Podcasts about centcom

Tonight, new U.S. airstrikes on Iran. This comes after America's top defense official was asked to explain how the Iranian military he said was "destroyed and made combat ineffective" just days into the war is still a deadly threat now. Plus, it was the crash of a Pan Am flight nearly 75 years ago that led to the mandatory safety briefings we get before every takeoff. Now, that long-lost wreckage has been found.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new warning from the president after the first U.S. death since the early days of the Iran war. A look at what could come next as the United States pumps more American ships into a combat zone.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

//The Wire//2300Z July 20, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: CENTCOM CONFIRMS FOUR AMERICAN CASUALTIES FOLLOWING IRANIAN STRIKES IN MIDDLE EAST. ARSON ATTACK REPORTED AT FEDERAL BUILDING IN NYC.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Jordan: Over the weekend CENTCOM confirmed the deaths of three US service members, who were killed as a result of the strikes on a barracks building at Muwaffaq al Salti Airbase. Two of the casualties have been identified as 1LT Tyler James Feehan, and Private Isabella Gonzales. The third casualty officially remains classified as Missing in Action as the remains will require DNA analysis to confirm identity, and has not yet been officially identified. A fourth casualty was also reported somewhere in Iraq, which was the result of an Iranian drone strike.Middle East: Following Iranian targeting of the al-Subiya Power Station, Kuwait has begun to rely on portable substations and generators to provide electricity while repairs are made. The scale of the power outages is not known, but Iranian forces have struck several logistical hubs and electrical power plants over the past few days. In Bahrain, Iranian targeting has remained heavy over the weekend, with several ballistic missile strikes reported at American installations around the country.Strait of Hormuz: Several more merchant vessels were struck over the past few days, most of which were tankers attempting to use the southern Omani route instead of the Iranian route. At least one of these vessels resulted in the crew abandoning ship before being rescued.Iran: After these collective strikes over the weekend, American targeting efforts intensified with the latest bombing campaign focusing on the targeting of bridges and civilian roadway tunnels around Bandar Abbas. Many of the roads that lead to the port city are now cut off, with only a few major roadways allowing access to the city. Several bridges have also already been repaired, and the status of others remains unclear until better satellite imagery is available.-HomeFront-New York: This morning an arson attack was reported at the Federal building in downtown Manhattan. One assailant approached the building with a bucket of gasoline, dumping the bucket at the northeast side of the structure. The suspect immediately ignited the pool of gas, which also contained a mix of commercial grade fireworks. The suspect was immediately detained by the plethora of police already on scene, as the accelerant burned on the sidewalk. Analyst Comment: No motive has yet been conveyed regarding this attack, however some of the paraphernalia scattered throughout the scene of the attack appears to be political in nature, opposing ICE.Washington D.C. - This morning, the latest numbers for Strategic Petroleum Reserve levels were released indicating that over the past week, the US has drained the SPR by an additional 5.1 million barrels, to it's lowest level since the Tanker War in 1983.Analyst Comment: Many might have assumed that the US might have re-stocked the SPR during the two-week ceasefire in the Middle East, however very little oil actually made it out of the region during that time, which amounted to only a tiny fraction of US daily usage. Since the war began five months ago, only a very small percentage of oil has exited the region, and the US has been draining the SPR at breakneck pace in order to keep the country going.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Concerning the American casualties sustained over the weekend, it is extremely important to note that the deaths of 1LT Feehan and PVT Gonzales are officially classified under Operation INHERENT RESOLVE (OIR)...not under Operation EPIC FURY (OEFU). Inherent Resolve is the long-standing mission to combat ISIS in Syria, and not in any way linked to the current war in Iran. As a result, the true number of casualties sustained warrants further investigation. This classification could have been an administrative error, but this would also be a way of camouflaging casualty figures. The Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) is the main database for logging all American casualties, which are defined by military operation. In this case, these deaths are not cataloged under either operation yet, adding to the more broad (but also growing) concerns that the database has been concealing the true number of casualties, specifically the numbers of personnel wounded.In fact, while admonishing these concerns as "baseless and malicious accusations" Assistant Secretary of War Sean Parnell directly contradicted the numbers his own department was producing. He stated in an interview with CBS News that roughly 100 personnel had been wounded throughout the war over the past month....while his own database states that a grand total of zero personnel had been wounded for the month of July, and three in June. If this testimony is accurate, this confirms beyond all doubt that the Pentagon is lying about the number of troops wounded during this campaign. Considering that the Pentagon has disclosed a total of 413x soldiers wounded during this entire campaign, ~100x WIA being reported within a month (which also included a two-week ceasefire) is alarming to say the least.The cause of the fatalities reported over the weekend is also important to note as these deaths were very likely preventable. In the days leading up to the ballistic missile striking the housing at this base, the Iranians successfully struck the Patriot battery in Erbil, Iraq. This missile defense site would have been one of the sites providing protection for missiles launched into Jordan. With this battery offline or at least degraded in some way, it is possible that a clear air corridor existed that allowed Iranian ballistic missiles to fly unchallenged through a gap in air defense coverage. If the Erbil strike also damaged the radar array, it is also very possible that the warning time for an incoming ballistic missile would have been reduced, so any defenses at the target base would have been less effective. Obviously, the true scale of the damage to this air defense site would be classified, so in the public eye we have to guess as to how bad it was based on blurry satellite imagery. However the military commanders who knew the systems and did NOT have to guess, were also the same commanders who had the authority to either issue warnings or orders to disperse from the unprotected Containerized Housing Units (CHUs) that were struck by Iran. The failure of command to disperse their soldiers is what led to these fatalities.The very minute that the Patriot battery was struck in Erbil was a major clue that the Iranians were conducting shaping fires of their own...they were striking the air defense sites so as to open up a gap in air defense coverage, and reach out to American positions with their larger ballistic missiles.Though it is usually in poor taste to reflect on failures in the immediate aftermath of the death of troops, in the interest of expediency sometimes uncomfortable conversations must be had in order to prevent further loss of life. If a gap in air defense coverage is what allowed this strike to happen, it is almost certain that this gap still exists and that the danger to American service members is still not mitigated. For ALL American troops in the Middle East, this observation must be noted: If the Iranians are striking air defense sites, the next assumption must be that the Iranians are planning to strike something that would have been protected by that site. In retrospect this is common sense, but even at this very moment, the continued strikes on American positions (and the nearly total lack of fortification efforts at these bases, even to this day) continues to indicate that the Iranian targeting efforts are not being taken seriously by senior American decision makers. Five months into this war, CENTCOM leadership has still not figured out that the Iranians can strike their bases at will, and as demonstrated by the strikes in Kuwait and Jordan, the US is still not digging in, and also not dispersing enough to avoid troops getting killed. No underground fortification efforts have been undertaken at any base in the Middle East, and satellite imagery indicates that no substantial fortifications have been undertaken either. Granting as much leeway to the Pentagon's decision making process as possible, it is possible that no hardening of defenses would have mattered considering the missiles Iran is launching. Drone defense is one thing, but it would take years to build a bunker that would withstand the impact of an Iranian Fattah or Ghadr missile. Nevertheless, when it comes to defending American positions, doing something is better than doing nothing, and concrete does not take half a year to dry.Even if large-scale construction projects are off the menu, ALL military publications, textbooks, and training scenarios dictate and demand what has been obvious since World War One...Dispersion is the name of the game. This is what kept casualties to a minimum in Bahrain, but different theater commanders have different personal initiatives. Some are more proactive with their defense, and others have done nothing at all, besides making sure that all of the vehicles in the motorpool are lined up neatly.Where this goes from here is anyone's guess, but unless radical and immediate changes are made, the United States will continue to suffer casualties. And as long as the bombing continues which is motivating Iran to target our bases, this indirectly highlights the deficiencies with American air defense technologies, not just for this war, but for the wars to come.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be72

//The Wire//2300Z July 21, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: HOUTHIS ANNOUNCE EMBARGO OF SAUDI OIL TANKERS. LARGE SCALE BOMBINGS OF IRAN CONTINUE. ANDY BURNHAM ASSUMES OFFICE AS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER. STABBING REPORTED AT CHURCH IN IRELAND.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East : The war continues as before with a new series of attacks taking place overnight, with CENTCOM conducting their 7th wave of airstrikes within Iran since the break of the ceasefire. In Jordan, the Tower 22 Base was struck again, with Iranian ballistic missiles targeting an aircraft hangar as well as a warehouse.Bahrain: Significant Iranian targeting continued with the Iranians striking the electrical substation powering an Amazon data center. The data center itself was not hit, but the center remains offline due to the power source being cut.Black Sea: The targeting of oil tankers by both Ukraine and Russia has continued, with concerns growing regarding the wider threats to petroleum infrastructure. Yesterday, Kazakhstan halted all shipments of oil through their pipelines that eventually arrive at the Russian oil terminals on the Black Sea, due to the threats presented by Ukrainian drones.Ireland: This morning a stabbing attack was reported at Holy Cross Church in Tramore, Wateford. One woman was stabbed at the altar shortly before Mass began, with the assailant fleeing the scene before being detained a short distance from the church. The victim remains hospitalized with serious wounds following the attack.United Kingdom: Yesterday Andy Burnham formally transitioned into the role of Prime Minister. This afternoon, he authorized the use of British bases by the United States to conduct strikes in Iran, marking a more public foreign policy departure from Starmer's government.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: In the Red Sea, things are not going so well. Last night, the Houthis claimed to have partially closed the Bab el Mandeb Strait, threatening another major global maritime chokepoint. This announcement has been implemented as a blockade of Saudi ports, with the Houthi's claiming that all ships bound for Saudi Arabia will be attacked. The status of other ships just passing through the area remains unclear.As a reminder, the US already fought the Houthis, specifically over their closure of the Bab el Mandeb Strait last year. That conflict resulted in a de facto Houthi victory after the US ceased the bombing campaign without securing the defeat of the Houthis, and many shipping companies have, to this day, continued to avoid the Red Sea route altogether. So far, the Houthi's have not struck any vessels however reports suggest they may have turned a couple of tankers around without missiles being fired.The Houthis are perhaps an even more substantial threat to the region than most realize, simply due to the weapons available to them. Unlike Iran, which has the capability of hitting individual ships in the comparatively cramped Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis have historically had to rely on the sledgehammer approach. It is true that the Houthis will strike vessels in their backyard with relative ease, but their main target is the Saudi port of Yanbu, far to the north on the east coast of the Red Sea. From that distance, the Houthis can't hit individual ships...they will be hitting the oil terminal itself. That's comparatively worse than striking just one ship; the Houthi targeting efforts are a much more blunt instrument than observed with Iran, and as a result they are more likely to cause damage that lasts a long time. This was already demonstrated by their previous targeting efforts during the short-lived war last year. The Houthis can also hurt the United States more directly too...Camp Lemonnier in Djbouti is just 70 miles away from Yemen, on the other side of the Strait. This has historically been a non-combat post, but this can change in an instant, if the belligerents choose to escalate this war to include two continents.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

This year marks the 27th anniversary of the deadly persecution of the meditation practice Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong. To raise awareness of another year of human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party, Falun Gong practitioners and human rights advocates are holding parades and rallies around the world, including in the nation's capital this week.U.S. Central Command says another wave of airstrikes was launched against Iran on Sunday, targeting command centers, missile and drone launch sites and military communications networks. According to CENTCOM, one American service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, and two other service members died in Jordan, while a third remains missing following an Iranian attack on Friday.Spain is back on top of the soccer world. After a hundred tense minutes at the packed New York-New Jersey Stadium, substitute Ferran Torres buried the biggest goal of his career. An extra-time strike that gave Spain a 1-0 victory over Argentina, and the nation's second World Cup title. Coach Luis de la Fuente says his young squad is already looking ahead to defending its title and the 20-0 World Cup. Spain will co-host that tournament, alongside Portugal and Morocco.

Nell'incertezza delle informazioni, dove ognuno cerca di portare acqua al proprio mulino, il Centcom ha confermato l'avvio di una nuova ondata di attacchi degli Stati Uniti contro l'Iran, per la nona notte consecutiva. “Abbiamo colpito duramente l'Iran in onore dei soldati caduti” ha detto Trump.

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. How the Supreme Court Changed Digital Privacy Rights Free Football from FIFA How to Fire Your Boss The DSA Red Scare Executive Disorder: Three ICE Killings, UAW Investigation, Explosive Diarrhea You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: How the Supreme Court Changed Digital Privacy Rights https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-112_0am4.pdf https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-rules-that-law-enforcements-use-of-geofence-warrant-was-a-search/ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/rayhunter-what-we-have-found-so-far https://natlawreview.com/article/your-location-data-now-your-own Free Football from FIFA https://www.Rebootfifa.com https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/03/egypt-world-cup-hossam-hassan-blurring-lines-football-politics-egypt How to Fire Your Boss https://industrialworker.carrd.co https://linktr.ee/raisaf161 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/need-for-solidarity-unionism The DSA Red Scare http://program.dsausa.org https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rKpagMuXmG9L9Djy7ZKLqTOLiQxCilS5cr8-UxIcUhI/edit?usp=sharing https://democraticleft.dsausa.org/2026/06/23/building-the-party-one-office-at-a-time/ https://x.com/canarymission/status/2072658131163693304?s=20 https://www.axios.com/2026/06/25/mamdani-left-democrats-nyc-jeffries-centrists https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbARdcqmWTY https://x.com/harrisonjaime/status/2069570034868047996?s=20 https://x.com/MariamaJames13/status/2072340515257782299?s=20 https://x.com/DataProgress/status/2072738855950630981?s=20 https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/04/more-new-yorkers-voted-last-year-any-mayoral-election-1969/413224/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/nyregion/dsa-young-voters-primary-ny.html https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/2073097064540455315?s=20 https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/2073096909728682088?s=20 https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/2072027580467655100?s=20 https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/2077167616880255056?s=20 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/07/01/democrats-should-fight-dsa/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/democrats-fight-left-dsa/687839/ Executive Disorder: Three ICE Killings, UAW Investigation, Explosive Diarrhea https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sen-lindsey-graham-dies-71-brief-sudden-illness-rcna552722 https://x.com/WelcomeTheGulag/status/2076874632506834992?s=20 https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2076307271873691671?s=20 https://www.npr.org/2026/07/13/nx-s1-5888586/transgender-gender-affirming-care-medicare-medicaid-hhs https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/09/rubio-tries-enlist-other-nations-antifa-fight-some-allies-recoil/ https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/2076340630091911417?s=20 https://x.com/atrupar/status/2076310780165669185?s=20 https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2076671740407652582?s=20 https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-administration-launches-effort-isolate-international-criminal-court-2026-07-13/ https://archive.ph/kCuKC#selection-567.13-567.67 https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2077169026430628009?s=20 https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2076732825349628250 https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2076732825349628250 https://x.com/KSAMOFA/status/2074561104022233521 https://x.com/HormuzLetter/status/2077118318088008072?s=20 https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2077496765553811628 https://x.com/nathanTbernard/status/2076687428962640325?s=20 https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/13/central-maine/central-maine-police-courts/video-federal-agents-pull-man-from-car-fatal-shooting/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/07/ice-vehicle-shooting-maine-dhs/687912/?gift=Tsjgy5hc-Y7tsZCY3EHYrTDbV3lXsGSUmzHP3VVeY4Y&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share https://x.com/dhsgov/status/2076798878595342620?s=46 https://x.com/NoticiasCaracol/status/2076993772802506969 https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/26_0403_ocfo_fy27-budget-office-of-inspector-general.pdf https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/14/politics/video/breaking-ice-suspend-vehicle-stops-fatal-shootings-ip https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/dhs_fy2027.pdf https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-maine-immigration-dhs-f26f8c2256aa6f0748582ea4adbb515c https://maineimmigrantrights.org/maines-immigrant-community-responds-to-ice-shooting-in-biddeford/ https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article316506896.html https://x.com/CBSNews/status/2077151442968641769?s=20 https://prospect.org/2026/07/14/monitor-amok-uaw-shawn-fain-investigation/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/justice-department-uaw-president-investigation https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-12/doj-investigating-allegations-against-uaw-president-shawn-fain https://x.com/ryangrim/status/2076418443377623528?s=20 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-quietly-scaled-back-surveillance-program-foodborne-illnesses-rcna227089 https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/you-shouldnt-avoid-fruits-and-vegetables-due-to-cyclospora-a9570579349/ https://defector.com/why-the-explosive-diarrhea-parasite-is-way-worse-than-regular-diarrhea-parasites https://apnews.com/article/weather-forecasts-worsen-doge-trump-cuts-tornado-da573a044916c06cebcdb92b1f1452e6See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

