CNN
3h ·
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel says officials held talks with the United States, with the island facing an economic crisis and intense pressure from Donald Trump. https://cnn.it/3PfTlUD
MASTERBAKER All things Politics thread
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Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel says officials held talks with the United States, with the island facing an economic crisis and intense pressure from Donald Trump. https://cnn.it/3PfTlUD
Steven M Jackson
Take notice of his shirt
!!! He’s not dressed up in fatigues ? This will be easy resolution at the negotiating table. It’s a wrap
Take notice of his shirt
BREAKING: How Commando Raid Could SEIZE Iran's Prized Nuclear Stockpile | TBN Israel
MeidasTouch
10m ·TRUMP HINTS AT U.S. SURRENDER?! Trump just posted what reads less like a victory lap—and more like a quiet admission of retreat.
In a lengthy statement, Trump claims the U.S. is “very close to meeting our objectives” in Iran and begins outlining a wind-down of military operations. But read between the lines: after days of escalating conflict, global instability, and conflicting messaging from his own administration, this sounds a lot like an attempt to declare victory and exit.
He lays out sweeping goals—destroying Iran’s military capabilities, eliminating its forces, and preventing nuclear development—while simultaneously signaling that other nations will now take over securing the Strait of Hormuz. In other words, the U.S. steps back.
After launching strikes, denying involvement, and facing backlash at home and abroad, Trump now appears to be searching for an off-ramp.
Calling it “mission accomplished” doesn’t change the reality on the ground.
Shawn Ryan Show ·
Follow
March 21 at 2:01 PM ·“They sent him a zoomed-in, scaled map of a facility that was in the middle of the desert. What the U.S. said was that there was some type of air purification system on the roof, a truck with a missile on it, and a sentry outside the building. What his team came up with was that the air purification system was an air conditioning unit, the truck was a water truck refueling the system, and the sentry was just a guy taking a piss on the side of the building. They got this information back, they totally discarded it, and presented the previous version. The point being, we went to war for weapons of mass destruction that were never there.”
MeidasTouch
1h ·
BREAKING: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is now threatening to target 18 major U.S. companies in the region—including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tesla, Nvidia, and Boeing—if the U.S. continues what it calls “targeted assassinations” of Iranian leaders, with the warning set to take effect April 1.
The list spans some of the most critical pillars of the U.S. economy: Big Tech, defense contractors, and even financial institutions like J.P. Morgan. This marks another major escalation, shifting from direct military confrontation to potential economic and cyber warfare targeting American corporations and infrastructure.
This is a signal that the conflict is expanding beyond the battlefield and into global markets, supply chains, and everyday technology Americans rely on.
The full list of 18 US technology companies that Iran is threatening to target is below:
1. Cisco
2. HP
3. Intel
4. Oracle
5. Microsoft
6. Apple
7. Google
8. Meta
9. IBM
10. Dell
11. Palantir
12. Nvidia
13. J.P. Morgan
14. Tesla
15. General Electric
16. Spire Solutions
17. G42
18. Boeing
Rockaway Primetime Reporting
This is horrible. Are we going to nuke them? BREAKING: Trump says 'we're blowing up the whole country' if no Iran deal in 48 hours
President Donald Trump said Sunday that if no peace deal is reached with Iran in the next 48 hours, "we're blowing up the entire country."
The president made the threat Sunday to ABC News' senior political correspondent Rachel Scott in response to a question regarding whether his previously stated timeline of two to three weeks for a deal was still accurate.
Concerns have been raised about targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran and the consequences that could bring.
"It should be days, not weeks," Trump said, adding that Iran "has been decimated, decimated. And every day is going to get worse."
"Every day they're gonna have to build more bridges, and they're gonna have to build more power plants and more everything else," the president said. "There's been no country that's ever taken a pounding like that."
Trump said Iran had 48 hours to agree to a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz or make peace.
"If it happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, we're blowing up the whole country. We're blowing up, as I said, it's going to be bridge day and it's going to be power plant day in the country of Iran."
