This book provides a comprehensive survey of the development of paper and written language, starting with its earliest use in Sumeria in 3300 BC. Kurlanksky also traces the essential role of printing in the blossoming of science, art, and revolutionary religious and political movements.
Following its first development in Sumeria, written language seems to have developed independently in Egypt in 3000 BC, Crete and Greece in 1400 BC, China 1200 BC, Zaptote Mexico 600 BC, the Mayan empire 250 BC and Scandinavia (runes) 200 BC.
The Sumerians first wrote on stone and clay, the Egyptians on papyrus and the Chinese on wood tablets, bamboo scrolls, silk and eventually paper.
The Chinese, the first to invent paper, were inspired by wool felting technology, which preceded spinning. In felting, wool is repeatedly hammered into a fibrous mat. The Chinese, who also invented paper cups and toilet paper, initially used bark, hemp, rags and fishing nets to make paper.
After the Arab victory at the 751 AD Battle of Talas (see See Taizong and the Rise of the Tang), the Arab commander a took Chinese paper maker prisoner, who set up paper mills in Baghdad and Damascus in 800, The first paper mill in Cairo was built in 900. The Islamic Empire was the world’s fully literate society (ie extending literacy to commoners), Europeans only began making paper after 1000 AD, when their contact with Islamic scholars versed in classical science, math, medicine and philosophy led to a growing drive for increased literacy. By the 14th century, paper making was a common industrial activity throughout Europe.
Printing (of wood blocks and prints) also began in China in the late 7th century. Koreans printed the first book in 700 and invented moveable type in 1444. Johannes Guttenberg, a German goldsmith, also began experimenting with moveable type in the 1440s. By the 16h century, all of Europe, now the most advanced civilization in the world, was paper mad. In 1605 Cervantes published Don Quixote, which became the most sold book in publishing history.
According to Kurlansky, it was paper and printing of pamphlets, posters and religious tracts that made the Protestant Reformation possible. Luther and Calvin printed thousands of religious tract to prospective follower. Henry VIII’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell published similar anti-papist tracks to promote England’s separation from the Catholic Church.
Ben Franklin, a printer by trade and a prominent propagandist for American independence, started many newspapers. In addition to owning 18 paper mills, he also ran a business sourcing rags for paper pulp. In their desire to build and maintain colonists’ support for the War of Independence, the Continental Congress exempted paper workers from military service. It was essential to keep the paper mills running. ce.
In 1840, a chronic shortage of rags led German paper workers to produce the first wood pulp paper. American’s abundance of old growth forest allowed the new country to overtake Europe as the world’s primary paper maker by 1873.
Over the last couple of weeks, a remarkable sequence of events involving two US Senators has unfolded that demonstrates the profound and positive influence that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is exerting on Washington, DC, which extends far beyond the halls of the CDC, FDA, and NIH.
On June 12, 2025, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced a dramatic course correction. Four months after aggressively attacking Kennedy at his Senate confirmation hearings (and subsequently voting against him), Sanders has co-sponsored a bill named the “End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act” with Senator Angus King (I-ME), to outlaw direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising in the United States.
On his website, Sanders states that “the bill would also answer Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s repeated calls to end prescription drug advertising, a position he promoted while campaigning for President Trump in 2024.”
As an increasing number of Americans have learned – and as Sanders notes – Pharma advertising is currently permitted in only two countries on Earth: the United States and New Zealand. This allows the pharmaceutical industry to effectively buy off the entire US mainstream media, silencing media criticism of its practices and products while bombarding the public with a constant stream of pro-Pharma propaganda and advertisements.
Sanders’ website does not hold back in its valid criticism of Pharma’s stranglehold on the media, stating:
Last year, the 10 largest drug companies made more than $100 billion in profits while the pharmaceutical industry spent over $5 billion on television ads. Prescription drug commercials now account for more than 30% of commercial time on major networks’ evening news programs. In the first three months of this year, Big Pharma spent more than $725 million advertising just 10 drugs.
Now, let us rewind to late January, back to the days of now-HHS Secretary Kennedy’s confirmation hearings. During the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) hearings, ranking committee member Sanders launched into a harsh attack on now-Secretary Kennedy that veered into the comical. At one point, Sanders posted photos of some baby onesies that Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy’s former nonprofit organization, had been selling online.
Barking furiously in his trademark Brooklyn accent (and growing increasingly unhinged as he went along), Sanders repeatedly demanded of Kennedy,
Later, Kennedy called out Sanders for the Senator’s Big Pharma campaign receipts, stating, “Bernie, you were the single largest acceptor of pharmaceutical dollars.”
And yet, a mere four months pass, and voila, Bernie Sanders sponsors the End Prescription Drugs Now Act, and name-checks Kennedy and Trump in his supporting arguments for the bill.
Has Senator Sanders had a 180-degree change of heart? Is Bernie suddenly supportive of those onesies?
Well, not so fast.
One day after the bill was announced, on June 13, Sanders wrote a letter to HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA). In the letter, he states:
As you know, last week, in a dangerous and unprecedented decision that will have a profoundly negative impact on the lives of the American people, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)…
I am requesting that we immediately initiate a bi-partisan investigation into these firings and conduct serious oversight into the actions Secretary Kennedy has taken to mislead the American people about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and erode public health.
