them and within the Greek coast guard's search-and-rescue area, where they would have an obligation to answer the flotilla's distress calls. Obviously the Greek coast guard is ignoring the distress calls.

[UPDATE] Some boats got through the blockade near Crete and are now in Greek international waters. There are reports of helicopters being involved as well and possibly a warship of some kind. Again, this is from reports from people on scattered boats in the middle of sea, in the dark, through heavy signal jamming, so it's all very confused.

Video recording the Israeli navy's radio broadcast.

Is the Ukraine war still a stupid waste of human life and a slow crawl meat grinder in general? I was talking to a libbed up colleague of mine about the war last night. The average lib still thinks Russia, and Putin specifically of course, are engaging in this war for purely expansionist/imperialist reasons, and have absolutely no conception of Ukrainian politics before 2022 of course. I was able to establish some credibility for myself by insisting that, no, they did not simply claim Ukraine for the love of the game, but initially were intervening in a years long civil war on behalf of a besieged minority receiving the brunt of legal discrimination. This person was completely ignorant of both the civil war and language law/discrimination.

I wish there was a culmination of articles changing their narrative over time from Western media. I remember how bakhmut and other cities were initially declared important fortresses, then brazenly claimed to be killing thousands of Russians per day, and then immediately declared not actually important as soon as Russia finished their sieges. It would be nice to be able to confront them with the changing narrative before their very eyes. I swear to God these people don't have object permanence. They still think Ukraine is soundly winning the war and are baffled at how anyone could think otherwise. Pretty funny that they were talking about how Russia is instituting a more active draft and that shows how weak they must be now, given that of course busification has been a thing for at least 2 years now in Ukraine. Real "Our glorious mobilization, Their wretched draft" hours.

I don't know I'm just ranting as I try to comprehend the brain worms I was just exposed to. I don't even have to start listing alternative sources or narratives with these people. Like, their own sources fall apart under even a little bit of scrutiny. It would blow their minds to hear not just the narrative critiqued but an entirely different vision of events put forward.

BREAKING: OpenAI's Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has expressed worry that the company might not be able to pay for future computing contracts if the revenue doesn't grow fast enough, per Bloomberg.

Israeli company uses deepfake tech to generate fake Iranian SA victims.

An Israel-based AI firm, "Generative AI for Good", claims to be using deepfake technologies for positive ends. ‘Positive’ appears to mean creating deepfake videos to help the illegal US-Israel war on Iran.

[…]

Generative AI for Good claims that it uses AI to ‘help survivors testify safely — in their real voice, without revealing their identity’. But Israel and its mouthpieces have been shown to have used false allegations ofremoveds and other atrocities on 7 October 2023 to justify its genocide in Gaza.

Hondurasgate: Leaked Audios Reveal Trump-Backed Plot Targeting Petro, Sheinbaum, and Latin American Left - El Ciudadano

A recent leak has brought to light the existence of a political and media cell associated with Trumpism, funded by Honduran government structures, aimed at destabilizing both Gustavo Petro’s administration in Colombia and Claudia Sheinbaum’s in Mexico, as well as the Latin American left.

A collection of audios obtained by Diario Red revealed discussions between former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández—who was convicted of drug trafficking in the United States and later pardoned by the Donald Trump administration—and the current president of the Central American nation, Nasry Asfura, along with his vice president, María Antonieta Mejía.

The recordings detail the formation of a communication team funded with Honduran public resources and contributions from the government of Argentine president Javier Milei, totaling over half a million dollars. The objective is to “strike media blows” against the progressive leaders in the region.

The geopolitical context, characterized by the competition between China and the United States over critical minerals and supply chains, helps explain why Washington resorts to local operators like Hernández to hinder the advance of the Latin American left.

In one of the most revealing audios, dated January 30, 2026, Hernández instructs Asfura from the United States: “I need you to send about 150 thousand dollars to Rosales’ account […] because here we are going to rent an apartment and set up an office for a digital journalism unit. Someone else from here will handle it, from the team of the President of the United States. Well, he is from the Republicans who are helping us. They are going to set up a news site where important information about Manuel Zelaya and Xiomara Castro will be released.”

Asfura responds by offering additional transfers from “a friend’s” account, including resources from the Social Security Institute (INSEP). According to the conversations, the operation included a call between Hernández and Milei, who allegedly committed 350 thousand dollars to execute the destabilizing actions.

The dialogue reveals that Hernández informs Asfura the news site would operate as an informative cell based in the United States to avoid being tracked in Honduras. The aim is not only to attack Xiomara Castro’s government but also to prepare “files” against Mexico (Sheinbaum) and Colombia (Petro).

