Warning Signs Flash As America’s Oil Reserves Bleed For Iran War

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Just when you thought gas prices could not get any higher, the real oil crisis is beginning to brew underground in America’s key oil reserve.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is intended to maintain a stockpile of crude oil for periods of wartime or economic instability. The Iran War has pushed the U.S. to drain the SPR, which is now reaching critical levels, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows.

The price of oil has surged past $100 per barrel as Houthi rebels have begun attacking ships in the Red Sea, Reuters reported, putting even more pressure on an already-constrained oil market.

Some analysts argue that the amount of usable oil in the SPR is much smaller than the official EIA numbers suggest.

The SPR has been drained by nearly 25% over the last 17 weeks, according to the EIA data, declining from 415.4 million barrels on March 20, 2026, to 311.4 million barrels on July 17, 2026. (Read more from “Warning Signs Flash As America’s Oil Reserves Bleed For Iran War” HERE)

WATCH: ‘Shocking’ Ben Franklin Smear Leaves Smithsonian Chief with ‘No Regrets’

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The director of the country’s premier American history museum said she has no regrets about any of the museum’s exhibits during her tenure after an expert confronted her with a “shocking” display that he said smeared Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

Smithsonian National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig faced intense questioning from lawmakers during two Capitol Hill hearings this week. The hearings followed a White House Domestic Policy Council report accusing the museum of using taxpayer dollars and its status as a world-renowned institution to advance a “radical activist ideology.”

During a House hearing Tuesday, Heritage Foundation expert Mike Gonzalez testified that a multiyear special exhibit, “The Electric Dr. Franklin,” included a display that “pondered whether he had ever done experiments, electrical electroshock on indentured servants or slaves.”

Gonzalez testified that the display included this suggestion “without producing any evidence whatsoever,” which he called “shocking.”

“Why smear a Founding Father such as Ben Franklin by pondering such a really bizarre thing,” Gonzalez asked. (Read more from “WATCH: ‘Shocking’ Ben Franklin Smear Leaves Smithsonian Chief with ‘No Regrets’” HERE)

AP Post on USAID Cuts Backfires as Critics Question Taxpayer-Funded Nepal Transgender Jobs

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An Associated Press social media post about transgender aid workers in Nepal turning to sex work after losing their jobs due to U.S. foreign aid cuts sparked a wave of conservative backlash, with critics arguing the video made the case for defunding USAID rather than saving it.

The AP post said that in Nepal, where “a conservative culture leaves openly transgender people with few legal job options,” around 100 LGBTQ aid workers left jobless by U.S. funding cuts had turned to sex work to survive. An accompanying video focused on Rubi Lama, a former HIV outreach worker who said USAID-funded programs had provided free condoms, lubricant and HIV-prevention medication before the cuts.

“When USAID funding was there, condoms were free, lubricant was also distributed … for free,” Lama said in the video, adding that HIV treatments, including PrEP, were also available without cost. “But, now it is gone.”

The framing quickly drew criticism from conservatives who said the story raised the opposite question: why American taxpayers were funding those programs in the first place.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, was among the conservatives who argued the AP report made the opposite point from the one intended. (Read more from “AP Post on USAID Cuts Backfires as Critics Question Taxpayer-Funded Nepal Transgender Jobs” HERE)

Trump Prepares to Attack Eighth Country of His Second Term

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Weeks after a preliminary peace deal with Iran fell apart, Donald Trump has turned his attention toward his next military conquest.

The Trump administration is reportedly considering taking military action against an Al Qaeda-affiliated group in Mali known as JNIM, according to several current and former U.S. officials that spoke with The Washington Post Wednesday.

Doing so would add to the president’s warmongering tally, marking the eighth nation he has ordered strikes on since he began his second term as president.

The other affected countries are Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela. Trump has also ordered 66 strikes against small watercraft in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in an admittedly futile attempt to interrupt drug smuggling into the U.S., killing at least 221 people in the process.

One of the administration’s top proponents for using brute force in Mali is Sebastian Gorka, the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism. The London-born Hungarian has been a fixture in Trump’s inner circle since 2017, though his appointment to Trump’s first administration came as a surprise to many in his field. Gorka had previously been known for his extremist, Islamophobic views, which relegated him to the fringes of Washington and his position as an editor at Breitbart. (Read more from “Trump Prepares to Attack Eighth Country of His Second Term” HERE)

Israeli Security Minister Joins Jewish Extremists as they Storm Temple Mount

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By The Guardian. Israel’s far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, joined thousands of Jewish extremists who stormed Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Thursday.

Escorted by armed police, they prayed, waved the Israeli flag and sang the national anthem in a provocative display of political power.

Under a fragile, decades-old agreement known as the status quo, non-Muslim prayer is banned at the site, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif compound and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Ben-Gvir has eroded the agreement in recent years through a series of inflammatory visits to the compound, and unilateral changes to rules for Jewish visitors, including allowing them to bring prayers and printed religious material to the site. . .

In a statement, the Palestinian ministry of religious endowments and affairs said: “These provocative practices, emanating from the highest political levels of the occupying government, seek to ignite a religious war throughout the entire region.” (Read more from “Israeli Security Minister Joins Jewish Extremists as they Storm Temple Mount” HERE)

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Israel’s Ben-Gvir visits flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

By Reuters. Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Thursday, praising Jewish visitors he ​said had prayed at the site in breach of arrangements ‌that allow only Muslim prayer there.

His visit drew condemnation from Jordan and Palestinian officials. . .