Of course, Sanders makes no mention whatsoever of the extensively documented conflicts of interest that numerous prior members of the ACIP committee possess. Many received significant funding from relevant pharmaceutical companies. Others held patents on the products voted upon by the committee. Videos of past proceedings of ACIP meetings have been posted online, and they reveal the ACIP committee to be an embarrassing rubber stamp/kangaroo court composed of feckless functionaries.
Sanders’ pen pal from across the aisle, Bill Cassidy, has also been a staunch opponent of Kennedy’s efforts at reform. This may be explained by the fact that once Cassidy assumed the role of chairman of the HELP committee in 2023, he rapidly received a windfall of Pharma contributions, as evidenced by the April 2023 STAT news article entitled, “Pharma executives shower Bill Cassidy with Campaign Cash.” According to Open Secrets, Cassidy received over $290,000 from pharmaceutical Political Action Committees in 2023-4.
While Cassidy was harshly critical of Kennedy during the Senate confirmation, and while he insisted on Kennedy having monthly meetings with him once confirmed, Cassidy ultimately voted in favor of Kennedy to lead HHS. However, in other vital respects, Cassidy has continued to obstruct Kennedy’s work.
Cassidy teamed with another Republican Senator on the HELP committee, Susan Collins of Maine, to effectively block Trump and Kennedy’s nominee for CDC Director, former Congressman David Weldon, from even coming before the committee. (Weldon has deep knowledge of the problems surrounding the vaccine approval process.) Ultimately, Weldon’s nomination was withdrawn on March 13.
Thanks to Cassidy, Trump’s replacement nominee to lead CDC, Susan Monarez, still awaits confirmation hearings, which according to the HELP website, are scheduled for June 25, 2025, more than 3 months after Cassidy forced the Weldon nomination to be pulled, and ironically on the same day as the upcoming and much-anticipated ACIP meetings. Multiple other key HHS positions remain unfilled to date due to similar Senate delays in the confirmation process.
Suddenly – literally as this essay is going to press – on June 23, 2025, STAT News has reported that Cassidy has called for a delay of the ACIP meeting, claiming that “advisers picked by RFK lack experience, and may be biased against some shots.”
You literally cannot make this nonsense up. Bernie and Bill, these Keystone Cop Senators, their hair flagrantly afire, are riding off furiously in all directions, at the bidding of their Big Pharma owners, to do whatever they can to impede the will of the electorate.
The correct and absolutely necessary response, of course, is for Secretary Kennedy and his eminently qualified and morally unhindered (and yes, they are both) panel to proceed as scheduled, and render an honest and reasonable appraisal for the first time in the modern history of ACIP.
Cassidy, meanwhile, had better watch himself. He faces a reelection minefield in 2026, including a wide open primary from two experienced challengers, and reform of the state primary system that may work to his disadvantage. Cassidy’s decision to vote in favor of President Trump’s impeachment in February 2021 has already soured him with MAGA voters. Cassidy’s obstructionism toward Kennedy has alienated even more Louisianans.
As Cassidy’s reelection problems suggest, a Venn diagram of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s supporters would likely show far more overlap than most would have guessed a year ago.
Kennedy has only been HHS Secretary since February 13, 2025 – a little over 4 months. He has received more scrutiny in that brief period than perhaps all other HHS Secretaries combined since the office was created in 1980.
Based on Bernie Sanders and Bill Cassidy’s recent behaviors, Secretary Kennedy is having effects that reverberate well beyond the halls of the CDC, FDA, and NIH. His opponents don’t quite know what to do with themselves. It’s no longer possible to just do Big Pharma’s bidding in secret. Everyone’s watching now. And they’re not just watching Kennedy, but also the people trying to undermine and destroy him. And they consider attacks on Kennedy to be attacks on the President as well.
Could it be the progress that Trump and Kennedy’s NIH Director, Jay Bhattacharya, have made against deadly Gain-of-Function research, which we all now know to have been the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that is driving this consensus? After all, what sane person wants our Deep State continuing to create superbugs at taxpayer expense?
Could it be the measured, step-by-step progress Kennedy has led toward reform of the US’s utterly corrupt vaccine approval and recommendation process – despite the opposition of Sanders, Cassidy, and the like? What sane person thinks the increase from 7 recommended childhood vaccines in the 1980s to 23 today promotes health, especially when American children today are dramatically less healthy? (In fact, much of the criticism Kennedy has faced from ordinary Americans is that this process of vaccine reform is happening too slowly.)
These trends in public opinion should surprise nobody. Only the most wicked and diabolical of people would impose an endless stream of toxic injections, medications, fake foods, ubiquitous pesticides, geoengineered weather, and the patenting, corporatization, and denaturing of life itself onto their fellow humans and the entire planet, while propagandistically denouncing a healthy, natural lifestyle for children and future generations.
In a poll conducted on my X account (@NicHulscher), 81.3% of 1,229 respondents answered “Yes” to the question:
“Have you or a loved one suffered serious injury, disability, or death after receiving a COVID-19 mRNA shot?”
Only 18.7% answered “No.”
79% Believe mRNA Shots Caused Over 1 Million Deaths
A second X poll hosted by the McCullough Foundation (@McCulloughFund) asked:
“How many deaths do you think occurred as a direct result of mass COVID-19 mRNA injection programs?”
