Jeff Witt

BREAKING: Just five minutes before Trump's announcement to halt the attacks on Iran, massive trades reportedly hit the market. In one move, $1.5 billion in S&P 500 (ES) futures was bought while $192 million in oil (CL) futures was sold. These orders were 4–6x larger than anything else at the time. The trader seemingly made huge gains. Unusual.

I don't need to search the world for things to be concerned about. My concerns are the ones right in front of me: my family, my friends, my town. I get that neocons will neocon. But even a handful of people on the actual right are cheering about Iran. How are house prices doing in America? How about the lost souls wandering the streets of our cities at night, or the conservative families who did everything right but their kids got caught in the trans hideousness anyway? It is the left that, bored with bourgeois life, historically inverted this natural order. Rousseau was all tears and pity about the earthquake in Lisbon, but put his own children in a foundling asylum. John Lennon wanted world peace, but had no contact with his son from his first marriage. The best line in the Tucker Carlson interview of the heretical Mike Huckabee was when Huckabee said that without Iran we wouldn't have the problem on the border with Lebanon, and Tucker responded, the way a conservative would, by saying: what problem on the border with Lebanon? I'm not having a problem on the border with Lebanon. I live in Maine. And we weren't born yesterday: no right winger, observing the American regime, thinks to himself: these people care deeply about the Iranian public. But as our own country crumbles, the temptation to get excited about foreign adventures increases. It's a perverse paradox. I promise you, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin do not steer you right, and they are not steering you right now. If you're on the right, you have an appreciation for the precariousness of the human condition. You certainly do not think: if the regime deposes a man it dislikes, this will lead to a better outcome. You do not know that. History is not kind to that kind of naïveté, and if there's one thing right-wingers are not, it is naive. The true heart of America is not Ben Shapiro but John Quincy Adams (and Henry Clay, and so many others who echoed the same sentiments): "[America] has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own. "She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.... "Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. "But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. "She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. "She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

An Israeli prisoner in Gaza Alexander Turbanov, gave a surprising statement from occupied Israel upon his return: “Your kindness will forever be etched on my soul. I spent 498 days among you. Despite the oppression and aggression you endured, I learned from you the true meaning of manhood, pure bravery, humanity, and respect for values. Even in captivity, you were free, while I, being free, was a prisoner. You protected my life. Like a father treats his sons with love, you cared for my dignity, health, and honor. Though I was in the hands of people fighting for their land and stolen freedom, and while my government was committing the worst genocide against a besieged nation, you neither starved me nor humiliated me. I saw the real meaning of manhood in your eyes. I understood the value of sacrifice by living among you. I saw you smiling even in the face of death, against an enemy armed with weapons of mass destruction, while you had nothing but your own bodies. Even if I tried, I couldn’t find the words to truly express your worth and status, or to reflect my astonishment and admiration for your noble character. Does your faith really teach you to treat prisoners this way? How great is that belief that raises you to such a level where all man-made laws of human rights fall apart, and all protocols of war pale in comparison to your example. Even in the harshest of times, your justice and mercy stood out — not just as slogans, but in your actual behavior. You never compromised on your principles, no matter how dark the circumstances were. Believe me, if I ever return, I will live among you as a dedicated student, because I have learned the truth from your people. I have realized that you are not just the owners of the land, but the owners of principles and justice.”

What the hell is this?

Just went for a walk in the neighborhood and look what I happened to stumble across. Wild.

🚨 U.K. Ambassador to U.S. fired over links to Epstein. 🚨 It begins. Let’s keep cleaning house. Release all the files.

If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you're illiberal. If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you're a fundamentalist. If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you're a totalitarian. If you believe political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you're a terrorist.