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…
How BRICS Is Linking Payment Systems Without a Common Currency
by Geopolitics Prime [9-17-2026]. The New Delhi summit kept the focus on local-currency settlement and payment-system interoperability. The harder task is making domestic payment rails, foreign-exchange markets, and bank settlement work together across borders. In medieval Europe, a merchant trading between Genoa, Florence, Bruges, or Lyon did not always need to move a chest of…
Pepe Escobar, Zulfiqar Ali: China Threatened to Cut Off Rare Earths on Trump; Weapon China Is Bringing to Xi-Trump Summit
by Transition Protocol [9-19-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio). Iranian sources tell Transition Protocol that when Xi Jinping meets Donald Trump in Washington next week, he is expected to link China’s rare-earth exports to the American naval blockade of Iran. Pepe Escobar, recording from Moscow fifteen minutes after the information reached him, on what that would mean –…
The War Meant to Cripple Iran Is Rebuilding Its Industrial Base
by New Rules [9-18-2026]. (RAD: This is another example that illustrates how resilient and skilled Iranian workers are. I’ve seen other examples in diverse scientific fields where they have created breakthroughs in very advanced areas that no one in America seems to have solved. – RAD) The US-Israeli war damaged Iran’s oil and gas facilities.…
Rick Sanchez: ‘I feel more free’ reporting in Russia than when reporting in America
by RT [9-15-2026]. Sanchez has told aspiring journalists at the World Youth Festival that he lacked the freedom to control his own narrative working in the West. RT’s Rick Sanchez has said that he feels more free to control his own narrative reporting from Russia compared to his time working in Western mainstream media. Sanchez…