“Files against Mexico are coming, files against Colombia, and most importantly against Honduras, specifically against the Zelaya family,” states the former Honduran president in the recording.

In another call with Vice President Mejía, Hernández reiterates the need for liquidity to set up an office with support from political actors of the Republican Party in the United States, aiming to “attack and eradicate the cancer of the left” throughout Latin America. Mejía, who requests “details to be omitted” to leave no traces, confirms the management of 300 thousand dollars.

“I will handle all the arrangements, so 300 thousand dollars,” she indicates in the audio.

Beyond the media war, this leak reveals an ambitious plan for territorial reconversion of Honduras into a strategic enclave for the United States. The agreements include the expansion of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDES), the construction of a new military base in Roatan, similar to Soto Cano Air Base (Palmerola)—operated by Southern Command since 1982—and a Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in Tegucigalpa, emulating the repressive Salvadoran model.

In a voice note from February 10, 2026, Asfura informs Hernández that a group of investors has already greenlit these projects, including a transoceanic train to be awarded to General Electric, deliberately excluding Canada and China. “The Chinese were bidding. But we are not going to give in,” he asserts.

Violence as a tool of control is mentioned unequivocally. In a message directed to Tomás Zambrano, president of the Honduran National Congress, Hernández conveys a directive attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump: “In Honduras, strength is needed, logistics are needed, blood is needed. If you want to keep people controlled, you need to oppress them. Squeeze them. Counter violence by generating violence. It’s what President Trump says.”

Hernández even references the infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar: “Don’t be so soft […] So said Pablo Escobar.”

Meanwhile, Romeo Vásquez Velásquez—who led the 2009 coup against former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya—appears to be coordinating with the Armed Forces “to start the hunt.”

Another pillar of the strategy is the cultural battle waged from evangelical churches. According to the audios revealed by Diario Red, Hernández instructs Zambrano to align all religious congregations so that “people forget the past. And that they think it was the left who did that.”

“In Honduras, evangelicals have already mobilized their parishioners in massive marches against Xiomara Castro’s government, such as the one summoned in August 2025 under the slogan ‘for peace and in defense of democracy’ in coordination with the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise,” the reported source notes.

This web of activities—which combines lawfare, military control of resources, violence, and religious manipulation—confirms that under Nasry Asfura’s government, Honduras has become a pawn on the chessboard for Donald Trump and his interest in regaining the hegemony lost by Washington in the Latin American region due to the defense of sovereignty undertaken by progressive governments.

Exclusive: US spy agencies examine how Iran would react to Trump declaring victory

Probably the same way they've reacted the last dozen or so times when Trump declared victory?

"Iran using Hormuz as 'economic nuclear weapon' – Marco Rubio" (Orig RT link)

This is worrying to me in that talking of them using it as a nuclear weapon invites the idea that the US can use real nuclear weapons to counter their "economic nuke". It's setting the groundwork for a justification there and/or threatening Iran not so subtlety that the US will use nukes if they don't comply.

Christians unite with Hezbollah against Israel - Telegraph

Catholic residents of Ras Baalbek say the militia protects churches – and gives them Christmas trees

:goodnews everyone !

The Confused whale named Timmy or Hope (its Timmy or you are a Liberal) was succesfully Saved from the Shallow Baltic Waters of Timmendorfer-Strand with the Barge. He has now reached deeper waters in the North Sea , has left his barge and is heading towards the northern Atlantik.

The so-called antisemitism commissioner of Brandenburg had his shed firebombed (complete with red triangle and public letter) by ... drumroll please ... two 25 year old friends / business partners of his. He denies any involvement or knowledge himself.

According to this newspaper’s investigation, there is no evidence of tension or discord between the two men and Büttner, who are said to have a friendly relationship. They are also said to have met after the arson attack, in Potsdam and Berlin. In early February—just one month after the arson attack—they are said to have attended a performance at the Leipzig Opera together.

Source: tagesspiegel (archive)

Chinese Courts Rule Companies Cannot Fire Workers Simply to Replace Them With AI

https://www.caixinglobal.com/2026-04-30/chinese-courts-rule-companies-cannot-fire-workers-simply-to-replace-them-with-ai-102439602.html

https://archive.is/7nJ6g

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine:

Statement issued by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on the First of May (International Workers' Day)

"O workers of the world, crush the hell of imperialism"

The Popular Front on International Workers' Day: Towards protecting the rights of the toilers and building an international labor front to confront the genocide, break the siege, and end the occupation.