Jordan’s foreign ministry and the Palestinian religious affairs ministry both condemned Ben-Gvir’s ​visit, which they said violated the status-quo agreements.

Jordan ​said Ben-Gvir’s ⁠visit was “a desecration of the sanctity of the mosque, an escalation, a barbaric act, and unacceptable provocation.”

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. ⁠Previous such ​visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted ​announcements from Netanyahu saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the ​status quo. (Read more from “Israel’s Ben-Gvir visits flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

MAGA Rages at Lindsey Graham’s Sister over $100 Check: ‘Neither honest nor self-aware’

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Lindsey Graham’s sister Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) has already infuriated her late brother’s political base because of a $100 check, according to a new report.

Nordone, the appointed replacement approved by President Donald Trump, donated to state Sen. Katrina Shealy — is backtracking after reports revealed she donated money to a Republican who helped block a near-total abortion ban in South Carolina, the Daily Beast reported Thursday.

The newly sworn-in senator is now in full damage-control mode, taking to social media to explain herself, according to the Beast.

The response from the MAGA right was not overwhelmingly positive.

“You’re good friends with Katrina Shealy, the former South Carolina state senator who is PRO-ABORTION and OPPOSED the Heartbeat bill—AND you even donated to her campaign,” replied Kelly McCarty, a “Covid accountability” influencer.

“Lies,” added X user Teri. “Your BFF is disgraced former state senator Katrina Shealy who was famous for consistently blocking pro-life legislation during her tenure.” (Read more from “MAGA Rages at Lindsey Graham’s Sister over $100 Check: ‘Neither honest nor self-aware’” HERE)

US Beefs up Military Might in Middle East as Trump says He’s Weighing ‘Massive Attack’ on Iran

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President Trump said he is weighing a “massive attack” on Iran — as the Pentagon floods the Middle East with elite troops, fighter jets and combat medics, vowing to avenge the deaths of four US troops in less than a week.

“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than anything we have ever had before. I am close to making a decision. We are fully prepared for it,” the president told Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday.

He added that the Jewish state would join the US in the operation “in two minutes” if he asked, but clarified that “we don’t need anybody” to launch the potential escalation.

“Relations with [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Netanyahu] are very good,” he said. “I will meet with him if he is in town [for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral next week.]”

His remarks come as the US military has surged special operations forces into the Middle East and repositioned fighter squadrons across the region, according to flight tracking data, after four US troops were killed over the past week. (Read more from “US Beefs up Military Might in Middle East as Trump says He’s Weighing ‘Massive Attack’ on Iran” HERE)

Trump Admin Announces Between 10% and 12.5% Tariffs on 60 Countries Over Forced Labor Imports

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The Trump administration is ratcheting up tariffs on 60 countries that have failed to ban imports made from forced labor, as 10% global duties are set to expire Friday.

Senior administration officials said Thursday that countries that have begun implementing a forced labor prohibition will be hit with 10% duties, while those that haven’t will receive an import tax of 12.5% — with the levies taking effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 24.

“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere,” Greer added.

The 10% rate will apply to Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. (Read more from “Trump Admin Announces Between 10% and 12.5% Tariffs on 60 Countries Over Forced Labor Imports” HERE)

Russia Tells Rubio America Sending More Weapons to Europe, Attempts to ‘Inflict Strategic Defeat’ are ‘Unacceptable’

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Russia’s Foreign Minister had a brief meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Philippines on Thursday morning, where Moscow said continued American arms sales to its European allies, who use them to arm Ukraine, are “unacceptable”.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is at the East Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on Thursday and overnight Eastern Time held a bilateral meeting on the side-lines with his Russian counterpart, the veteran diplomat Sergei Lavrov. One of the only senior Russian political figures whose long career pre-dates and has survived the Putin era, Lavrov has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004 and a Russian ambassador since the Soviet era.

Rubio said in a statement after the meeting ended that he’d discussed “the U.S.-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war”, the typical boilerplate from the Department of State for such meetings. Russia had its own, namechecking the 2025 Trump-Alaska summit — as they always do — but added further detail, including claiming they had delivered a protest to Rubio on U.S. weapons exports.

While the United States has long ago ceased to donate weapons directly to Ukraine, citing the enormous cost to taxpayers, it sells large quantities to its European allies at full price, which are then free to donate them in turn to Ukraine themselves. Foreign Minister Lavrov “emphasized that pumping Ukraine with more weapons is unacceptable”, Russian state media expressed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself further laboured the point in a statement in which it accused European states of trying to inflict a defeat on the Russian Federation:

When discussing Ukraine-related issues, Lavrov briefed his American counterpart on the real situation along the line of contact and stressed that further flooding the Kiev regime with weapons was unacceptable, along with the overall destructive policy pursued by European countries, which continue seeking to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia.

(Read more from “Russia Tells Rubio America Sending More Weapons to Europe, Attempts to ‘Inflict Strategic Defeat’ are ‘Unacceptable’” HERE)

WATCH: Male Democrat Ashley Webb Gives Sick Details of Menstrual ‘Cycle’

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Tuesday on “The Alex Marlow Show,” Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about Maine.

Marlow said, “Ashley Webb was out there talking about on Reddit that he has a monthly period through his rectum. This is not a joke. This is something that he had posted and he was talking a lot about his biology during some media that he was able to do in recent days.”

(Read more from “WATCH: Male Democrat Ashley Webb Gives Sick Details of Menstrual ‘Cycle’” HERE)