Of the 1,279 voters:
79% said “Over 1 million”
18% said “100,000 to 1 million”
Just 3% believed deaths were fewer than 100,000
This implies that 97% of respondents believe that the mass COVID-19 mRNA injection program has caused at least 100,000 deaths—with the overwhelming majority estimating the toll in the millions.
While these are social media polls and not randomized scientific surveys, the results cannot simply be dismissed.
Our governments, public health agencies, and pharmaceutical companies must reckon with a growing wave of Americans who are no longer silent about what they’ve experienced or witnessed.
A ballistic missile is launched during Operation True Promise III targeting Israeli military sites.
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the 22nd and last phase of Operation True Promise III on Tuesday taught a “historic and unforgettable lesson” to the Israeli regime.
In a statement, the IRGC said the retaliatory operation early on Tuesday came in response to Israel’s “brutal and blind” aggression, which claimed the lives of several civilians.
The Israeli regime’s military, the statement said, had resorted to “begging” Americans for a ceasefire after it was “frustrated by the heroic resistance of the Iranian nation.”
Just minutes before the “forced ceasefire” for the Israeli regime was to take effect, the IRGC said it launched 14 missiles targeting Israeli military and logistical centers.
“As promised, it was the sons of the nation within the Armed Forces who imposed their will on the Zionist enemy,” the statement noted, adding that Iranian forces remain vigilant and are monitoring Israeli movements closely.
Israel was forced to unilaterally halt its aggression against Iran in the early hours of Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump made an announcement on his social media platform, claiming that a ceasefire had been reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Israeli regime.
Trump claimed that Iran and the Israeli regime have agreed to a “complete and total” ceasefire, ending the war that was launched by the Israeli regime on June 13 with an unprovoked and unlawful aggression.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there was “no agreement” on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations, but if the Israeli regime halted its aggression “no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time,” Iran would also end its response.
Israel, however, violated the ceasefire by launching three waves of attacks on Iranian soil until 9:00 a.m. local time, according to Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the spokesman for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters.
The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began
By Valerie Hansen (2020)
Scribner
Book Review
This book asserts that globalization began in 1000 AD, nearly 500 years before the so-called Age of Exploration. It does so by examining 11th century trade and diplomatic interactions between civilizations on five of the seven continents.
Hansen begins with the Mayan civilization, which had declined from its peak in 600 AD. There’s strong archeological evidence they traded (chocolate for turquoise) with the Chaco Canyon civilization in New Mexico (see Chaco Canyon: The First Advanced Civilization in the Southwest) and learned to work gold and silver from pre-Incan civilizations in the Andes.
She next explores the Viking raids that led to Norse settlements in Britain, Northern France, Italy, Russia and Vinland in North America. I was intrigued to learn the Vikings controlled most of central England starting in 793, where they implemented the laws of Denmark in a region they called as Danelaw. In 1028 the Norse king Cnut became king of England, a well as Denmark, Norway and (part of) Sweden. Following his death in 1035, the throne revered to Edward the Confessor. Following the 1066 invasion by Norman (Viking) leader William the Conqueror, England came under permanent Norman rule.
Hansen then describe early trade between various African kingdoms and Europe, the the Middle East and Asia. Prior to 1492, two-thirds of the gold used in Europe came from Africa. The African continent, along with Eastern Europe and Central Asia was also an important source of slaves for the Islamic Empire that arose following the death of Mohammad. In 800 AD the Abbasid Caliphate established factories in Baghdad uing Chinese manufacturing techniques to make paper. Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, (754-775) financed the translation of multiple classical Greek, Latin, Persian and Sanskrit texts into Arabic. This allowed for the re-introduction into Europe of lost Greek and Latin works of science, history and philosophy.
In the year 1000, China had the most globalized society on Earth. In exchange for highly priced exports of Chinese porcelain and silk, China imported, pearls, gemstones, and (from East Asia) coconuts, jackfruit, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cardamon and rattan mats.
The primary Chinese import was aromatic wood, which was used to imbue fragrant odors to rooms and bodies in an era when bathing was rare and clothes (made of silk, hemp and a fibrous bark known as ramie) were extremely hard to wash.
After 1005, the Song Dynasty paid a large amount of tribute to the Khitan-run Liao dynasty after Khitan nomads from the northeast steppes conquered northern China and the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty that replaced the Liao in 1127.
During this period, the Song Dynasty fluorished. Many Chinese farmers stopped growing their own food because cash crops for export (lychees, sugar cane, glutinous rice, ramie and hemp) were more profitable. Many others went to work in copper, iron and lead mines evaporated sea water to make salt; or worked in the ceramics industry. Despite relying on wood or charcoal for fuel, Chinese factories were just as large and complex as Western factories after the industrial revolution.
Other significant milestones:
1170 – Enjoying a huge trade surplus, Song dynasty establishes permanent system of paper notes based on silver. Employed matrix algebra in their accounting system.
1076 – China establishes first public pharmacy.
1080 – Song city of Quanshu reaches 1 million population.
Here is a photo that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei posted on his X account
by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News
Iran continued to bomb Israel last night (Monday), using yet another new class of ballistic missiles to strike Israeli military positions and the Ashdod power plant, causing widespread power outages.
For the first time, IRGC uses multi-warhead Ghadr-H missiles against Zionist entity
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in a statement on Monday, announced that it used multi-warhead Ghadr ballistic missiles for the first time during the latest phase of Operation True Promise III.
