As Robert Reich has noted on his Substack overnight:
Trump's war with Iran is continuing. Today, Iran launched attack drones at Bahrain — which hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters, a major logistical base for U.S. military operations. Iran also struck an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, its second attack on a ship since Thursday.
Those attacks came after the United States carried out overnight airstrikes on Iranian missile and drone sites, in retaliation for Iran's firing drones at a container ship on Thursday as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
And as he has asked:
Yet the mainstream media refuse to call him out on his Iran lies.
The New York Times terms what's now happening a “flare-up of hostilities” that threatens “to unravel” ongoing “talks to reach a final peace agreement,” and that “neither side seems eager to return to a full-blown war.”
Well, they may not want to return to a “full-blown war,” but they've returned to hostilities that are blocking the strait and destroying whatever shred of trust diplomacy depends on. And not a word about Trump's lies.
He is spot on.
There is no ceasefire.
There is an ongoing war between the USA and Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz is effectively shut.
The world economic consequences continue.
But markets pretend that is not the case.
And why? Because the West's media is too frightened to call out Trump's lies.
I still believe we are going to pay a horribly high price for this.
And I wish that was not the case.
The question is, why do the media force us to believe they are on the wrong side of the truth?
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I think it’s because they have told that story of the good Neo-liberalism with the chivalrous US / West at its center so often that they can’t go back now.
They would expose themselves as at least the unquestioning repeaters of lies (or at least things they don’t understand).
And it seems to me that they’d rather die than to admit that.
They don’t think about the consequences of admitting a lie / a mistake:
Sure it can be difficult to regain trust and you might lose what this lie kept scratching along (I’ve got some experience in that….).
But immediately afterwards you can also be much more genuine.
And if people like one thing in themselves and others it’s being genuine.
That’s why I enjoy your blog so much.
That’s what media should be like.
Might it be that virtually any main stream journalist who would “speak truth to power” is filtered out?
Might it be that those who run main stream media outlets are in a comfy cartel with those who have influence and power over politics/so many politicians?
Contrast that with this then from yesterday’s Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jun/27/basically-youre-trapped-uk-postgraduates-burdened-with-double-loan-debt
I have a son who is going into a masters programme, and a daughter considering it. I wish they wouldn’t. A system that destroys payback with the interest rate and a lower pay threshold. This is more like a payday loan system, not further education.
Then consider in the article what a member of an elected government says:
“Graduates – especially those with postgraduate degrees – generally benefit from higher earnings, and repaying their loan is fair for those workers who have not gone to university or graduates on lower salaries.”
So in other words, this further study was paid for by the ‘tax payer’ so our politicians tapped into Thatcher’s big lie, divided opinion and then sat back and let capitalism rake it in. This is the big story really, but our society is so divided it remains just that – a story and not an issue. And the same goes with Trump and Iran.
A divided society is essentially a privatised society – everyone’s opinion is the truth. Trying to generate sufficient opinion or public sentiment around an any issue to get it changed or dealt with is very difficult. Divide and conquer rules. And capitalism mops up.
Unfortunately almost all the western media is simply the Imperial propaganda department.
My oldest son & my nephew have been lucky enough to go from 6th form straight to Masters courses so got the ‘undergraduate’ loans
I like to follow US geopolitical blogger Peter Zeihan. He said from the outbreak of this war that the Gulf would be effectively closed for the long term. Written off in his outlook.
I have a suspicion that what we will end up with is a Gulf of Hormuz that is neither open nor closed, Schrodinger’s Trade Route
The Global Economy ending not with a bang but a whimper
I think you are right.
But we will get the bang.
meanwhile Al Jazeera reports that Israel has been selling all kinds of weapons to the Gulf states… making any future blow up even more dangerous. Israel is the troublemaker in this area. Until the world is brave enough to hold this aggressive country to the standards that we thought we all agreed on, nothing will improve.
David Byrne says:
Expanding upon PSR’s comments, graduates with good degrees should ignore the hype and refuse to undertake Masters programmes.
If business, commerce and industry want them, they should sponsor their employees, pay their salaries and associated fees and costs.
Very soon government, the universities and business will get the message.
I completed a Masters Degree, fully funded and wholly beneficial to my employer.
Be confident and brave, young graduates!
Agreed!
Yes, my youngest granddaughter is pursuing a masters degree sponsored by her employer. Not everyone can be so fortunate, however.