President Trump is declaring that “Our deal with China is done,” after two days of talks between the U.S. and China in London resulted in a plan for framework for the agreement they reached on resolving their trade disputes last month. But the war is far from over…

Carl Zha, a geopolitical analyst and Host of the Silk & Steel Podcast, noted that this is “a ceasefire, NOT a peace treaty,” and while Washington is pushing Beijing to lift the export controls it recently placed on key rare earth elements used by the U.S. Military, Beijing also wants the U.S. to lift the restrictions it placed on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semi-conductors.

Follow Carl Zha on X, and check out the Silk & Steel Podcast on YouTube

SOURCE LINKS:

11 June 2025 - US reduces the presence of staffers not deemed essential in the Middle East as tensions rise

11 June 2025 - The US and China say they have agreed on a framework to resolve their trade disputes

11 June 2025 - Trump on Truth Social: “Our deal with China is done … full magnets, and any necessary rare earths will be supplied, up front, by China.”

10 June 2025 - China’s rare-earth mineral squeeze puts defense giants in the crosshairs

9 June 2025 - China’s Chokehold on This Obscure Mineral Threatens the West’s Militaries

rachelblevins.substack.com/p/m…

US Military Needs China's Rare Earth Elements

Trump is declaring that “Our deal with China is done,” after two days of talks. But the war is far from over…

^{Rachel Blevins}

Linux forever 🐧♥️

#linux

Worldwide power grid with glass insulated HVDC cables

Link: omattos.com/2025/06/12/glass-h…
Discussion: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4…

libertytree.ca/quotes/William.…

“Where suspicion fills the air and holds scholars in line for fear of their jobs, there can be no exercise of the free intellect. Supineness and dogmatism take the place of inquiry. A problem can no longer be pursued to its edges. Fear stalks the classroom. The teacher is no longer a stimulant to adventurous thinking; she becomes instead a pipe line for safe and sound information. A deadening dogma takes the place of free inquiry. Instruction tends to become sterile;

libertytree.ca/quotes/Theodore…

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

~ Theodore Roosevelt
(1858-1919) 26th US President

Israel's journalists stating the whole truth:

"Four countries of the British Commonwealth and Norway have made life easy for themselves. What Israel is doing in the Gaza Strip is not happening because of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. They aren't even the main culprits. Blaming them and only them is self-righteousness and hypocrisy.

Both the Gaza Strip and Israel are desperate now for international sanctions that will lead to an end to the slaughter in Gaza. We can't wait any longer, Mumbling like the five countries won't suffice. The slaughter will not stop without sanctions, and the slaughter cannot continue.

The sanctions must be directed at the entire government, from Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, to the least senior government minister. Sanctions should also target the military officers and the bureaucrats who are carrying out the slaughter in Gaza.

A majority of Israelis, as public opinion polls indicate, support the slaughter and are even waiting for the population transfer that is to come in its wake. Therefore, the pressure and the punishment must be directed at Israel in its entirety.

And we can't move on without a comic interlude: The leader of the "Israeli résistance," Benny Gantz, head of the National Unity party, sees the decision on the sanctions against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir as "a profound moral failure on the part of the world." Diplomats and decision-makers, do you get this? In Israel, all of us are now Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. All of us."

haaretz.com/opinion/2025-06-11…

#Israel #Palestine #Gaza #Genocide #HumanRights #Sanctions

Sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is but a tiny, sad step in ending the Gaza massacre

***

^{Gideon Levy (Haaretz)}

Sensitive content Reveal/hide

TAKESHITA Yukari #竹下ゆかり

#YukariTAKESHITA #TAKESHITA_Yukari #URABON #SexyJapanese #SexyAsian #gravure

Sensitive content Reveal/hide

TAKESHITA Yukari #竹下ゆかり

#YukariTAKESHITA #TAKESHITA_Yukari #URABON #SexyJapanese #SexyAsian #gravure

"We witnessed something today only seen in dictatorial regimes. California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla exercised his First Amendment rights and fulfilled his constitutional obligations to ask a question of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem while in his home state. He was viciously manhandled, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed. This is fascism."

~ Jennifer Rubin

#Trump #authoritarianism #fascism #violence #FreeSpeech #AlexPadilla #California
/1

contrarian.substack.com/p/even…

Evening Roundup, June 12th

Featuring Jen Rubin, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Josh Levs, "The Tea" with April Ryan, Rep. Al Green, Kitty Eisele, Jean Kilbourne, Meredith Blake, and Carron J. Phillips

^{The Contrarian}

Gavin Newsom didn't choose this fight, but now that he's in it, he's relearning an important lesson: fighting MAGA is a good look.

More Democrats should pay attention.

salon.com/2025/06/13/gavin-new…

Gavin Newsom rediscovers fighting MAGA is popular

Other Democrats should pay attention

^Salon.com

When is it legal for California cops to use tear gas or rubber bullets for crowd control? Here's a flowchart explainer from #afsc #americanfriendsservicecommittee afsc.org. Please share!

#california

afsc.org/california-state-law-…

Hearing Peter Thiel described as traditional conservative / arch-conservative at the keynote of #PubConf2025
(while mentioning his stances against democracy, women's rights, etc.):

Historian here, you can call him a fascist.

thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/th… (via @tzimmer_history)

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

motherjones.com/politics/2021/…

Peter Thiel’s ‘Fresh and Strange’ Ideas Are Certainly the Latter

Peter Thiel is the latest pro-Trump luminary to take a conspiracist turn.

^{Helen Lewis (The Atlantic)}

In the lead-up to the No Kings Day protests tomorrow, I hope you all realize how outrageous the Trump gang's assault on liberty is.

On Thursday, the head of their Department of Homeland Security said this about the National Guard's presence in Los Angeles:

“We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.”

So yes: she *admitted* their goal is not merely to crush protests, but to seize power from the governor of California and mayor of Los Angeles. Today a judge declared this illegal. They will keep trying.

After she said this, a senator in the room began asking a question. Her henchmen shoved him out of the room, told him to drop to his knees in a hallway, and handcuffed him!

This is fascism.

(1/2)

talkingpointsmemo.com/where-th…

Noem Says National Guard Occupation Is Meant To ‘Liberate’ LA From Its Mayor And Governor

Just before Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security press briefing, forced to the ground and then handcuffed for…

^{Nicole Lafond (TPM - Talking Points Memo)}

Denmark’s Ministry of Digital Government is phasing out its use of Microsoft Office.. to switch to open source alternatives like LibreOffice instead.

Why? Because relying too heavily on a US tech giant for your nation’s digital infrastructure is starting to feel a bit... well, risky.

Denmark's relationship with the US is under strain, following Donald Trump's clearly stated ambition to seize control of Greenland, and recent reports of increased spying by the States on Greenland and Denmark.

As we head towards the weekend, follow @renewedresistance to keep up to date on the latest peaceful organising against Trump and Trumpism.

To get involved in the discussion, follow the account, await approval, and then post by tagging the account!

As part of our Channel.org beta, we built this group to help our good friend @tchambers repurpose the @KamalaHarrisWin account (which has now been migrated) for an important cause.

#Trump #Organising #Protest #US #LA #Feidverse #NoKings #USPolitics

Wifebot was picking some flowers in the garden and made this.

#Pride #PrideMonth #BloomScrolling