🔼 🇺🇸 🕯 The S&P 500 surges above 7,800 for the first time in history, now worth a record $70.8 trillion.

📎 KobeissiLetter

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 Earlier today, the USS George Washington (CVN 73) Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser and USS Shoup (DDG 86) Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer were photographed traveling westbound in the Singapore Strait

The George Washington is likely going to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.

@CIG_telegram

🇮🇷⚔️🇺🇸📝: How does the loss of the U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf hinder the U.S. Navy's ability to maintain ships deployed in the Arabian Sea for long periods of time?

The US Navy and US Fifth Fleet are operating a fleet of about 20 ships in the northern Arabian Sea centered around two carrier strike groups - Lincoln and Bush - and an amphibious ready group - Boxer.

The loss of access to bases in and around the Persian Gulf means that all the food have to be procured either from local sources in and around the Indian Ocean, or brought in from East Asia.

To replenish the ships at sea with food, there are four ships available: USNS Arctic, Cesar Chavez, Wally Schirra and Alan Shepard. Some of these ships departed from bases in East Asia over a month ago.

Food, depending on the type, has specific shelf life. The Navy is well aware of this. Nuclear submarines load up all the food they need for months when they deploy. Surface ships have the advantage to receive fresh food on a more regular basis.

However, because of the number of ships on station, the limited number of store ships (four), and the elongated distance from supply sources, means that the food onboard ship will be of the type that can be stored, frozen or preserved for long duration. This means less fresh fruit & vegetables, or milk (butter there is good old fashion nuclear milk - if you know, you know).

What this story tells us, is that we need more logistics to keep our Navy at sea in a contested environment. In 2015, the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command re-introduced the concept of commercial shipping transferring fuel to Navy underway replenishment ships.

What we have lost are the commercial ships that can transfer dry stores and ammunition to restock.

Currently, the four stores ships have to shuttle between bases to the forward deployed fleet.

Remember, deployed warships are not cruise ships in the Caribbean. This does not mean we cannot do better, but admirals never like to prioritize and fund logistics over warships.

🔗 Sal Mercogliano

🇷🇺 🇯🇵 🇯🇵 Putin visited Etorofu Island on Thursday, marking his first-ever trip to the Russian-occupied Northern Territories claimed by Japan. The visit comes a day after Putin described the decades-old territorial dispute as effectively settled by the outcome of World War II.

📎 Arin Yumi

🗳 🇩🇪 📊 AfD surges to a record 42% in Saxony-Anhalt — a full 20 points clear of the CDU with just one month to go before the state election.

The historic result could make the party the strongest force and potentially deliver Germany’s first AfD-led state government.

📎 Europa

🇾🇪❌🇾🇪 — Damage is visible at Mokha Port in western Yemen following recent Houthi (Ansarallah) missile and drone strikes.

At least one hangar or warehouse at the Yemeni government-controlled base appears to have been completely destroyed, while a separate burn scar is visible within the commercial port.

🚁 🇺🇸 👨‍🚒 Forest Service rappel crews have surpassed 1k helicopter insertions this season. That shows how active & demanding this wildfire year has been. Each insertion represents highly skilled firefighters being deployed into challenging terrain where rapid response makes a difference.

📎 USDA Forest Service

💸 🇺🇸 🚷 A few weeks before Charlie was killed, he gave a speech to a conference of roofers. He was shocked that a group which invited him to speak and largely voted Trump, was also hostile toward deportations. They felt their businesses needed illegals for cheap labor.

A couple of thoughts:

- We cannot be held hostage by industries that have grown addicted to low-wage illegals. It's a felony that undercuts American wages.

- I refuse to believe that Americans are unwilling or unable to do jobs like roofing. If you pay Americans a decent wage, the workers will come.

- If we are going to restore American sovereignty, and the rule of law, it will require sacrifice. These are relatively small in historical terms. Certian goods might cost more, even burritos!

This is the central question of our time: Are Americans tough enough or strong enough to take our medicine and save the country?

📝 Keith Woods: Amazing clip. "The individualism of men like this is more corrosive than the resentment politics of the left. The business lobby remains the prime driver of mass-immigration."

📎 Andrew Kolvet

🇮🇷⚔️🇧🇭🇦🇪🇺🇸 IRGC-linked Fars News Agency published new satellite imagery of several U.S. military infrastructure and economic assets that were destroyed in the 3rd Gulf War

Notably, three of the targets shown are located in the United Arab Emirates which has not claimed to have been targeted by Iranian projectiles last July so its possible the images show objects that were destroyed in sometime in March or April.

Destruction of a data center supporting US Sintelligence operations in Bahrain.

Destruction of a gas compression unit at the Habshan refinery, part of US economic interests in the UAE

Destruction of a carbon unit belonging to a US aluminum company in the UAE

Destruction of AN/TPS-57 radar at Al Dhafra Air Base, UAE

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸🕋💧❗️— Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is adding dedicated Islamic wudu stations in the men’s and women’s restrooms of Terminal D, providing Muslim passengers with facilities for ritual washing before prayer.

▶️Airport officials say the stations will also address safety and maintenance concerns caused by travelers washing their feet in regular sinks, which can leave floors wet and damage counters.

▶️The privately funded facilities are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, joining similar installations already found at major U.S. airports such as Chicago O’Hare.