VOV1 - Bất chấp kêu gọi và cảnh báo quốc tế, đêm qua, quân đội Mỹ tiếp tục tấn công vào Iran. Đây là đêm thứ 7 liên tiếp, lực lượng Mỹ không kích vào Iran, đánh dấu bước leo thang nghiêm trọng chưa từng có giữa hai bên kể từ sau lệnh ngừng bắn ngày 8/4.Thông báo vừa công bố trên mạng xã hội X của Bộ Tư lệnh Trung tâm Mỹ đặc trách khu vực Trung Đông (CENTCOM) cho biết lực lượng Mỹ đã phát động đợt tấn công mới vào Iran trong đêm thứ 7 liên tiếp. Chiến dịch được tiến hành theo lệnh của Tổng tư lệnh quân đội Hoa Kỳ, nhằm tiếp tục là suy yếu năng lực quân sự của Iran.Ngay sau thông báo của CENTCOM, truyền thông Iran báo cáo về một loạt vụ nổ lớn tại tỉnh Bushehr, thành phố Sirik và khu vực đảo Qeshm gần eo biển Hormuz. Tuy nhiên, các thông tin liên quan khác, chưa được công bố.Trước đó, lãnh đạo tỉnh Busher hồi tối qua cáo buộc quân đội Mỹ đã tấn công tàu chở dầu không tải đang neo đậu tại đảo Kharg, bên trong vịnh Ba Tư. Phó Thống đốc tỉnh Busher, ông Ehsan Jahanian cho biết con tàu bị tập kích là Belma NI 22. Phương tiện này đã bị lực lượng Mỹ tấn công lần đầu đêm 15/7, khi đang tìm cách cập cảng trên đảo Kharg.Về động thái của phía Iran, hãng thông tấn Tasnim tối qua dẫn thông báo của Vệ binh Cách mạng Hồi giáo Iran (IRGC) khẳng định lực lượng này đã tấn công một tàu chở hàng mang cờ Thái Lan tại eo Hormuz do không tuân thủ hướng dẫn và từ chối hợp tác với IRGC. Đây là tàu hàng đầu tiên bị Iran tập kích tại eo Hormuz trong khoảng một tuần qua, kể từ khi đợt giao tranh mới giữa Mỹ và Iran bùng phát đêm 11/7. Tuy nhiên, các thông tin liên quan khác như thời gian, địa điểm cũng như tình trạng của thủy thủ đoàn sau khi bị tấn công, không được đề cập.Về tương lai chiến sự, truyền thông Israel và khu vực tối qua đưa tin chính quyền Mỹ đã thông báo cho Israel về việc sẽ gửi thêm hàng chục máy bay tiếp dầu đến Israel trong những ngày tới, dấu hiệu cho thấy Mỹ có thể chuẩn bị đẩy mạnh chiến dịch tập kích vào Iran. Hiện tại, Mỹ đang duy trì 33 máy bay tiếp dầu tại sân bay quốc tế Ben Gurion ở miền Trung Israel, mức cao chưa từng có trong nhiều thập niên. Bộ trưởng Giao thông Israel Miri Regev hồi đầu tuần đã yêu cầu giảm bớt số máy bay tiếp dầu của Mỹ tại sân bay Ben Gurion xuống còn 20 chiếc, nhằm đảm bảo lưu thông tại sân bay nhộn nhịp nhất Israel.Đáp lại động thái leo thang của Mỹ, Cố vấn cấp cao của Đại giáo chủ Iran Mojtaba Khamenei, ông Mohsen Rezaei tối qua cảnh báo nếu Mỹ tiếp tục kéo dài cuộc chiến chống Iran, Tehran sẽ dốc toàn lực đáp trả. Trước đó, Hải quân Vệ binh Cách mạng Hồi giáo Iran cuối giờ chiều qua cũng ra tuyên bố cảnh báo Mỹ đang tiến gần hơn tới giờ “G”, thời điểm Iran buộc phải khởi động chiến dịch tập kích nhắm vào các chiến hạm và khí tài của Mỹ tại khu vực. Tuyên bố nhấn mạnh toàn bộ các động thái cũng như trang thiết bị của lực lượng Mỹ ở khu vực, đều đang nằm dưới sự giám sát chặt chẽ của Iran. Nếu hành vi gây hấn chống Iran còn tiếp diễn, Mỹ sẽ phải “chia tay” với rất nhiều chiến hạm và khí tài đang triển khai tại Trung Đông./.VOV/Ai CậpKhói bốc lên sau một vụ tấn công tại Tehran, Iran. (Ảnh: THX/TTXVN)

President Trump announced on Thursday night the release of previously classified U.S. intelligence community assessments show the mass compromise of U.S. voter data by the Chinese Communist Party. The White House released those documents covering five major areas of concern. One area of concern that President Trump raised there was the acquisition by the Chinese regime of 220 million U.S. voter files, which includes the names, the addresses, the phone numbers, party preferences, and other registration-relevant data. President Trump describing that as the largest election data compromise in history.Officials in several U.S. cities are urging people to stay indoors as smoke from hundreds of wildfires in Canada continues to blanket the U.S. from the upper midwest to the northeast. Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago on Thursday ranking among the world's most polluted major cities because of the smoke. Forecasters say the thickest smoke is expected through Saturday, with gradual improvement possible by the end of the weekend if the wind shifts and rain arrives.U.S. forces have carried out a sixth consecutive night of strikes targeting Iranian military sites, including air defense systems, logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities. CENTCOM says the strikes are aimed at further degrading Iran's military capabilities and responding to recent attacks on commercial shipping. U.S. Marines also boarded a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Oman as part of the ongoing naval blockade against Iran.

//The Wire//2300Z July 15, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: STRIKES CONTINUE TO ESCALATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AS WAR REMAINS HOT. PARASITIC INFECTION CONTINUES TO SPREAD IN USA. POLICE OFFICERS AROUND THE NATION INVESTIGATED FOR ILLEGALLY SPYING ON AMERICANS.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East: Mutual targeting continued overnight throughout the region, with Iranian forces striking many American-aligned military bases in several Gulf states. Isa Air Base in Qatar was hit hard overnight, and several storage warehouses were hit in Kuwait. Iran claims to have also struck the parking apron at Muwaffaq Al-Salti Air Base in Jordan, targeting the fighter aircraft which have been staged at the base for weeks. On the American side, the US has conducted several waves of attacks, with constant bombings continuing in many major port facilities. The ports of Bandar Abbas, Jask, and Chabarhar have been targeted regularly for several days, in addition to the Gulf Islands which have served as communications nodes for ships transiting the Strait.Throughout the morning, the Strait remained somewhat navigable via the Iranian route. Several ships were observed making the crossing using only the northern Iranian traffic scheme. After the targeting of several merchant vessels over the past few days in the southern route, no ship has taken the Omani route, all ships are diverting north. Analyst Comment: In terms of how much oil is getting out, it's not much. No American tankers were observed transiting overnight via either route, and the severity of the oil crisis remains a major concern for impacts to the homeland. This afternoon CENTCOM struck a merchant vessel themselves, highlighting that the American blockade of the Strait is still in effect.-HomeFront-USA: Around the nation, an outbreak of Cyclosporiasis has continued to sweep through the country, with roughly 7,000 cases of parasitic infection being reported. Most of the cases are clustered in Michigan, but the food-borne illness has been reported in many other states. Health authorities are working to narrow down the point of origin for the parasite, which appears to be linked to contaminated lettuce or unclean food preparation practices at fast food chains.Georgia: This morning, five police officers with the Albany Police Department were fired after an internal investigation revealed that they were using their access to the Flock camera/sensor database to stalk and illegally surveil citizens.South Carolina: This morning, two police officers in the city of Greer were fired after an internal investigation revealed that they were using their access to the Flock camera/sensor database to stalk and illegally surveil citizens.Texas: Yesterday, one police officer with the Pasadena Police Department resigned after an investigation was launched into his misuse of the Flock camera/sensor network. Sgt. Michael Palitz is currently under investigation for allegedly using the intelligence network to stalk a female police officer. No further details on this incident have been provided as the investigation is still ongoing.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Though it is purely anecdotal at the moment, locals on the ground in many Middle Eastern countries are reporting that this time, the fighting is different as fewer successful interceptions are being reported. As always, if interceptions of drones and missiles are successful, these munitions are usually destroyed out over the waters of the Gulf, out of view of the civilian populace. However, a lot of people have been rather dismayed that the fighting has resumed, and from their perspective it looks like their country is not intercepting anything because they are out of interceptor missiles. The stockpiles of interceptors running low for Gulf states has been a common theory for a while, after the war drew to a lull two months ago. After the ceasefire went into effect, it was generally assumed that the United States would sell more interceptor missiles to the Gulf countries (in addition to resupplying our own missile defense sites), but now that the fighting has resumed and locals are observing slow-flying drones very clearly not being intercepted in many cases, the concerns of missile stockpiles have come to the front page once again.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

In this episode, we examine the July 7, 2026 CENTCOM retaliatory strikes that hit more than 80 Iranian targets—including air defenses, coastal radar, anti-ship missiles, and over 60 IRGC small boats—following attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Drawing directly from my background as a Navy SEAL, I break down the tactical execution, the likely role of special operations forces in targeting and maritime security, and the strategic context of renewed U.S. measures including the “Guardian of Hormuz” posture and blockade elements. Listeners will walk away with a clear operator-level understanding of escalation control, precision effects in contested waterways, and what these developments signal for future missions in the region.

VOV1 - Đêm qua, quân đội Mỹ tiếp tục không kích vào Iran. Bộ Tư lệnh Trung tâm Mỹ đặc trách khu vực Trung Đông (CENTCOM) thông báo đây là đợt tấn công bổ sung, nhằm làm suy yếu hơn năng lực tấn công của Iran nhắm vào các tàu hàng tại eo biển Hormuz.

** VIDEO EN NUESTRO CANAL DE YOUTUBE **** https://youtube.com/live/aFOU-oTzFGw +++++ Hazte con nuestras camisetas en https://www.bhmshop.app +++++ Estados Unidos vuelve a imponer el bloqueo naval sobre Irán. Por orden del presidente Donald Trump, las fuerzas del CENTCOM reanudarán el control del tráfico marítimo que entre o salga de los puertos iraníes, incluidos sus terminales petroleros y zonas costeras. La medida no pretende cerrar el estrecho de Ormuz al tráfico internacional, pero sí cortar las exportaciones, importaciones y transferencias marítimas vinculadas a Teherán. En este programa de ¿Hablamos? analizamos qué significa realmente un bloqueo naval, cómo puede aplicarlo Estados Unidos, qué unidades militares pueden participar y cuáles son los riesgos de interceptar, desviar o capturar buques que intenten romperlo. También estudiaremos el impacto sobre las exportaciones de petróleo iraní, las operaciones barco a barco, la llamada flota fantasma y los países que continúan comerciando con Teherán. El bloqueo podría retirar del mercado una parte importante del crudo iraní, elevar los costes de los seguros y volver a tensionar el precio de la energía. ¿Qué hará Irán? ¿Responderá atacando petroleros, bases estadounidenses o cerrando nuevamente Ormuz? ¿Puede la Guardia Revolucionaria desafiar a la Quinta Flota? ¿Estamos ante una operación de presión económica o ante el comienzo de una nueva fase de guerra abierta? El estrecho seguirá abierto para los buques que naveguen hacia puertos no iraníes, pero cualquier barco que entre o salga de las costas de Irán podrá ser interceptado, desviado o capturado por las fuerzas estadounidenses. En Bellumartis analizamos la operación, sus fundamentos militares y sus consecuencias geopolíticas para Irán, Estados Unidos, China, India, los países árabes del Golfo y el mercado mundial del petróleo. SUSCRÍBETE A @BELLUMARTISACTUALIDADMILITAR Y @BELLUMARTISHISTORIAMILITAR Mi libro “Un Mundo Convulso. Claves geopolíticas” https://amzn.to/3T2nd8X Hazte miembro del canal y ayuda a Bellumartis a seguir explicando la actualidad militar y geopolítica con rigor. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellumartis_historia_militar/ X: https://x.com/bellumartis

Well, the world just got the best news in years — Zionist war criminal and degenerate pervert Lindsey Graham is dead at 71, and America is already a better place without this treasonous piece of filth. This pedophile traitor spent his worthless life as Israel's whore in the Senate pushing our kids to die for them, and now his buddies in Tel Aviv are using his death to drag us deeper into their bloodbath. Fort Huachuca image search data from the Tucson/Sierra Vista area reveals a clear pattern no one can explain away. High-level figures from DIA, CENTCOM, NSWC Crane weapons/tech programs, and Charlie Kirk's own security and comms team were all being visually identified by base personnel in the weeks and days leading directly into September 9, 2025 — the day before Charlie Kirk was assassinated.   Celebrate freedom while we still have it. Become an annual member of the Stew Peters Locals community and receive $17 OFF for a limited time. Your membership includes: • Exclusive members-only content • Live chats and community discussions • Behind-the-scenes access • Directly supporting independent, uncensored journalism. Don't wait, his special ends July 31.

//The Wire//1900Z July 14, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: WAR IN MIDDLE EAST REMAINS HOT WITH USA AND IRAN EXCHANGING HEAVY FIRE OVERNIGHT. NEW YORK TIMES JOURNALISTS ISSUED SUBPOENAS REGARDING THEIR REPORTING ON AIR FORCE ONE.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East: The war continued to escalate overnight, with the attack/counterattack cycle no longer being distinguishable, as all belligerents are now attacking constantly. At least two more ships have been struck in the Strait of Hormuz since last night, and the US has continued to fly continuous sorties to strike targets within Iran. Dozens of targets were struck overnight, with CENTCOM announcing that the sorties took 5 hours to complete throughout the region. As of this morning, nearly all of the targets that have been struck have been within a few hundred yards of the Gulf, with heavy concentrations of targets being located within Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, and Jask, all of which are major naval bases. Most of the Gulf islands have also been struck, with Qeshm and Kish Islands being targeted heavily this afternoon.Conversely, Iran has conducted their own strikes in Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. In Kuwait, Iranian forces have conducted counter-battery fire on American HIMARS missile launcher sites, with multiple ballistic missile strikes taking place at most of the US bases and missile launch sites all day.Analyst Comment: Over the past 24 hours, the war in the Middle East has returned to the level of fighting first observed during the height of the war back in March. How long this is planned to continue is unknown, but this is not a slight increase in targeting; the war appears to be fully back on once again.United Kingdom: This morning Counterterrorism police released more details regarding a high-profile murder case that took place last week. On Thursday, Ann Widdecombe was found murdered in her home in the town of Haytor in Devon. After her murder was discovered, local authorities immediately referred the case to counterterrorism, and one suspect has already been arrested in conjunction with this case. This suspect has been charged for the murder, and as of this morning terrorism offenses have been added to the list of charges.Analyst Comment: This case is noteworthy as most of the information so far indicates this was a political assassination, and the speed at which authorities have immediately declared this to be a terrorism incident is very, very unusual. Widdecombe was a former Member of Parliament, and in her later years was a familiar conservative political commentator known to weigh in on political issues throughout the nation. More details may or may not come to light in due time regarding the identity of the suspect, but due to the high-profile nature of this murder, this case will be in the headlines for a while.-HomeFront-Washington D.C. - Yesterday a total of five New York Times reporters have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, to testify regarding their reporting on the alleged security breaches onboard the new Air Force One. Last week, President Trump flew to Turkey for the NATO summit on the new airframe, but during the trip, an undisclosed security issue prompted the Secret Service to switch back to the older platform.Analyst Comment: The details of exactly what the alleged crimes are, have not been disclosed. The New York Times has a history of publishing content which could lead to security issues, but in this case nothing they wrote in their original report appears to have been classified. However, they did explicitly state that they had a source who had classified knowledge of the defenses (or rather, the alleged lack of defenses) on the new Air Force One platform, which is probably why the harsh crackdown on the New York Times. They also made the claim that the new airframe has not had enough time to install the anti-missile countermeasures of the older platform, though no detail on this was provided. Regardless, talking to journalists in any capacity about any of the protection measures used by the White House is a huge no-no, and one of the most sensitive issues that always results in a very heavy-handed response.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: As the war in the Persian Gulf rages on, concerns are growing regarding the apparent widening of the war to include the Red Sea region. The mutual targeting between the Saudis and the Houthis in Yemen has continued to some degree, though it's too soon to tell if either party is committed to turning this into a more protracted fight. If that is the chosen course of action, the situation is likely to get very serious.While the Strait of Hormuz remains a hot warzone that has restricted the flow of about 20 million barrels per day out of the region, the Saudi East-West Pipeline system has been working to reduce this deficit by pumping roughly 7 million barrels per day during most of this conflict. This has eased the burden of Hormuz being cut off, and has been one of the main factors keeping oil from reaching $200 per barrel. However, this pipeline runs from the Gulf, across the desert, before terminating in Yanbu at a major oil export terminal. This terminal....is within missile range of the Houthis. Somewhat interestingly, there are also very little air defenses in the southern regions of Saudi Arabia despite the Saudis fighting the Houthis for a couple of decades at this point; nearly all missile defenses are on the northern coastline or in the vicinity of American bases. So far during this conflict, the Iranians have successfully struck the Yanbu oil terminal using extremely long-range (and slow-flying) drones. The Houthis have a much higher chance of success in threatening Yanbu, and if they are able to strike this facility, the global oil crisis will go from worse to worst.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

Başkan Trump'ın İran'la savaşın tekrar başladığını ilan etmesiyle birlikte CENTCOM üç gün üst üste İran'ın farklı bölgelerine saldırılar düzenlediğini açıkladı. İran'ın anlaşmayı ihlal ettiğini iddia ettiği gemileri vurması sonrasında Trump Hürmüz'e ablukanın yeniden uygulanacağını duyurdu ve %20 oranında bir ücretin uygulanmasını gündeme getirdi.

The United States has initiated its third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran and is officially reinstating a naval blockade on Iranian ports. This significant military escalation effectively dismantles the fragile ceasefire that was established in April 2026.U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) executed five hours of extensive strikes aimed at coastal military infrastructure, missile bases, and drone facilities. The objective of this operation is to diminish Tehran's capacity to assault commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.Explosions and missile impacts have been recorded at several strategically important locations in Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, and the Gulf Islands.President Donald Trump informed Congress that limited military action has recommenced after accusing Iran of breaching a June memorandum of understanding. CENTCOM will officially reinstate the naval blockade on vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports. Any unauthorized ships attempting to enter the blockaded coastal areas will be subject to interception, diversion, or capture.In a remarkable policy shift, Trump declared on Truth Social that the U.S. will serve as "The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait." The U.S. intends to impose a 20% cargo fee on all non-Iranian merchant vessels passing through the waterway in exchange for maritime protection.International maritime law typically prohibits such transit fees. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly ridiculed the proposal, labeling it as "piracy" and jesting that Tehran would secure the strait for a lower fee.The breakdown of the truce has swiftly incited broader regional conflict and financial instability, as Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) targeted commercial traffic, striking and disabling two tankers. The United Arab Emirates confirmed that two of its supertankers were hit by Iranian cruise missiles in Omani waters, resulting in the death of an Indian crew member.  Iran initiated a series of drone and missile assaults targeting U.S. bases and allies in the region. Jordan's air defense systems effectively intercepted four Iranian missiles that were traversing its airspace. Concurrently, Tehran asserted that it had hit and "eliminated" assets at a U.S.-controlled airbase in Bahrain.Fueled by concerns over potential extended disruptions in shipping through a channel responsible for approximately 20% of the world's oil supply, Brent crude prices surged by more than 9.5% in just one day.

