Barbara Boyd gives her perspective on the latest developments and President Trump policy intersects with the Iran conflict and the Mideast oil disruption.

According to the latest information from the region, some ships have begun navigating the Strait of Hormuz despite the conflict.  It is reported that Iran is charging a $2 million fee for safe passage, however those reports are not officially confirmed.

Mrs Boyd notes the Arab nations have historically -and recently- remained under the control of the British, and President Trump has fractured this financial control system.  While there is an obvious historic reference to that relationship, I’m not as convinced the connective tissue is as deep as ¹claimed in the modern era (last 20 years).   WATCH:

In the modern era, thanks to technological advancement and strategic policy (even before Trump), oil and gas development and use has increasingly become regional.  Oil dependencies and the trade partnerships are now associated more with refinement capacity than simply global commodities.  Not all oil is created equal.

In the “producers and users” chart below, you can see the origin of regional production and import relationships.  The oil supplies from the middle east flow mainly to China and Asia.  The oil from Russia is the current wildcard.

(more…)

Earlier today the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Watson v. Republican National Committee, the RNC’s challenge to a Mississippi law allowing mail-in or absentee ballots to be counted up to five days of Election Day.

Many observers have noted the court seems likely to rule that ballots for federal elections must arrive on/before election day itself.   The full oral argument is below.  LISTEN:

.

(more…)

During his visit to Memphis, Tennessee, President Trump took a detour and stopped at Graceland the former home of Elvis Presley for a tour of the estate.  A few videos are included below.

President Trump signs a replica guitar to memorialize his visit.

.

(more…)

President Donald Trump travelled to Memphis, Tennessee for a roundtable discussion on the DOJ task force operations. The beginning of the remarks touch on the Iran conflict.  Video Below:

.

(more…)

This is one of those small stories that carries the potential for significant domestic economic gains.

As many are aware, the U.S. imports a lot of softwood lumber from Canada. Combined with the energy products the lumber sector represents the top two U.S. imports from Canada.  With Venezuela now potentially positioned to replace the former, USDA Rural Development now stimulates domestic lumber development potentially positioned to replace the latter.

Taken as a whole, these two approaches significantly weaken the Canadian leverage that could be deployed in a Free Trade Agreement negotiation.  Assuming, of course, the USMCA is dissolved in favor of two bilateral FTAs.

USDA Press Release – At the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference today, U.S. Department of Agriculture Administrator for the Rural Business and Cooperative Service J.R. Claeys announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture is guaranteeing $115.2 million across eight states through the Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP) to ensure sawmills and other wood processing facilities have the necessary funding to establish, reopen, expand, or improve their operations.

Today’s announcement includes recipients in the states of California, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

These investments represent a commitment by the Trump Administration to expand American timber production by 25%, reduce wildfire risk, and save American lives and communities by strengthening domestic wood processing capacity.

(more…)

Video of the horrific crash has been released to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the footage also found its way into social media.   The Air Canada jet was landing when it hit an emergency firetruck that was crossing the runway.  WATCH: 

According to a CNN update, one of the flight attendants was thrown out of the plane during the incident and was found alive still strapped to her seat.

(VIA CNN) A flight attendant survived the deadly Air Canada plane crash after she was found outside the aircraft still strapped in her seat, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Two people — a pilot and a first officer — were killed in Sunday night’s crash, Air Canada said. But the airline said it could not confirm the exact number of injuries or deaths early this morning. (Live Updates)

(more…)

President Trump delivers remarks and takes questions from reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, before boarding Air Force One en route to Memphis, Tennessee.  President Trump emphatically stated that continued negotiations with ‘leadership’ within Iran continues and reaffirms the conditions for a cessation of hostilities.

The military leadership within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. (IRGC), do not recognize any political representation over their military control of Iran.  This fracture within the political structure of Iran is what seems to create the conflict with U.S. negotiations with political entities the IRGC refuses to recognize.

President Trump is confident the presentation of terms now being discussed with Iranian political leadership will be agreeable to both Israel and U.S. interests.  Additionally, President Trump discusses the issue and circumstances around former NTSC Director Joe Kent and his view on the controversy that have flowed since Kent’s resignation.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

Within Germany the Rhineland-Palatinate regional parliament election was held yesterday. The region is the heart of the German industrial sector and home to the massively important auto-manufacturing sector.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative party the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won the biggest portion of the election, defeating the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who lost ground in the western area bordering France. However, the biggest electoral gains were for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, with gains that more than doubled its previous vote share.

There is intense interest throughout Europe on the ideological shift in political sentiment mostly driven by economic concerns as well as rising nationalistic sentiment against the elitist minds in Brussels.  Essentially those being ‘ruled’ are increasingly fed-up by those doing the ‘ruling.’   The AfD party is akin to the pragmatic MAGA base more focused on economic nationalism than all the nonsense associated with multiculturalism, green energy programs and terrible immigration policy.

The ideological battle within Europe is ongoing, with some gains by nationalist parties over the collective mindset of the European elites.  However, the European Commission doesn’t just have a finger on the scales, they have full control over the mechanics of the elections themselves.   Yes, AfD more than doubled their share of votes to 20%, but CDU at 31% and the socialists at 26% is akin to mainstream corporate republicans and progressives respectively controlling 57% of the support base.

(more…)

The noise can seem overwhelming at times.  There are those who say the U.S-Israeli joint military operation against Iran is a catastrophic miscalculation.  There are those who say the operation is strategically succeeding.  Many interests even appear to be cheering for the military operation to fail; others want the operation to escalate.

It is difficult to find pragmatic facts about the events without shaped information to promote specific narratives.  However, accepting there is a psychological component to the information flow, it seems like the best option to listen to the experts who are conducting the operation.

Giving his first interview since Operation Epic Fury began, CENTCOM Commander Bradley Cooper outlines the current status of the conflict and the elements he notes are of most importance.  According to Adm. Cooper, Iran is “operating in a sign of desperation… In the last couple of weeks, they’ve attacked civilian targets very deliberately, more than 300 times.”

“The Strait of Hormuz is physically open to transit,” he said. “The reason ships are not transiting right now is because the Islamic Republic is shooting at them with drones and missiles.”  WATCH:

“I’d like everyone to note is I’ve watched this over the last week, this extraordinary contrast between the comfort and protection that you’re seeing with the senior generals in the Islamic Republic, at least those that are still alive, who are up in deep bunkers and facilities in and around Tehran. And contrast that with the soldiers who are down on the ground who are unprotected. The generals are protected. The soldiers are not protected.”

“They’re launching missiles and drones from populated areas and you need to stay inside for right now,” he said. “There will be a clear signal at some point, as the President has indicated, for you to be able to come out.”

(more…)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

(more…)