O masses of our working class... O revolutionaries of our steadfast people,

The first of May, International Workers' Day, arrives as a living embodiment of a historical journey of continuous confrontation against exploitation and injustice, cemented by the blood of workers, during which rights were extracted through decades of struggle and sacrifice. This day, which marked a milestone in the history of the international labor movement, renews its presence this year in our Palestinian reality, burdened with unprecedented pain, where its combative symbolism mixes with a daily scene of suffering and steadfastness.

We, in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as we commemorate this glorious occasion and evoke its revolutionary meanings, extend our greetings of reverence and esteem to the martyrs, prisoners, and wounded of the Palestinian labor movement, and to the struggles and sacrifices of the Arab and international labor movement, which were cemented by the blood of workers throughout history for the sake of liberation, social justice, and human dignity.

On this occasion, we affirm that the Palestinian worker is facing one of the most severe stages of targeting today, in light of a war of genocide that targets their physical existence and their ability to survive and produce, and seeks to undermine the foundations of their life and human dignity. What our workers are going through, especially in the Gaza Strip, exceeds traditional descriptions of crises; we are facing a total and comprehensive destruction of the production system, a systematic strike at the foundations of life, and paralysis in the production sector that has led to hundreds of thousands losing their livelihoods. Unemployment rates have reached suffocating levels, turning our working community into a victim of comprehensive aggression, a tight siege, and widespread destruction of factories and workshops. The "food basket" is also being subjected to annihilation, as farmers and fishermen face a scorched-earth policy; agricultural lands have been crushed, fishing boats destroyed, and production areas turned into fields of death and hunger.

The economy has also suffered heavy losses as a result of targeting workers in the occupied West Bank and exhausting them, which caused deep social shock and led to the spread of poverty and the accumulation of debts. The journey in search of work has turned into a daily confrontation with bullets and arrests at checkpoints and walls, where martyrs are killed and the wounded injured while they strive to secure the livelihood of their families.

O masses of the toilers and makers of life... O revolutionaries of truth, freedom, and steadfastness,

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, on this occasion, while renewing its commitment to defending the toiling classes, confirms the following:

1. We affirm our absolute commitment to the rights and interests of the Palestinian working class and our struggling people as a whole for the sake of their freedom, independence, and right of return and the establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital, in the face of comprehensive targeting that affects their existence and ability to survive and produce.

2. We demand binding policies that protect the rights of the toilers and guarantee the minimum level of decent living and social justice, through official laws and collective agreements that guarantee their rights and establish a fair minimum wage.

3. We renew the call to restore national unity and formulate a comprehensive strategy to confront the war of genocide and liquidation schemes, leading to the building of a steadfast economy liberated from the restrictions of agreements that pledge the livelihood to the will of the occupation.

4. We emphasize the necessity of rebuilding the Palestinian trade union movement on democratic and representative foundations through fair and comprehensive elections, building an international labor front in cooperation with international unions, and escalating boycotts, strikes, and political pressure tools, including boycotting the "Histadrut" and withdrawing investments from the war economy and the apartheid system.

5. We call for escalating field movement in ports and factories to disrupt supply chains and stop the tools of killing and destruction, expanding the international movement of unions and free people to lift restrictions on food production, and turning the union stance into a global pressure force to stop the genocide, break the siege, and end the occupation.

Long live the first of May as a day for struggle and liberation.. and victory to the toilers and the oppressed.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Central Media Department 01/05/2026

BREAKING: The S&P 500 officially posts its highest close on record, now up +14.2% since the March 30th low.

That's +$8.1 TRILLION in market cap in 23 trading days.

WOO HOO I love how real this all is!!!

New Banksy is a statue of a person being blinded by the flag they carry.

https://xcancel.com/admcollingwood/status/2050158381667623235

One lesson to learn for other nations from Iran's "strategic investments" in missiles is the hard trade offs she was willing to make. The Iran Air Force was basically jettisoned as a serious fighting force, for example. So was a 'proper' navy. Many western nations, my own included, get caught up in trying to do everything. Iran thought seriously about how it might win the sort of war it would probably fight, and invested in that at the expense of other lobbying centres. Not an easy playoff, but one that others would do well to make. Otherwise you might end up with one available destroyers, two air craft carriers, a couple of score of highly capable fighter jets, a hundred working tanks, but a tiny army, hardly any missiles, and a practically non-existent air defence.

to the surprise of absolutely no one, keir starmer is now attacking pro palestinian demos, starting with calling “globalise the intifada” chant “racist”

(source)

Copying this over from a different sub: After the US Bombing, a Venezuelan Community Under Siege Speaks

They explained how they truly felt the horror that the Palestinians experience. The difference, they added, was that for them it was a single day while in Gaza it is every day.