Trump goes from ceasefire language to “it's over” in a matter of hours, and the Strait of Hormuz becomes the pressure point again. Host Kyle Anzalone and guest LtCOL Karen Kwiatkowski walk through the reports of Iranian shots at transiting ships, the follow-on CENTCOM strikes, and what it means when a president talks like a full-scale war is on the table while the Pentagon still faces real constraints in ships, air defense, and weapons stockpiles. If you're trying to understand Iran, US military posture, and how quickly an MOU can unravel, this conversation lays out the incentives and the red flags in plain terms. We also pull on the thread most people miss: oil prices and energy security. We talk about why tanker flow does not snap back to “normal,” why insurance markets matter as much as missiles, and how Strategic Petroleum Reserve decisions can collide with the public story being told about stability. When leaders float the word “blockade,” shipping firms and underwriters do the math, and the result can be higher costs, slower trade, and more opportunity for miscalculation. Then we widen the map to Syria and Lebanon, including the stunning normalization of Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, and the idea of sending battle-hardened fighters toward Hezbollah. From there, we get into Israel's brewing conflict with Turkey, Trump's openness to F-35 sales to Erdogan, and why the jet is as much about control and lock-in as it is about performance. We close with a domestic warning about NDAA Section 219 and why calling Congress may be one of the few levers the public still has.

The White House lowered its flags to half staff to honor the life of Senator Lindsey Graham after he died at the age of 71. President Trump described the Senator as a 'true American patriot' and ‘one of the greatest people and Senators' that he has ever known. A medical examiner released preliminary finding that Graham suffered from an aortic dissection. South Carolina will hold a special primary to elect a new Republican nominee in the race for his seat.U.S. Central Command says it has completed another wave of strikes against Iran, hitting dozens of targets in multiple locations. The operation involved U.S. fighter aircraft, naval vessels, and one-way attack drones. Iran has claimed it closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S. strikes, but CENTCOM rejected that claim, saying the key waterway remains open and commercial traffic is continuing. Iraq's prime minister is visiting Washington on Monday to strengthen ties with the United States, with expected oil and gas agreements aimed at boosting investment and production.The World Cup semifinals are set, with France, Spain, Argentina, and England just one win away from the final. France and Spain will meet on Tuesday in Dallas, while defending champion Argentina takes on England on Wednesday in Atlanta. The winners of the two semifinals will meet in the World Cup Final next on July 19th at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

Le tensioni per il ‘controllo' dello stretto di Hormuz riaccendono la guerra in Medio Oriente tra Usa e Iran. Ieri sera gli Stati Uniti hanno comunicato di aver lanciato ulteriori raid contro l'Iran “per indebolire la sua capacità di attaccare le navi nello Stretto”.

Today on Face the Nation, breaking overnight: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has died from what his office calls a "brief and sudden illness" at the age of 71. We'll have the latest and we'll talk with fellow South Carolina Senator Tim Scott about his impact in Washington and beyond. Plus, new developments overseas as U.S. Central Command has launched a new wave of strikes against Iran after its military force attacked a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, in defiance of U.S. demands to keep the waterway open. What's next for the security of the region, after President Trump declared that fragile ceasefire deal to be "over"? We'll be joined by former CENTCOM commander Frank McKenzie, Republican Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, and Israel's Ambassador, Dr. Michael Leiter. We'll also talk with Democrat Rahm Emanuel, who's just back from delivering a speech in Tel Aviv about the future of U.S.-Israeli relations. It's all just ahead, on Face the Nation.

VOV1 - Quân đội Mỹ tối 11/7 (theo giờ Mỹ) cho biết đã tiến hành vòng không kích thứ ba trong tuần này nhằm vào Iran, đánh trúng khoảng 140 mục tiêu quân sự, sau khi Tehran bị cáo buộc tấn công một tàu hàng tại eo biển Hormuz và tuyên bố đóng cửa tuyến hàng hải chiến lược này.Theo Bộ Tư lệnh Trung tâm Mỹ (CENTCOM), các cuộc không kích vào Iran được thực hiện theo lệnh của Tổng thống Donald Trump và bắt đầu vào khoảng 16 giờ 15 phút (giờ miền Đông nước Mỹ) ngày 11/7. Đây được xem là đợt đáp trả mới nhất của Washington sau vụ một tàu container mang cờ Síp bị tấn công khi đi qua eo biển Hormuz.CENTCOM cho biết các mục tiêu bị tấn công gồm các bệ phóng tên lửa và máy bay không người lái, năng lực tác chiến hải quân, các kho chứa đạn dược, mạng lưới thông tin liên lạc và các hệ thống giám sát ven biển của Iran. Theo quân đội Mỹ, đợt không kích đã đánh trúng khoảng 140 mục tiêu quân sự trên lãnh thổ Iran.Còn trong bài đăng trên mạng xã hội X cùng ngày, Bộ trưởng Quốc phòng Mỹ Pete Hegseth khẳng định Iran đã “đưa ra một lựa chọn tồi” khi tấn công tàu thương mại và tuyên bố đóng cửa eo biển Hormuz. Ông Hegseth khẳng định Iran sẽ phải trả giá cho quyết định sai lầm của mình.CENTCOM cho biết vụ tấn công của Iran khiến một thành viên thủy thủ đoàn dân sự mất tích, con tàu bốc cháy và hư hại nặng ở khoang máy, không thể tiếp tục hành trình. Quân đội Mỹ cáo buộc Tehran một lần nữa không tuân thủ các cam kết trong bản ghi nhớ giữa hai bên và khẳng định các cuộc không kích nhằm làm suy giảm khả năng của Iran trong việc tấn công tàu thương mại và tàu dân sự qua eo biển Hormuz.Các cuộc không kích diễn ra trong bối cảnh truyền thông Iran đưa tin nước này đã đóng cửa eo biển Hormuz sau khi bắn “phát súng cảnh cáo” vào một con tàu mà Tehran cho là đi theo tuyến đường không được phép.Phía Iran cho biết, họ đã bắt đầu chiến dịch đáp trả trận không kích của phía Mỹ bằng việc tấn công căn cứ của Mỹ tại các nước Vùng Vịnh như Jordan, UAE, Qatar và Bahrain.Quang Trung/VOV-WashingtonBộ Chỉ huy Trung ương Hoa Kỳ (CENTCOM) tấn công nhằm vào các mục tiêu quân sự của Iran. Ảnh: Reuters

Friday, July 10, 2026   Today, Mexico is seeking criminal charges over deaths linked to ICE after the fatal shooting of a Houston man; the family of a man found dead off Horn Island in Mississippi is calling for a transparent investigation; US commanders ignored warnings of outdated intelligence ahead of the strike that killed 168 students in Iran; Graham Platner has suspended his campaign but still hasn't filed the paperwork to withdraw; Governor Pritzker in Illinois has signed a law protecting transgender patients from the federal government; Senator Markey goes scorched earth on Seth Moulton for throwing trans kids under the bus; after being ousted from Late Night, Steven Colbert gets a record 9 Emmy nominations; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News. The Daily Beans is proud to partner with Miles Taylor and our friends at DEFIANCE.org For a limited time, members of the Daily Beans community can receive a FREE 3-month full membership to DEFIANCE.org and gain access to one of the fastest-growing pro-democracy movements in America. Join here: https://www.defiance.org/beans Thank You, HomeChef For a limited time, get  50% off and free shipping for your first box PLUS free dessert for life!  HomeChef.com/DAILYBEANS.  Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Join The Daily Beans and give a gift today to ensure The Trevor Project can continue its crucial work in the face of continued challenges. 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You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 9, 2026. We open with Mayor Zoran Mamdani's map of immigrant neighborhoods in New York City — and a glaring omission that Louis takes personally. Little Italy isn't on it. Neither are the Irish neighborhoods or the Jewish neighborhoods. What is on it? Little Palestine, Little Pakistan, Little Odessa, and 27 other enclaves — a deliberate cartography of division that tells certain communities where they belong and erases the immigrant story that built New York in the first place. We make the distinction between a melting pot — where you bring your culture and become American — and a mixing bowl, where a city planner plants a flag and tells you to stay in your lane. Put Little Italy on the map. Put the whole beautiful, messy, glorious immigration story on the map. That is New York. That is America. In our Top 3 Things You need to Know, fresh explosions hit southern Iran — but CENTCOM says the U.S. was not behind them, and Israel said the same, as Iranians buried their former Ayatollah Khomeini for the first time since his death in March, having been too afraid to hold the funeral until now. Then Graham Plattner dropped out of the Maine Senate race after a fourth woman came forward with sexual assault allegations — with the Maine Democratic Party now scrambling to name a replacement by June 27th, having defended Plattner right up until the moment the polls shifted against him. The Democrats didn't discover morality. They discovered math. And an illegal alien from Slovakia was arrested in New Jersey for registering to vote and casting a ballot in the 2022 elections — proof once again that the thing that never happens keeps happening, and that the Save America Act cannot wait. We also cover Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum threatening legal action against the United States after ICE officers shot a Mexican national who allegedly used his vehicle as a weapon against federal agents in Houston. We have a suggestion for President Sheinbaum — if she is genuinely concerned about how Mexican citizens are being treated during U.S. immigration enforcement operations, she could simply tell them to go home. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson answer the listener question of why it's so hard to find couple friends — and the answer turns out to be equal parts logistics, life seasons, and the quiet devastation of watching a couple you love fall apart. Teri and Kimberly talk about the friends they found through their children's sports, the couples who drifted away when the games ended, the dream scenario of children who marry each other's best friends' children, and the husband-centric theory of male friendship — guys don't have friends, they have wives, and their wives have friends, and those friends have husbands. We enter week four of the Mitch McConnell hospital saga — still no quotes, still no specifics, still no clarity on why he's there or what his condition actually is. We contrast this with John Fetterman, who disclosed his stroke within 48 hours of it happening and his clinical depression diagnosis the day after checking himself into Walter Reed — even though depression was far more politically embarrassing than a stroke. The public doesn't need every medical detail. It needs to know which box to put its senator in. Four weeks in, we still don't know. In our Digging Deep segment, a Real Clear Investigations report compares U.S. crime rates to Canada and Australia using victimization surveys rather than police reports — and the results demolish the international media's narrative. Overall violent crime in Canada is 295% higher than in the U.S. In Australia, assaults are 227% higher and rape is 355% higher. The reason U.S. crime statistics look worse is that Americans are far more likely to call the police when they become victims. We make the case that the anti-American crime narrative isn't about journalism — it's about political control. If Canadians and Australians found out they would be safer with guns, their governments would have a much harder time keeping them disarmed. 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Honesty is such a lonely word. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump announced multiple times this week that the United States' fragile ceasefire with Iran was over. The announcement came in the midst of a continued escalation in attacks between the two countries. CENTCOM announced that the U.S. struck at least 170 Iranian targets this week alone in retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss the developments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

VOV1 - Đêm 9/7 là đêm thứ 3 liên tiếp, nổ lớn tiếp tục được ghi nhận tại một số địa điểm ven biển phía Nam Iran. Truyền thông khu vực nghi ngờ đây có thể là các cuộc tập kích do Israel tiến hành, dù nhận định chưa được các bên xác thực.Theo truyền thông nhà nước Iran, nhiều tiếng nổ lớn được nghe thấy phát ra từ nhiều khu vực ở phía Nam Iran, trong đó có thành phố Bushehr, nơi đặt nhà máy điện hạt nhân do Nga xây dựng, cùng các thành phố Konarak và Choghadak. Tuy nhiên, bản chất các vụ nổ chưa được xác định.Cùng lúc, đài CNN dẫn lời một quan chức Mỹ khẳng định lực lượng Mỹ tại khu vực đang không tiến hành bất kỳ hoạt động quân sự nào ở Iran. Điều này làm dấy lên hoài nghi trong dư luận về khả năng Israel có thể đã tấn công Iran.Bởi trước đó, trong một tuyên bố chiều qua, Bộ trưởng Quốc phòng Israel Israel Katz khẳng định quân đội nước này sẵn sàng mở lại chiến dịch tấn công chống Iran, nếu cần thiết. Ông Katz nhấn mạnh quân đội Israel vẫn đang trong trạng thái cảnh giác cao độ, sẵn sàng mở lại cuộc chiến vào Iran để giành lại ưu thế không quân tuyệt đối và loại bỏ các mối đe dọa. Tuy nhiên, cho đến sáng sớm nay, truyền thông cũng như giới chức Israel, chưa đưa ra bình luận về nghi vấn quân đội nước này đã tấn công vào Iran.    Liên quan đến phản ứng của Iran với chiến dịch tập kích liên tiếp trong 2 ngày 8-9/7 của lực lượng Mỹ, Bộ Ngoại giao Iran chiều qua ra tuyên bố cực lực lên án việc quân đội Mỹ tấn công hạ tầng dân sự tại Iran. Tehran gọi đây là những cuộc tấn công tàn ác, bệnh hoạn và cấu thành tội ác chiến tranh nghiêm trọng.    Trước đó, truyền thông nhà nước Iran đưa tin các cuộc không kích của quân đội Mỹ đã làm hư hại 2 cây cầu đường sắt nối giữa thủ đô Tehran và thành phố thánh địa Mashhad ở phía Đông nước này. Ngoài ra, hàng loạt công trình dân sự tại khu vực ven biển phía Nam Iran đã bị oanh tạc, gây hư hại, một số bị phá hủy hoàn toàn.Về thương vong, Bộ Y tế Iran cho biết các cuộc không kích của lực lượng Mỹ vào Iran khiến tổng cộng 14 người chết và 78 người bị thương. Đây là thương vong nghiêm trọng nhất do hoạt động tấn công của quân đội Mỹ gây ra tại Iran trong 3 tuần qua, kể từ sau khi hai bên đạt được thỏa thuận sơ bộ hôm 17/6.Theo thông báo hồi trưa qua của Bộ Tư lệnh Trung tâm Mỹ đặc trách khu vực Trung Đông (CENTCOM), lực lượng Mỹ đã phát động đợt tập kích quy mô lớn mới trong sáng 9/7, đánh phá 90 cơ sở quân sự trên khắp Iran. Trước đó, CENTCOM cho biết đã tấn công và phá hủy hơn 80 mục tiêu tại Iran trong loạt cuộc không kích ngày 8/7. CENTCOM khẳng định chiến dịch oanh tạc nhằm đáp trả việc Iran tấn công các tàu hàng tại eo biển Hormuz, vi phạm thỏa thuận ngừng bắn đã ký kết giữa hai bên./.PV Bá Thi / VOV Ai CậpIsrael và Mỹ tiến hành các cuộc tấn công vào Iran, tại Tehran hôm 28/2. Ảnh: Reuters

The United States military is again striking Iran as the remains of the ceasefire appear to be crumbling. US Central Command is saying these strikes were at the direction of President Trump.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CannCon and Alpha Warrior kick off with a Chuck Grassley bombshell claiming Jack Smith's own office mishandled classified material while prosecuting Trump, then dig into what that could mean for the special counsel himself. From there the two go head to head, genuinely head to head, over the unraveling Graham Platner scandal in Maine and whether a similar controversy around his would be replacement holds up to scrutiny. It gets spirited. The guys also revisit new details from the Tyler Robinson trial, including a disputed unspent round and fresh interview timelines. On the geopolitics side, Iran and the US trade blows again in the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM rolls out strike footage, and Trump fields pointed questions about skipping the new Air Force One over security concerns. Sponsor breaks, tech gremlins, and plenty of banter round out the show.

U.S. forces have carried out another round of strikes against Iran, targeting military sites along the country's coastline. U.S. Central Command said Monday's operation was aimed at reducing Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM says it struck about 90 Iranian military targets, including air defense systems, missiles and drone storage sites, naval assets and logistics infrastructure. CENTCOM says more than 20 U.S. Navy warships are now patrolling waters across the Middle East, and that U.S. forces remain ready to conduct additional operations if ordered.Graham Platner, the Senate candidate and self-described progressive from Maine, has dropped out of the race for one of Maine's Senate seats. It comes after mounting calls from within his own party, following a sexual assault allegation. In the state's primary last month, Platner was contending with Janet Mills, who won 41,000 votes compared to his 156,000 votes. Maine is a top target for one of the four seats Democrats need to gain to take control of the upper chamber. His replacement will be up against long-time Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who's held her seat since 1996.Bonnie Tyler, the three-time Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star, has died at the age of 75. A statement from her family says she died in a hospital in Portugal, where she was being treated for an illness. Tyler was known for her iconic gravelly tone, which helped her send her song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" to the top of the charts. Some of her other famous releases include "Holding Out for a Hero," "It's a Heartache," and "Lost in France." She represented Britain in the 2013 Eurovision Song contest, and was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for her contributions to music.

The Middle East is shaking on every side right now, and the headlines are lining up like pieces on a prophetic chessboard. Trump is in Turkey, strengthening ties with Erdoğan and signaling that he may reverse the F-35 ban and lift sanctions tied to Turkey's Russian S-400 purchase — even as Israel has reportedly warned that arming Turkey with F-35s could destabilize the regional balance of power. At the very same time, the U.S. has restarted strikes against Iranian targets after renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with CENTCOM calling Iran's actions a violation of the ceasefire. Hey, Christian, if you've been waiting for the end times to start, you're already late to the party.“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:7,8 (KJB)On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, then comes Macron, the man we are watching closely as the possible, and probable, biblical man of sin, walking into Damascus like he owns the place to meet Syria's new president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. During that visit, two IEDs exploded near the Four Seasons Hotel where Macron was staying, wounding at least 18 people, while Macron continued his meeting with al-Sharaa at the presidential palace. That is an astonishing visual. Western diplomacy blessing a rebranded jihadist regime, bombs rocking Damascus, Iran burning again, Turkey being courted, and Israel surrounded by shifting alliances. This is Middle East Turmoil in every sense of the phrase – war, diplomacy, betrayal, reinvention, and prophetic foreshadowing all colliding at once. The world calls it stabilization, reconstruction, NATO strategy, and regional diplomacy. Now, the world may be confused watching all of this unfold, but the student of prophecy knows what's going on. The nations are moving, the alliances are shifting, Damascus is shaking, Iran is raging, Turkey is rising, and Europe is inserting itself into the heart of the Middle East. Welcome to Day 2,307 of 15 Days to Flatten The Curve, and Day 130 of World War Trump in Iran. It's a great day for an end times Podcast, so let's get after it…TO THE FIGHT!!!