The latest and 21st phase of the large-scale retaliatory operation began early Monday with a barrage of next-generation missiles that made direct impacts across the occupied territories.
In recent days, the Iranian armed forces have deployed a number of new-generation missiles as part of Operation True Promise III, in response to the continued Israeli aggression.
According to the IRGC statement, this phase of the operation involved both solid- and liquid-fueled missiles, in coordination with smart drone strikes.
One of the key highlights of this phase was the debut of the multi-warhead Kheiber-class ballistic missile Ghadr-H, which was deployed for the first time.
The statement said the missiles, deployed with advanced and surprise tactics aimed at maximizing accuracy, destructiveness, and impact, successfully hit strategic targets across the occupied territories, from north to south and into central areas.
The IRGC said it will continue its efficiency-oriented operations more strongly, leveraging new offensive tactics and exploiting weaknesses in the regime’s multilayered air defense systems.
It emphasized that there will be no pause in the combat operation by the Iranian drones against the Israeli targets, warning that “the Zionist usurpers of the occupied territories will have to hear the sirens constantly and dash into the shelters.”
The statement further noted that Iran’s full-scale national defense campaign will continue until the “complete eradication” of the Zionist regime.
According to sources, Kheibar Shekan, Emad, Ghadr, and Fattah-1 missiles were used in Monday’s operation, striking crucial Israeli military facilities across the occupied territories, including in Safed, Lachish, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Beit She’an.
The missiles directly targeted the Ashdod power plant, causing widespread power outages throughout the occupied territories, reports said. (Full article.)
Earlier today, Israel notified Iran that they planned on stopping the bombing within the next few days.
Israel said to convey message to Iran it is seeking to end war within days
Reports indicate Jerusalem believes it can complete its military objectives in the next few days, though it views Khamenei as main obstacle to cessation of fighting
Israel is reportedly looking to wrap up its bombing campaign against Iran after the US joined its strikes against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, and has conveyed as much in a message to Tehran via mediators.
The Wall Street Journal, citing Israeli and Arab officials, reported that Jerusalem is seeking to seize on the accomplishments of the US strikes on facilities in Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan to end the war in the coming days.
Arab officials told The Journal that the US has told Arab partners to pass the message to Iran that Israel is looking to end the operation — which it launched 10 days ago — soon.
The newspaper reported that Israeli officials are hoping Tehran will agree to restart diplomacy on its nuclear program in the wake of the conflict.
According to Channel 12 news, Israel believes it will reach its military objectives for Operation Rising Lion — removing the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threat from Israel — in the next few days.
On Sunday, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem is willing to end the bombing campaign if Iran agrees to dismantle its nuclear program. “It depends on Iran, not on us,” the official said. “We are happy to wrap it up now; if there’s an agreement at the end, Israel will be content with the result.” (Full Article.)
However, Iran has no intention to agree to their terms, and an Iranian official allegedly told CNN today that this conflict could drag on for two more years.
Iran believes the conflict with Israel and its allies could drag on for two years, and Tehran is prepared for that, a senior Iranian official told CNN
Iran believes the conflict with Israel and its allies could drag on for two years, and Tehran is prepared for that, a senior Iranian official told CNN.
He also said the Iranian government wants the United States to “pay directly for the war, rather than supporting Israel and continuing its project without paying the costs.” (Source.)
I am not surprised that Israel wants to end this, as the residents in Tel Aviv and throughout the rest of Israel cannot live in bomb shelters forever. Their society and economy are rapidly falling apart.
Panic, violence in Israeli shelters prompt emergency mediation program
Overcrowded shelters across “Israel” see rising violence as fear of Iranian retaliation grows.
A week of escalating fear over Iranian missile attacks has sparked a series of violent incidents in public shelters across the Israeli-occupied territories, reflecting growing social tensions among settlers under duress.
Amid the mounting panic, the Israeli regime’s Ministry of Social Affairs announced the launch of an Emergency Community Mediation Service to defuse escalating disputes inside overcrowded shelters and manage immediate interpersonal conflicts.
Several violent incidents
In one of the most alarming incidents, an Israeli teenager discharged pepper spray inside a packed shelter in the Shapira neighborhood of Tel Aviv, injuring several individuals and prompting the arrest of three people.
Another confrontation occurred in the northern parts of the occupied city when a group of young men began smoking inside a shelter shared with elderly residents and individuals with health conditions. The situation escalated into a physical altercation after a woman attempting to intervene was assaulted.
Meanwhile, a settler in Bat Yam told Israeli media she was punched in the face after entering a shelter with her dog.
The Ministry of Social Affairs described the incidents as symptomatic of a broader social breakdown, stating in a press release, “The high-stress environment inside the shelters creates fertile ground for conflict and violence.” (Full article.)
The Times of Israel published a video today about “Living from siren to siren under Tel Aviv“.
As you watch, note that these are wealthier Israelis who have private bomb shelters below the apartment or condominium complexes where they are living. Still, it is an obvious intrusion into their lifestyles and jobs.
Now compare that video to the one I published yesterday, about how the less affluent people throughout Israel have to seek out and find shelters, where there is widespread chaos.
Oh yes, it is very obvious that Israel cannot continue this much longer.