At the time, many feared the attack could signal a protracted full-scale land invasion. Such an incursion, they warned, could well be launched in the future. (This was also the opinion of government officials that we conferred with.) They are proud that the Bolivarian leadership remains firm and united. This they attribute to the support of the people such as themselves. The concessions forced upon the government under the threat of an even more devastating attack have been bitter to accept, but better than the alternative of greater destruction.

Our hosts described themselves as Chavistas, militants in support of the current government. Some wore shirts bearing the phrase dudar es traición – to doubt is to betray. Their lived experience is of a nation under imperial siege – in a perpetual state of war with the threat of more. Under such circumstances unity is prioritized. They rejected speculation that the kidnapping was aided by traitors within, arguing that such narratives serve the purposes of the enemy of eroding unity by fostering distrust. They emphasized the continuity of revolutionary policy from Chávez to Maduro and now to Delcy, as she is affectionately called.

Incredibly validating to be able to come to the same conclusions as actual revolutionaries by utilizing dialectical materialism. I hope to continue learning from their examples and am very thankful that so many here are able to utilize the same tools to independently come to the same conclusions

Fousseynou Ouattara, Vice President of Mali's Defense and Security Commission, thanked Russia's Africa Corps for their assistance in helping defeat the Western-backed coup attempt over the weekend:

"I have no words to describe the actions of the Africa Corps soldiers. Their participation in thwarting the diabolical plot to overthrow Mali’s transitional leadership was decisive," Ouattara pointed out.

According to him, Russian specialists were on the front lines from the very beginning. "Their skill and professionalism enabled us to achieve great success in fighting armed terrorist groups," he emphasized.

https://tass.com/world/2123633

https://xcancel.com/bonzerbarry/status/2049652473044869132

CNN: The $25 billion cost estimate for the Iran war that Pentagon officials provided to lawmakers does not include repair costs for US bases or replacing lost assets. One source said that the real cost could be closer to $50 billion.

don't need to include repair costs in the estimate if you're never going to repair the bases

okay what the fuck amazing bit of Brit lore: https://xcancel.com/buffetbreaker/status/2050062047350550623

Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander: We’ve lost radars to Iranian attacks. Tomahawk stocks are down about 50%, ballistic missile interceptors by a third, and THAAD by nearly half. Replacing them could take years.

My favourite thing about this guy is that he tried to destroy the world by ordering a nato force to attack Russian troops at an airport in Kosovo and James “you’re beautiful” Blunt and his CO disobeyed the order. Why you would talk to such a maniac about anything is just always funny to me in light of that. thwarted by a British soft boy one hit wonder.

(maybe not news exactly, but at least the bit about how Western news media always manage to find the most bloodthirsty ghouls imaginable to ask for military commentary is pertinent)

Owner of Politico & The Telegraph tells staff to quit if they don’t align with 'corporate values' including supporting Israel's right to exist

The CEO of Axel Springer, which owns Politico and The Telegraph, told staff that anyone who disagrees with the company’s “corporate values,” outlined in its mission statement known as the “Essentials,” including support for Israel’s right to exist, should simply find another job, openly suggesting there is no place for dissent within the organization, according to audio of the call obtained by Jewish Insider.

In a call with journalists, Mathias Döpfner dismissed concerns raised by staff over his political opinions influencing coverage, doubling down instead and saying he would “write more, not less,” while insisting that certain positions, like labeling Iran as aggressors or worse, or the fact that Iran is working on acquiring a nuclear bomb, are so “obvious” they don’t even require evidence.

The remarks came after employees warned that his public commentary risked undermining Politico’s credibility as an independent news outlet, but leadership largely backed him, reinforcing a corporate culture where editorial independence is claimed, yet alignment with top-level ideology appears non-negotiable.

This comes amid recent controversies at Politico, including backlash over a sympathetic profile of UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the publication of a political cartoon criticized for invoking antisemitic tropes, which was later removed following public criticism.

Salvador Nasrallah, the liberal who bootlicked the U.S. and Israel because he believed he had won the election by thowing the socialists under the bus, and who, when the U.S. committed election fraud to elect a candidate backed by drug cartels, repeatedly whined and begged Trump and Bukele to take his side and not that of the drug cartels, has only just realized that the U.S. is against him and will not help him.

He is currently posting about the leaked audio recordings between the CIA and the drug cartels in Honduras, in which they discuss how they intended to use the army to rig the elections, and how they wanted to use Honduras and Argentina as testing grounds to see how they would attack Mexico and Colombia's left.

