Trump is whining but I doubt it’s being taken seriously—more theater to save face?
Patricia Marins @pati_marins64
15h
President Trump didn’t realize that Iran only gave up on receiving war compensation because this fee is supposed to pay for the reconstruction, and that was made very clear in the draft of the agreement.
Or did I get the wrong version too?
Gotta luv this, from the sneak attack artist, talking about “honor”?
Here’s a dose of reality. This probably cuts what remained of Saudi output by nearly 20%:
Megatron @Megatron_ron
BREAKING: Officially the last oil route from the Middle East has been stopped. Iran bombed it hours before the ceasefire
Saudi Energy: We lost 700,000 barrels of oil per day due to the targeting of the East-West pipeline, which is currently the main route for supplying the world’s markets with crude oil.
CAIRO, April 9 (Reuters) – Attacks on Saudi energy facilities have cut the kingdom’s oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Thursday, citing an official source at the Ministry of Energy.
…
“The East-West pipe is diverting so much of the Saudi crude not able to leave via the Strait of Hormuz,” said Kpler analyst Matt Smith. “Any pullback on volume is going to add to the tight situation. It is not great news for markets.”
The two-week ceasefire announced this week appeared tenuous at best, with Israel continuing its attacks on Lebanon and Iran showing few signs that it was lifting its near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for nearly a fifth of global energy supplies.
With the strait blocked, the East-West Pipeline has been Saudi Arabia’s only crude export route. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Iran attacked the pipeline just hours after the ceasefire was agreed upon.
Clear message that Iran remains very serious. Bad news for world energy flows, more pressure on Trump. Control over world energy trumps bombs bouncing off mountains.
Expect to hear lots more of this (below). As Max Blumenthal and Doug Macgregor argue, Dems and GOP are both looking at this from a political standpoint. Chris Murphy (D) was a critic of the war until Trump lost it, then Murphy called Trump weak. GOPers, of course, leaking that, oh yeah, we were always against it, we told Trump it was a bad idea. All very unimpressive for a once great nation. Still, Kerry is certainly speaking the truth this time:
Megatron @Megatron_ron
4h
 John Kerry:
“I was part of the any number of conversations with Netanyahu.
[Pitching the US strike Iran?]
Yes, he wanted us to strike. He came to president Obama. He made a presentation to ask to strike. President Obama refused. President Biden refused. President Bush refused. The only president who has agreed to this, obviously, is President Trump
More pressure on Trump/Chump. Anyone who thinks China or Russia is about to undercut Iran needs to reconsider that:
Megatron @Megatron_ron
2h
BREAKING: The Iranian delegation still hasn’t arrived in Islamabad; the first round of negotiations was supposed to take place today
They already announced that if Israel doesn’t stop the attacks on Lebanon there will be no negotiations
Iran enforcing ceasefire, not tolerating violations. And we were told Iran had no air defense left:
MenchOsint @MenchOsint
The cost of the MQ-4C Triton that was potentially taken/shot down earlier [over Hormuz] exceed $200 million, and potentially go as high as $618 million per unit for the newest versions.
+ that would be a first. Flying at high altitude this UAV is usuallly spared from getting targeted.
U.S. inflation surged in March as the energy shock stemming from the war in Iran rippled across the economy.
The Consumer Price Index report showed that inflation jumped to 3.3 percent compared to the same time last year, almost a full percentage point increase from February’s annual pace. Overall prices rose 0.9 percent over the course of March, the highest monthly gain since the peak of the post-pandemic inflation crisis in June 2022.
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Within energy, it’s worth noting that while gasoline was up 21.2 percent, fuel oil has increased even faster, by 30.7 percent over the month. That hits households in the Northeast, which are more commonly heated with oil. Other motor fuels, which mostly includes diesel, jumped 30.8 percent.
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S&P 500 Futures moved slightly higher on Friday morning. Broad market index-linked futures climbed 0.1 percent, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2 percent. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were unchanged.
Because markets are a measure of how good life is for Americans.
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If you are noticing that your morning cup of coffee seems more expensive, it’s not your imagination. Coffee prices are up 18.7 percent over the year, and 1.3 percent in March. That price spike is due to a number of factors, including tariffs and extreme weather that has hurt the global supply of beans.
And this:
Philip Pilkington @philippilk
23h
There goes the economy. Ceasefire unlikely. Inflation very likely. Higher interest rates. AI bubble blows. Stagflationary recession. Then the world pulls out of USD and we see living standards crack? Decent chance.
The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter
BREAKING: US GDP growth falls from 4.4% to 0.5% in Q4 2025, well below the initially expected +2.8% growth.
Also in the news, Americans are flooding onto social media to thank Trump and his Jewish Nationalist controllers for all this. And wait till transport costs reflect those increases in the cost of, well, just about everything. Americans will be doing cartwheels to express their gratitude to Trump and the GOP.
Weird.
Weirder.
— GEROMAN — time will tell –  — @GeromanAT
1h
RT @BlisterPearl: Mar-a-Lago is the most mentioned location in the Epstein files, not the island, not the apartment, not the Lolita Express.
Interesting military analysis. I heard some analysts on Youtube yesterday pointing out that Israel has been pounding mountain redoubts in Iran, to no effect—the missile launches remain unabated:
Patarames @Pataramesh
Apr 9
Let me tell it as it is:
Any notion of the U.S. projecting heavy firepower with their strategic bombers, the B-1 & B-2, on strategic Iranian targets is highly questionable
 They have not been used on 1 of Iran’s Top-10 missile cities (Shiraz-South)
If they had been, damage would be well visible.
 Instead the base remains fully operational after ~40 Days War.
To make it clear:
No ‘mass’ GBU-72 bunker-buster B-1 raid, nor B-2 GBU-57 MOP raids would have any chance to harm the Missile/Drone arsenal there.
 But the entrances could have been heavily mauled, significantly reducing launch-rate.
Operational freedom over Iran, by assets like the B-2 remain highly questionable due to this finding!