In Iran, in the meantime, people are demonstrating in the streets, and many started dancing and singing today when Iran bombed the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East in Qatar.
Iran bombed the largest U.S. base in the Middle East today, the Al Udeid base in Qatar.
Unlike Trump who has continually lied to the Iranians about negotiating for a peace deal while working with Israel to start a bombing campaign against Iran, or even last week when he said he would respond in “2 weeks” to whether or not the U.S. would join the bombing but then did it right away, Iran gave Qatar warning before launching their bombs, so that no civilians would be hurt.
They claimed that they launched the same amount of missiles on the military base as the U.S. launched yesterday on Iran’s nuclear sites.
The U.S. Zionist media is portraying this as a desperate attempt by a weakened Tehran.
Here is Tehran’s coverage:
Op. Tidings of Victory: Iran pounds US military base in Qatar in retaliatory operation
Excerpts:
Iranian armed forces have launched a missile barrage at American military bases in Qatar in a retaliatory operation a day after Iranian nuclear sites were targeted by US bombers.
In a statement following the successful retaliatory operation codenamed ‘Tidings of Victory’, Iranian armed forces said it came in response to the “blatant military aggression by the criminal regime of the United States” against the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic.
The statement described the US aggression as “a clear violation of international law” and added that under the directive of the Supreme National Security Council and the command of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (PBUH), the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), using the sacred code “Ya Aba Abdillah al-Hussain (AS),” launched a powerful and devastating missile strike on the Al Udeid base in Qatar.
This base serves as the headquarters of the US Air Force Command and represents the most strategic asset of the American military in West Asia.
“The message of this decisive action by the sons of the nation in the armed forces to the White House and its allies is clear and direct,” the statement noted, adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran will “never leave any violation of its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered.”
It further said that the American enemy’s aggression has “exposed to all that Zionist malice is simply a continuation of US strategy” while reminding all that in this national defense, American military bases and assets in the region “are not points of strength but critical vulnerabilities — the Achilles’ heel of this warmongering regime.” (Full article.)
Iran to Suspend Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Reports are saying that they have already kicked all the inspectors out of the country.
This effectively means that Iran does not even need to build nuclear bombs. They can just purchase them from their friends (Pakistan, Russia, China, etc.), which is much quicker.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The speaker of the Iranian Parliament said the legislature is considering a bill to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in response to the UN nuclear agency’s unprofessional conduct.
Addressing a Monday session of the Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.
Highlighting a religious decree issued by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, the Parliament speaker said, “Iran has no plans for non-peaceful activities, but the world witnessed clearly that the IAEA has not honored any of its commitments and has turned into a political instrument.”
The Iranian Parliament is considering to pass a bill on the suspension of Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA as long as Tehran is not given tangible guarantees of the UN nuclear agency’s professional conduct, Qalibaf stated.
Denouncing the US’ military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as a declaration of direct American engagement in a war on Iran following the Israeli regime’s failure, the Parliament speaker said, “While we consider this (American) attack as a result of the Israeli regime’s strategic failure to achieve its objectives, we won’t tolerate it. We will definitely give a response that would make gambler Trump regret taking the act of aggression against our dear country.”
UPDATE 2
Trump’s truce claim ‘fabricated’, designed to deflect attention from US humiliation: Report
The so-called “ceasefire proposal” put forward by US President Donald Trump on social media is “fabricated” and designed to deflect attention from Washington’s recent humiliation, according to a report.
Quoting a well-informed source, Fars News Agency said the Islamic Republic has not received any formal or informal proposal for a ceasefire, neither directly nor through intermediaries. (Full article.)
With the apparent beginning of WWIII and the conflict between Israel and Iran dominating the headline news this past week, many other significant news stories have seemingly flown under the radar of both corporate and alternative news sites this past week.
On Friday during a 2025 1st quarter sales report, Kroger announced that it is planning on closing 60 stores nationwide in the U.S. during the next 18 months.
Kroger is one of the largest grocery chains in the U.S. with 2,731 stores employing 409,000 people, so closing 60 stores is 2% of all its locations.
I have read several articles that covered this announcement from yesterday, and nobody reporting on this can give a good reason why Kroger is doing this.
The nationwide grocer is one of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S. and currently operates over 2,700 stores nationwide. Which stores it plans on closing and why remains unclear. (Source.)
The reason they don’t want to say why is because it is politically incorrect to do so.
Because if you blame it on tariffs, or the rapidly declining farm labor due to ICE actions, then Trump will humiliate you publicly as he has done to other major retailers recently, such as Apple and Amazon.
This is only going to get worse.
The tariffs are not in the news much these days, but they are still there, and scheduled to increase substantially in early July.
And many U.S. farmers are struggling because ICE is deporting much of their farm labor. Not only are these deportations affecting farm production, they are taking $dollars out of the economy from these laborers who spend what they earn, and grocery stores are going to feel a major brunt of this reduction of spending in the economy.
Ending Parole for 500,000 Migrants Creates New Headaches for Employers
Excerpts:
The Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to revoke temporary protections for half a million migrants brings the U.S. economy closer to labor shortages in industries and regions that rely on foreign workers.
The impact will take time to unfold, but could be far-reaching.
The potential departure of hundreds of thousands of people from the labor force is creating anxiety for employers and adding a fresh dose of uncertainty for an economy already grappling with the administration’s tariff policies.