The president was apparently referring to an ultimatum he posted Sunday on his social media platform for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Having already extended his deadline to open the strait twice, Trump warned the Iranian government that if it doesn't fully open the critical maritime passageway for oil and trade by Tuesday, "you'll be living in Hell."
"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!" Trump wrote in the profanity-laced post. He warned Tehran that if it fails to open the strait, "you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!"
On March 26, Trump extended an ultimatum a second time in the same week for Iran to completely open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping traffic, saying peace talks "are going very well." In the post, Trump said that upon a request from the Iranian government, he was "pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 days."
Trump extended the deadline for Iran to comply to Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Fox News reported Sunday that Trump said in a telephone interview that he thinks a deal with Iran will come by Monday, and that if Iran fails to make a deal, he is "considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil."
But in his phone interview later Sunday with ABC News' Rachel Scott, Trump pushed back on that characterization, saying "there could be a deal, and there could also not be a deal. I don't know. I have no idea what these people, they're getting the s--- beat out of them, and that's, that's all I can tell you. There's been no country that's ever taken a pounding like that."
The president also said "very little" will be off limits if no deal is made.
Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, responded to Trump’s threats in a post on X.
“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” Ghalibaf wrote.
“Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes. The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game," the post further said.
The U.S. has sent Iran a 15-point proposal for ending the conflict. The negotiations are being mediated by the Pakistani government.
On March 25, Iran's English-language state media, Press TV, quoted an Iranian official saying Iran has rejected the proposal after regime officials denied negotiations were happening. In a separate interview on the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on state TV that "Iran's power is the Hormuz Strait."
"I also want to say here that, from our point of view, the Hormuz Strait is not completely closed; it is closed only to our natural enemies," Araghchi said after Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in a March 22 letter to the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization that the Strait of Hormuz is open to "non-hostile" vessels.
In the letter, the Iranians define "non-hostile" ships as those from countries that "neither participate nor support acts of aggression against Iran" posed by the United States and Israel.
"We are in a wartime situation; the region is a war zone," Araghchi said. "There is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass, but it is free for the rest."
In a social media post on Saturday, Araghchi said, "We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad. What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us."
UN says 20,000 seafarers stranded due to Strait of Hormuz closure, despite Iran claiming it's open
During a March 26 cabinet meeting, Trump claimed that Iran is "begging to make a deal" to end the conflict.
Trump said at the cabinet meeting that Iran had made good on a promise to allow 10 oil tankers operating under the flag of Pakistan to pass through the strait as a "present." He said the gesture communicated to him "that we're dealing with the right people" in the peace negotiations.
While Iran has allowed other ships from countries it says are friendly to Iran to pass through the strait, it has attacked ships from countries it considers hostile.
Why are your gas prices rising if the US barely imports any oil from the Strait of Hormuz?
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's military wing, said on Saturday that it hit an Israeli-linked container ship, the MSC Ishyka, with a drone near the Strait of Hormuz. Neither Israel nor the U.S. has yet publicly confirmed the attack.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday night, Trump declared that Iran is no longer a threat to the U.S. and the war in Iran is "nearing completion." In the speech, the president promised to hit Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks.
"We're going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong," Trump said.
In response, Araghchi issued a social media post on Thursday, saying, "There's one striking difference between the present and the Stone Age: there was no oil or gas being pumped in the Middle East back then."
Araghchi added, "Are POTUS and Americans who put him in office sure that they want to turn back the clock?"
Politics
Ryan King
Published April 12, 2026, 2:40 p.m. ET
388 Comments
WASHINGTON — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel revealed that his island nation is bracing for an attack from the US and declared that he is willing to die resisting President Trump.
Since last December, the US has imposed a blockade around Venezuela as part of its Operation Southern Spear effort, and used that to cut off oil supplies to Cuba, which has since plunged further into an energy crisis.
“I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the US to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a president,” Díaz-Canel told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, per a translation.
