Welcome to The Now

 

  BTW, the White House apparently wants to add "National" to ICE's name (get it?).

 

  Also, because it should be noted (and shared), here's the description from the video: History is repeating itself in Berlin. In 1884, imperial powers met in the German capital to carve up Africa without a single African present. In April 2026, under the guise of a humanitarian conference, they returned to Berlin to decide the fate of Sudan. However, the conference was met with Sudanese protests for six key reasons. 1. The exclusion of Sudan’s army-allied government from a conference supposedly aiming to alleviate the country’s humanitarian crisis reflects how western imperialists are treating Sudan as a territory to be carved by external powers, particularly as army advances are the only reason aid is reaching famine-hit areas. 2. Through its backing of the g*nocidal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, the UAE is driving Sudan’s humanitarian crisis. Yet, while Sudan was excluded, the UAE was invited. 3. The invitation of certain western-allied Sudanese political groups reflect ho...

 

 

  Via PBS : The Trump administration has fired members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation. Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office "on behalf of President Donald J. Trump" stating that their position was "terminated, effective immediately." "I wasn't entirely surprised, to be honest," said dismissed board member Keivan Stassun in an email. Stassun, who works at Vanderbilt University, added that the decision was "enormously disappointing." The National Science Board was created in 1950 to advise the president and Congress on science and engineering policy, approve major funding awards and guide NSF's future. It's typically made up of 25 members appointed by the president who serve staggered, six-year terms. The fired scientists hail from academia and industry and specialize in areas including astronomy, math, chemistry and aerospace...

  Alrighty Then : The United ‌Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit OPEC and OPEC+ to focus on “national interests”, dealing ⁠a heavy ⁠blow to the oil-exporting groups at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran has caused ⁠a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy. The move, which will take effect on Friday, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday. “During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.” The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united ⁠front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the d...

 She does remember that people didn't vote for her because of her stance on Gaza, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In two separate videos, Danny Haiphong and Carl Zha explain why China's in a better position than most pundits think:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Just to recap the list: Helium (used to make computer chips) Fertilizer (contains nitrogen that's used for farming) Oil (for automobiles and heating) Jet fuel (aka, air travel)

 

 

 Jon Stewart's mocking of Donald Trump's Art of the Deal ( from a recent post ) reminded me of the time Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mocked reporters in the aftermath of the US-China Tariff War for not reading the Art of the Deal, as if President Trump was applying the "strategies" in that book to geopolitical affairs (and with success).  And that reminder led to a thought: Is the "Art of the Deal" really being used in regards to the US (and Israel) handling Iran, and if it is, is the strategy working? Let's break this down by the supposed 11 Points , shall we? Think Big : Aim for the highest possible goals, as limitations often stem from fear of success or growth . The Administration has not been publicly clear on its goals. If you believe the Policy Papers, Iran is but a speed bump to dismantling Russia and China. If you have listened to the Trump White House, the "goals" have included: regime change, liberating women, preventing the d...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Let's see how long the United States & Israel can go without attacking Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and any other participants in the Axis of Resistance...

 

 

 

 

 

 Richard Wolff asks the question that many people were probably thinking:

 When I think about the failed candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, as well as the attempts of the likes of JD Vance or Ron DeSantis to reach the White House, I'm left with a reoccurring question: why? Sure, the President of the United States can command the military and federal agencies. But other than using them to protect yourself, what good is that? How did Bill Clinton, GW Bush, Barack Obama Donald Trump or Joe Biden use their powers as president to help their citizens in a way that uplifted the country? Not individual people who already had the means or companies/corporations who already had access to power, but people in the 99%?  Who did the Crime Bill ultimately help? What about the Patriot Act? The Affordable Care Act? The Build Back Better Act? The Big Beautiful Bill? And that's just domestically. Not one of these presidents could resist the temptation to attack another nation under the guise of "protecting American interests" which is code for...

 In two separate videos, Lee Camp and Garland Nixon explained how the United States is basically just going through the motions at this point:

 "Door Dash Grandma" is more than meets the eye . Donald Trump may not be the "dealmaker" he promotes himself to be (stop laughing).  " Deed Theft ?" When did that become a thing?  Iranian Jews respond to Israel's attacks on their synagogue .  Is the US Military is disarray ? 

 

 

Apparently, word hasn't made it to local CBS affiliates that America is "winning:"  

 Just about every move that the United States is making is not just about Iran or even Russia, but their "final boss" opponent China. Whether it's the Strait of Hormuz: or using Taiwan as a Ukraine-like proxy: But it's not like China is just sitting around while this is going on:   

 Can't negotiate because Iran has the advantage. Attacking the Pope, a person who looking for peace. More focused on UFC fights than diplomacy. Pretends to be Jesus, but pivots to a doctor when called out.

 

 

 

 

 

  Looks like someone was paying attention to what happened in the Persian Gulf and doesn't wanna end up like an abandoned vassal state. 