More strikes launched on Iran today.  The news came in a CENTCOM post on X...where they said the U-S is holding Iran accountable for the attacks on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz the other day.  Joining me now LIVE with more is The Hill's Ashleigh Fields.

VOV1 - Lực lượng Mỹ tại khu vực vừa thông báo đã mở thêm các đợt tập kích mới vào Iran, chỉ ít giờ sau khi phát động đợt không kích đầu tiên nhằm đáp trả vụ Iran tấn công tàu hàng tại eo biển Hormuz. Iran chưa tiến hành tấn công đáp trả, nhưng thề sẽ giáng đòn trả đũa thảm khốc.Thông báo vừa công bố của Bộ Tư lệnh Trung tâm Mỹ đặc trách khu vực Trung Đông (CENTCOM) cho biết đợt tập kích mới đánh phá hơn 80 mục tiêu tại Iran. Đòn giáng nhằm đáp trả việc Iran tấn công tàu hàng tại eo biển Hormuz. Trong số các mục tiêu vừa bị tập kích có các hệ thống phòng không, thiết bị chỉ huy và giám sát, các trận địa radar và tên lửa ven bờ, cùng hơn 60 xuống cỡ nhỏ của Vệ binh Cách mạng Hồi giáo Iran (IRGC). CENTCOM khẳng định lực lượng Mỹ vẫn trong tình trạng sẵn sàng và quyết tâm buộc Iran phải chịu mọi trách nhiệm liên quan, nếu thỏa thuận ngừng bắn không được tuân thủ hay chấp hành.Truyền thông Iran xác nhận nhiều tiếng nổ lớn tiếp tục được ghi nhận trong sáng nay tại khu vực đảo Qeshm ở eo Hormuz và đảo Kharg trên vịnh Ba Tư. Tuy nhiên, các chi tiết liên quan chưa được công bố. Trước đó, Iran thông báo lực lượng Mỹ đã tấn công thành phố cảng Sirik, đảo Qeshm và cảng Badar Abbas trên vịnh Ba Tư.Đây là lần đầu tiên kể từ sau đợt giao tranh cuối tháng 6/2026, lực lượng Mỹ tấn công vào Iran. Leo thang bùng phát đúng thời điểm Iran đang tổ chức lễ quốc tang Đại giáo chủ Ali Khamenei, người đã thiệt mạng trong trong chiến dịch không kích mở màn của Mỹ và Israel vào Iran hôm 28/2. Hiện tại, các nghi thức liên quan lễ tang, đang được tổ chức tại Iraq.Phản ứng về chiến dịch tập kích của lực lượng Mỹ, Bộ Chỉ huy Trung tâm hợp nhất quân đội Iran Khatam al-Anbiya, sáng nay ra tuyên bố khẳng định các lực lượng vũ trang Iran sẽ giáng đòn trả đũa thảm khốc. Tuyên bố đồng thời cảnh báo lối di chuyển an toàn duy nhất với tàu thuyền qua eo Hormuz, là theo chỉ định của Tehran. Tuy nhiên, biện pháp đáp trả cụ thể của Iran với đòn tập kích của lực lượng Mỹ, không được đề cập.Giới phân tích khu vực cho rằng nhiều khả năng Iran sẽ trì hoãn tấn công trả đũa cho đến khi lễ tang Đại giáo chủ Ali Khamenei kết thúc vào ngày mai 9/7. Trước đó, trong các lần đụng độ hồi tháng 5 và tháng 6, Vệ binh Cách mạng Hồi giáo Iran (IRGC) thường lập tức tung đòn giáng trả vào các căn cứ Mỹ đặt tại khu vực, chỉ vài giờ sau khi lực lượng Mỹ tập kích vào Iran./.Bá Thi/ VOV Ai CậpKhói bốc lên từ đám cháy sau một vụ nổ ở Bandar Abbas tại Iran. Ảnh reuters

Chuck Todd opens with the Iran ceasefire collapsing as the U.S. and Iran trade strikes again — but the real story, he argues, is that the U.S. military just inadvertently revealed Trump was lying about the war all along. The targets American forces hit in this latest round were the very targets Trump claimed weeks ago had already been destroyed; either Iran somehow reconstituted its entire military in a single week, or the president lied to the country, and CENTCOM's own report makes clear which it was. He warns that lying about war is historically not a small thing for a president to survive, no matter how badly Trump wants to memory-hole the entire episode. He then turns to the escalating Democratic fight over taxing billionaires, taking a characteristically nuanced position: billionaires are genuinely undertaxed, but "tax the rich" doesn't work as actual policy the way it works as a slogan, the loopholes built into the code exist to avoid unintended consequences, and the changes to the inheritance "death tax" are responsible for an enormous share of current inequality. He assesses Zohran Mamdani taking a victory lap as the new face of the DSA (and increasingly comfortable as a face of the Democratic Party), praising him as a genuinely compelling performer and possible heir to the Bernie movement while questioning whether his story can travel beyond New York City. He closes with one of his favorite structural arguments — that the far-left and far-right are now feeding off each other's fear, that a faction doesn't need to capture the whole country, just one congressional caucus, and that the founders' actual protection against factions was supposed to be a multitude of them — which is exactly why the House was meant to scale with the population and why Congress's choice to freeze its size needs to be reversed. He also looks ahead at fascinating Colorado primaries. Finally, he hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to explain the origin of the name of the bikini swimsuit, and why America’s relationship with nuclear technology changed over time. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Asl Chuck” segment. From the opening whistle to the final kick. Bet on a match and get bonus bets for every goal scored at Fanduel.com Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 05:15 U.S. and Iran trade strikes again, ceasefire not holding 06:15 The U.S. military basically revealed Trump was lying about the war 06:45 Historically, voters don’t accept lies from presidents about war 07:30 The targets the U.S. hit were targets Trump said were already destroyed 08:30 Three weeks ago Trump said Iran had nothing… clearly it wasn’t true 09:15 Making the case that Trump is full of shit isn’t hard* 10:30 Either Iran reconstituted its military in a week, or Trump lied. 11:15 CENTCOM’s report shows that Trump lied to the country 13:15 Trump announced on his birthday that he had ended the war 14:00 Handing Iran billions of dollars is hardly the “surrender” Trump proclaimed 15:45 Lying about war is not a small thing for a president to do 17:15 Trump thought he could memory-hole the Iran war, Iran won’t let him 17:45 There’s a right way to tax billionaires, but it’s not currently being proposed 19:00 Billionaires are undertaxed, but tax policy doesn’t work as a slogan 19:45 Loopholes are built into the tax code to avoid unintended consequences 20:30 Reforms to the inheritance tax allow the wealthy to avoid taxation 21:45 Closing other loopholes could raise hundreds of billions 23:00 Taxing billionaires is fine, but you can’t mess up tax code in the process 24:30 The Newsom vs. Khanna fight - Both are making good points 25:00 A state level wealth tax could create a shortfall in the long term 25:45 The “death tax” change is responsible for much of the current inequality 26:30 “Fair share” polls well, but requires major changes to the tax code 27:30 Tax reform isn’t simple or quick, requires real work from congress 28:15 Mamdani takes a victory lap, wants to be face of the DSA movement 29:30 Mamdani is fine with being the face of the Democratic party 31:00 Mamdani is telling a compelling story, but can it go beyond NYC? 33:00 Mamdani had a weak defense of the Dan Goldman coffee incident 34:00 Mamdani is very good as a performer, could be heir to Bernie movement 35:45 The far-left and the far-right are feeding off of each other 36:30 Trump ramps up rhetoric against DSA, calls them “godless communists” 37:30 The DSA and Trump both working off the fear of each other 38:45 A faction doesn’t need to capture the country, just one caucus 39:30 The founders’ protection from factions, was a multitude of factions 41:30 The House of Representatives was supposed to scale with the country 43:15 Congress chose to stop letting the House grow, needs to change 46:45 The Colorado primaries will be fascinating 48:15 Michael Bennett has to carry the banner of being a D.C. creature 48:45 John Hickenlooper facing a viable challenge from the left 50:30 The DSA candidate for congress is ahead in the polls 55:15 ToddCast Time Machine 56:15 July 1946 The bikini swimsuit named after atomic bomb test 58:45 Both fear and optimism rose about nuclear technology 59:30 We didn’t have an enemy yet with an atomic bomb 1:00:15 The atom wasn’t viewed just as a weapon, but as the future 1:01:45 We were exporting the atomic age and that seemed cool 1:02:15 The people on bikini atoll were being told to leave their homes 1:03:15 The vibe changed once the Soviets detonated their first bomb 1:04:15 Very few people know why the bikini swimsuit carries its name 1:05:45 Ask Chuck 1:06:00 Do you see somebody jumping into ‘28 presidential race prior to midterms? 1:11:15 What do you think happened in the meeting between Trump & senators? 1:19:15 Thoughts on college athletics eligibility changes? 1:22:15 Thoughts on straight-ticket voting? 1:24:15 Is the premise that moderate Democrats are more “electable” overstated? 1:31:45 Would reforms that redistribute power meaningfully improve our system? 1:33:45 Any go-to books on civics and the constitution?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens with the Iran ceasefire collapsing as the U.S. and Iran trade strikes again — but the real story, he argues, is that the U.S. military just inadvertently revealed Trump was lying about the war all along. The targets American forces hit in this latest round were the very targets Trump claimed weeks ago had already been destroyed; either Iran somehow reconstituted its entire military in a single week, or the president lied to the country, and CENTCOM's own report makes clear which it was. He warns that lying about war is historically not a small thing for a president to survive, no matter how badly Trump wants to memory-hole the entire episode. He then turns to the escalating Democratic fight over taxing billionaires, taking a characteristically nuanced position: billionaires are genuinely undertaxed, but "tax the rich" doesn't work as actual policy the way it works as a slogan, the loopholes built into the code exist to avoid unintended consequences, and the changes to the inheritance "death tax" are responsible for an enormous share of current inequality. He assesses Zohran Mamdani taking a victory lap as the new face of the DSA (and increasingly comfortable as a face of the Democratic Party), praising him as a genuinely compelling performer and possible heir to the Bernie movement while questioning whether his story can travel beyond New York City. He closes with one of his favorite structural arguments — that the far-left and far-right are now feeding off each other's fear, that a faction doesn't need to capture the whole country, just one congressional caucus, and that the founders' actual protection against factions was supposed to be a multitude of them — which is exactly why the House was meant to scale with the population and why Congress's choice to freeze its size needs to be reversed. He also looks ahead at fascinating Colorado primaries. Then, Alvaro Bedoya — the former FTC Commissioner whom Trump fired in an unprecedented break with a century of agency-independence norms — joins the Chuck Toddcast to explain why his firing matters far beyond his own career, and what it reveals about the collision between corporate power and consumer protection in the Trump era. Bedoya makes the legal case plainly: removal "for cause" is clearly written into the law, Congress needs to codify FTC independence, and while he's skeptical this Supreme Court will rule in favor of agency independence, the circumstances of his dismissal are damning — he believes he was fired specifically for suing companies that happened to be Trump donors. The Amazon case is his exhibit A: the FTC was actively pursuing Amazon until Trump intervened, and after Amazon funneled millions to Trump, the investigations simply evaporated — proof, Bedoya argues, that existing laws against bribery and corruption clearly aren't working. He walks through the sprawling, well-funded lobbying effort against meaningful privacy legislation, and offers vivid examples of how unchecked data collection harms ordinary people. His prescription is structural: America needs genuine restrictions on what data can be collected and how it can be used, paired with serious antitrust enforcement — but the agencies tasked with that work have been starved of the resources they need. The conversation opens up into a fascinating, wide-ranging debate about monopoly power and consolidation across the American economy. Bedoya argues that streaming bills were already climbing even before the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger — a deal he believes there's a clear consumer case to block. He notes that Thomas Jefferson once argued for an anti-monopoly amendment in the Bill of Rights, that consolidation has hammered workers across countless industries, and that America is now suffering a genuine "drought of creativity" because of relentless media mergers — pointing out that there are only three serious buyers of documentary films left, and that half of America's TV news archive is about to be owned by a single family. Bedoya is honest about the nuances (Costco throws its weight around but has genuinely been good for consumers; vertically integrated health insurers are universally loathed), wrestles with whether unilateral Democratic executive action is even the answer, and warns that in this environment it's dangerously easy for regulators to simply get overwhelmed. Finally, he hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to explain the origin of the name of the bikini swimsuit, and why America’s relationship with nuclear technology changed over time. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Asl Chuck” segment. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. From the opening whistle to the final kick. Bet on a match and get bonus bets for every goal scored at Fanduel.com Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 05:15 U.S. and Iran trade strikes again, ceasefire not holding 06:15 The U.S. military basically revealed Trump was lying about the war 06:45 Historically, voters don’t accept lies from presidents about war 07:30 The targets the U.S. hit were targets Trump said were already destroyed 08:30 Three weeks ago Trump said Iran had nothing… clearly it wasn’t true 09:15 Making the case that Trump is full of shit isn’t hard* 10:30 Either Iran reconstituted its military in a week, or Trump lied. 11:15 CENTCOM’s report shows that Trump lied to the country 13:15 Trump announced on his birthday that he had ended the war 14:00 Handing Iran billions of dollars is hardly the “surrender” Trump proclaimed 15:45 Lying about war is not a small thing for a president to do 17:15 Trump thought he could memory-hole the Iran war, Iran won’t let him 17:45 There’s a right way to tax billionaires, but it’s not currently being proposed 19:00 Billionaires are undertaxed, but tax policy doesn’t work as a slogan 19:45 Loopholes are built into the tax code to avoid unintended consequences 20:30 Reforms to the inheritance tax allow the wealthy to avoid taxation 21:45 Closing other loopholes could raise hundreds of billions 23:00 Taxing billionaires is fine, but you can’t mess up tax code in the process 24:30 The Newsom vs. Khanna fight - Both are making good points 25:00 A state level wealth tax could create a shortfall in the long term 25:45 The “death tax” change is responsible for much of the current inequality 26:30 “Fair share” polls well, but requires major changes to the tax code 27:30 Tax reform isn’t simple or quick, requires real work from congress 28:15 Mamdani takes a victory lap, wants to be face of the DSA movement 29:30 Mamdani is fine with being the face of the Democratic party 31:00 Mamdani is telling a compelling story, but can it go beyond NYC? 33:00 Mamdani had a weak defense of the Dan Goldman coffee incident 34:00 Mamdani is very good as a performer, could be heir to Bernie movement 35:45 The far-left and the far-right are feeding off of each other 36:30 Trump ramps up rhetoric against DSA, calls them “godless communists” 37:30 The DSA and Trump both working off the fear of each other 38:45 A faction doesn’t need to capture the country, just one caucus 39:30 The founders’ protection from factions, was a multitude of factions 41:30 The House of Representatives was supposed to scale with the country 43:15 Congress chose to stop letting the House grow, needs to change 46:45 The Colorado primaries will be fascinating 48:15 Michael Bennett has to carry the banner of being a D.C. creature 48:45 John Hickenlooper facing a viable challenge from the left 50:30 The DSA candidate for congress is ahead in the polls 56:45 Alvaro Bedoya joins the Chuck ToddCast 58:45 Trump broke a long standing norm to fire Alvaro from the FTC 59:15 Congress needs to codify FTC independence 1:00:15 Firing “for cause” is very clearly written into the law 1:02:15 This Supreme Court unlikely to rule for agency independence 1:02:45 Was likely fired for suing companies that were Trump donors 1:03:30 You want consumers to be protected from political donors 1:05:15 FTC was pursuing case against Amazon until Trump intervened 1:06:45 Amazon funneled millions to Trump, investigations went away 1:07:15 Laws against bribery & corruption clearly aren’t working 1:09:15 How should government tackle consumer privacy protections? 1:10:00 There is a massive lobbying effort against privacy laws 1:11:15 Background actors were being scanned rather than being paid 1:12:15 Privacy can sometimes be an abstract concept to people 1:12:45 Labor unions are the group actually winning in this space 1:15:00 Need protections around privacy, data collection and antitrust 1:15:45 Need restrictions on collecting certain data and how it is used 1:17:15 Against law to use SEC database to solicit donations, not enforced 1:17:45 Agencies have been starved of resources needed for enforcement 1:20:00 Meta has grown massive and Zuckerberg retains total control 1:22:15 The debate about whether to break up the biggest companies 1:23:00 Breaking up AT&T benefitted consumers, ended long distance rates 1:23:45 T-Mobile merger should not have been allowed 1:24:45 Streaming bills going up even before Paramount WB merger 1:28:15 Jefferson argued for an amendment against monopolies in Bill of Rights 1:30:45 Consolidation has hurt workers in a variety of industries 1:31:30 Has there been a consolidation that’s been good for consumers? 1:34:00 Costco throws its weight around, but has been good for consumers 1:35:00 Health insurers are vertically integrated, and consumers loathe them 1:36:15 Iheart’s merger was allowed as an effort to preserve a “dying industry” 1:37:45 Paramount/WB only shot of catching Netflix/Disney is to merge? 1:39:00 Loading up the company with $80B in debt won’t produce a healthy firm 1:39:45 There are only 3 buyers of serious documentary films 1:41:00 Half of America’s TV news archive is about to be owned by one family 1:42:15 There are clear consumer cases for preventing the Paramount/WB merger 1:45:15 There’s been a cycle of innovation, then consolidation 1:46:45 We are suffering a drought of creativity due to mergers 1:49:00 There are antitrust exceptions for co-ops, can FTC encourage them? 1:51:00 Is unilateral Democratic executive branch action the answer here? 1:52:15 In this environment, it’s easy for regulators to get overwhelmed 1:53:00 The White House UFC fight was corrupt 1:55:45 Making the UFC event private at the WH was made it feel dirty 1:58:30 Favorite potential 2028 candidates? 2:00:30 Popular movements are effective pushing back against corporate power 2:02:30 ToddCast Time Machine 2:03:30 July 1946 The bikini swimsuit named after atomic bomb test 2:06:00 Both fear and optimism rose about nuclear technology 2:06:45 We didn’t have an enemy yet with an atomic bomb 2:07:30 The atom wasn’t viewed just as a weapon, but as the future 2:09:00 We were exporting the atomic age and that seemed cool 2:09:30 The people on bikini atoll were being told to leave their homes 2:10:30 The vibe changed once the Soviets detonated their first bomb 2:11:30 Very few people know why the bikini swimsuit carries its name 2:13:00 Ask Chuck 2:13:15 Do you see somebody jumping into ‘28 presidential race prior to midterms? 2:18:30 What do you think happened in the meeting between Trump & senators? 2:26:30 Thoughts on college athletics eligibility changes? 2:29:30 Thoughts on straight-ticket voting? 2:31:30 Is the premise that moderate Democrats are more “electable” overstated? 2:39:00 Would reforms that redistribute power meaningfully improve our system? 2:41:00 Any go-to books on civics and the constitution?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Persistirán lluvias fuertes en el centro y sureste del paísEE.UU. destina más recursos contra el gusano barrenadorIrán responde con ataque a bases de EE.UU. en KuwaitMás información en nuestro Podcast#grc

