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BREAKING.From Al Jazeera: At least three killed as Israel attacks southern Beirut. Israeli escalation in Lebanon’s capital raises concerns that peace negotiations between US and Iran could be derailed. [Ed: open sabotage. The incident for which this was retaliation was a minor one with no casualties. It was an excuse.] From X account of Netanyahu: Footage of the bombing posted by Benjamin Netanyahu so no one can miss seeing it. From the Guardian: Live feed. Middle East crisis live: Iran warns of ‘imminent’ response to Israeli strike on Beirut as ceasefire deal looks shaky. From DW: Iran war: Pakistan announces US-Iran peace deal reached. [Ed: to be signed on June 19 in Oman.]

250 Celebration at White House. From CBC: Live Feed: Trump gets ringside seat at White House UFC event on his 80th birthday. [Ed: because thisis a live feed that is constantly updated, you will not see the preceding headline except by scrolling down.] From Yahoo News: Party Poopers' Fight Card: Jane Fonda, 'No Kings,' communists roll out rival spectacle to Trump's 250th. [Ed: I don't like the headline but it is difficult to find good coverage of the protests. Strange.]

From Dogster: Remembering Heroic 9/11 Dogs: 6 Incredible Stories

BREAKING. From the Times Of Israel: Lebanese media reports IDF drone strike, artillery fire in south Lebanon. From Shafaq: Israel rejects Lebanon clause in US-Iran nuclear deal. "...asserting that Tel Aviv will not accept any arrangement limiting its freedom to act against Hezbollah."

AI. From Hacker News: Researchers Build Self-Replicating AI Worm That Operates Entirely on Local, Open-Weight Models. [Ed: very dangerous.] From Wired: A Court Has Ruled That Google Is Liable for False Statements Generated by AI Overviews. [Ed: Oh Boy.] From Futurism: Visa Officially Allowing AI Agents to Go Ham With Your Credit Card. This will in no way backfire.

Everyday Finances. From AP: One Way to Push Back on High Prices: Repair Cafes. Across the world, volunteers are helping neighbors fix busted items instead of tossing them. [Ed: Brad is involved in a local repair group.] From Schiff Gold: As Inflation Keeps Rising, Americans Have No Savings. "American households are plummeting to razor-thin financial margins as the personal savings rate falls to numbers last seen before COVID." From the Epoch Times: Why The Millionaire Next Door Drives A Used Car - And What That Teaches About Real Wealth. [Ed: status v. wealth.]

From Lew Rockwell: Since Lockdowns, a 12% GDP Loss; Half of US Dollar Purchasing Power Stolen. [Ed: by Jeff Tucker. Odd to see him posted at Lew Rockwell.]

From Newsweek: Man Brings Injured Dog To Shelter at 4 A. M.—Then Does Something Unexpected

Israel. From Al Jazeera: Amnesty calls for Israel boycott over aggression in the occupied West Bank [Ed: Video. Israel will listen only to the U.S.] From Andolu Agency: Israel expanding Gaza ‘yellow line’ to derail ceasefire talks, says Hamas. [Ed: well, duh. And bombing Lebanon, too.] From Caitlin Johnstone: Under The Western Empire You Get Punished For Having A Conscience.

From the New York Post: Influx of out-of-state agitators with links to dark money group among Delaney Hall arrests: ‘Organized anarchy’. [Ed: the same thing happened with the Vietnam War protests, of course.]

From the Most Important News: Steven Spielberg Believes That Disclosure Day Will Greatly Shake The Faith Of Christians All Over The Globe. Would undeniable evidence of alien life cause large numbers of people to abandon what they believe about God? [Ed: is part of the movie's favorable reception come from the media's hope that it does?]

G7. From Eastern Herald: Carney Tells the G7 the Post-Cold War Order Is Breaking Down. He’s Bringing Kenya, Brazil, India and Egypt to the Table. [Ed: said at a pre-G7 conference in Dublin. G7 itself is June 15-17 in Evian, France.] From Gulf Times: G7 Summit of Evian: Testing Unity, Credibility of World's Major Economic Powers - Report. [Ed: Trump will be in attendance and has already scheduled side-meetings, with Macron for example.] From Global Nation: Protests set to grip Geneva ahead of G7 summit. [Ed: as I said, Trump will be in attendance.] From France24: Thousands Protest Ahead of G7 Summit. Coalition includes opponents of imperialism, supporters of independent media. [Ed: Swiss and French have 1000s of police in the streets of Evian.]