President Trump has mounted an aggressive pressure campaign against Cuba.AFP via Getty Images
“If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘dying for the homeland is to live.’”
The Trump administration has privately signaled to Cuba’s communist government that Díaz-Canel must go, the New York Times reported.
“I have no fear. I am willing to give my life for the revolution,” he claimed. “I wouldn’t like that to be the attitude of the US government.”
Cuba has endured an increase in blackouts in recent weeks as concerns flare that its food supplies are running dangerously low. Experts have noted that many of those issues predated the blockade, but have acknowledged that it has gotten worse since the US cut off crude exports to Cuba.
“We have the accumulated effects of the blockades, plus the effect of the tightening of the blockade, and now the effects are caused by this energy blockade. And I can say this responsibly to you, this is not the fault of the Cuban government,” Díaz-Canel said.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel declared that he’s willing to die fighting for his country if the US attacks Cuba.AFP via Getty Images
“We conduct very self-critical analysis and assessments of our reality, and we’re trying to constantly transform and change what we do in order to improve what we do.”
Díaz-Canel called the prospect of cutting a deal with the US “very difficult” and pointed to the strikes against Iran during negotiations over its nuclear program as evidence that America can’t be trusted.
The US has demanded that Cuba release its political prisoners, allow multi-party elections and permit a free press.
388
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The Cuban leader denied receiving those demands and emphasized that fundamental reforms to his country’s government “are not under negotiations.”
Cuba has faced widespread protests and riots due to the growing energy and food crisis, prompting a brutal crackdown from its repressive government.
Cuba president talks tough about Trump as nation braces for US attack: ‘If we need to die, we’ll die’
ByRyan King
Published April 12, 2026, 2:40 p.m. ET
388 Comments
WASHINGTON — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel revealed that his island nation is bracing for an attack from the US and declared that he is willing to die resisting President Trump.
Since last December, the US has imposed a blockade around Venezuela as part of its Operation Southern Spear effort, and used that to cut off oil supplies to Cuba, which has since plunged further into an energy crisis.
“I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the US to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a president,” Díaz-Canel told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, per a translation.
“If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘dying for the homeland is to live.’”
The Trump administration has privately signaled to Cuba’s communist government that Díaz-Canel must go, the New York Times reported.
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Díaz-Canel, the first pol outside the Castro family to lead the island nation since the Cuban Revolution, has refused to step aside.“I have no fear. I am willing to give my life for the revolution,” he claimed. “I wouldn’t like that to be the attitude of the US government.”
Cuba has endured an increase in blackouts in recent weeks as concerns flare that its food supplies are running dangerously low. Experts have noted that many of those issues predated the blockade, but have acknowledged that it has gotten worse since the US cut off crude exports to Cuba.
“We have the accumulated effects of the blockades, plus the effect of the tightening of the blockade, and now the effects are caused by this energy blockade. And I can say this responsibly to you, this is not the fault of the Cuban government,” Díaz-Canel said.
“We conduct very self-critical analysis and assessments of our reality, and we’re trying to constantly transform and change what we do in order to improve what we do.”
Díaz-Canel called the prospect of cutting a deal with the US “very difficult” and pointed to the strikes against Iran during negotiations over its nuclear program as evidence that America can’t be trusted.
The US has demanded that Cuba release its political prisoners, allow multi-party elections and permit a free press.
388
What do you think? Post a comment.
The Cuban leader denied receiving those demands and emphasized that fundamental reforms to his country’s government “are not under negotiations.”
Cuba has faced widespread protests and riots due to the growing energy and food crisis, prompting a brutal crackdown from its repressive government.
The New York Times
12h ·After halting a U.S. resettlement program for Afghans who helped the American war effort against the Taliban, President Trump is in talks to send as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid worker briefed on the plan said Tuesday.
