ASX

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” “Nell’era dell’inganno universale, dire la verità è un atto rivoluzionario”

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

There's one interesting dimension of the US's sanctions on the ICC 👇 that, as far as I saw, no media caught.

The US has sanctioned many ICC officials over the past few years but Abdoulaye Seye - one of 2 persons sanctioned this time (the other being ICC President Tomoko Akane) - was the first non-elected one.

So there is something quite unique about his case.

Seye's role at the ICC? Senior Trial Lawyer and Head of the Team handling the Situation in the State of Palestine (I know, quite a mouthful): in other words, the guy is the ICC's lead lawyer on the Palestine case.

Already, that alone should make it absolutely obvious that these sanctions have nothing to do, as Marco Rubio wrote, with "protecting Americans" but everything to do with protecting Israel.

But that's not the only thing special about Abdoulaye Seye.

See, ICC judges are elected officials: they serve non-renewable nine-year terms, and these terms are staggered so that one-third of the bench (6 judges out of 18) comes up for replacement every three years. All 124 member countries vote by secret ballot.

And that's where things get interesting: the next election is coming up in December this year and Seye is actually candidate to becoming a judge, proposed by his country of Senegal (https://t.co/z8fNaXMqME).

There are 14 candidates running for the 6 judge seats (https://t.co/6D2AXA7tCF) and Seye is the only one sanctioned by the U.S., which actually puts him at enormous practical disadvantages versus the other candidates.

For one thing, very concretely, the election takes place at the UN in New York, and being on the US sanctions list means being physically barred from entering the United States.

And it's not just about the vote itself. The whole campaign plays out in New York over months: in particular during the UN General Assembly in September, the High-level meetings, the candidate public roundtable interviews on November 4–5, and the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) session in December. That's where candidates meet delegations and lobby for votes.

The other 13 candidates will be freely doing this. Seye cannot do any of it.

So there is actually a huge election meddling angle to this: with these sanctions, the US is effectively rigging the race by banning one candidate from the entire campaign trail.

Perhaps more importantly, it also re-raises the question of whether the US is a fit place to host international institutions at all.

It's painfully obvious that a host country that weaponizes its territory to influence elections at international institutions (which, in the case of the ICC, it doesn't even belong to) is not an appropriate ground: for their own survival, these institutions should be as far away and as insulated from the US as possible.

It also raises the crucial question of how the rest of the world should respond.

The insanity here is that almost no other country globally - be in the West or the Global South - stands with the US on this, save for a handful of exceptions (like Israel). Yet they all behave like deer in the headlights (or, as we say in French, like "ostriches burying their head in sand") and do absolutely nothing concrete about it besides meaningless "we're preoccupied" statements.

The EU's behavior is particularly egregious in this regard. They too host a number of international institutions, such as... the ICC! ICC bench elections may be occurring in NYC but it's in The Hague, Netherlands, that the institution is physically located (I visited the place last year with my daughters: https://t.co/WyUgXUylj8).

So, given that they oppose these sanctions and literally host the court, you'd expect the EU to take some measures to protect the institution and the officials targeted by the sanctions.

All the more because they have a tool designed EXACTLY for this purpose: the so-called "blocking statute", a regulation that prohibits EU entities from complying with extraterritorial US sanctions.

On its own website the EU describes it as "an important achievement of unified EU action to protect EU operators, whether individuals or companies, from the extra-territorial application of third country laws" (https://t.co/W3IbD6Ummg)

It's perfect: activate the blocking statutes, and European banks can no longer close ICC officials' accounts, cancel their credit cards, or freeze their transactions just because Washington says so.

It's exactly what China did (they have their own "blocking statute") when the US started sanctioning Chinese refineries to prevent them from buying Iranian oil (see ): they activated their blocking statutes, making it illegal for Chinese companies to comply with these US sanctions and there is jack shit the US can do about it. It's a very powerful legal tool.

Yet, incomprehensively, the EU refuses to activate it. The blocking statute sits there, purpose-built but completely unused, while European companies have no choice but to enforce America's sanctions.