From the Future of Freedom: America’s Exit Tax Is an Unconstitutional Violation of Human Rights, Part 1 [Ed: my latest for Jacob Hornberger.]

From Newsweek: Owner Receives Dog’s Report Card From Daycare, Learns Something Unexpected

From the BBC: US kills leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang in airstrike, Trump says [Ed: and the new leader of Venezuela is in Trump's pocket.]

Upcoming U.S. Elections. From Jonathan Turley: Drinking the Court-Packing Kool-Aid: Buttigieg Joins the Calls to Take Over the Supreme Court. "As the party becomes more radicalized, any candidate expressing doubts over radical demands like court packing is unlikely to make it out of the primaries." [Ed: Buttigieg has no chance.] From Mish Talk: What Are the Odds Trump’s Executive Order Blocking Mail-In Votes Stands? [Ed: none. Only Congress stands a chance of making this stick.]

From Reason: Your Uber Driver May Soon Be Unionized. At What Cost? It is in part an attempt to treat gig workers as full-scale employees rather than independent contractors. Drivers and riders will pay the price.

From CBS News: Violence erupts at Knicks celebration in Times Square as crowd lights school bus on fire From FOX News: The Athletic bewilderingly celebrates 'Zohran Mamdani sports summer' after New York Knicks win NBA Finals. The New York Times-owned outlet posted on X celebrating the politician's fandom of both championship teams

From Zero Hedge: UK Intercepts 'Russian Shadow' Fleet Vessel in Unprecedented English Channel Commando Boarding. "In the first U.K.-led operation of its kind, the vessel SMYRTOS was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos..." While there's nothing new in terms of an 'illicit' Russian tanker seizure in European waters, it is rare or even unprecedented that such an action occurred in the English Channel, so close to Britain's shores. [Ed: this is an act of war committed one day before the G&.]

From Dogman Ray: From Commerce to Canines

BREAKING. From Townhall: Trump Says Iran Conflict Nears End As Deal Set for Sunday Signing. [Ed: good, if any of it is true.] From Zero Hedge: President Trump Says Iran Peace Deal To Be Signed Sunday, Will Open Strait To All. My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite [to Obama's], it is A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON! [Ed: the Pakistan PM has confirmed the deal.]

AI. From CNBC: Coinbase Launches Tool To Let AI Agents Manage Trading and Payments. [Ed: I would not trust AI with such matters as the management of wealth.] From CBS News: She confided in ChatGPT the night of her suicide. Now, her mother is suing OpenAI. From the Epoch Times: The Most Important AI Experiment You've Never Heard Of. What does artificial intelligence (AI) actually do when it is put in charge? [Ed: I honestly don't know what to think of this experiment.]

From Pupvine: Arizona Husky Slips From His Kennel At Night And Knows Exactly Which Office Door To Open

Water. From Just the News: Trump unlocks protected areas of the Pacific Ocean for commercial fishing. The proclamation restores fishing access to areas around three marine national monuments in a move that is expected to enhance U.S. domestic seafood production and lower seafood prices. [Ed: smart move.] From the Independent: Modi orders Indian officials to prevent water from entering Pakistan. Claim from Delhi comes a year after India announced that it will suspend decades-old river-sharing treaty with Pakistan

From the Daily Economy: Measuring Trump 2.0 Against Trump 1.0: Tariff Boasts Meet the Data. Trump credits tariffs for an economic “turnaround.” The data show stronger economic performance in his first term than in his second. [Ed: by the excellent Don Boudreaux.]

From Lew Rockwell: America’s Hidden Food Crisis and the Fear of Confiscation [Ed: a must read.]

Iran. From the Times of Israel: Tehran will insist on right to enrich uranium in nuclear talks with US, Iranian media reports. [Ed: as I recall, Trump was careful to say "no nuclear weapons" in his lat statement.] From Politico: Trump's GOP allies draw a line in the sand on Iran. Their new deadline for the war: Labor Day. [Ed: this is when election campaigns go into full throttle.] From the Guardian: ECB raises eurozone interest rates as Iran war stokes inflation. "European Central Bank increases main deposit rate to 2.25%, with two further rises expected by next spring." From DW: Germany news: Recession looms as Iran war chokes growth.

