Geopolitics Prime

Donald Trump started the conflict with a wish list, not an endgame: bomb Iran, expect Tehran to capitulate, reopen the Strait of Hormuz on American terms, and declare victory. Iran refused to follow the script – and Washington is now answering their strategic failure with a larger military gamble.

👉The original calculation has already fallen apart. Despite months of US-Israeli attacks and extensive damage to Iran’s conventional forces, Tehran has made no major concessions and has gained unprecedented leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Even US critics describe the outcome as tactical gains followed by a strategic stalemate.

📌 The June 17 Memorandum of Understanding established a 60-day negotiating period, suspended the US blockade, reopened Hormuz, and granted Iran sanctions relief for oil exports. Nevertheless, Washington revoked that relief and resumed strikes before the window closed, accusing Tehran of violating the US interpretation of the deal.

🥴Negotiating with one hand and bombing with the other: apparently, that was the confidence-building phase.

🤥Trump’s response has been improvisation, not strategy. He floated American tolls in Hormuz, quickly abandoned the idea, threatened Iranian bridges and energy facilities, restored the oil blockade, and hinted at seizing Iranian territory. None of these proposals explains what victory looks like or how the conflict ends.

🔴 Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is leaning toward broader military operations, including intensified airstrikes; attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, including Pickaxe Mountain; and even sending US troops to seize Kharg Island and other territory near the Strait of Hormuz.

🔴A ground operation would open an entirely new chapter. Kharg Island handles around 90% of Iran’s oil exports, but American troops stationed there would be exposed to missiles and drones launched from the mainland. Taking it may be possible; holding it without becoming trapped in a prolonged occupation is another matter.

🔴Iran also retains the means to retaliate against US bases across the region and disrupt shipping through Hormuz. The conflict has already spread to Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, while repeated exchanges are pushing the region closer to full-scale war.

🔴The New York Times warns that this could become Trump’s Vietnam because the president’s adventure is turning into a forever-war trap: every American strike produces Iranian retaliation, every retaliation becomes justification for another US attack, and every failed ultimatum generates an even more ambitious military option.

🙅 Iran could make that trap even more costly. Unlike many previous US adversaries, Tehran can impose global economic pressure by disrupting maritime traffic through Hormuz while striking American bases and regional infrastructure without waiting for a US ground invasion.

Trump campaigned against endless Middle Eastern wars. He now appears ready to add ground troops, territorial seizures, and an open-ended bombing campaign to a conflict he began without a credible political resolution.

https://t.me/geopolitics_prime/72224

New York Governor Kathy Hochul participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new JPMorgan Chase offices in New York, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
July 14, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — New York blocked the construction of any new large data centers for up to a year on Tuesday while the state creates rules to protect the environment and the energy grid from power-hungry facilities that fuel artificial intelligence.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing the country’s first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.

The move puts the state in the center of a national debate over how to regulate the AI industry, as concerns over rising electric bills and environmental risks collide with the need to stimulate local economies and foster the U.S. tech sector.

“It’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement.

In effect, the executive order pauses state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the governor’s office said.

President Donald Trump has warned states not to slap regulations on the AI industry, echoing tech companies in arguing such moves hamper job growth and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing field.

Earlier this year, Maine seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled after a mill closed.

Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.

The decision in New York also carries political significance for Hochul’s reelection campaign and the state’s tight congressional races this fall, as Democrats move to address affordability concerns over high utility bills. In addition, the governor this year softened New York’s ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases, citing rising energy costs for consumers.

Hochul’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, opposes a statewide moratorium and says local governments should be allowed to strike deals with tech companies for data center projects that promise enough economic benefits.

The state Legislature this year approved its own moratorium bill, but Hochul’s office described the legislation as complex and said it needed additional work. Instead, the governor opted for an executive order that would take effect immediately.

New York, at this stage, has not been a destination for the biggest hyperscale data centers.

[…]

Via https://www.oann.com/tech/new-york-imposes-the-first-statewide-ban-on-large-data-centers/

Zero Hedge

“We are writing to inform you that we cannot continue serving you.

As a result of this decision, your account will be closed within 14 days from the date of this letter.

Any remaining account balances will be sent by check to the address we have on file.”