This photo, released by the U.S. Army in 2021, shows Afghans being processed at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, where many have been living in limbo for over a year now. The aid worker said that the Afghans would be given a choice between returning to live under the Taliban or being sent to Congo, which is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. https://nyti.ms/4cI8HJO
Stefanie Nelson
Why shouldn’t we take in this relatively small number of people who helped us, at risk of their own lives? What do you think they’ll do if they live in the US, help Americans here?
Why shouldn’t we take in this relatively small number of people who helped us, at risk of their own lives? What do you think they’ll do if they live in the US, help Americans here?
It’s True… I’m Running For Office.
United Arab Emirates says it will leave oil cartel OPEC effective May 1
The UAE had been a longtime member of OPEC, first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when the UAE became its own country in 1971.
Photo by: Altaf Qadri/AP
FILE - Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
By: AP via Scripps News Group
Posted 8:54 AM, Apr 28, 2026
The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it will leave the oil cartel OPEC and its wider OPEC+ group effective May 1, a move rumored for some time as the Emirates chaffed under production restrictions and increasingly had frostier relations with neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The UAE had been a longtime member of OPEC, first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when the UAE became its own country in 1971.
But the UAE has been increasingly trying to leverage its own foreign policy in the Middle East that has contradicted some positions of Riyadh over time — particularly as Saudi Arabia began to directly challenge the Emirates in trying to draw foreign investments as the kingdom opened up under assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The UAE made the announcement via its state-run WAM news agency.
"This decision reflects the UAE's long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production, and reinforces its commitment to a responsible, reliable, and forward-looking role in global energy markets," the UAE said.
"Following its exit, the UAE will continue to act responsibly, bringing additional production to market in a gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions," the country added.
Saudi Arabia has long been considered a heavyweight of OPEC, an oil cartel based in Vienna that has seen some of its market power wane as the United States increased its production of crude oil in recent years.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. The two countries had joined in together in a coalition to fight against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December, when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
Saudi broadcasters long based in Dubai, the economic hub of the UAE, have pulled back to the kingdom in recent months as well as the tensions rose.
John Smith
More WINNING!!!
Environment
Ben Cost
Published April 29, 2026, 2:39 p.m. ET
A recent study found that the Appalachian Mountains could be home to a $65 billion dollar cache of lithium that could power our devices for 328 years.fowler5338 - stock.adobe.com
They’ve hit the mother lode.
We may no longer need to rely on foreign batteries to power our electronics. Geologists have announced that the Appalachian Mountains could be hiding a sprawling multi-billion-dollar cache of lithium that could last the US hundreds of years.
“This research shows that the Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation’s growing needs,” declared US Geological Survey Director Ned Mamula in a statement.
According to a map by the institution, this East Coast mountain range houses around 2.5 metric tons of this battery precursor, most of which is concentrated in the Carolinas, Maine and New Hampshire. Total value: around $64.4B dollars.
“The high heat and pressure during the mountain-building caused some of the deeper crustal rocks to melt, and some of these magmas were rich in lithium,” explained USGS while explaining why the region is so rich in the resource.Tuna salmon – stock.adobe.com
Per Bloomberg, the US imports nearly half of its consumption of lithium, which powers lithium-ion batteries that are used for everything from iPhones to vehicles and even aerospace alloys.
It could also fuel 500 billion cellphones, the equivalent of 60 devices for every person on Earth.
All told, this haul is enough to replace 328 years of imports at least year’s level, providing “a major contribution to U.S. mineral security, at a time when global lithium demand is rising rapidly,” said Mamula.
The amount of lithium under the mountains could last us for over 300 years, per the study.USGS
To determine the amount of lithium in the hills, the USGS scientists employed “geologic maps, tectonic history, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys, and records of mineral occurrences,” per the release.
By conducting simulations using a global dataset for lithium pegmatites (a highly valuable coarse igneous rock), they were able to estimate how many untapped lithium deposits there were in the study area.
This allowed them to extrapolate how much of the mineral resource they held. In total, the team identified 18 different lithium-rich districts across the region.
