Thursday, August 20, 2026
Iran War: Further Admission of Weakness With New Super Duper Trump Sanctions Threat; Israel Moves Against Turkiye Risk Broader Conflagration; Bessent at Odds with Fed in Move to Contain Longer-Dated Treasury Yields
Today’s Iran war news: More proof of Trump impotence via sanctions huffing and puffing, plus Bessent weirdly going to war with the Fed.
Michael Hudson: U.S. War Against Russia Has Blocked Black Sea Grain Transport as Well as the Persian Gulf Oil Trade.
Russia’s blockade of Odessa, which will have a global impact on grain supplies, is not getting the attention it warrants.
Personal Bankruptcy Filings Are Soaring in 2026, Signaling Growing Economic Distress
As bankruptcy rates rise, a primer on the process and some strategies that might hold the creditor wolves at bay.
Coffee Break: Stressed Oligarchs at Meta, OpenAI, and the Ellison Empire
Three particularly stressed oligarchs are getting a lot of negative attention this week as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta faces a $1.4 trillion lawsuit, Sam Altman’s OpenAI is bleeding talent and their IPO seems an ever more remote possibility, and Larry and David Ellison are in a full-on media war with 12 attorneys general over their attempted purchase of Warner Bros Discovery.
More on the Next ‘Super El Niño’
An update on near and longer-term forecasts for the impact of the arriving super El Niño.
Iran War: US Considers Reducing Middle East Military Presence as Conflict Widens Regionally; Market Wobbles Intensify as Government Bond Interest Rates Rise Globally and AI Bubble Implosion Seems Imminent
Today’s Iran war news: Iran ups the ante as markets look even more green around the gills.
Desperate Times Call for Turkish Measures
Türkiye is being called upon for a more active role in against Iran and Russia. Will it oblige and would it make any difference?
The AI Boom Runs on an Even More Dangerous Machine (Part 2)
Silicon Valley promises abundance, but corporate America is built for extraction, and AI is their new vehicle.
Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Lonely Voice of Ted Postol
For more than three decades, MIT physicist Ted Postol has challenged official claims about U.S. missile-defense performance. His remarkable isolation points toward a deeper problem: the defense establishment generates abundant technical criticism but too often fails to give that criticism enough leverage to stop troubled weapons programs before enormous commitments are made.
The Next Energy Crisis Could Be a Water Crisis
An overview of the increased stresses on water supplies and their relationship to energy production.
Iran War: Trump Threatens to Bomb Oman as Iran Attacks on Shipping Notch Up, WSJ Reports Planning for Bigger Escalation; Debate Over Covert Transits
Today’s Iran war news: Trump vocalizes aggressively, including threatening nukes, as Iran and Ansar Allah dig in and energy supplies tighten
Online Age Verification, the Trojan Horse for Digital Identity, Hits Resistance in France
Across the world countries are adopting policies that threaten to radically transform the Internet.