It's insane: the EU literally standing by while Washington destroys the lives of people on European soil - they oppose it, have the perfect tool to fight it, but they stand by. Again: incomprehensible.

All the more incomprehensible because it's actually a golden geopolitical opportunity for Europe: if Europe wants to be taken seriously as an independent actor on the world stage - as it keeps saying it does - there is literally no easier win than this. Activate a tool you already have, protect an institution you already host, defend a principle you already claim to believe in.

The fact that even this is too much unfortunately tells the rest of the world everything it needs to know about what European "sovereignty" actually means in practice.

[Brandon Straka #WalkAway @BrandonStraka]

For the life of me, I’ll never understand why this level of fury is reserved for three people who were once among his biggest supporters, but we don’t hear a word about the person/people who tried to k*ll him?

Nothing about the people who prosecuted, imprisoned, and destroyed the lives of thousands of his most loyal supporters?

Or the tech giants that deplatformed hundreds of thousands of us and destroyed businesses, livelihoods, and online communities?

Or the COVID authoritarians who forced people out of their jobs and businesses?

Or the people who tried to put him in prison with four criminal cases?

Or the people who buried him in lawsuit after lawsuit?

These people and institutions did extraordinary damage to Trump, his supporters, and the movement that put him back in the White House.

Imagine if even a fraction of this fury were directed at them.

[♦️ The Unknown ♦️ @Unknown___1__]

@KobeissiLetter Here’s what’s going on, ai goes in depth of what is to come in the near future,
(Let’s hope this is wrong)👇🏻

[Gabriele Guzzi @GabrieleGuzzi]

Uscire da Matrix

Il nuovo reclutamento militare in Germania sta registrando un flop pazzesco: su 300mila invitati, solo in 500 hanno accettato la leva, nonostate il rialzo stipendiale fino a 2600 euro lordi. I ragazzi tedeschi non vogliono sparare per sopravvivere.

L'ex agente della Cia, Robert Baer, ha riconosciuto che "l'Iran ha vinto la guerra. Ora Trump non ha più armi né basi sicure nella regione". Nel frattempo, il pupazzo arancione ha dichiarato Hormuz territorio americano, mentre l'Iran ha ripreso massicciamente le ritorsioni nella regione, scaduti i 60 giorni di tregua, e conclude un accordo per la gestione dello stretto con l'Oman, antico alleato Usa, che è stato ovviamente minacciato brutalmente dallo stesso Trump. Le capacità produttive dei missili iraniani sono collocate a 120 metri sotto terra, dove nessun bombardiere Usa sembra poter arrivare.

Kiev ha lanciato un attacco massiccio contro Mosca: 1478 droni e 9 missili da crociera, la più grande operazione dal 2022, con 6 morti civili. La Russia aumenta gradualmente la portata e gli obiettivi degli attacchi, mirando a porti, infrastrutture logistiche, ponti. Le truppe ucraine si ritrovano spesso isolate, costrette a digiunare per giorni o abbeverarsi della propria urina, come è successo alla 121esima brigata. La guerra di logoramento sta causando immani costi umani (+30% di morti civili solo a luglio secondo l'Onu) e la distruzione di infrastrutture energetiche chiave, corresponsabili dell'aumento delle bollette in Europa.

Netanyahu rifiuta gli ultimatum Usa su Gaza e afferma che non si ritirerà fino a quando Hamas non sarà del tutto disarmata. Un modo carino per dire che vuole continuare a dominare sulle macerie. Kushner, il sedicente negoziotore per Trump, appare sempre più per ciò che è: lo scendiletto di Netanyahu.

Secondo Tecnè, il 48,5% degli italiani non fa vacanze, e tra questi, il 52,8% dice che lo fa per mancanza di liquidità. Secondo Piepoli, il 31% dichiara ferie più brevi, il 27% destinazioni più vicine, il 23% riduce ristoranti e attività. Sono stati contratti 170 milioni di prestiti per fare vacanze, il 42% in più rispetto al 2019. L'importo medio è stato di 5.400 euro, spalmato su 50 rate da circa 132 euro.