Why do the Appalachians harbor such a treasure trove of this invaluable mineral?
The USGS explained that these pegmatites in the northern Appalachians formed from the same geologic forces that “built the mountains more than 250 million years ago.”
“The high heat and pressure during the mountain-building caused some of the deeper crustal rocks to melt, and some of these magmas were rich in lithium,” they explained. “Because of their immense age, lithium-rich rocks formed during ancient tectonic collisions, when continents slammed together to create the supercontinent Pangea.”
This gold, er, lithium mine is crucial given that the world production “capacity for lithium will double by 2029, driven by increasing demand,” per the statement.
Australia currently leads the charge when it comes to lithium production, supplying nearly half the global supply in 2024.
Following close behind is China, which also accounts for the majority of lithium refining and consumption.
This latest discovery has the potential to reshuffle the list. “The US was the dominant world producer of lithium three decades ago, and this research highlights the abundant potential to reclaim our mineral independence,” declared Mamula.
$65B lithium mother lode hidden beneath Appalachian Mountains could supply US with power for centuries
ByBen Cost
Published April 29, 2026, 2:39 p.m. ET
They’ve hit the mother lode.
We may no longer need to rely on foreign batteries to power our electronics. Geologists have announced that the Appalachian Mountains could be hiding a sprawling multi-billion-dollar cache of lithium that could last the US hundreds of years.
“This research shows that the Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation’s growing needs,” declared US Geological Survey Director Ned Mamula in a statement.
According to a map by the institution, this East Coast mountain range houses around 2.5 metric tons of this battery precursor, most of which is concentrated in the Carolinas, Maine and New Hampshire. Total value: around $64.4B dollars.
Per Bloomberg, the US imports nearly half of its consumption of lithium, which powers lithium-ion batteries that are used for everything from iPhones to vehicles and even aerospace alloys.
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With this recent mineral motherlode, USGS officials estimate that we could supply 1.6 million grid-scale batteries — enough to power 130 million electric vehicles or supply 180 billion laptops for a collective thousands of years of global use.It could also fuel 500 billion cellphones, the equivalent of 60 devices for every person on Earth.
All told, this haul is enough to replace 328 years of imports at least year’s level, providing “a major contribution to U.S. mineral security, at a time when global lithium demand is rising rapidly,” said Mamula.
To determine the amount of lithium in the hills, the USGS scientists employed “geologic maps, tectonic history, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys, and records of mineral occurrences,” per the release.
By conducting simulations using a global dataset for lithium pegmatites (a highly valuable coarse igneous rock), they were able to estimate how many untapped lithium deposits there were in the study area.
This allowed them to extrapolate how much of the mineral resource they held. In total, the team identified 18 different lithium-rich districts across the region.
See Also
Inside NASA’s mission to probe ‘golden’ asteroid
Why do the Appalachians harbor such a treasure trove of this invaluable mineral?
The USGS explained that these pegmatites in the northern Appalachians formed from the same geologic forces that “built the mountains more than 250 million years ago.”
“The high heat and pressure during the mountain-building caused some of the deeper crustal rocks to melt, and some of these magmas were rich in lithium,” they explained. “Because of their immense age, lithium-rich rocks formed during ancient tectonic collisions, when continents slammed together to create the supercontinent Pangea.”
This gold, er, lithium mine is crucial given that the world production “capacity for lithium will double by 2029, driven by increasing demand,” per the statement.
Australia currently leads the charge when it comes to lithium production, supplying nearly half the global supply in 2024.
Following close behind is China, which also accounts for the majority of lithium refining and consumption.
This latest discovery has the potential to reshuffle the list. “The US was the dominant world producer of lithium three decades ago, and this research highlights the abundant potential to reclaim our mineral independence,” declared Mamula.
Barack Obama
9h ·Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities - so long as they do it under the guise of “partisanship” rather than explicit “racial bias.” And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.
The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers - not just in the upcoming midterms or in high profile races, but in every election and every level.
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