From X: Wait for it... [Ed: have to admit, this dog video kinda freaked me out at first.]

Israel. From Haaretz: Israel Prepares for Renewed Large-scale Gaza Offensive, Citing Hamas Resurgence. [Ed: no wonder every reservist in Israel seems to have been called up.] From Naked Capitalism: How Western Media Normalizes Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing in Lebanon

Elon Musk. From Reason: Elon Musk Becomes the World's First Trillionaire. Is That Such a Bad Thing? Growing economies benefit all people, not just the uberwealthy. [Ed: to the extent his fortune and power come from his government connections and tax funding...yes, this is a bad thing. To the extent it comes from innovation and hard work, no.]

From Dog Beast: The Hysterical Way the Cats Keep the Friendly Neighbor Dog Out of the Yard.

El Nino. From Wired: El Niño Is Here to Turn the World’s Weather Upside Down. From Just the News: El Nino Is Back, and It May Be a Doozy. Scientists warn warmer Pacific could trigger extreme weather worldwide. From the Daily Mail: ]Revealed: The cities where people are most at risk from extreme heat as El Nino arrives – including several major tourist destinations. [Ed: this should be taken into account for travel plans, as well.]

From ABC News: House and Senate Fail to Pass Short-Term Extension of FISA Ahead of Friday’s Expiration Deadline.

Election Fraud. From Statehouse News: Ohio voting rights group says it was raided by the FBI. From CBS News: Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt releases video, saying he's moving to the "next, more interesting phase". From KATU ABC: Spencer Pratt says he has audio of either Mayor Bass or Raman that would make them resign.

From CBS News: White House hosting UFC fight tonight on Trump's 80th birthday. [Ed: no wonder the Dem's knickers are in a twist.]

From Dog Express: 17 Facts You Don't Know About Dogs.

From Newsmax: Democrat-Led States Skip Great American State Fair. [Ed: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington.]

From Mises Wire: April Money Supply Growth Hit a 49-Month High. And Prices Soared. In spite of repeated claims from the Federal Reserve that monetary policy is at least moderately restrictive, there is no sign of any slowing in money-supply growth. From Centre for Social Justice: Record numbers turning to loan sharks as cost-of-living crisis bites. "More than two million people across the UK may now be borrowing from illegal lenders." [Ed: this would be a terribly difficult number to estimate accurately so I take the article with grains of salt. Especiallly since the evidence may well be anecdotal.]

Mostly I like the donkey's face.

From the Victory Girls' Blog: Meet The Democratic Socialists’ New Army Of Red Rabbits. From the New York Post: Socialist ‘Red Rabbits’ are training for national uprising against cops

From AOL: Dog Knows She Has To Protect Little Baby as She Sleeps, Refuses To Leave Her Side

Graham Platner. From Reason: Graham Platner Signals a Problem for Democrats, and the Rest of Us. Platner is too typical of a wave of radical and unprepared Democrats who seem poised to take power.

From the Daily Signal: How California’s Election Procedures Turn Early Leads Into Late Losses. "Delayed vote tallies in California are attributable to the vote-by-mail system and weeklong deadlines for receiving ballots."

Iran. From Reason: What's in the Iran deal Trump says he's ready to sign? From Geovest: The Opera Ain’t Over II. [Ed: recommended. Part One is here.] From : Mother Of All 'Ifs': Trump Officials Claim Iran Deal Delivers Peace, Inspections & Hormuz Reopening; Iran Says Indeed 'Close'. Now this is a true first: President Trump sharing Iranian FM Arachchi's tweet...

Trump & Deportations. From FOX News: Trump plans to deport Iranians to violence-plagued central African nation in new deal. First flight could carry roughly 20 people from Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey as early as Thursday. From the Center for Immigration Studies: Latest Harvard/Harris Poll Shows Increasing Support for ‘Mass Deportations.

From NBC New York: Strapped for cash, City Hall considers delaying payments to programs for needy. Administration sources said it’s not a question of whether non profits will be paid — but it could come down to a question of when. [Ed: this could cause riots.]

From James Bovard: WSJ: How I Learned Not to Shovel. [Ed: recommended.]