LeadingAge, a group representing nonprofit aging-care providers, said the court ruling means many members will lose workers. “The sudden loss of these employees will have repercussions,” the group said.
The administration’s efforts are creating significant uncertainty for employers, said Helen Konrad, an immigration lawyer at McCandlish Holton who advises firms with hundreds of thousands of workers.
In recent months, Konrad has heard accounts of staffing agencies being asked not to provide foreign workers out of concern from clients that the workers could lose their immigration status—a request that cannot be met without violating antidiscrimination statutes.
“Employers are totally getting crushed in the middle of this chaos,” Konrad said. (Source.)
As far as the tariffs, the data regarding the slow down at U.S. ports is just now starting to be reported, as container rates dropped the most in two years at the busiest ports on the West Coast according to data from May.
It is going to get worse.
This was reported last week:
Imports to the busiest U.S. seaport at Los Angeles dropped 9% year-on-year in May and could remain muted through the remainder of 2025, after companies responded to President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on China by canceling or putting holds on shipments, according to port officials.
China is the top U.S. supplier of seaborne goods, and Los Angeles is the No. 1 port for those imports. Domestic businesses ranging from retailer Walmart, to automaker Ford on the toys, furniture and auto parts that land on its docks.
The Port of Los Angeles handled the equivalent of 355,950 20-foot shipping containers of imports in May, when the 145% tariffs began to show up in data.
“May marked our lowest monthly volume in over two years,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said on Friday.
“Many importers just simply slammed on the brakes.”
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle 31% of U.S. ocean trade and are a barometer for U.S. economic activity.
Long Beach has not reported May results. Its CEO previously forecast a more than 10% drop in May imports. (Source.)
No Shortages of Food in Stores in Iran in Spite of the Bombing
One place where there are no shortages of food nor a shortage of shoppers is reportedly in Iran.
PressTV out of Iran published this report today.
Iran, of course, has faced many years of sanctions by the U.S. and Europe, so they are not dependent on Western supply chains. Iran has also never been a colonized nation, either under the British Empire or the modern American Empire, and that may actually help them now, especially after the war as they look to restore their infrastructure and economy.
As I have written previously, I have had many Iranian friends here in the U.S. over the years, and at times some of them have shared with me Iranian pistachios that they brought back from Iran, but cannot be purchased here, and they were some of the best pistachios I have ever had!
In 2011 I published an article comparing Iran’s agricultural system, which at that time 14 years ago had a goal of being 25% organic in 5 years.
How could they accomplish that? Because “organic” principles without heavy chemical inputs was how “normal traditional farming” was done throughout Iran, and they didn’t even know it had a label (“organic”).
If you looked at their neighbors, however, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the first things the U.S. occupying country did when they invaded and toppled the government, was to let Big Ag come in and take over with GMO seeds and massive chemicals.
Western Europe’s new green regime reorders the continent through policies of territorial cleansing and restriction, replacing the lifeways of rooted peoples with a managed wilderness shaped by remote technocrats and mandated compliance. What arrives with the language of environmental deliverance advances as a mechanism of control, engineered to dissolve ancestral bonds.
In the soft light of the northern dawn, when the fog rests over fields once furrowed by hands and prayers, a quiet force spreads, cloaked in green, speaking in the language of “sustainability,” offered with the glow of planetary care. Across Europe, policymakers, consultants, and unelected “visionaries” enforce a grand design of regulation and restraint. The new dogma wears the trappings of salvation. It promises healing, stability, and ecological redemption. Yet beneath the surface lies a different pattern: one of compression, centralization, and engineered transformation. This green wave comes through offices aglow with LED light and carbon dashboards, distant from the oak groves and shepherd chants that once shaped Europe through destiny and devotion. Traditional Europe lived through the pulse of the land, its customs drawn from meadows, its laws mirrored in trees, its faith carried by the wind over tilled soil and cathedral towers.
The terms arrive prepackaged: “rewilding,”“net zero,”“decarbonization,” and “climate justice.” These sound pure, ringing with the cadence of science and morality. Their syllables shimmer with precision, yet behind their clarity stands an apparatus of control, drawn from abstract algorithms rather than ancestral experience. They conceal a deeper impulse: to dissolve density, to steer the population from the scattered villages of memory into the smart cities of control. The forest returns, yet the shepherd departs. The wolves are celebrated, while the farmer disappears from policy. Across the hills of France, the valleys of Italy, and the plains of Germany, the primordial cadence falls silent. Where once rose smoke from chimneys, now rise sensors tracking deer. Where once stood barns, now appear habitats for reintroduced apex predators. Rural life, the fundament of Europe’s civilizational ascent, receives accolades in speeches, even as its arteries are quietly severed.
The continent reshapes itself according to new models, conceived in simulation and consecrated in policy. Entire regions are earmarked for rewilding, which means exclusion, which means transformation through absence. The human imprint recedes, and in its place rises a curated silence: measured, observed, and sanctified by distance. The bond between man and land, established over centuries of cultivation, ritual, and kinship, gives way to managed wilderness.”
Iran launches missiles at the US-run military base Al-Udeid in Qatar in response to the US aggression against the Islamic Republic. (File photo)
Press TV
Iranian armed forces have launched a missile barrage at American military bases in Qatar in a retaliatory operation a day after Iranian nuclear sites were targeted by US bombers.