Today on Uncommon Sense, we're taking a deeper look at the Israel-Iran conflict, the continuing questions surrounding the Epstein files, and the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We'll discuss why these stories continue to dominate public conversation, explore the political and geopolitical questions people are asking, and examine why these events should be viewed together rather than in isolation.--https://www.youversion.com/bible-app

This weeks AI slop is brought to you by GLM 5.1 - a weird model I have never heard of before. Funnily enough, it kinda all sounds the same at this point. Still, half decent job I think. Episode 162 covers a sweeping range of domestic and international news. The budget has cleared the Senate with Greens amendments on NDIS oversight and the blocking of superannuation for housing purchases, while the opposition fumbles its response. Property markets are feeling the chill, with auction clearance rates down and investors spooked by negative gearing changes. In the UK, Keir Starmer has resigned after a failed premiership -- described by one BBC journalist as someone utterly disinterested in the basic skills of leadership -- and Andy Burnham looks set to take over, with market jitters already building around the prospect of Ed Miliband as Chancellor. The Iran memorandum of understanding gets a sceptical examination: it is little more than an agreement to talk, bought by a Trump administration desperate for a pre-midterm win. Meanwhile, US missile stockpiles are running critically low, with an $80 billion replenishment request and a $1.5 trillion total defence budget underscoring the cost of recent conflicts. Back home, One Nation's push for a "monoculture" and forced property sales for permanent residents gets a thorough dismantling, and the global football World Cup, Carlton's AFL resurgence, and England's cricketing woes round out the show.00:25 - Welcome and episode introduction; Hong Kong Jack checks in from a sweltering Hong Kong, discussing the annual exodus of expats on business-class contracts.01:50 - Ukraine's stunning military comeback: a single bridge now links Russia to Crimea, with the rest of claimed territory back in Ukrainian hands.02:38 - The budget passes the Senate. Greens wring concessions on NDIS oversight and block the use of superannuation for housing, but Hong Kong Jack notes the Greens have only agreed to extend the committee talking about the NDIS, not to the measures themselves.04:26 - The opposition's disastrous budget response. Dennis Shanahan's brutal assessment: Angus Taylor was handed a penalty shot with a prone goalkeeper and still missed. Toxic taxes, dangerous deals -- the alliteration that murdered a political attack.07:00 - Tax reform legislation passes the House: the 250 Working Australians Tax Offset, staged tax cuts, and early moves on CGT and negative gearing. But certainty is in short supply -- investors and superannuants are left wondering what the final rules will actually look like.08:31 - Two core failures of the budget: it does almost nothing for growth, and the consequences were not properly thought through.10:01 - Fuel excise suspension: a temporary reprieve, but as electric vehicles soak up 20% of the market and pay zero road tax, a new user-pays model is inevitable. Logbooks, GPS tracking, or something uglier?13:26 - Budget benefits feel distant to renters and the young, while the property market cools. Auction clearance rates have dropped to roughly 50%.16:58 - Negative gearing changes from July 2027: anecdotal evidence suggests investors are already looking to offload. The Treasury forecasts around 2% growth in residential property, but Hong Kong Jack argues a 5-10% drop is politically survivable for most homeowners.18:27 - Teaser for next episode: US congressional stock-picking, Trump and Putin, and broader corruption in public office.18:45 - UK politics. Keir Starmer resigns as Prime Minister -- the seventh PM in ten years. A devastating BBC assessment: "In all my years covering politics, I have never met anyone so lacking in an interest in the skills a leader needs."20:50 - Starmer's fatal flaw: like Kevin Rudd, he governed without the permission of his parliamentary party. He was dismissive of the collegiality Westminster democracy demands.22:57 - Starmer did not go to the palace -- he phoned in his resignation. Hong Kong Jack notes the contrast with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss making the journey to Balmoral.24:12 - Andy Burnham looks certain to become PM, with rivals bought off with portfolios. But if Ed Miliband is appointed Chancellor, bond markets could punish the UK hard.26:00 - UK gilt yields at 6%. The debt interest bill is enormous, and Burnham has not put forward a single policy for reducing government spending or creating growth.26:35 - Burnham's policies: incremental re-nationalisation of railways, and nationalising water services -- requiring massive compensation payments. Not one word on spending reduction.28:59 - Brexit has not delivered. The "Singapore of Europe" model that could have worked was never pursued. Instead, it has destabilised the UK politically and socially.32:06 - The political class resisted what voters wanted on Brexit. That disconnect with the electorate has still not been healed -- the rise of Reform is the evidence.33:47 - Burnham says this is Labour's last chance. Jack the Insider sees potential party fracture; Hong Kong Jack is not convinced it is the death of Labour.38:12 - Did Russia influence Brexit? Jack the Insider argues foreign interference at least played a role; Hong Kong Jack insists it was a genuine grassroots movement.38:56 - Grassroots movements are easily astroturfed. "You can take it to the bank that Putin is having a good old giggle about Brexit."40:50 - Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Iran threatened closure but CENTCOM reports the waterway remains open, albeit not operating normally.42:10 - The Iran MOU gives Trump the political fix he needs before midterms. Approval ratings have cratered to 30%.43:32 - The MOU is merely an agreement to sit down and talk. Nothing in it is guaranteed to appear in a final deal.44:49 - US missile stockpiles: Pete Hegseth requests $80 billion just to replenish. The US fired 130-250 SM-3 interceptors at $28.7 million each, up to 290 THAAD interceptors at $15.5 million each, and over 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles.47:58 - The conflict cost $29 billion in direct expenditures, exposing massive supply chain bottlenecks. The Trump administration now requests a staggering $1.5 trillion total defence budget for FY2027.49:12 - Military innovation Supercharges after conflict: drones, shoulder-fired interceptors, and cheaper alternatives to expensive missile defence systems.50:51 - Spending 3% of GDP on defence is fine in principle, but Australia has wasted enormous sums over decades. The money must be spent better.52:54 - Monoculture. Following Pauline Hanson's National Press Club speech, a deep dive into what "monoculture" actually means -- and whether it means anything at all.54:42 - Denmark's integration model: language tests, employment self-sufficiency periods, civic knowledge programs. Denmark insists migrants become Danish before gaining permanent status.55:41 - Europe's weakness: no pathway to become truly French or German. Turkish guest workers from the 1950s remain Turkish guest workers. Australia's approach has been different.56:32 - One Nation's policy would create tiers of Australians. The proposal to force permanent residents to sell their homes is legally questionable and politically volatile.59:04 - Can the High Court block forced property sales? Hong Kong Jack thinks it probably would not intervene. Jack the Insider sees ugliness: bailiffs at doors, fire sales of homes.01:01:35 - The distinction between permanent residents and citizens: most PR holders see it as a stepping stone to citizenship, but 5-6 year citizenship processing backlogs trap people in between.01:04:06 - Foreign Investment Review Board restrictions already limit student visa holders to properties capped at roughly $1-1.5 million, with mandatory sale within three years of departure.01:07:26 - The monoculture idea cannot work. You cannot have immigration and monoculture simultaneously.01:08:14 - Australian multiculturalism is fundamentally different to the European model that Merkel, Cameron, and Sarkozy all declared a failure in 2015.01:08:57 - One Nation's rise warrants closer examination of where the money and promotion are coming from. Teased for next episode.01:10:45 - Barbecue culture: the undeniable truth that four pints while barbecuing is perfectly acceptable, and Australian outdoor kitchens have reversed the old pattern -- cooking outside, bathroom inside.01:13:46 - FIFA World Cup. Australia's T20 series win over Bangladesh passes almost unnoticed.01:15:12 - 40,000 Colombians in Australia celebrating their team. The ABC tracks down Cape Verde's diaspora -- 20 people in Australia -- including a centre-back who got his international call-up via LinkedIn.01:16:36 - Australia vs Paraguay: a win guarantees progression. The entire nation may stop working at 1:30pm.01:18:27 - A blunt assessment of Australia's performance against the USA: 65% possession for the opposition, very shaky with the ball.01:18:47 - Netherlands looking the strongest at the tournament. Brazil, Switzerland, Norway, and Argentina all impressing.01:20:32 - Erling Haaland's charming post-match interview: "We have France next and they'll probably beat us, but then they'll probably go all the way and win the World Cup."01:22:39 - Rugby Union: is the death of Australian rugby overstated? Ticket sales for the Rugby World Cup are booming at 650,000, but Super Rugby is in decline and may not survive in its current format.01:24:39 - Anti-siphoning laws and the shifting broadcast landscape as telcos muscle into sports rights.01:26:06 - Carlton's extraordinary AFL season: won one, lost eight, sacked the coach, won five straight under an interim. Six players aged 21 or younger, two of them 18. Patrick Cripps is rattling up Brownlow votes.01:27:22 - Harry Dean should win the Rising Star. The forward line works without a monster key forward.01:30:06 - Wade Dirk, the rookie from Darwin, holds Jesse Hogan to one goal while getting 20 touches himself.01:30:52 - Fremantle look the best side in the competition. Buddy Franklin still tips Brisbane.01:31:58 - Collingwood: marking time. The senior champions are still carrying the side while the next generation struggles.01:33:14 - Ben Stokes recalled to the England cricket side -- essentially picked because he is captain. England thrashed by 253 runs by New Zealand at the Oval.01:35:22 - Gideon Ha's devastating summary of England's Oval test: "England hit bottom, keep digging. Five changes, two blokes unavailable because they were on the piss, one bloke out because his wife was pregnant, old stager as emergency captain, no spinner, a backstop as keeper, and four number 11s."01:36:26 - If England lose at Trent Bridge next week, there will be hell to pay. An Ashes tour looms next year.