BREAKING: Mass USAF aircraft leaving Middle Eastern bases in the past hour, including C-17A, C-5M transports and a P-8A Poseidon. A similar mass departure happened approximately 2 hours before the war began on February 28.

PRES. TRUMP TOLD ADVISORS IN SITUATION ROOM THAT RESUMING BOMBING OR WALKING AWAY WAS RISKIER THAN EXTENDING BLOCKADE - WSJ

Looks like they're looking to extend this stalemate. The cynical interpretation is they simply need more time to prepare for whatever plans they have and don't want to or can't keep selling the deal is imminent lie.

Nationwide USA Gas Prices: 5/1

Happy May Day

Prices up 9 cents today. Up 40 cents over the last 5 days

Current Avg. $4.392

Yesterday Avg. $4.300

Week Ago Avg. $4.059

Diesel $5.496

This is the fourth day in a row of a new wartime high

Current Record: $5.016 on 6/14/22

https://gasprices.aaa.com/

https://xcancel.com/ArmchairW/status/2049657243277095297

Trump very publicly has said he thought his initial strikes would last a few days and the regime would fall or he’d get negotiating leverage. He expressed extreme surprise when that didn’t happen. Being wrong then is one thing. Doing the exact same thing again 2 months later and still thinking the same thing is so monumentally stupid I can’t even get my head around it. Iran has said if the U.S. attacks again they’re going to go bananas on us and our allies. Does Trump even know they’ve promised that?

What's most amusing is this latest scheme comes on the heels of the easily-predictable failure of the blockade plan, which was never going to work because even trying to cut off that traffic FORCES China to get involved. This war is being run by AI LLMs with inadequate context.

Is there no backstop human analysis and recommendations to both reinforce and counter the AI? Or is Trump's boomer brain just shorted out by the AI? "Between this war plan and the cat videos, America will be great again when we cover it bigly with beautiful Data Centers!"

The DoD literally bragged last month that a 20-man cell was doing what had previously been the work of a 2000-man MI brigade thanks to AI tools. This means that there is ZERO human backstopping or sanity checking happening in the pipeline. None at all. Recipe for disaster.

German politicians fall for phishing messages, blame Russia.

You know the war is going well when the newspaper is just a list of people loyal to the capo that day.

https://xcancel.com/IbnKulthum/status/2050352375827714327

The Bahraini “press” is now just listing names of families that sent the King pledges of loyalty and allegiance. That’s what passes for headline news in the country. An entirely medieval society. Deeply bleak.

The NYT doesn't have a live updates page for the war right now. But they do have multiple pages devoted to Trump.

Because that's what we need. Minute-by-minute updates about the shooter and king and queen's visit.

NEW: Senior Iranian Official to Drop Site: Iran Is Setting Its Own Terms for Ending the War

Mali progress update:

The Malian military has eliminated 2,195 terrorists while rebuffing the April 25 attacks by extremist groups Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin’ (affiliates itself with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda that is outlawed in Russia) and Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, the Sawadogo portal reported.

According to the portal, the local population helped eliminate the extremists. It also said, citing witnesses, that Ukrainian and French mercenaries took part in the attacks. They reportedly used Western-made man-portable air defense systems, including Stingers and Mistrals. More than 10,000 Malian troops were deployed to repel the terror attacks.

https://tass.com/world/2123113

12 lsraeli soldiers were wounded this morning in Hezbollah's drone attack on a military position in Shomera, Occupied Northern Palestine according to enemy media.

The drone hit an armored cargo carrier, several artillery shells exploded in the area.

When you 100% verified for real have "total control" of the Strait of Hormuz [trust fam]:

The US has warned shipping companies of possible sanctions if they pay Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The US has emphasized that even disguised schemes—including charity or indirect payments—are unacceptable - Reuters.

Actual source on this is here, idk why news wires never include links to the actual source these days when most of the time it's an actual press release or whatever by a government agency. https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/935556/download?inline

Owned :)

https://t.me/mmirleb/15594

Survival instincts of a domesticated dog. At least Ukranian soldiers run for their lives

I can not overstate how little of a surprise attack this was

Trial of pro-Palestinian activists begins in Germany.

Fifty two Iranian vessels have crossed a US-imposed blockade of Iranian waters within a 72-hour period, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.

Albertan separatists created an app with a public, searchable list of three million people's information. Massive province-wide doxxing facilitated by an electoral list provided to the Republican Party via Elections Alberta.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/livestory/elections-alberta-electors-list-9.7182971