In a statement following the successful retaliatory operation codenamed ‘Tidings of Victory’, Iranian armed forces said it came in response to the “blatant military aggression by the criminal regime of the United States” against the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic.
The statement described the US aggression as “a clear violation of international law” and added that under the directive of the Supreme National Security Council and the command of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (PBUH), the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), using the sacred code “Ya Aba Abdillah al-Hussain (AS),” launched a powerful and devastating missile strike on the Al Udeid base in Qatar.
This base serves as the headquarters of the US Air Force Command and represents the most strategic asset of the American military in West Asia.
“The message of this decisive action by the sons of the nation in the armed forces to the White House and its allies is clear and direct,” the statement noted, adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran will “never leave any violation of its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered.”
It further said that the American enemy’s aggression has “exposed to all that Zionist malice is simply a continuation of US strategy” while reminding all that in this national defense, American military bases and assets in the region “are not points of strength but critical vulnerabilities — the Achilles’ heel of this warmongering regime.”
“On the eve of the month of Muharram, the time of mourning for the Master of Martyrs, Imam Aba Abdillah al-Hussain (AS), we once again warn the enemies of Islamic Iran that the era of ‘hit and run’ is over,” the armed forces stated.
The statement noted that the will of the powerful, people-backed armed forces is such that “any repeat of these hostile actions will only hasten the collapse of America’s military presence in the region, lead to their disgraceful retreat from West Asia, and fulfill the shared dream of the Islamic Ummah and freedom-loving nations — the eradication of the cancerous Zionist entity.”
Teetering on the brink of defeat, the Israeli regime involved Americans on Sunday to target three Iranian nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, which amounted to a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The American assault came more than a week after the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked and unlawful aggression against the Islamic Republic, leading to the assassination of many top-ranking military commanders, scientists and ordinary civilians.
In response, Iranian armed forces have since June 13 targeted numerous sensitive and strategic Israeli military, intelligence and industrial centers in the occupied territories.
Iranian officials had warned that the American aggression would not go unpunished. Prior to the attack, it had also warned all regional countries against allowing their soil to be used by the US for any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a separate statement, the Supreme National Security Council said the operation on Monday was in response to the “brazen and aggressive act” by the United States against Iran’s nuclear facilities, carried out by the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic.
The number of missiles used in this successful operation, it said, matched the number of bombs the US regime employed in its attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The statement added that the base targeted by Iran’s capable forces was located far from urban infrastructure and residential areas in Qatar, without posing any threat to Qatar.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to maintaining and continuing its warm and historic relations with Qatar,” he stated.
Ahead of the operation on Monday evening, Qatari authorities had ordered the closure of its airspace and the US embassy in Doha had also evacuated its staff.
Commentary by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News
As everyone knows by now, President Trump ordered the U.S. Military in the Middle East to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran last night.
As events rapidly unfolded last night, it was very obvious that this was pre-planned and well choreographed by the U.S. media which basically all reported the same thing at about the same time.
Very shortly after the bombings, President Trump, along with Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio, and Defense Secretary Hegseth gave a brief update to the nation.
Trump proudly announced that Iran’s nuclear sites were “completely obliterated”, something that would have been impossible to verify in such a short time, and that only the U.S. military could accomplish this destruction of Iran’s nuclear program.
Then, he gave thanks to “God” for being able to bomb Iran.
Iranian officials later stated that there was only minor damage at one of the facilities, and that the other two had already been evacuated due to previous Israeli bombings.
From Al Jazeera (live updates):
Iran official says Fordow ‘evacuated, has not suffered irreversible damage’
Mahdi Mohammadi, an adviser to Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, says Iran had been anticipating the US attack on Fordow.
“The site has long been evacuated and has not suffered any irreversible damage in the attack,” Mohammadi wrote in a social media post.
“Two things are certain: First, knowledge cannot be bombed, and second, the gambler will lose this time.”
[…]
If these attacks were meant to intimidate Iran and get them to negotiate a deal, it failed, as it only made Iran more resolute, both the government and its people.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued the following statement, just prior to flying to Moscow (where he is now as I write this) to meet with Putin:
“Everyone must understand that we pursued diplomacy, but the United States and the Zionist regime launched aggressive attacks on Iran.
It is illogical to ask Iran to return to diplomacy after this path was blown up by Israel and the United States.
The United States has proven it holds no respect for the UN Charter and does not abide by international law.
The international community must address the threat to the UN Charter, and it is the United States that previously reneged on the nuclear agreement.
The Security Council must shoulder its responsibilities and prevent such threats against Iran. We will defend our sovereignty and our people.
Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, yet it is under attack by nuclear-armed powers.
It seems the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) can no longer protect us, and this poses a dangerous challenge.
I will head to Moscow to meet President Putin; Russia is a friend of Iran, and we have a strategic partnership.
I will hold serious consultations with President Putin. We continue to work with Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
This is not merely a US attack on our facilities; it is an assassination of international law.
We are committed to continuing the defense of our country, and our armed forces are fully prepared to defend our sovereignty against any aggression.
We have a wide range of options to respond to the American aggression against Iran.
When the aggression against Iran ceases, we can then talk about how to resume the diplomatic path.”
So their position about negotiations has not changed, and they will not negotiate until Israel and the U.S. stop bombing them.
