"The catastrophic failure of the American-Israeli war on Iran seems certain to inaugurate another revolution in global consciousness. The most powerful nation in world history has suffered a strategic defeat – a modern Tsushima in the Strait of Hormuz.
Unlike at Suez, where the feebleness of old Europe was brusquely corrected by the rising American hegemon, Hormuz erupts in a landscape where the West’s moral and material “soft power” has been incinerated in the ruins of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and undermined by the spectacle of blatant white supremacism and risible incompetence in Washington. The emotional and psychological consequences of this collapse of post-historical illusion are profound.
The war on Iran, designed to satisfy the maximalist fantasies of an Israeli partner and collapse the Islamic Republic, has achieved neither. Instead, the survival of the Iranian state against the full spectrum of US coercion has clarified the outlines of a post-American world.
The material strength of the American empire remains immense. But what cannot be recovered is the plausibility of the American story: the overarching narrative of the US as a model for all of humanity; the rational centre of human progress around which the world was destined to orbit."
https://www.equator.org/articles/ghost-fleet-iran-post-american-world
#Iran #USA #Imperialism #Geopolitics #Trump
Le principe même de diplomatie, espérance, sinon garante de paix, a été renvoyé dans les poubelles de l'histoire.
Les bombardements surviennent pendant le ramadan, mois importanr pour les croyants musulmans. Quel mépris à l'égard de leur religion.
Les formidables réserves d'hydrocarbures de l'Iran, le marché de 90 millions d'habitants, ce pays, le niveau élevé d'éducation et de compétences de sa population sont des proies très tentantes pour le prédateur américain ...
Die NRA hatte recht.
#Trump #Attentat #USA
https://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/schule/us-waffenlobby-nra-fordert-waffen-und-schiessunterricht-fuer-kinder-a-982674.html?sara_ref=re-so-app-sh
🟠 UPDATE
Trump Rushed from Ballroom After Suspected Gunshots
Official states the suspect in the White House Correspondents' dinner attack was specifically targeting members of the Trump administration.
🟠 UPDATE
Iran Peace Talks Collapse and Strait of Hormuz Closure
Analysis frames the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran as a 'security dilemma' driven by mutual suspicion over Iran's nuclear program, missile capabilities, and regional influence.
#Iran #USA #Israel #Military #Nuclear #Geopolitics #GeoWire
🟠 UPDATE
Trump Rushed from Ballroom After Suspected Gunshots
Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the assassination attempt on US President Trump as 'shocking'.
📰 https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0426/1570268-trump-washington-dc-shooting-reaction/
#USA #Diplomacy #EU #Geopolitics #GeoWire
🟠 UPDATE
Trump Rushed from Ballroom After Suspected Gunshots
FBI Chief praised American leadership following the incident; investigators revealed the gunman planned to storm the gala dinner attended by President Trump.
Trump's security faces scrutiny after latest shooting
The shooting at a media gala event in Washington DC that US President Donald Trump was attending raises questions yet again about the protection afforded to America's political leaders at a time of increased political violence.
https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0426/1570248-trump-security/
Today's music:
Paracosm - Dog Teeth
#punk #IndiePunk #alternative #usa #music #np #NowPlaying #MastoMusic
"U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday fired all 24 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the body that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF). Many science advocates see it as the latest step by his administration to erode—some would say destroy—the independence of the 76-year-old research agency.
“On behalf of President Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately,” reads a 24 April email from Mary Sprowls of the presidential personnel office to each NSB member. “Thank you for your service.”
The NSB is a unique entity within the U.S. government. In addition to advising the administration and Congress on national science policy, it has statutory authority to oversee the actions of the $9-billion NSF, setting policy and approving large expenditures. Its presidentially appointed members, typically prominent academics and industry leaders, serve 6-year terms, with eight members chosen every 2 years."
https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-fires-nsf-s-oversight-board
#USA #Trump #Science #NSF #NSB
"Hardship withdrawals from American retirement accounts are already up 252 percent since COVID-19. It’s so bad that the bar graph looks like a staircase. Most of the money has gone to halting evictions or foreclosure notices. A large part also goes to emergency medical bills and credit card debts, according to investment advisory firm Vanguard. Its study paints a bleak picture of a failed transition, for the rest of American workers, from defined benefit pension funds into defined contribution 401(k) accounts. Pensions give retired workers lifetime monthly annuities at a percentage of their previous salary, meaning that the benefit is defined up front. Defined contribution 401(k) accounts instead depend on the contributions made by the employee. Risk is transferred from boss to worker.
Today, the mean balances on 401(k) accounts are surging, yet median balances — offering more sense of the ordinary American’s condition — have flatlined at under $40,000. The spread between the two numbers is over $100,000. It’s the K-shaped economy playing out in retirement, or at least in retirement preparations. By off-loading the responsibility and the risk of future planning onto individuals, the issue of retirement itself has faded into the background."
https://jacobin.com/2026/04/401k-accounts-retirement-pensions-inequality
#USA #Pensions #Retirement #Inequality #401k