Global

It used to be hard to help westerners see the depravity of the US empire. Now it’s just right in everyone’s face with raw genocide footage and insanely evil warmongering of direct economic consequence.

It took a lot of work to help the average westerner understand that NATO aggressions actively provoked the war in Ukraine, or that western interventionism played a major role in the violence and chaos in Syria, or that US economic warfare was largely responsible for the suffering of Cubans and Venezuelans. The murderous savagery of the empire was hidden behind layers of obfuscation, allowing the propagandists to frame the western power structure as a passive witness to the abuses of foreign regimes.

The glow of the recent No Kings rally still pulsates in my heart. Some 8 million people across the planet took part in over 3,000 separate events – people carrying signs that said things like “Power of Love, not Love of Power,” and “Jesus was a refugee,” and, well . . . “Super Callous Fragile Racist Sexist Nazi POTUS” and “Grab ’em by the midterms.”

Credit to Trump. He wages his wars and struts through life with so much arrogant swagger – so much indifference to politically correct propaganda – that he has made himself the perfect target for what may well be a growing movement to rebuild humanity itself. Oh God, I hope this is the case! Trump is the fool, the bellicose idiot of the moment – in partnership, of course, with Bibi Netanyahu – but they’re only the current faces of the trek to hell and nonexistence we’ve been on for a while.

The rise of plutozionism—the convergence of wealth-driven political influence and staunch pro-Israel advocacy—marks a significant and troubling evolution in the shaping of United States domestic and foreign policy. Within this framework, Israel has been increasingly integrated into a broader American-led global order, assuming a central role in sustaining U.S. hegemony in the Middle East. No longer simply an ally, Israel is positioned as a strategic pillar within a U.S.-dominated geopolitical architecture. The current U.S.-Israel war with Iran is a continuation of Zionism’s project of expanding its hegemony in the Middle East. 

Fatima Ftouni, a Lebanese journalist with Al Mayadeen, was killed in an Israeli airstrike while traveling in a marked press vehicle near the village of Jezzine in southern Lebanon. Her death has sparked outrage, grief, and debate, with many calling her one of the most powerful voices documenting the human cost of war.

Fatima was killed along with her brother, Mohammed Ftouni, a cameraman with Al Mayadeen; Ali Shohaib, a veteran reporter for Al Manar TV; and one medic. Another journalist was wounded in the strike.

Only weeks before her murder, Fatima had lost seven relatives in an Israeli strike on her home. Her emotional reporting from the rubble went viral, making her a symbol of resilience and a reminder of the dangers journalists face in conflict zones. She preferred reporting from the front lines rather than from a safe distance.

Up to 15,000 of the 50,000 American troops in the Middle East region are being positioned to participate in an assault on Kharg Island, Iran’s critical oil export hub, with the aspiration that America, once in control of Kharg, will turn the tables and assume dominance, opening the Strait of Hormuz for the U.S. and allies, while cutting off Iran from its major source of oil revenue.

Marines and paratroopers, with air and naval support, are poised to invade Kharg’s heavily defended 25-mile coast which features rocky terrain, cliffs and in some places, flat limestone surfaces, each presenting its own strategic calculus and hazards. Special Operations may be tasked with the mission of capturing Iran’s enriched uranium, an equally perilous task.

The U.S. cannot invade and/or hold Kharg Island without taking heavy casualties. Iran has been preparing more than 20 years for an assault on the island and U.S. troops could face potential annihilation with counter-attack coming from all directions, air, land and sea, giving new meaning to Kharg Island’s nickname, ‘The Forbidden Island.’

71 percent of homeowners want solar panels

San Francisco-based software company Aurora Solar has released its fourth annual Solar Snapshot report, surveying more than 1,000 American homeowners, 1,000 solar professionals, and millions of projects managed by the Aurora software.

According to the report, 63 percent of solar installers expect that the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act and the federal Investment Tax Credit termination will "negatively impact their business." Additionally, 68 percent of homeowners with solar panels already installed say they benefited from the IRA's tax credits, and installers saw a "surge" in solar demand before the tax credit ended.

"Meanwhile, 71 percent of homeowners reported that they would like to install solar panels on their home, but 44 percent of those say it costs more than expected and nearly half don't think they can afford them without the IRA's tax credits.

We begin GREEP Zoom #262 with a down-home report from HEDY TRIPP in anti-ICE Minnesota.

From the Green Party’s HOWIE HAWKINS we hear the latest from anti-Putin Ukraine and its contrarian view of the Iran War.

From DONALD SMITH we hear an opposing view on Ukraine’s “fascist roots” and the Russo-Nazi heritage.  

Our engineer STEVE CARUSO and co-host MIKE HERSH chime in on the need for true democracy in the wake of NoKings3.

Western Michigan’s ROGER RAPOPORT reports on the milestone announcement that the Palisades nuke will NOT go to full power, a VERY big step toward a post-nuke future.

From Kalamazoo, KEVIN KAMPS underscores the insanity of opening new atomic reactors in the age of drone warfare.

Legendary safe energy godfather KARL GROSSMAN reminds us of the mess that accompanied the attempt to run Long Island's Shoreham nuke at low power.

The truly game-changing M.V.RAMANA reminds us that renewables are the only route to planetary survival.

In the wake of 8 million marchers at No Kings 3, Topanga’s highly exalted DOROTHY REIK demands “regime change” in the United States.

American democracy has survived wars, economic collapses, and political scandals. But now it faces a structural crisis: a willful denial of systemic election vulnerabilities.

The Election Truth Alliance (ETA) is confronting an affliction at the heart of U.S. democratic infrastructure: that American elections are no longer secure, and why independent validation is the best and only remedy.

While the global economy relies on the stability of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the systems safeguarding our elections currently operate under security standards that would fail a local credit union. In this vacuum, independent analysis and audits to ensure votes are counted accurately should be treated as a national security imperative.

Investigations by ETA have become instrumental in identifying where systemic anomalies require urgent intervention.