SpaceX. From X: SpaceX IPO will create 4,400 new Millionaires, from engineers to Cafeteria workers. God bless Capitalism. [Ed: the comments are the interesting part.] From Business Insider: SpaceX IPO live updates: Record-breaking $75 billion market debut is imminent. [Ed: oh, to be a stockholder.] From QTR's Fringe Finance: SpaceX And The Limits Of Human Belief.

From KittyCatBreeders: An Unlikely Hero Saves Abandoned Dog Family From Despair.

From Zero Hedge: Globe And Mail Caught Pushing Anti-Musk "Hate" Propaganda, Then Quietly Alters Headline To ... "The important thing to remember when reading hostile Canadian media attacks on American..." [Ed: the important thing to remember is that mainstream media in Canada is funded by the government.]

Israel. From Lew Rockwell: Only an Enemy Would Bribe Congress To Commit Treason. [Ed: thought=provoking article.] From Middle East Eye: Gaza is not an aberration – Israel planned this genocide decades ago. From AP News: Israel deports French journalist over coverage critical of its policies in Gaza and the West Bank

From Zero Hedge: Crisis Comes Closer: Social Security's Projected Insolvency Moved A Year Earlier. "Social Security's trustees have revised their prediction of when the massive benefit program's trust fund will run out of money, moving it to the fourth quarter of 2032, sooner than last year's projection that the money will run out in 2033. ..."

From Happy Doggo: Snickers.

From Hollywood Reporter: DOJ Clears Paramount Deal for Warner With No Strings. Approval ends greatest risk to $111B merger. [Ed: probably means some sort of quiet deal was made because Trump was angling for concessions.] From Politico: Justice Department approves Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros.

From Politico: How Donald Trump’s son-in-law accidentally sparked an Albanian uprising. Flamingos, a pristine river and a glitzy resort backed by Jared Kushner prompted the biggest political demonstrations in Albania’s recent history.

The World Cup. From Politico.EU: Not another political World Cup. Headaches abound for FIFA as the biggest sporting event in the world kicks off in North America. From Politico: The Epic Story of How Trump Seized the World Cup. A decade of diplomatic maneuvering, global intrigue and trilateral deal-making — and how it all ended up in one president’s hands. From Reason: Trump's Border Crackdown Spoils World Cup. America pushed to host the international tournament. Now the government is hassling fans, official guests, and even players who want to come.

From Amazing PandPH: Boxer Is Mad At His Dad For Making Him Leave The Dog Park Early. So What He Does?

BREAKING. From Al Jazeera: Iran war live: Trump claims Tehran deal ‘approved’, cancels new strikes

From Reuters: Elon Musk Set to Become a Trillionaire on Friday. SpaceX IPO surge pushes Musk's net worth past $1T, estimates predict. [Ed: yes, today.]

Oh Canada. From the Detroit Free Press: After Trump Threats, Opening of US-Canada Bridge Is Delayed. Officials remain murky about the reason. [Ed: I believe he wants trade concessions from Canada. Given that Canada overwhelmingly paid for the bridge, it is rather churlish of him.] From Politico: Trump's ambassador names one thing America needs from Canada. It turns out U.S. farmers can't do without potash. [Ed: ah. And Canada is the world's leading exporter.]

From the Atlanta-Constitution Journal: Dog saves life of man injured, paralyzed in snow

From the Post Millennial: Trump admin suspends federal funds from Los Angeles homeless agency amid fraud probe. Hughes wrote that HUD has "determined that continuing to provide additional federal funds to LAHSA is not in the public interest."

From Hot Air: Yes, This: A Must-Read Piece from Drew Holden About COVID Insanity.

Graham Platner. From Red State: Report: The Graham Platner 'Redemption' Tour Hits a Snag As Another Alleged Ex Spills the Tea. [Ed: I will be pleased to never again hear this a**hole's name.] From Politico: Hunter Biden defends Graham Platner on Newsom podcast. The California governor’s latest provocative podcast guest argues Platner’s appeal will outweigh the scandals surrounding him. From Reason: Graham Platner, Other Fools Blame Their Problems on the 'Epstein Class'

From Reason: The House Just Passed a 'Pro-Worker' Bill That Takes Power Away From Workers. The Faster Labor Contracts Act promises quicker union agreements, but it would let federal arbitrators impose contracts workers never approved.