In questa caos, l'Unione europea non ha alcuna posizione a favore dei popoli che rappresenta. Naviga a vista tra il delirio e il conformismo. Gli italiani si impoveriscono mentre esplodono crisi migratorie, sociali e ambientali.

Questo sistema è alla frutta. È già finito. Sono morti che camminano. Dobbiamo avere la determinazione, il coraggio e la lucidità per urlare dai tetti la buona notizia:

il re è nudo.

E riprenderci in mano il nostro destino.

Gabriele Guzzi

[Sony Thăng @nxt888]

The goal of BRICS, BRI, and dedollarization is not to defeat the United States Navy.

That goal would indeed be lunacy. Nobody serious is pursuing it.

The goal is to make the Navy's coercive power, not its existence, its coercive power, less decisive in determining the choices available to smaller countries.

Right now, a government in the Global South that wants to pursue economic policies the United States disapproves of faces a specific set of consequences: dollar exclusion, SWIFT removal, IMF pressure, World Bank conditionality, and the lurking possibility of sanctions that make normal trade impossible.

The Navy is the backstop. It is the reason those financial tools have teeth. You comply with the financial architecture or you eventually face the physical one.

What changes in a genuinely multipolar world is not that someone sinks the carriers.

What changes is that a government in the Global South can access development financing from the New Development Bank without IMF conditionality. Can settle trade in yuan or rubles or rupees without needing dollars. Can connect to an alternative payments system if removed from SWIFT. Can build its infrastructure with Chinese financing on terms that do not require opening its economy to Western financial extraction.

The navy's power to coerce depends on the absence of alternatives.

You build the alternatives.

The navy is still there. It is still the most powerful in the world. And it matters less every year that a country can trade, finance its development, and conduct its economic life without touching the systems the navy ultimately exists to protect.

You win not by out-sailing the empire.

You win by building a world where the sailing matters less.

That world is not here yet.

It is closer than it was ten years ago.

And it will be closer still in ten more.

Which is exactly what you call lunacy.

And exactly what the U.S. strategic community calls their primary long-term threat.

I know whose assessment I trust.

[Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 @FmrRepMTG]

They are discussing using nuclear weapons on Iran in strategy meetings.

Yes you read that correctly. It’s real. I’m not speculating, I know.

And it’s pure evil.

The last time a nuclear weapon was used was August 6th and 9th of 1945 on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, immediately killing 110,000 people, vaporizing people at ground zero, and total deaths reached 214,000 by the end of the year from severe burns and trauma.

But the extreme suffering continued for the Japanese people from radiation sickness, skyrocketing cancer rates, and generational birth defects.

Not to mention wiping out all means of their economy.

And the suffering was so great that all of humanity vowed, “never again.”

Trump and his admin were told by our own intelligence that Iran was no where near creating a nuclear weapon, then Israel said the same line it’s repeated for decades, “Iran is only weeks away.”

So we bombed anyways, killed their leaders and innocent little children in a school, and Iran has controlled the Strait of Hormuz ever since and punished the region for their part in it.

And now our government is the one actually discussing lowering the nuclear threshold in order to use nuclear weapons against Iran even though Trump claims he’s won the war like 40 times and says the U.S. controls the SoH.

Trump promised no more foreign wars, but may actually be the one who delivers a nuclear holocaust that would likely drag the entire world into major conflict, economic depression, and mass human suffering we’ve never seen in our lifetimes and maybe throughout history.

People need to speak out and boldly stop this insanity.

America is not untouchable.

If and when that happens, everyone, and I do mean everyone, will hold ALL of those in leadership right now fully responsible for the rest of human history.

Do not use nuclear weapons and stop this war NOW.

[Angel Van Lang (divergent)✊🇵🇸🇨🇺NATexit noWAR @angel_nowar]

IL 16 AGOSTO LONDRA HA RICEVUTO UNA BRUTTA NOTIZIA: UNA FILIALE DELL'INDUSTRIA DELLA DIFESA BRITANNICA A KIEV È STATA COLPITA DA MISSILI ISKANDER.