 In some part, the War on Iran was supposed to get the Epstein Files off the American front page (sure the Policy Papers say attacking Iran is part of the US geopolitical plan, but there can always be more than one reason to conduct war). And for some time, this actually worked, especially when the President of the United States began threatening Iran with total annihilation. Thankfully in that ordeal a "ceasefire" was met. And with Attorney General Pam Bondi sacked, it seemed like Epstein might become a story in America's rear view. Then this happened: Even crazier was this happened a bit after : Was this really a response to immigration (which resulted in murdered Minnesotans and Kristi Noem being "reassigned")? Or maybe a not-to-subtle threat to his wife? Trying to decipher this -especially given that the person in question is emotionally stunted, self-centered, and has a fragile ego- is an exercise that mostly moot because something else is bound to pop of...

 As Nima and Rachel explain in their respective videos, "peace" was not genuine. More to the point: President Trump wasn't looking for an off-ramp (even if they were, they've tasked Israel to sabotage it); he and the Administration was looking for an excuse to claim victory before planning another attempt to disrupt Iran.

 

 

 Do we really have peace? Did The White House truly accept Iran's 10-Point Plan ? What about Israel?  Here's Nima's take: And Laith Marouf visits Dialogue Works to share how the events impact Lebanon: Also, Rachel Blevins and Brian Berletic cover some of the details of the "deal" as well it's authenticity: So Israel considers their conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon (who is part of the Axis of Resistance) is separate from their conflict with Iran. Unless this issue is managed, this could be a crisis point that causes the United States and Iran to resume their war. Also, there's  this nugget (mentioned in the videos but worth highlighting) from the Associated Press : The two-week ceasefire plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through Hormuz, a regional official said. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. It wasn’t immediately clear what Oman would use its money for. The strait is i...

  Not just checking IDs : U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 800 people following tips ​shared by federal airport security officials from the start of Donald Trump's presidency through February 2026, internal ICE data reviewed by ‌Reuters show, a figure far above what was previously publicly known. The leads came from the Transportation Security Administration, which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers for possible immigration enforcement, the data showed. Reuters could not determine how many arrests took place inside airports, although the TSA tips would mainly be useful in determining when a person would ​be traveling. ICE and TSA are part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The agencies have historically shared information related to national security ​threats, but they began focusing on routine immigration arrests last year as part of Trump’s mass deportation effort.

  I know people would be quick to cite The Terminator, The Matrix or even Marvel Comic's Ultron here, but I'd like to add the OS Star Trek episode, " The Ultimate Computer ."

 Like President Trump's threat to take Iran back to "the Stone Age:" Or President Trump's threat to arrest the new person who "leaked" information about the second pilot:

 

 

 

 

 Ben Norton discusses:

 In addition to a previous post , Rachel Blevins did her own dive into the story:

 

 For the "official mainstream account" I'll refer you to the Guardian's timeline as well as Wikipedia's article .  Here are my questions: Why was the F-15 in that part of Iran in the first place? The C-130 Hercules is designed for "troop, medivac and cargo transport." Why were two of them needed to rescue 1-2 pilots? How did the pilot make it up the mountain with a sprained leg without being seen/caught? Anyway, Danny Haiphong and Dialogue Works had separate interviews that add some more "meat" to the story: My take (based on everything above): The US had a planned land operation for Easter Sunday. Iran thwarted the operation before it could get going. The US uses "rescue the pilot" as a cover. Patriots' Day is April 20th. Then there's the 4th of July. We know that White House likes to plan military operations around holidays or other historical/religious events to make them resonate more.

 

 

 

 

 

  UPDATE: Apparently one of the crew members has been found

 

  It's interesting that one of the arguments was that people are deliberately coming to the US to give birth on US soil, like that hasn't been the case over 200 years. The only difference now is that it's (a bit) easier to travel.

 

 

 Maybe a decrease in odd-to-offensive social media posts, but other than that...

 

 

 Turns out that the "professor" is not quite as advertised:

 

 

 I'll admit that after what happened with Hezbollah and then Syria , it wasn't crazy to think that Israel and the United States had effectively crushed the Axis of Resistance. Yemen, while resolute, could only do so much. Iraq wasn't considered a factor. The other Arab states in the Persian Gulf were either "neutral" or loyal to the US/Israeli side. Iran was thought to be standing alone. And "help" from other allies were not coming. Russia was supposed to be too busy with Ukraine. China was still war-avert; preferring to continue with their plan for true global economic independence (or in the eyes of America: economic dominance). Iran was thought to be standing alone. Then, with the double-dose of "success" in Venezuela and pressure connected to the Epstein Files (and apparently with the lessons of the 12-Day War forgotten), President Trump decided to have the US team up with Israel and attack Iran. And now?

 

 

  If the extra troops is merely a intimidation tactic, it's not working. But if something happens that Trump can call a "victory" (whether real or symbolic) he may have his "offramp." But as we know, that doesn't mean Israel will stop, and if the US does end their participation in this war, the US media will go back to focusing on domestic stories (ICE/immigration, midterms, Epstein, etc.). 

 

  Nothing says, "success" like begging people to work for you for free (especially since on of the draws for ICE was offering a nice paycheck).