On Monday's Mark Levin Show, Ben Ferguson fills in for Mark. America must prevail in the ongoing global AI race to prevent China from dominating and using AI to subtly spread propaganda on issues like taxes, censorship, drugs, abortion, and socialism, potentially shaping generations. News Guard is a pro-censorship group hostile to conservatives that blacklists right-leaning outlets, while rating Chinese Communist Party state media like China Daily as far more reliable than conservative sources. By licensing its biased ratings for AI training and supervised learning, News Guard aims to steer AI toward leftist-approved information and suppress conservative viewpoints, amplifying radical propaganda risks if America loses control of AI development. Also, the FBI, under Director Kash Patel, is actively fulfilling President Trump's campaign promise to combat waste, fraud, and abuse while draining the swamp by targeting criminals. The agency has conducted violent crime operations resulting in numerous arrests, illegal firearm seizures, and drug takedowns, alongside sentencing child predators. This marks a shift from prior administrations' use of the FBI for political censorship, to now focusing on real crimes. Meanwhile, Gov Gavin Newsom is a prime example of entrenched corruption. There's a DOJ investigation into Newsom and his wife Jennifer's finances, nonprofit ties, taxes, and business dealings. Newsom might prioritize avoiding jail over a 2028 presidential run, while DOJ is following the money.  Later, a Biden-appointed federal judge in D.C., blocked the Trump administration from using a program to verify citizenship and more quickly remove foreign nationals from state voter rolls. The ruling is activist judicial interference that prioritizes illegal aliens over the law requiring elections to be reserved exclusively for American citizens, enabling voter fraud as part of a Democratic open-border strategy to flood the country with illegal immigrants, secure their votes through benefits, and fundamentally transform America. Finally, despite Iranian threats and a Saturday proclamation closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel's actions against Hezbollah, tankers continue moving through the waterway. CENTCOM stated Iran does not control the strait, confirmed ongoing traffic with 55 merchant ships transiting and over 17 million barrels of oil reaching global markets, lowered the risk advisory to moderate, and affirmed U.S. forces are monitoring to ensure agreement compliance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What builds trust when you don't have a title or position of authority? SUMMARY According to Lt. Col. Joe Bledsoe '11, it's honesty, integrity, humility presence and action. Tune in as he shares practical leadership lessons learned from the Academy, combat aviation and years of mentoring others.   SHARE THIS EPISODE FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   COL. BLEDSOE'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS 1. Leadership starts before the title. People follow your example, ideas, and presence long before you get formal authority. 2. Informal leadership is as real as formal leadership. Class president, wingman, or peer—your influence, credibility, and support role matter even without rank. 3. Be “clay to be molded.” Show eagerness, humility, and effort; people notice fresh attitude and willingness to embrace hard things. 4. You can't lead alone—build a trusted team. Time management and heavy responsibility force you to delegate to people you trust and empower them. 5. Trust has two layers: inherent and earned. Start with inherent trust (shared values, shared background) and deliberately grow earned trust through behavior. 6. Five traits that build credibility fast: Honesty, integrity, humility, presence (actually being there, engaged), and decisive action. 7. Debrief like a fighter pilot: brutally honest, never personal. Separate the person from the performance, do root‑cause analysis, fix errors, and then move on—no re‑litigating. 8. Own your mistakes out loud. Saying “I'm sorry,” “I was wrong,” or “I don't know, but I'll find out” accelerates trust and models humility. 9. Mentors and mentees are non‑negotiable. Continuously seek guidance from those ahead of you and invest in those behind you to sharpen your own thinking. 10. Prioritize relationships and pride in the mission. Treat family and friends well, cultivate the Long Blue Line, and remember you're on the A‑team—act like it.   CHAPTERS 00:00:00 — Opening & Guest Intro Show open, Naviere introduces Lt Col Joe “Paveway” Bledsoe and his career highlights. 00:01:13 — Voluntold to Lead: Becoming Class President Basic cadet training, being “voluntold,” interview gauntlet, and getting elected class president. 00:04:09 — What a Class President Actually Does Informal vs formal leadership, picking the class exemplar (Robin Olds), dining‑ins, spirit missions, and accountability. 00:08:38 — From Future Doctor to Fighter Pilot Arriving at USAFA wanting to be a physician, loving biology and medicine, and the first seeds of doubt. 00:10:03 — Ops Air Force, Powered Flight, and the Pivot Deployed Ops Air Force in CENTCOM, exposure to flying in theater, powered flight, and choosing pilot training over med school. 00:12:22 — Mentors, Family, and Making a Hard Call Mentorship from family, upperclassmen, and permanent party; emotional weight of changing paths and family's reaction. 00:14:08 — Leading Without Rank: Credibility and Trust Informal leadership as a young wingman, lessons from time management and delegation as class president, inherent vs earned trust, and key traits (honesty, integrity, humility, presence, action). 00:22:06 — Fighter Pilot Debriefs & Radical Feedback Culture Brutally honest debriefs, owning mistakes, root‑cause analysis, safety and mission focus, and how that mindset translates beyond the cockpit. 00:27:48 — Leadership at Home: Marriage, Parenting, and ‘Knock It Off' High‑school‑sweetheart marriage, parenting, using accountability and humility with kids, and balancing “fighter pilot” mode with being a husband and dad. 00:30:30 — Future Conflict, Growth, and Pride in the Long Blue Line Risk and future fight, Institute for Future Conflict, exposure to other AFSCs and logistics, daily growth habits (mentors, mentees, reading, writing, running), advice to younger self, and closing message on being proud of USAFA and the A‑team.   ABOUT COL. BLEDSOE BIO Lt. Col. Joseph “Paveway” Bledsoe '11 is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and recognized leader whose career has spanned combat operations, advanced airpower development and service to the Long Blue Line. A native of rural Pennsylvania, Bledsoe graduated from the Academy in 2011 with a degree in biology before earning a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland.  He is Currently assigned to the Institute for Future Conflict at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he studies the future of airpower, emerging technologies and the challenges of great-power competition. Prior to joining the Institute, he helped lead training and operational planning efforts at the 366th Fighter Wing, contributing to major exercises and the wing's first deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. His work bridges the gap between today's operational realities and tomorrow's strategic challenges. A recipient of the Association & Foundation's Young Alumni Excellence Award, Bledsoe is widely respected for his emphasis on faith, family and service. Throughout his career, he has remained deeply connected to the Academy community through mentorship, alumni leadership and a commitment to developing the next generation of leaders. On this episode of Long Blue Leadership, he shares lessons learned from leading peers, building influence before authority and navigating high-stakes decisions in both the cockpit and the profession of arms.   CONNECT WITH JOE LINKEDIN   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LINE PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Please note: we are only considering USAFA graduates as guests at this time. Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org     ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE AT USAFA.ORG/LONGBLUELEADERSHIP AND ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     FULL TRANSCRIPT Guest, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Joe "Paveway" Bledsoe" '11  |  Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99    Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz 0:01 Sometimes leadership begins long before you've ever been put in charge. It starts when people trust you enough to follow your example, your ideas or your vision. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99; Long Blue Leadership starts now. Well, Lt. Col. Joe “Paveway” Bledsoe the Third. Welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Lt. Col. Joe Bledsoe 0:20 Naviere, it's great to see you. Thank you for having me here today. I'm looking forward to the conversation. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:24 So, Joe, your career has been exciting so far, and you're still in it. You know, you have been operational leader, obviously an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. You've been deployed, you have been a researcher, you're a Young Alumni Excellence Award winner for our Association & Foundation, you've been an AOG board director and a fellow for the Institute for Future Conflict. And that, that's just, you know, a short little list, because you're a student heading back into, over to, is it North Carolina, right? Seymour Johnson.   Col. Joe Bledsoe 0:53 That's correct. Seymour Johnson, yep.   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:54 In the cockpit, yeah. Col. Joe Bledsoe 0:56 Yeah, we're super excited. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:59 Yes. Well, we're going to touch on probably many of those places, but I want to dial it back to something that only one graduate in every class experiences, and for you it happened shortly after Basic Cadet Training. Your class selected you as your class president. How did that come about? Col. Joe Bledsoe 1:14 How did that all go down? That's a great question. So there we were, right after basic training. I was in Cadet Squadron 19 for my freshman year, and I got the opportunity — this is one of those voluntold moments, right — where the upperclassmen and BCT cadre said, “Joe,” or “Cadet Bledsoe, report to H-1 during transition week.” That's when everybody's coming back, and you're like, “Sure, yep, yes, sir, yes, ma'am. Here we go.” So I show up with 40, 50 other fourth-class cadets, and we come to find out it was for us, and we were going to go through who was going to be the class officers. So first off, as I look back on that experience, a lot of respect and no humility being asked to go like represent Squadron 19, right? Like, I didn't volunteer, they just kind of pointed me in that direction, so we show up and got to interview with the upperclassmen, class officers, and there's funny interview questions, real serious interview questions. You know, I was just honest, right? Like, I'm here. This is what I think about what being a leader looks like, and how I could help serve the class, not thinking I would ever be selected, right? And as the night is going on, and ACQ is right around the corner, they kind of whittle it down to four or five of us, and we get up in front of the rest of the cadets and classmates that were there, and it was an open forum, like you know, back in Rome times, like you're standing in the gauntlet, Yeah, like it was like Roman voting, right? And asked a bunch of questions, and I remember standing up there with, you know, preppies, prior enlisted, and then me, just like straight off the street, and there's a couple other of us up there, and just answer the questions honestly, and at the end of that, there was a vote, and you know, they read the results, and I was like, "Holy smokes, I'm class president. How did this, how did this happen,” right? And I think there's a lot that — it was daunting at first, right? And then also, like, “This is awesome, I don't know what I'm getting into,” right? I just found out about it. I remember walking back on the Tizo. This was the first time I can say this now, because you know, grad, and I didn't run the strips because the upperclassmen and class officers walked me back, and I distinctly remember to — back to my squadron to — Jordan Kraft and Forrest Underwood walked back and were given some mentorship to me, like here's how to succeed, here's things we would recommend, and it was just an awesome opportunity to like kind of learn what pure leadership looks like, what it means to be in this not org chart that is unique to the Academy, and that's where the, that's where the adventure started for class president. I'm still, I haven't been fired yet, and I still proudly serve the Class of 2011 — Robin Olds' class — as their class president, and it's one of the best jobs that I have the privilege of doing. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 4:10 My goodness. I mean, just to unpack that a little bit, obviously, in basic cadet training, you did enough to impress your cadre, I'm sure that there was probably some sort of cadre selection to bring however many of them forth first. Would you say that you would you agree with that, or is that — am I way off? Col. Joe Bledsoe 4:28 Yeah, I would say —I think when I look back my time at basic training, like I wanted to come to the Academy since I was in your school, right? So, like, I thrived — I'm not saying it was easy by any means, right? We all know that, but I thrived in like this new adventure, right? And I took everything, I embraced everything. I think that may have been something they saw, right? Like I was clay to be molded, right? And I had some prior opportunities in basic to show that to my BCT cadre, and they picked up on it. It wasn't that I was trying, but I think looking back on that experience, there was moments of like my freshness, my eagerness, my like pride in that I made it to basic training, that I wanted to just try as hard as I could, and I think some of that probably shown through, and ultimately may have been why I was selected to go try that interview process, right? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 5:20 So that interview process, at the end of the day, you were elected by your peers, and you know it — to your point — you said in that unusual, the not normal org chart, right, the one that doesn't exist, but yet you have leadership of your class. What did that look like? How did that translate? Because not many of us are class president, I'm certainly not my class president, and so I'm not sure what that leadership role looks like. Can you share a little bit more about some examples? Col. Joe Bledsoe 5:46 Yeah, I think that that leadership role was very different each year, right? As a freshman and a sophomore, as a four-degree and a three-degree, before any official academy leadership position starts to present themselves, that they do for two-degrees and firsties, it was a lot of helping the class stay as a collective whole, right? So one of the first big things as freshmen was selecting our class exemplar, right? And running like — how do, who do we select? How do we come together and figure that process out? How do we then, once we have a name, once we selected Robin Olds, how do we have a formal dining in? Things that I had never even heard of, right? As well as on the other side, the shenanigans, right? So, the spirit missions, right? There was many times I've had to go to the commandant's office and say, I don't know where the class crest is, like, out of pure honesty, right? But, like, that is, that was like a way, as an underclassman, that we kind of got that informal leadership, but also you're the leader by default here, so we're gonna, we're gonna make you accountable for your class. So I got to see both sides, that transitioning a little bit more to two-degree and first a year was now taking a little bit step back in writing in the informal leadership position, so I looked as myself as like a supporting agent, supporting member to our cadet leadership, and I always presented that like, “Hey, if you need our class to do something, I will do that, but if militarily you own that, like, I'm not ever going to step on your toes or push back,” right? The other thing we got, I was able to do is also help provide, like, morale inputs, right? Like you kind of had the pulse of morale, I think, more as the class president sometimes than in the official leadership, so could help provide some inputs along those ways, and there are some, say more shenanigans or morale events that we get to help put forth and present those to the cadet leadership for official approval later on as we firsties. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 8:04 Gosh, well, that was, I mean, it's really insightful for us to understand some of the roles that a class president and class cabinet plays, and so understanding that it's — I like how you put it as a supporting agent to the formal leadership. And we're gonna touch on this a lot more, because I think there's going to be times when you'll share how you build that trust and credibility throughout, both when you're a cadet and as an officer. But before we jump there, I happen to find out, Joe, that you weren't coming to the Air Force Academy to become a fighter pilot, but to become a physician. Can we talk about that for a moment? Col. Joe Bledsoe 8:37 Absolutely, that's absolutely a — I came to the Air Force Academy, wanted to be a doctor. I knew I wanted to be a biology major. I declared, I think, the first day I could declare and went through the gauntlet of getting ready for med school applications, and I loved every second of it. It was awesome. Even my fellow classmates would say he was a huge nerd and studying all the time, because that was my goal, right? I came into the Academy, and I wanted to be a doctor, and I knew the gauntlet that is, that that is required to do such a thing. And I still love medicine, right? I still love — I think medicine is fascinating. Every time my probably get there someday, or in the conversation, but anytime my kids have to go to the ER, like I'm like, “Can I scrub in,” right? All that kind of stuff. Yeah, put me in. I love medicine, and it wasn't till the summer between my two-degree and firstie year did I have that midlife crisis at the age of 21 and then firstie year is when that crisis kind of came to a head, and new doors opened, and here we are today, right? So that, yes, you're absolutely right. Always wanted to be a doctor. I was still fascinated by medicine, but now I'm just a pilot. So, there we go. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 9:57 So, can we, can you expand a bit more on it? So, was it a decision you wanted to make or a decision you had to make? Col. Joe Bledsoe 10:03 Yeah, yeah, that's great. It was a decision I had to make, ultimately, myself. Right? No one, no one said, “Joe, you can't be a doctor.” So, the summer — there's two key things that really happened that helped influence that decision. The first one was the summer between two-degree in firstie year, I had the opportunity to deploy to the Middle East, and we've heard of Ops Air Force. You know Ops Air Force. Well, at that time we had a deployed Ops Air Force, so they sent cadets overseas to deployed locations to see what was, you know, to get the full experience in a deployed location. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 10:40 Wow. Col. Joe Bledsoe 10:40 So I had the opportunity to do that. Spent the summer in CENTCOM and kind of opened my eyes to… Col. Naviere Walkewicz 10:47 Oh, Central Command. Col. Joe Bledsoe 10:47 Yeah, sorry, Central Command, and got to experience — I got attached to a C-130 unit, right, and I got to see what flying looked like in a deployed environment, and I kind of opened my eyes, where I've been hyper focused on medicine, right? Like, you know, so focused on this is what it takes to be a doctor. I kind of like put my blinders on to what the rest of the Air Force did, right? So I was like, “This is pretty, this is, these guys and gals are doing awesome stuff, like this is this is the pointy end of what was going on.” And that planted a seed, that planted a seed. So it came back, firstie year was doing the med school applications, going through, I had some free time in my academic calendar, and I got to go down to the airfield and do the powered flight program. So, I got to see flying over the summer, and then I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to go fly an airplane, and I was like, “OK, the seed was planted, let's see if I get air sick, like, let's see if there's anything else here that might make me not want to do this.” And I loved it. Right, I fell in love with flying down at the airfield. I came back, and I was like, I'm gonna pause the med school applications and put my name in the hat for pilot training, and the rest was history, right? So, doors open, doors close, right? But that was my story, and I loved getting to talk to cadets about that, because so many can be — so many times we see some that are hyper focused, and like there's always other options out there, and it's OK to have a crisis we can talk you through. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 12:23 I think that's a fantastic lesson that you actually learned early, because you know it's interesting — had you not been sent to Ops Air Force at a deployed location, you might not have taken Alex flight, and so you know when you think about leadership opportunities and lessons, this is one of those moments where it actually steered you in a new direction. So, as we think about that, I'm curious, how your family responded to that, because, you know, you had come to the Air Force Academy to be a doctor. Were they happy for you? Were they surprised, a little nervous? Col. Joe Bledsoe 12:57 Yeah, there was a ton of mentorship there, right? Not just from my family, but from upperclassmen peers, permanent party, like, “What are you doing? Like, you came here telling us this was your goal. Where did this new goal come from?” So, there was a lot of time talking that through, and I needed that myself. It wasn't, as you know, in any decision, like, it wasn't a snap decision. So, a lot of time walking through that decision process and leaning on mentors and kind of asking the questions, like I knew what four years of med school, and then residency, but I knew what that like, what does pilot training look like? How long does that take, right? So, a lot of questions to help answer, or to find answers through, and ultimately, my family was super supportive, super supportive, and they still joke, like, “Hey, how come you're not doctor.” Well, because I fly F-15s now, right? But all supportive all throughout the process, right? And that's where you lean on others, right? Lean on others, because it very much felt like a crisis, like I still have scar tissue over it. But looking back on it, it wasn't just me making — I ultimately made the decision, but they helped me through it. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 14:08 That's fantastic. You know, I think about you as an officer, as a fighter pilot, and obviously there's a lot of steps you took to get there on the road was certainly not easy. Often, though, I think that there can be some misconceptions, or maybe this is accurate, that earlier in your pilot life or your aviator life, there's probably not a lot of leadership lessons where you're leading others. Maybe, maybe that's a misperception, and we'd love to talk about that. You know, how do you find the leadership opportunities then when you are, you know, you're party of one, right? You don't necessarily have any direct reports. What does leadership look like there? Col. Joe Bledsoe 14:43 Yeah, can we take that back to like some lessons I learned at the Academy?   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 14:46 Oh, absolutely.   Col. Joe Bledsoe 14:47 Right, I think, I think that's where I've leaned most heavily in, like, not in there's this difference between formal leadership and informal, positional versus informal, and I was blessed enough at a pretty young age to learn the plus — the how to succeed and how to fail in informal leadership. I've tried to carry that throughout my career. So when you say like the younger days of being a wingman in the F-15 community, it's a lot about credibility. It's a lot about that peer leadership. How do you build the credibility? How do you build the trust to be someone that others look up to in that informal system, right, in that informal system. When they look down their phone, like, “Who do I call? Who do I have to call? Who do I want to call?” Right? and I think that's where you have to balance some of that stuff, and I spent time thinking about that, and trying to lean on lessons that I learned from the Academy, and while formal leadership positions were never handed to me, that doesn't mean you're not a leader, right? Like, you can't beat it, doesn't mean you don't just get to sit back and not lead. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 16:02 Can you share an example of a time when you learned that about yourself, or what that looked like?   Col. Joe Bledsoe 16:09 In the flying world? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 16:11 Or as a cadet?   Col. Joe Bledsoe 16:12 Yeah, as a cadet, I think the biggest one was — I'll take it back to, like, freshman, sophomore year, where I learned one of the key pillars that I'm convinced the Air Force Academy teaches all us grads about is time management, right? And I thought I was pretty good at time management, and then when you're now the president of 1,000 other cadets, your inbox fills up very quickly, right? Or you're like, “I thought I was good at time management.” And I learned very quickly that you can't do it alone, right? You can't do it alone, and I had to learn to surround myself with people that I trusted and that I could delegate or hand tasks off to, and just say, “I need this accomplished,” and I did that to my friends that I knew would get the mission done, right? And I had to have that level of trust, and I think that is translated throughout my career, where I inherently trust people with a project, right? I think there's two versions of trust, inherent trust and earned trust. When I look at the graduate network, whether that's the Air Force Academy, Navy, West Point, and I see a class ring, I'm like, “I inherently trust you,” and I can, I believe, or I see some other veterans have on — like, “I inherently trust you,” and then in other cases where I've had to learn and work with people, it's now, “I'm earning your trust, and I hope you're earning mine as well,” and that is this unique balance of I inherently trust you, I learned that at the Academy. Now let's build on that as a foundation and get this earned trust to as high as we can. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 17:54 What does some of that earned trust or becoming more credible look like when young leaders don't have the benefit of time? Right, so I, the more time I work with you, the more I learn about you. You build that credibility, etc. How does one accomplish that, maybe either shorten the gap or do that a little quicker or impactfully earlier? Col. Joe Bledsoe 18:18 Yeah, time is always — like we always need more time, right? How often do you say, like, “I only have 24 hours, but I need more time,” right? So, if we're always fighting time, like, and everybody's fighting time, then, like, that's a constant. So, let's not worry about time. So, I look at it as, like, what traits do people bring to the table, or what traits can we can we sharpen? Honesty, right? Honesty is huge. You have to be honest, and that's a pillar of trust. Integrity, right? Integrity first and showing people that you display integrity is really important. Humility, I think, is also really important. Humility is really important. I was listening to a podcast the other day, and it really struck home to me, a sense of humility is — if a leader is able to say three things, they're gonna — I know I could, I can build that trust, no matter what that time gap is. “I'm sorry,” “I was wrong,” or one of the seven basic responses: “I don't know, but I'll find out,” right? I think that's really important with humility. The other one is presence, not with a T, like we're not giving presents, but presence. Being present is really important character trait in my mind, and the fifth one that I try to reflect on a lot is action. Right? I think defaulting to not doing something is not what we want. That doesn't help build trust. Taking action with what knowledge you have and making a decision is really important, and I think those are the traits that help build that credibility, help build that trust in that time gap, whatever that looks like. If you can hit those, the five that I try to hit home. If you can do that, hopefully you're building that relationship that is going to foster — have great fruition out of it. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 20:06 That's outstanding, and that's really helpful, I think. I love how you took out the constant of time being an excuse, right? Like, we don't always have the benefit of time, whether it's time and getting more experience or just time in general, I think those are outstanding examples of how you can build credibility. So, thank you for sharing that. You know, one of the things that I also would love to kind of dig into a little bit of your experiences, Joe — because they've been really vast, right? So, I don't believe that everyone has the same kind of path. How have you grown as a leader in these different experiences that really, again, aren't positional leadership roles? I'm just curious, how your growth has been in that space. Col. Joe Bledsoe 20:47 Think a lot of it's been through failure. I think a lot of it's been through failure. These might not be huge, like we lost a million dollars, or like, not through those kind of failures, but relationship failures, or conversation failure at the micro level, and how I've tried to handle that is surround myself with people that will tell me that the emperor — I'm gonna go back to the, I'm gonna go back to the old fairy tale, or fable, right? If you surround yourself with people that are able to come up to you, and you trust them, and you trust their feedback, that is something I've tried, that was Cadet Bledsoe, advice given to me is Cadet Bledsoe. Surround yourself with people that you will listen to and take their feedback honestly. And sometimes that means if I don't have that person in the room and I know I fumbled a conversation or I made a poor decision, it's going to that individual and saying, “I messed up, I'm sorry, I was wrong,” or “I don't know,” right. And that's how I try to use that to present humility, I think, and that's important, because we're all fallible, we all make mistakes, and if I can't admit that, then, like, we're off to the wrong foot right away. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 22:06 Do you think some of that that skill that you've developed over time has been something that you've learned in, and forgive me, I don't know if it's a fighter pilot community, specifically, or you know, I think about when you do your sorties and you have some sort of debrief, right? I feel what I've heard, I've not actually sat in one, but they're very real. Like, there's no, it's not about making you feel good about it, like it's about the safety and the mission, and so I'm curious, if that skill of humility, and you know, calling a spade a spade, and calling it I'm wrong and I'm wrong, did that come from some of that experience, and maybe you can talk through what that's like, because not everyone, I think, practices at that level of transparency. Col. Joe Bledsoe 22:46 Yeah, the fighter pilot debrief. I learned some of the importance of that through mentorship as a cadet, and then that was sharpened as a fighter pilot. And I learned the importance of that through the form, my formal job, right, the mission, the lives at stake, aircraft, that kind of stuff. And I think I've tried, I've only honed that skill through Air Force training, right? The Air Force has trained me to think like that, and I've tried to translate that into my personal life and leadership positions, because I think there's tons of value to that. There is tons of value in being willing to find a mistake, own up to that mistake with the knowledge and hope that it doesn't happen again, right? And if that is like, if you, if that's your north star, we don't do this again, like, why wouldn't you want to be on that team? Why wouldn't, why don't you want to be? That's how we get better, right? And I think that seed again was planted as a cadet. Like, let's, I tell cadets all the time, like, you're joining the A-team, so put in A effort, right? Like, if you're going to join the A-team, I don't want B-players, and this is what we got to get, like, let's go, right? It's a motivating factor in my mind. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 24:08 What are some of the ways to approach that in a leadership conversation for someone who would be interested in taking on some of those, those learned lessons? Col. Joe Bledsoe 24:18 Yeah, I think the first thing is transparency and honesty right up front. Like this, Naviere, if we were flying together, right and you were my instructor, your job is not to degrade me as a human, but to prove to me that I made a mistake with the ultimate goal of making me better, right? Your job is to always, like — and the relationship you and I have as an instructor and a student is my — I'm gonna sit here in the debrief and go, and Naviere is here to make me better, right? Like, that's your, that's your job, right? Right. So, once you start that as the foundation, like, it can only get better if I know your job is to make me better, and your job is I'm supposed to make this guy better, right. And often we can, when feedback is provided, you're like, this could be a personal attack, or, like, that's all left out, that's all left outside the debrief room, right? Like, we're here to make everybody better, and I think that's where it starts: with that transparency and honesty up front of the expectation. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 25:15 So you'll actually say that. You would actually… Col. Joe Bledsoe 25:17 No, I think that's just a common, that's a common theme, right? That's the expectation in the community. And not just in the fighter community. I think it's throughout the Air Force, right? I think that's what makes us really, really unique. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 25:32 Because feedback is something that we, we do — although maybe some can do it better than others — I think that's a really fantastic way — before you're giving someone feedback, you're really clear on this is what we're hoping to accomplish by having this time together. And so, I think what you just said can make feedback so much more impactful, because it's not about the person, it's about what are we trying to accomplish and helping you, I guess. It is about you, but ultimately helping you. Col. Joe Bledsoe 25:59 Absolutely, right? Like the where every debrief starts is we had a mission objective and we had tactical objectives. Did we do them? If we didn't, let's figure out why, right? So translating to the business world or private sector, it's a root cause analysis, right? It's a root cause analysis, and we will get down to the nitty gritty of like, what type of error — did you make a decision error? Did you perceive the environment wrong? Did your actions cause the error, right? And we get down to that level, so that when the student, student Paveway walks away, Naviere, knows, Naviere, you gave me the exact, like, you decided wrong, because X, Y and Z; don't do that again. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 26:43 Right. Col. Joe Bledsoe 26:44 Here's your fix. You know, that debrief can take hours, and that's the beauty of it, right? “We're gonna sit there, and we're not gonna let anything not be uncovered, because we're gonna go do this again tomorrow, and we can't make the same mistake tomorrow,” right? “We can't make the same mistake.” Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:01 No, that's, that's fantastic. I mean, to have it that clear, and to know it, like, OK, we're not gonna, we don't stay in that space. We've addressed it, we know we've identified a fix, and we move forward. Is that what you said? Col. Joe Bledsoe 27:12 Absolutely. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:13 There's no like, continue to revisit, like… Col. Joe Bledsoe 27:15 Yep, that's the point, right? Like, “I've learned something, I know, I've acknowledged my mistake. Let's move on. This wasn't personal, this was you making me better.” Iron sharpens iron, right? So, here we go, and then move on. And now that translates, as you asked kind of a couple minutes ago, right, that can translate to so many things in your life, right? And I try to do that sometimes, like my wife will tell me, I go too fighter pilot, but there's versions of that that translate as we are not in a fight or pilot debrief. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:50 You literally got in my head because I was gonna say, now I want to put you on the spot, because Joe, you are married to your high school sweetheart, you make a 2% club, right? Like, you actually started the Academy with a sweetheart and ended with the same sweetheart. And now you have three amazing, beautiful children. How do you translate that to, you know, feedback to your family or your personal life? And I love how your wife said too fighter pilot, but how about to your kids? Col. Joe Bledsoe 28:15 Yeah, married my high school sweetheart, Alicia. We started dating our sophomore year, and we've been together ever since. So she is not a grad, but she has a lot of Air Force in her blood, so that's great, and the kids, I would say there's a couple things when it comes to taking some things I've learned or been trained in the Air Force, translating on the home front. The first one goes to accountability, right? I think accountability is really important because in an aircraft, you have to be accountable for your actions, and I think that translates to being a parent, as well as trying to teach the kids some humility. Right, where to be humble, when to own up to your mistakes, and sometimes that works in the fighter pilot way, sometimes it doesn't, and I think that's leadership, right? You can have leadership skills and be consistent in some, in some ways, but other times adaptability is really important, especially with the kids, and each one of my kids is very unique, and we have to cater to each one of them and their unique skills. I will say about my wife, I love her with all my heart, but she knows the words “knock it off” as well, right, because that's a sacred word, not just in the military, but on our, in our homefront, and that usually means stop being a full fighter pilot, like go back to being Dad, right? So she knows, she knows the words and how to make that all go down. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 29:47 I love that it's another language, right? You have your, your fighter pilot language, and you have a home front language. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. You know, I'd like to switch gears a little bit to your time operationally, and maybe this translates into now your work at the Institute, or your most recent work at the Institute for Future Conflict and preparing cadets for the future fight. I'm curious, how all of these skills that you've learned, and these leadership traits that you've continued to develop in yourself, have translated in moments of, you know, like, real conflict, real distress, like when the stakes are high, and how you prepare cadets to think that way, even though maybe they've not experienced that. I'm just curious, what that looks like. Col. Joe Bledsoe 30:31 Yeah, it is hard to translate — like cadets love war stories, right? Like, “So there I was…” but it's hard to translate some of, like, the putting, having the cadets put themselves in the shoes of someone that has 15 years of flying under their belt, right? Like, that's hard for them to grasp, and I understand that, and that's not what I'm asking of them to do, but there are certain skills that I think are really important, and that I've got to experience and talk to cadets and research and spend time thinking about at the Institute for Future Conflict at the IFC. One is risk, right? How do we, how do we think about risk, right? Are we risk prone? We risk adverse? How do we think about risk, not just in this moment, but how does our decision today affect five days from now, a month, right? And, as you remember, because I know it happened to you as a cadet, like you're just in the, like, “What's my next problem,” right? What's my next — OK, how does, like, fixing this problem affect next week? Right. And I think that's what I've got had the opportunity to think a lot about the IFC, as well as try one thing I've learned being back here at the Academy was my experience as a cadet is not the same experience as the cadets now. And what do I mean by that is when I graduated, GWOT, Global War on Terror was the thing we knew what we were getting into. I very much knew flying, going to the Middle East. Now the cadets looked to me and other permanent party, and like, what's our fight going to look like? And right, the question mark is, I don't know, but let me tell you, think about this, and I could be wrong, and I think that is where I've had a lot of time to think about future conflict and what's problems, maybe not nations or adversaries, but like big meta level things they'll have to think about, information access, information sharing, trust, right? How do you, how do you help develop some of these skills in the cadets? And that's where I've spent a lot of time the last two years trying to think and spend, spend some brain bytes, like what does air power look like in this unknown environment? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 32:52 And as you're about to step back into it, I'm thoughtful of that, and so now you're taking what you've helped cadets start to hone in and think about. How are you different now as a leader going back into the cockpit than you were when you came to the Academy? Col. Joe Bledsoe 33:09 Yeah, let me get back to the cockpit, and everyone can tell me what, how I'm different. We'll use that as the test. But here's one thing I think — I've reflected on this recently, going back to the Strike Eagle community. One has been my exposure here in Colorado Springs and at the Air Force Academy, meaning I've learned a lot about what others do that I wasn't — I knew other jobs existed, I knew other AFSCs did things, but not being in a flying day-to-day ops tempo, I've had the opportunity to sit down and, like, “What do you say you do?” “Oh, that has some effects here, here, and here,” and I use a specific vignette would be, I've got to spend a lot of time in the management department and helped teach in the global logistics minor, and like, I knew there was logisticians in the Air Force, and like, that's yeah, right? That's how stuff got here, but like, understanding the importance of, like, that's how my bombs got here, this is how the b…, right, like, truly understanding their frustrations, I think will make me get less frustrated in my day to day, right, and I think that has been one thing that the Academy has given back to me the second time I've been here, is a little bit more exposure to the Air Force, as well as the Space Force, being here in Colorado Springs, like seeing what each team member, like each cog in the machine brings to the fight, right? And I think that's been a blessing here. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 34:42 So those that you will begin to get back working with — your men and women in your community — they won't have had that exposure, and so I'm now going back to our where we started with the sense of informal leadership. How do you help others gain that experience and thought, and maybe thought process informally, since they haven't really been exposed to that? How would you help them navigate it? Col. Joe Bledsoe 35:09 Naviere, I think the best way to do stuff like that is, like, you raised your hand when you said logistics officers, like Naviere, we're doing a podcast with my next squadron, you're coming to talk, right? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 35:19 Right, it's like that was like a long time ago, we need someone more recent. Col. Joe Bledsoe 35:24 But, OK, Naviere, it's not you, but you know people, that's how stuff gets done, right, that's how stuff gets done. And while I by no means want to stand up in front of everybody and say I'm the expert on logistics, but I, I'm not that person, but I trust Naviere, Naviere's contact here, and that's how, like, you create this network of knowledge and this network of trust and credibility. And to my, to the fighter pilots that I'll be flying with, it's somewhat like throwing mud at the wall sometimes, like we're gonna keep throwing mud and see what sticks, but at least they know it's there, right? Like, we're gonna, your job is still to go kill things and blow things up, but at the same time, you know there's this other network out there that you can lean into. But let me be a conduit to make that happen. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 36:15 That is awesome. That's fantastic. So I want to go into this period now, where we talk about you and your continued growth as a leader. What is something, Joe, that you're doing every day to be a better leader? Col. Joe Bledsoe 36:30 I have mentors, and I've tried to find mentees. I think that is where growth can happen, leaning on others for mentorship and mentees to try to talk through some things you've thought through and give experience and exposure to others, right? And that's that network we were just talking about, right? Other things I think are really important is reading and writing. Read a lot, write a lot, nobody writes good anymore, right? Thanks, ChatGPT. But being able to communicate in the written form is really important. So, writing and reading. And the other thing, too, is as a leader, just find an outlet, find something, find a hobby, find something that's fun to do, right. So, I got into running here at the Academy, because we're at high elevation, and I'm, why not, right? But find something that, like, rounds you out, right? It's fine, find an outlet that helps give you some relief from all the stresses that can happen in leadership. That's where I would say I spend a lot of time, or what I think about trying to sharpen my skills. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 37:34 Daily. So, what are you reading right now? Col. Joe Bledsoe 37:37 Oh, that's a great question. I have a couple books that are on the table. Mask of Command is one that I'm reading as I get ready to go back and potentially be in a leadership role. There's a couple other books that come to mind. I'm reading a baseball coaching book, because I coach my baseball, it's a basketball book by Coach K from Duke, as I go back to North Carolina, but it's a book, how to coach kids, right, Leadership on the Court, and it's fun to just think about training and coaching kids and how to keep them inspired. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 38:18 Oh, that's awesome. So, speaking of kids, if you were to go back in time, and talk to younger Joe Bledsoe, the third, what advice would you give him? Col. Joe Bledsoe 38:30 Yeah, if I had to go back, I would say it's worth it. Every second, work hard at the Academy, right? The doors that it opens, that's where my mind went when you asked the question, like, younger me at the Academy. Be good to Alicia, my wife, right? Be good, because she's going to be with you for a long time. So be good to her, as well as foster your, foster your friendships. They're going to mean a lot to you in the future, right? The relationships you build on that hill are going to come back in ways you have no idea years to come. So take time and prioritize the people that you meet. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 39:10 Those are really great reflections. Joe, is there anything that we haven't covered in our conversation that you would love to share with our Long Blue Leadership listeners and viewers? Col. Joe Bledsoe 39:24 Absolutely, be proud of this institution. I'm proud of it. I know you are too, Naviere. Proud of this Academy. Be proud of the cadets, be proud of the permanent party that work here. There's an A-team out there, and this is this is where it starts, right? And it's not just if you're serving in blue or in the Space Force, right? If you're out there doing awesome things for our country on the private, in the private sector, thank you. Keep doing what you're doing. There's no shade of blue in the Long Blue Line, that's my, my phrase for that one. There's no shade of blue. Serve your country, be proud. And that's — just be proud to be an Academy grad. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 40:07 That's fantastic. So, you know, in our time together, I have loved this, this, this leadership conversation, because we really span an area that I don't think a lot of people talk about, and it's, how do you demonstrate leadership in an informal way, you know, without titles and without necessarily key positions or in the hierarchical structure, and so some of the things that really stood with me, Joe, that you've covered, have been being credible, being present, and humble. I really like that, and you didn't say this in these words, but what I took from that was, you know, being honest and truthful is almost one of the most kind ways you can be right, because you're actually helping someone be better, and that really stuck with me, you know. I don't, we have an A-team, we don't need B-players, that I think you exactly said that, so definitely stuck with me. But watching the way that you have led, not with your class, not just the cadets, and, you know, certainly not the squadron that you will have here shortly as a director of operations, but I think you've continued to just be who you've always been, which is someone who leads with integrity through those pillars and certainly by example. So this has been an incredible conversation, and for anyone that is watching us and listening to this, for others that are in their leadership journeys, this is another one you're going to want to share, because it's not just about, you know, Lt. Col. Bledsoe's journey right now, it's been all of these moments and experiences and memories and they really do connect with anyone on a leadership journey. So, be sure to join in on longblueleadership.org or wherever you get your podcasts, not just to see this one, but all of our other conversations. So, Joe, thank you so much for joining us today. Col. Joe Bledsoe 41:46 Thank you Naviere. Go Air Force! Col. Naviere Walkewicz 41:48 Go Air Force!   Col. Joe Bledsoe 41:49 There we go. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 41:50 Absolutely, until next time, we'll see you on Long Blue Leadership. KEYWORDS informal leadership, peer leadership, Air Force Academy leadership, USAFA class president, fighter pilot debrief culture, building trust and credibility, leadership humility, future conflict and airpower, Long Blue Leadership podcast, military leadership lessons.     The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation          