From Spiked: Why hasn’t the New York Times corrected its ‘dog rape’ lie? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – and there is no evidence whatsoever for this anti-Israel propaganda. [Ed: so much of what is printed is a lie that I worry whether my blog sometimes spreads lies rather than information.]

From the International Man: Doug Casey on the SpaceX IPO, the AI Super Bubble, and the Bells Ringing at the Top of the Market

From Financial Argument via Zero Hedge: From Rationing To Digital Permission: The Food Passport Grid Is Already Being Built.

Iran. From Zero Hedge: Trump: Iran Deal Should Be Done 'Pretty Quickly' But 'Subject To Settling' Over Next Few Days. Energy executives warn White House that key oil reserves running dangerously low... From the Post Millennial: BREAKING: Trump signals JD Vance could travel to Europe as early as this weekend to sign Iran deal. "The Strait would officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon, very soon, maybe over the weekend. In Europe, I won't be able to be there, but JD will be there." [Ed: Trump is wise to distance himself from this debacle.] From Al Mayadeen: Iran closes Strait of Hormuz, strikes US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain [Ed: I don't know what to believe. Perhaps this is what Trump wishes.] From Mish Talk: Another Already Disputed Trump Claim of Iran Deal From Simplicius: Trump Backs Down Again After Blustery Raid of Little Consequence.

From Today: Hero dog saves boy, 11, from cougar attack

From Politico: Gavin Newsom’s race to block a billionaire tax. A growing coalition of unions and health care groups is breaking with SEIU-UHW in a bid to stop a one-time levy on the assets of the ultrarich. [Ed: this is an interesting one. If I have time, I will acquaint myself with the arguments used by liberal-socialists for not upping the tax on billionaires.]

From Reason: Social Security Is Going Bankrupt Because Its Benefits Are Too Generous. Social Security's approaching insolvency is usually talked about as a revenue problem. It's actually a spending problem.

From Variety: Vice President JD Vance to Appear on ABC’s ‘The View’ [Ed: the man can handle himself well. It may be worth the annoyance of watching.]

Taiwan. From RT: Taiwan test-fires US-supplied missiles towards mainland China. From South China Morning Post: Taiwanese lawmakers spar over 12-fold budget rise for US joint defence programme

From Good News Network: Mouse with Severed Spinal Cord Recovers ‘Normal’ Movement After Potentially Revolutionary Treatment.

From Politico: Ukraine to ask for $20B to make Russia ‘burn’. Kyiv wants to raise the money by the NATO Ankara Summit, claiming otherwise Russia may regain the initiative. [Ed: Zelensky and his ilk will never voluntarily stop milking this cow.] From Dances with Bears: WHEN YOU ARE LOSING AT CHESS, CHANGE THE GAME YOU ARE PLAYING, STRIKE YOUR ADVERSARY’S CONFIDENCE THAT YOU ARE PREDICTABLE. From Lew Rockwell: How The CIA Conjured Ukrainian Nationalism

From Of Two Minds: Is AI Reversing Anti-Progress or Is It Accelerating It?

From the Organic Prepper: Thirdworldization: The Slow Burning SHTF of America

From Pawbuzz: Shelter Huskies Were Moments From Euthanasia When A Last-Minute Message Changed Everything

From Haaretz: Israel Prepares for Renewed Large-scale Gaza Offensive, Citing Hamas Resurgence. [Ed: thus the calling up of just about every reservist in the nation.]

From Orvis News: Murph Training X: Murph Finds the Water

Big Picture Economics. From QTR's Fringe Finance: Friday Was Ugly...Will Markets Monday Be Even Worse? Must read before Monday's market open... [Ed: a lot of blood in the streets.] From Schiff Gold: How Monetary Policy Punishes Saving [Ed: especially true if the savings are in fiat or bonds.]

From Newsweek: Owner Sees French Bulldog Home Alone Howling on Pet Cam, Then Realizes Why

From Science Daily: A New Shortcut To Quantum Entanglement. A simple tweak to a common quantum system could unlock powerful new quantum states for ultra-precise sensing and future quantum technologies.

Food. From Zero Hedge: UN Food Agency Warns Millions Pushed Into Hunger By Prolonged Iran War. The economic bleeding will not stop immediately, even if a diplomatic breakthrough occurs.