This is a war Israel and the U.S. can NOT win. This was a huge mistake, and one has to wonder if Trump now gets all of his intelligence from Fox News? His Secretary of Defense is a former Fox News host, and other members of his administration came from Fox News.
Rolling Stone published this opinion piece just a few days ago:
Fox News Is Demanding War With Iran. Donald Trump Is Listening
Trump’s heavy consumption of Fox News content is increasing his appetite for direct military confrontation with Iran.
Donald Trump is weighing direct U.S. military intervention in Iran. Fox News is relentlessly promoting war.
As President Donald Trump weighs sending U.S. forces to help Israel bomb Iran — and potentially plunge the nation into a new war — his decision is being influenced by bellicose on-air content at Fox News.
The favored network of the president has put forth a parade of hosts, guests, and professional commentators with an effusively pro-war and pro-regime change message.
According to an administration official and another close associate of the commander-in-chief, Trump’s heavy consumption of Fox News content is increasing his appetite for direct military confrontation with Iran. (Full article.)
But what HAS changed now after these bombings, is that Trump has now basically given permission to Iran to attack U.S. military forces to defend themselves.
Many Americans in the alternative media are now claiming that Iran is going to release terrorist “sleeper cells” on U.S. soil.
I’m NOT buying it, anymore than I bought the lies that Saudi terrorists brought down the World Trade Center’s twin towers on 9/11.
Do not buy into their FEAR! Iran has ZERO motivation to attack American civilians on U.S. soil. They have made it clear that they will target U.S. military sources in the Middle East.
If you see any report in the corporate mainstream media or the alternative media about “sleeper cells” setting off bombs or attacking Americans, you can be 99.99% sure that these are False Flag events orchestrated by the CIA to drum up support for the war against Iran.
[…]
The other thing this bombing of Iran did was to motivate the Yemen Houthis and the Lebanese Hezbollah to start attacking Israel and American ships again, as they have said their own cease-fire agreements have now ended. Iran is also in the process of shutting down the Straight of Hormuz.
It is now going to be nearly impossible for ships to pass through BOTH the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, making it much more difficult to get oil out of the Middle East.
Iran Sends More Devastating Bombs into Israel
Iran continued their bombing of Israel overnight, in what some western sources claimed was a response to the U.S. bombing. However, Iran had already announced this continuation of True Promise III prior to the U.S. attacks, stating that they would use more powerful bombs than they had yet launched.
And they delivered on their threat.
These attacks were so devastating, that even the Israeli media (Times of Israel) published several photos, such as the one above, and this one:
True Promise III: Iran launches multi-warhead Kheibar Shekan missile for first time
Iran announced the first-ever launch of its multi-warhead Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile during the twentieth wave of Operation True Promise III in the early hours of Sunday.
In a statement, the public relations department of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that this phase of the retaliatory operation marked the debut of the third-generation Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile, successfully striking its intended targets.
The twentieth wave came just hours after the United States claimed to have struck three Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
According to the IRGC, a total of 40 solid- and liquid-fueled missiles were launched at strategic targets across the occupied Palestinian territories on Sunday.
“In this operation, for the first time, the IRGC Aerospace Force deployed the third-generation Kheibar Shekan multi-warhead ballistic missile, employing new and surprising tactics to achieve greater precision, destructive power, and effectiveness,” the statement said.
Main targets included Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, the regime’s biological research center, and alternative command-and-control sites.
The missiles employed maneuverable warheads capable of adjusting their trajectory during descent, maintaining guidance until impact, and delivering multiple high-explosive, highly destructive payloads.
Sirens reportedly went off only after the missiles scored direct hits, plunging the occupied territories into chaos, as witnessed in several previous waves of Operation True Promise III. (Full article.)
Today, Iranians once again took to the streets to protest, this time against the United States for bombing them. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian even appeared in public in Tehran’s Revolution Square.
In Israel, however, just the opposite is happening, as there is a mass exodus of people trying to get out of Israel.
This includes tens of thousands of Americans.
There are also reports of chaos in Israel’s bomb shelters, as Christians and foreigners are being blocked from entering. Even in Jewish neighborhoods, if one is not part of the correct community, they are denied entry.
This has not been reported in the media as far as I know, but users on TikTok have uploaded videos about this, so I compiled a few of them to show what is going on with the chaos in these Israeli bomb shelters.
Israel is quickly becoming a refugee state, as schools and businesses remain mostly closed. The Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv is supposed to open on Monday with limited flights, but Iran’s bombing has not stopped, and seems to be increasing.
How long can Israeli society exist like this? If they thought getting Trump to bomb Iran would solve their problems and force Iran to the negotiating table to stop this, they seriously miscalculated.
The Iranian people are resolute and hopeful that the Zionist regime is about to collapse. They have waited a long time for this day to come, and they are not cowering back at all.
Russia and China will probably not enter into the “hot war”, but they have a vested interest in Iran as a fellow member of BRICS, and you can be sure that they are supplying Iran intelligence and possibly weapons as well.
The only alternative I see at this point to stop the madness, is for Israel and the U.S. to immediately stop the bombing, which is Iran’s condition to return to negotiations.
Don’t listen to Fox News! When this is all over, the leaders of Fox News should be tried for treason. They are one of the biggest threats to our national security at this time with their propaganda and misinformation, in my opinion.