Sooner or later, expect your bank to send you a letter like this.

They won’t even tell you why they are closing your account, and you will probably have trouble opening accounts at other banks.

De-banking is a disturbing and growing trend.

In short, the ruling elite – parasites, more accurately – have weaponized the banking system to enforce conformity to their preferred narrative.

If you don’t lap up their lies about Covid, climate, elections, wars, rising crime, or whatever the media is hyping as the “current thing,” expect the financial hammer to come down on you without warning.

You could lose your ability to take payment from your customers and pay your bills at the drop of a hat.

We’ve seen banks close the accounts of prominent doctors critical of the Covid mass hysteria and politicians opposed to schemes to centralize power on a global level (globalism).

However, for every example of a bank closing a high-profile person’s account, hundreds – or thousands – of other ordinary people likely receive the same despicable treatment but are never heard from.

Every day people are losing their ability to interact in the economy because the elite have determined they committed a thought crime.

Interestingly, the banks never canceled the accounts of the warmongers who spread the lies about WMD in Iraq or the liars that led to the toppling of the Ghadafi government in Libya and the liars that fueled the Syrian conflict.

All of their bank accounts are in good standing, even though they contributed to the unnecessary deaths of countless innocents.

Nor did the banks close the accounts of those who, for years, peddled the Russiagate lies that tore the country apart or those who claimed the Hunter Biden laptop story was phony when it was, in fact, real and probably affected the outcome of an election.

All of their bank accounts are in good standing too.

The banks also did not close Jeffrey Epstein’s accounts, even though they were likely aware of what he was up to.

These are just a few examples of the blatant double standard.

If you are skeptical about whether men can get pregnant or if cow farts will destroy the planet, you should expect very different treatment than Jeffrey Epstein or people whose lies align with the military-industrial complex.

De-banking is another example of how formerly free societies are rapidly descending into high-tech totalitarianism.

It’s only prudent to expect de-banking to worsen as governments fall deeper into bankruptcy and become more desperate to maintain control. Controlling the narrative – partly by de-banking anyone with opposing views – is crucial for them to try to hold on to their power.

Today you can be de-banked for having the wrong opinion. Tomorrow you could be de-banked for even more trivial reasons.

For example, even if you loyally follow whatever the TV tells you to think, the banks may notice you are purchasing “too much” meat or gas and are therefore exceeding your monthly carbon allowance. In the name of saving the planet and maintaining their ESG scores, they’ll close your account.

Think that’s far-fetched?

Consider that already, today, Bank of America shares all gun purchases from its clients with the FBI. It would be naive to assume they and other banks don’t automatically share additional data.

Or that PayPal recently floated the idea of charging people $2,500 for promoting so-called “misinformation” – a vague propaganda term that really means “information the people in charge don’t want you to know because they’re afraid you will come to a conclusion they don’t like.”

It’s not hard to see where the de-banking train is going.

We’re only a few stops away from a full-blown social credit system.

[…]

Via https://www.zerohedge.com/political/de-banked-its-only-matter-time-it-happens-you

The Cradle

Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked advancement of a $1 trillion annual defense authorization bill, rejecting the bipartisan measure that would significantly boost Pentagon funding, including a pay increase for US service members, as they protested the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer voiced his opposition to the legislation, with other senior Democrats also refusing to back the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as the war entered its fifth month without a clear conclusion. The vote failed 50-46, falling largely along party lines and short of the required threshold.

“The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran,” Schumer, of New York, said before the vote.

“Donald Trump does not get to drag the American people deeper into a war he cannot explain and does not know how to end—and then demand that Congress look the other way.”

Via https://t.me/thecradlemedia/64183

The Cradle

A tanker transporting Mexican crude oil for Japan’s Cosmo Oil, a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy, is expected to arrive in Japan as early as Friday, the country’s industry ministry said on Wednesday, offering an alternative source of crude to supplies from West Asia.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the shipment will be the first delivery of Mexican crude to Japan since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.

The tanker is scheduled to reach the Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan as early as Friday before continuing to the Chiba refinery near Tokyo.

The vessel sailed from the Gulf of Mexico, taking the route around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

Via https://t.me/thecradlemedia/64211