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Ghost opens episode 115 on the day the Iran deal is officially ratified at Versailles, the Strait of Hormuz is declared open, and CENTCOM lifts the naval blockade entirely. But within hours, Israeli armor columns push north of the Litani River toward Nabatia, four IDF soldiers are killed including a battalion chief, and Iran cancels JD Vance's Geneva meeting in protest. Ghost walks through who actually signed the MOU for Iran (the head of parliament, not the Ayatollah, president, or foreign minister) and why that matters. The centerpiece of the episode is JD Vance's White House podium press conference, where he calls out Smotrich and Ben Gavir by name, reveals that two-thirds of Israel's defensive weapons are American-made and American-funded, and warns that Trump is the only world leader still sympathetic to Israel. Ghost frames this as the clearest American political statement on the US-Israel relationship in modern history. A US-Qatar brokered Lebanon ceasefire is reached Friday afternoon, but the IDF stays in its southern Lebanon security zone. Ghost closes with Naftali Bennett's new political vision for Israel, Laura Loomer calling for the AIPAC Tracker account to be banned, and his broader argument that Israel, Europe, and the Republican Party are all living off American taxpayers.

//The Wire//2300Z June 18, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: MOU SIGNED BY IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES TO BEGIN THE PROCESS TO END THE WAR. UKRAINIAN DRONE ATTACK STRIKES PETROLEUM INFRASTRUCTURE IN MOSCOW.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East: Last night President Trump and President Pezeshkian signed the Memorandum of Understanding to start the process of ending the war. The agreement was signed early, while President Trump was participating in a state dinner with President Macron in Versailles. Two different physical copies of the document were signed, one in English and one in the Persian language of Farsi. Analyst Comment: President Pezeshkian also signed the document on camera in Tehran, and provided scans of the document he signed, and so far the terms themselves are identical to what was disclosed by CNN yesterday, or at least they appear to be. The American copy of the deal has not yet been published by the White House.Strait of Hormuz: This afternoon CENTCOM announced the lifting of the American blockade, and some merchant traffic is moving, with one French LNG tanker, and a few Saudi tankers exiting the Strait overnight. A few dozen other ships have continued to enter/exit the Persian Gulf over the past few days (mostly local or Iranian-aligned traffic), and all shipping has so far used the new Iranian route to the north of the traditional traffic separation scheme.Russia: Overnight, Ukraine conducted a large scale drone attack on Moscow, targeting petroleum infrastructure. Ukraine conducted the attack with hundreds of long-range drones, with most being intercepted before reaching their targets. However, several drones successfully evaded air defenses, striking the Kapotnya Refinery to the southeast of the city.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: The strikes in Moscow are the latest escalation this fighting season, with both sides trading attacks on major cities over the past few months. Russia has been hitting Kiev with hundreds of drones each week, and Ukraine has likewise been targeting Russian oil infrastructure throughout the nation. This is no different than how the war has been fought so far, but at this late hour, the ferocity of the efforts on all sides has become intense. Both sides seek to make as much progress as possible before winter, with the Russians looking to continue their advances on the Eastern Front, while the Ukrainians want to strike deep into Russia to pressure the Russian population and economy. Time will tell how this develops over the next few weeks, but with alleged peace ideations being present on both sides of this conflict, both sides will continue tradition, and try to take ground before approaching the negotiating table once again.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

Episode 114 opens with a War Room clash: Rabbi Wallachie acknowledges that US and Israeli interests are diverging, but Ghost steps in to correct his claim that Hezbollah is simply the Iranian army, walking through its actual origins as a resistance movement. From there, Ghost breaks down a heated Bannon segment where Wallachie denies any Greater Israel expansion plan, a claim Ghost dismantles using Ben Gavir's own statements about expelling Lebanese civilians. At the G7 in France, Trump publicly criticizes Israel's conduct in Lebanon, suggests Syria's Jelani take over the Hezbollah fight, and reveals he was angry about the Beirut strike hours before the Iran deal was finalized. Ghost digs into the Strait of Hormuz numbers discrepancy between CENTCOM's leaked count and Bloomberg's tracker data, and explains why Trump is withholding the full 14 point memorandum until Friday. Putin and Trump's hour long birthday call gets coverage alongside Lukashenko's bombshell claim that the Vatican and Naftali Bennett deceived Putin into pulling back from Kyiv in 2022. The episode closes with Israel's political fallout: Lapid calling Netanyahu's handling an absolute failure, Smotrich and Katz refusing to be bound by the deal, and American Jewish leaders demanding the text be made public.

Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, an in-depth investigatory show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (6/15/26). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth is, or claiming they have the answer, is likely leading you astray, for one reason or another. Stay Vigilant. !function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u2q643"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");   Rumble("play", {"video":"v795rc0","div":"rumble_v795rc0"}); Source Links (In Chronological Order): 410 Gone The Activation Tour - Nashville, TN with Derrick Broze | Derrick Broze Derrick Broze on X: "The Activation Tour is Coming to Nashville Next Month! As is typical with these events, I will be giving a presentation on Exit and Build strategy and the importance of local community action. I will also be joined by my brother Ryan Cristian @TLAVagabond Stay tuned for https://t.co/Qiz4rbYs1a" / X New Tab Israel's Election Manipulation Ignored, Over $1B To Pfizer For New COVID Shots & Trump's Iran Lies (5) sashalatypova.substack.com "Due Diligence and Art" on X: "Absolute bullshit brought to you by Muppet Tulsi. The Ukrainian "biolabs" have been property of the US DOD since 2005, they were purchased from the USSR bankruptcy sale for $15 million. The agreement is literally on the Ukrainian gov (Rada) website. How much are we, the US" / X (5) Justin Amash on X: "Everyone should be against FISA. With or without Bill Pulte or the SAVE America Act. FISA 702 is unconstitutional. It lets the government search Americans' communications without a warrant. Add a warrant requirement as the Fourth Amendment demands—or leave it expired forever. https://t.co/eTIlcgbs1q" / X Knoxie on X: "Trump is putting his own lawyers in charge of the Epstein files so they can bury whatever they want. His lead criminal defense attorney is already running the DOJ. Another one is being handed SDNY. At the same time, he's moving the guy who helped clean up after Leon Black's https://t.co/YvYLi50A2P" / X Top Pentagon Official Admits Boat Strike May Have Killed Victims of Human Trafficking (5) Ryan Grim on X: "Congressional candidate files a complaint with the local AG, accusing Israel of interfering in his election" / X (5) Thomas Massie on X: "Section 219 (was 224) of the NDAA contains a dangerous provision to integrate our military tech with Israel's. @RepRoKhanna & I submitted an amendment to strike 219. I included the Rules Committee roster here; 7 of 13 members must agree in order for our amendment to get a vote. https://t.co/9SeN7gdvtM" / X New Tab (5) The Cradle on X: "VIDEO | UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland has been charged with disorderly conduct after crashing the UFC Freedom 250 fan fest near the White House on US President Donald Trump's birthday. The fighter says he was not invited due to comments he made about Trump, the https://t.co/GXhVAKj4S8" / X (5) The Last American Vagabond on X: "https://t.co/KVq8yzXmev" / X (5) Aaron Rupar on X: "it's notable to me that the administration tried to frame tonight's UFC event as a "gift to Americans" but you can't watch it unless you have a paid subscription to Paramount+" / X (5) The Last American Vagabond on X: "We are witnessing the end of the #TwoPartyIllusion in real time (and it's profiteers like little Jack here)." / X (5) Tim Pool on X: "WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK" / X (2) Benny Johnson on X: "There has been an energy shift. Did you feel it? We are going to win. Libs have been set back 1000 years by this. They have no answer… And yes, Patriots are in control⚡️

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - Bovino’s Visit to Europe - Idealogical Totalism with Andrew - The Globalization of Resistance with Andrew - The Arab Gulf States in the Line of Fire - Executive Disorder: Pogrom in Belfast, Trans Healthcare, Denaturalization Cases You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: Bovino’s Visit to Europe https://remigrationsummit.com/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/16/christchurch-shooters-links-to-austrian-far-right-more-extensive-than-thought https://www.breizh-info.com/2026/05/28/260619/gregory-bovino-lhomme-qui-a-pilote-les-operations-trump-contre-limmigration-illegale-parle-a-leurope-interview/ http://www.toddmillerwriter.com/border-patrol-nation/ https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/RE_2025.08.21_Unauthorized-Immigrants_REPORT.pdf https://www.cbp.gov/about https://www.startribune.com/fact-check-federal-officials-claims-about-fatal-minneapolis-shooting/601570444 https://youtu.be/OYIK2-pO_7Y The Arab Gulf States in the Line of Fire Andrew Leber’s profile and articles - https://carnegieendowment.org/people/andrew-leber How Palestine is linked to domestic grievances - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13510347.2022.2038567 Executive Disorder: Pogrom in Belfast, Trans Healthcare, Denaturalization Cases https://www.independent.com/2026/06/04/new-details-emerge-about-leadup-to-largest-fire-in-channel-islands-history/ https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-reports-19th-death-of-2026-georgian https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.293201/gov.uscourts.mad.293201.106.0.pdf https://x.com/JacobEngels/status/2062157399255847030?s=20 https://wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetail.html?caseNo=2026CF000289&countyNo=55&index=0&mode=details https://www.whois.com/whois/bovino2028.com https://x.com/CBSNews/status/2064422223541154065?s=20 https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2/text https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/whats-in-the-secure-america-act/ https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/compromised-votes-still-being-counted-right-wing-media-promote-election-misinformation https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116690027934241490 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28199744-dorcasopn060526/ https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-moves-strip-us-citizenship-17-naturalized-sex-offenders-fraudsters-drug https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-26-108886/index.html https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/06/25-5087-2176040.pdf https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-landmark-resolution-end-pediatric-gender-affirming-care-and https://www.acluok.org/news/senate-bill-904-faq/ https://www.aclu.org/qa-coe-et-al-v-blanche https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-parents-say-mount-sinai-plans-to-share-trans-childrens-records-with-trump-administration https://gothamist.com/news/mamdani-admin-weighs-how-to-provide-care-for-nyc-trans-kids-amid-trump-backlash https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/06/transcript--mayor-mamdani-appears-on-wnyc-s-the-brian-lehrer-sho https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/metropolitan/services/lgbtq-health-center/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/us/julio-sosa-celis-ice-minneapolis-shooting.html https://www.hennepinattorney.org/news/news/2026/May/castro-arrested https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2064457103134343170?s=20 https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2064393192162660733?s=20 https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2064290478091067601?s=20 https://t.co/lY0s8D3jZy https://x.com/DanLamothe/status/2064336646376505687?s=20 https://x.com/Reuters/status/2064794729477447978?s=20 https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/09/europe/northern-ireland-knife-attack-belfast-intl https://bsky.app/profile/enddbelfast.bsky.social/post/3mnxbrtzgsk2ySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the major red flags surfacing as Trump and CENTCOM continue to discuss the purported Apache Helicopter Crash as the grounds for attacking Iran. Go to https://armra.com/MEIDAS or enter MEIDAS to get 30% off your first subscription order! Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts:MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcastLegal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-afMissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trialThe PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcastCult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassanThe Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-showThe Ken Harbaugh Show: https://meidasnews.com/tag/the-ken-harbaugh-showMajority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellmanUncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is presented by Create A Video – Strikes continued overnight against Iran focusing on the coastline along the Strait of Hormuz. Plus, President Trump announced that 100 million barrels of oil have been secreted out of the Persian Gulf under the dead of night over the past month.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-kaliner-show--6946691/support.Subscribe to the podcast My preferred podcast platform: SpreakerAll the links to Pete's Prep are free!Get exclusive content here!Media Bias Check: GroundNews promo code!Advertising and Booking inquiries: Pete@ThePeteKalinerShow.com  

 Far Left & Right Dominate Another Rigged Primary Day. Knicks/Spurs Back at MSG. Hilton Beats Steyer in CA. Jimi Hendrix Gets His Way. It's a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Wednesday and Paul is sounding the alarm. Game four of the NBA Finals tips off tonight at Madison Square Garden, but the real story is bigger than basketball. A Spurs fan got jumped in New York. Young men across America are jobless, hopeless, and furious. Trump has already named New York and Chicago as cities he wants to send troops into. Steve Bannon is calling ICE airport operations a dress rehearsal for the fall elections. And Pete Hegseth just flew to Gitmo with conspiracy-pusher Laura Loomer in tow — not the Washington Post, not even Fox — because Cuba is next and they aren't even hiding it. Paul connects the dots between a potentially violent summer at home, CENTCOM's ongoing strikes inside Iran, the rigged primary system that just disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of independents in California and Maine, and the open primaries fight quietly unfolding in Lower Manhattan under Mamdani's new charter commission. This is a no-BS warning to the angry middle: stay out of the fistfights, stay out of the extremist groups, look out for the young men in your life, and refuse to give Trump the excuse he's desperate for. Righteous anger, channeled into real impact. Stay vigilant. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Make the switch to Noble mobile and save money the easy way. -Join IVA and stand up to Trump's Forever Wars. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It's a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - Bears! And the Guys Who Don’t Like Them - How to Potluck Your Way to a Union - What’s In the DNC’s 2024 Autopsy - The War on Iran and Convergences of Fascism - Executive Disorder: California Elections, SCOTUS Approves GOP Map, Greg Bovino Update You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: Bears! And the Guys Who Don’t Like Them https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/news/missing-hiker-and-bear-encounter-victim-identified.htm https://www.hcn.org/issues/49-9/zinke-went-to-bears-ears-to-listen-but-supporters-felt-unheard/ https://x.com/RepRyanZinke/status/2054303113549381650?s=20 https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/10/25/16-30033.pdf https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/Endangered-Species-Act-at-50/ https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5829a2.htm https://coloradosun.com/2024/04/16/dying-wolf-struck-by-snowmobile-shown-off-in-wyoming-bar/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261982557_Efficacy_of_Firearms_for_Bear_Deterrence_in_Alaska https://www.bearwise.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/efficacy-of-bear-spray-smith-et-al.-2010.pdf https://alaskapublic.org/news/environment/2026-05-07/after-legal-challenge-alaska-judge-approves-states-revised-bear-cull-in-southwest-alaska https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28097859-250506-mulchatna/ https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/34?Hsid=HB0364A https://propakistani.pk/2026/05/28/mma-fighter-killed-in-bear-attack-in-canada/ How to Potluck Your Way to a Union https://www.gofundme.com/f/MujiWorkersUnited https://www.instagram.com/mujiworkersunited.pdx/ What’s In the DNC’s 2024 Autopsy https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/May-20-2026.pdf https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/01/ken-martin-elected-dnc-party-chair-00201938 https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/21/politics/dnc-autopsy-inside-story https://www.thebulwark.com/p/heres-what-i-told-the-dnc-autopsy-biden-harris-2024-lessons-democrats-2028 https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/21/politics/dnc-autopsy-takeaways-vis The War on Iran and Convergences of Fascism Mohammad Ali Kadivar on the Iranian regime’s popular mobilization - https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclusive/why-the-iranian-regime-owns-the-streets/ Moustafa Bayoumi on the anti-Palestinian roots of Islamophobia - https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/may/23/islamophobia-us-palestine-history Negar Razavi’s website - https://negarsrazavi.com/ Executive Disorder: California Elections, SCOTUS Approves GOP Map, Greg Bovino Update https://x.com/atrupar/status/2061537793843532054?s=20 https://x.com/Tomhennessey69/status/2061343239794299374 https://remigrationsummit.com/ https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-vox-mingle-with-ex-us-border-patrol-chief-white-nationalist-leader-at-remigration-summit/ https://www.breizh-info.com/2026/05/28/260619/gregory-bovino-lhomme-qui-a-pilote-les-operations-trump-contre-limmigration-illegale-parle-a-leurope-interview/ https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2061550046571528666?s=20 https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2061419519705223257?s=20 https://www.axios.com/2026/06/01/trump-netanyahu-israel-lebanon-call https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/iran-may-used-chinese-missile-shoot-us-fighter-jet-sources-say-rcna347555 https://www.patreon.com/posts/dont-confuse-and-159583359 https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mndeoj7qnk24 https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-11094.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/promoting-advanced-artificial-intelligence-innovation-and-security/ https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5905542-donald-trump-bill-pulte-odni-democratic-reaction/ https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a1314_7m58.pdf https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/supreme-court-permits-alabama-to-use-congressional-map-struck-by-lower-court-as-racially-discrim/ https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5844678/trump-science-funding-omb-budget-office-rule-change https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aej3572 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz9553 https://elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/this-new-omb-rule-is-bigger-than https://elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of-key-changes-in-ombs-proposed https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/29/2026-10817/regulation-for-federal-financial-assistance https://www.science.org/content/article/researchers-slam-hhs-report-gender-affirming-care-youth https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2026/05/29/omb-proposes-rules-establishing-politicalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - How Trump is Using Election Fraud Claims to Restrict Voting - Did Donald Trump Ban Buffalo? - Monopsony, or How You Get Underpaid - Pop Culture Commodity Warfare @ New York Comic Con - Executive Disorder: San Diego Mosque Shooting, Trump Settles Lawsuit with Trump You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: How Trump is Using Election Fraud Claims to Restrict Voting https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/multiple-aliens-charged-illegally-voting-federal-elections-and-making-false-statements https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/media/1439301/dl?inline https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/media/1439296/dl?inline https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/media/1439291/dl?inline https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/media/1439286/dl?inline https://www.michigan.gov/ag/-/media/Project/Websites/AG/releases/2026/April/DOJ-Letter-to-Wayne-County.pdf https://www.brennancenter.org/media/15517/download/ri-hearing-transcript-2026-03-26.pdf?inline=1 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/us/politics/minnesota-trump-voter-rolls.html https://www.ksat.com/news/politics/2026/05/06/justice-department-can-keep-2020-election-ballots-seized-from-georgias-fulton-county-judge-rules/ https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/tracker-justice-department-requests-voter-information Did Donald Trump Ban Buffalo? https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/810541893_202412_990_2025073023621659.pdf https://gov.mt.gov/_docs/governor/AmericanPrairieProposedDecisionJanuary162026.pdf https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-17537.pdf https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2026-01-21/blm-cancels-bison-grazing-permits-for-montana-nature-reserve https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Governor_Gianforte_Appeals_Judges_APR_Bison_Grazing_Decision#:~:text=Following%20the%20judge's%20order%2C%20DNRC,appeal%20may%20be%20found%20here. https://t.co/HUAyMUnOVi https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/06/18/business-leaders-provide-green-behind-conservation-effort/28960843/ https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-revokes-american-prairie-bison-grazing-permit https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/estatetaxfinal.pdf https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/12/2026-09386/rescission-of-conservation-and-landscape-health-rule https://www.blm.gov/about/laws-and-regulations/conservation-and-landscape-health-rule https://largetribes.org/2026/02/affirmative-action-for-cattle-tribes-challenge-feds-plan-to-revoke-bison-grazing-leases-on-public-land-media-share/ Monopsony, or How You Get Underpaid https://archive.org/details/bnarchives_0333 https://strangematters.coop/frederic-s-lee-profile-part-one/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/29769757?if_data=e30%3D&seq=1 https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2026/04/14/g-s1-117075/the-labor-economics-of-alien-and-its-lessons-for-inequality-on-earth https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2026/04/21/g-s1-118071/the-hidden-power-keeping-wages-low Pop Culture Commodity Warfare @ New York Comic Con https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2018/report-anime-fest@nycc/.137926 https://yattatachi.com/anime-nyc-review-it-begins-anew https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/dc-cancels-red-hood-comic-book-series-charlie-kirk-1236368576/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/demon-slayer-infinity-castle-record-box-office-opening-1236370035/ https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-strengthens-strategtic-parternship-with-mappa https://animebythenumbers.substack.com/p/2025-netflix-anime-year-in-review https://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-297-bookscan-2023-comics-sales-sag-but-scholastic-was-still-a-powerhouse/ https://www.diversetechgeek.com/2023-bookstore-graphic-novel-sales/ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-behind-the-growing-popularity-of-japanese-comics-and-animations-in-u-s https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/61689/manga-week-comic-stores-pace-manga-growth-2025 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/andor-creator-tony-gilroy-gives-the-interview-1236510166/ https://variety.com/2025/film/news/james-gunn-superman-immigrant-backlash-response-1236449068/ 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https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2053889711567970589?s=20 https://apnews.com/article/massie-gallrein-trump-kentucky-republican-primary-03a658b1a45593ad04ebf6283a3fdb47 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/17/massie-aipac-record-spending-israel-maga-trump-primary-00925375 https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116602192066577324 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/republican-senators-trump-paxton.html https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-dismisses-lawsuit-against-irs-court-filing-shows-2026-05-18/ https://www.ft.com/content/57334fae-a475-4ab0-a202-8df3766927e4?syn-25a6b1a6=1 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/5/20/bolivian-president-to-reshuffle-cabinet-amid-anti-government-protests https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/5/18/clashes-as-morales-allied-protesters-march-on-bolivian-capital https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/what-is-behind-bolivias-widening-protests-2026-05-18/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.