Welcome to The Now

 

We'll start with this clip from Ben Norton explaining why the US is losing against Iran (at least by traditional, measurable metrics):   The latest "phase" or gambit coming out of the United States is " Economic D-Day ," which I posted about earlier. China has basically laughed this off: Iran, by all accounts, is either prepared or is preparing for the fallout (after all, they have been heavily sanctioned even before the war): But why the switch from missiles to bank accounts? Ben Norton clarifies: This has lead to unfortunate military consequences for the US military: The long-range weapons are either in low supply or spent, Iranian capabilities have been massively underestimated, and the re-supplying locations (aka, the US military bases in West Asia that Iran has destroyed) are no longer an option, forcing the US to pivot.   We've seen examples of how these conditions have impacted military morale . And that's not all: the weapons that America rely on...

 

 Larry Johnson and Danny Haiphong discuss the latest developments: Much of this hinges on whether President Trump starts talking about peace/truce in public (instead of begging for it in private, according to some people like Pepe Escobar). As long as this remains tit-for-tat with added escalation, the casualties will increase to the point that the US will not be able to minimize it, Israel will be called to get more involved, and more lethal weaponry will be recommended. Oh, and the global economy is still on the brink.

 Who really knows? Yes, attacks are being exchanged, but that was happening under the MOU. And while the odds of true peace actually occurring was a dream at best (see: Brian Berletic and the Policy Papers), there was some hope that maybe there would be a reprieve; that perhaps for the summer (or at least up until November) there'd be little but the occasional harsh comment and calls for Israel to restrain itself.  But alas, this was not to be:

 

  Keep in mind that making peace deals only to ignore/circumvent/break them is par for the course according to the Policy Papers.

 

 

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

 

 

 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.

 

Going by the comments of many in the know of Iran, last year's attack (as well as this year's "grassroots uprising") went the way it did due to the element of surprise, which doesn't appear to be the case anymore: Of course, time will tell.

 

  Remember: when it comes to President Trump, what he says is happening/has happened is always to make himself look good, and is rarely the truth.

 I'm not really a fan of "hot takes" because I do not believe that sharing information should be about getting it out there first, or even in its rawest form. On the flip side, waiting too long make the news stale and sometimes, moot. What I prefer to do it gather different perspectives to form a better narrative.  That said...here's Rachel Belvins giving us a decent overview: Following up with Mark Sleboda telling Danny Haiphong that this pretty much played out as he expected: The Grayzone breaks down the political agendas and political players involved: ...and BreakThrough News sifts through the propaganda of this shattering event: This is over 7 hours of content, but I would say it's the best way to get up to speed with what's going on. But as a bonus, watch this clip to get an idea of how American mainstream will view/discuss the matter:

 

  Q: Why would the richest country in the world need to steal another country's oil? A: To remain the richest country in the world (you don't reach the top without climbing over others).