Larry Johnson: Is Donald Trump the New Commodus?
by Larry Johnson [9-25-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). During my long trek returning home to Florida from Russia, I watched a three hour documentary on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and I gained an appreciation of why Trump is often labeled as a reincarnation of various leaders of the Rome. Caligula is the…
Pepe Escobar: Xi Dada Explains the Facts of Life to a Sociopath
by Pepe Escobar [9-25-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio). Xi de facto laid the framework for how China and the U.S. should compete on a “win-win” basis. GUANGZHOU – Chinese President Xi Jinping made the ask directly in the Oval Office. The “deciding mode” President – who’s mulling whether to commit nuclear genocide against Iran, as he revealed…
Pepe Escobar: All Hell Set to Break Loose by the End of September
by Pepe Escobar [9-29-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio). Window of Supreme Risk: September 30 to November 3. West Asia is about to burn. The sociopath President of the United States completely disregarded the Chinese solution to end the Iran drama, presented in person at the White House by President Xi Jinping this past Thursday. Essentially, Xi told…
Larry Johnson: Moscow Closes the Door; How Putin and Lavrov Hardened Russia’s Line on Ukraine in Ten Days
by Larry Johnson [9-28-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). In mid-September, the Kremlin was signaling that negotiations could resume. Putin had said the trilateral talks with the United States and Ukraine would be unlikely before the State Duma elections, but that Russia would be ready to resume contacts after them. The elections ended on September 20. Within…
Larry Johnson: America’s Diesel Surplus Is an Illusion
by Larry Johnson [9-26-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). Karl Miller has provided me with another excellent report on the diesel/aviation fuel crisis that is confronting the world. On paper, the United States should be the world’s safety valve in this fuel crisis. American refineries make far more diesel than Americans burn. But every one of those…
Iran Turns Refinery Waste Into Marketable Industrial Product
by New Rules [9-28-2026]. Iran is turning carbon dioxide from Tehran Oil Refinery’s exhaust gases into commercial liquid CO2 with purity above 99.9% for food production, medical applications and industrial use, according to Carbon Bared, the Iranian company behind the project. The facility has a stated annual processing capacity of around 40,000 metric tons. Its…
Seyed M. Marandi; Glenn Diesen: Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US; All-in on War? Shifting world power dynamics?
by Glenn Diesen [9-28-2026] Seyed Mohammad Marandi(bio). (RAD: This is definitely an excellent discussion between Professor Glenn Diesen & Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi while sitting at a table in Moscow. They both realize that a lot of the problems we are seeing in the US & Europe are the result of their ‘exceptionalism’ thinking. Both…
Larry Johnson: Three Wars, One Bill – How Hormuz, Ukraine and Sanctions Are Squeezing the Express Giants and Pushing Up Global Prices
by Larry Johnson [9-24-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). This article is the result of my conversation earlier today during my flight from Istanbul to London. I was sitting next to a FEDEX pilot who was on his way to Paris via London. I asked him about aviation fuel prices and the effect on FEDEX and I…
Larry Johnson: Professor Pape’s Trap Is Built on a War Russia Never Planned
by Larry Johnson [9-24-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). Thanks to Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism who flagged a recent interview that Professor Robert Pape did with Mario Nawfal. During the interview, Pape argued that Vladimir Putin is caught in an “escalation trap.” In his telling, Russia launched a preventive war in February 2022 to seize Kyiv…
Janfadaa, Iran’s new civilian force: 31m volunteers, 1000 battalions
by Fereshteh Sadeghi [9-23-2026]. For the Islamic Republic, the most durable defense against foreign attack and internal destabilization is a population mobilized far beyond the barracks. Days before Iran marked the 46th anniversary of the Sacred Defense, the name given to the 1980-1988 war imposed by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on the newly established Islamic…
Difficulties with digital ruble, inflation, price stability: statements by Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina
by TASS [9-24-2026]. According to the Central Bank governor, the regulator sees a rise in demand for cash, but its share has risen only slightly and the situation is stabilizing. ST. PETERSBURG, September 24. /TASS/. High inflation has been a concern for the Russian Central Bank and Russians for many years, so the regulator must…
Pepe Escobar: The Calm Before the Showdown
by Pepe Escobar [9-21-2026] The only art that the Prince must totally master it’s the art of war – Machiavelli The Supreme Warrior Wins Without Fighting – Sun Tzu This was supposed to be the calm before the storm. Where the Epstein Syndicate would schmooze the Global South gathered in New York for the –…
Larry Johnson: Heading Back to the USA, Where Diesel is Still Rising
by Larry Johnson [7-22-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). I am in-between flights heading back to Florida. The trip to and from Moscow is arduous. Between flights and layovers I will spend a total of 32 hours traveling. Not for the faint of heart. I am not doing any podcasts on Tuesday or Wednesday because of the…
Pepe Escobar, Zulfiqar Ali: IRAN Names Its Price to OPEN Hormuz; Sent Them With CHINA; IRAN: Take the Deal or It’s 20 to 2
by Transition Protocol [9-20-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio). Tehran has priced the Strait of Hormuz. The bill went to Washington through Qatar, with Pakistan named as a consultation partner and the terms agreed with Beijing first. Iran has set out what it wants in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Seven conditions were relayed to the…
Larry Johnson: The Squeeze Reaches the Runway – The Distillate War Is Now Cutting Flights
by Larry Johnson [9-18-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio). For most of this year I have been making an argument about a fraction of a barrel. Not the barrel itself – the flat price of crude has been a headline anyone can read – but the middle of it: the narrow band of the distillation column where…