Secondo il nostro Ministero della Difesa, la mattina del 16 agosto un attacco aereo combinato su Kiev ha colpito lo stabilimento ⏬

[Nicholas J. Fuentes @NickJFuentes]

It’s crazy how the Zionists got Trump to cover up the Epstein Files & start a war with Iran and now both of those things have killed MAGA & destroyed his legacy.

America has no future if the Left wins, and the Right has no future if it does not free itself from Jewish influence.

[Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @academic_la]

An incredible expose by Ronen Bergman shows how Israel invents quotes from Iranian officials in order to manufacture "evidence" that Iran is building nuclear weapons. This event took place on August 5th, when it was reported globally that Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the IRGC had admitted that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. The only problem? It wasn't true:

1) Netanyahu's pet network in Israel, Channel 14 spent months building Vahedi up as "the strongest man in Iran," priming audiences to treat any dramatic quote from him as coming from Iran itself. In reality, he is one power player among several.

2) An Indian Hindu nationalist account posts an earlier fabricated quote from Vahedi that says that nuclear weapons are a "necessity" for Iran. It does not get much traction.

3) The same account publishes a quote saying that Vahedi stated that Vahedi said that Iran will keep developing nuclear weapons as long as the US and Israel have them. There was no source.

4) The Mossad Commentary account, a large account with no affiliation to the actual Mossad posted the quote in English.

5) Channel 14, a mere 33 minutes later, covers this and claims that this is "the first time" an Iranian official directly admitted to building a nuclear bomb.

6) Three minutes later Yair Netanyahu, son of the Prime Minister, retweets Mossad Commentary, then three minutes later retweets Channel 14 English, followed later by Israel War Room.

7) Two hours later, Netanyahu senior cites the fabricated quote in an official speech at Mount Herzl, now the made up Tweet had become state policy.

8) The Tweet makes it to the US, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz shares it saying that Iran is "finally admitting what was clear for years," then deletes it without explanation.

9) Mark Levine shares it and then Fox News reports it as fact, including an on-screen headline.

10) Channel 14 now reports this again with FOX and Netanyahu as the source. Mossad Commentary, the original source of the English version, now cites Channel 14 as its source, completing a circular citation loop.

11) Israel's Foreign Ministry spreads Netanyahu's remarks to Persian-speaking audiences.

12) Indian news agency ANI reports the story back in India, attributing it to "Israeli media," completing the round trip.

This is a well oiled machine of disinformation emanating from Netanyahu and his circle designed to create a false narrative which will destroy negotiations with Iran and renew the war. Similar frauds have been perpetrated in the past like the Jewish Chronicle/Bild affair, when a made up journalist planted stories in the press to justify blowing up a hostage deal with Hamas. But this time he is dragging the entire world into endless war and not just Israel.

[ASX @ASXFREEDOM]

@Giova_C @fsyloslab S’informi bene poi ne parliamo seriamente con lei e le marmotte con le quali si è informato finora

[ASX @ASXFREEDOM]

@EricLDaugh Have you realised we are in 2026 not 1986?

[Angel Van Lang (divergent)✊🇵🇸🇨🇺NATexit noWAR @angel_nowar]

Per quattro giorni ci hanno raccontato che Giorgia Meloni aveva radunato 22 Paesi europei per mettere Pedro Sánchez all’angolo.
Italo bocchino aveva già stappato lo spumante: Sánchez “politicamente umiliato”,la Spagna sotto processo,l’Europa finalmente in marcia dietro Giorgia⏬

[Angel Van Lang (divergent)✊🇵🇸🇨🇺NATexit noWAR @angel_nowar]

spagnole. Riconosce che la stragrande maggioranza delle persone entrate irregolarmente è già stata rimpatriata e, soprattutto, che non c’è stato alcuno spostamento verso la Spagna continentale o verso altri Stati membri.
Tradotto: l’invasione dell’Europa annunciata daTajani ⏬

[The Hormuz Report @HormuzReport]

BREAKING: A source close to Iranian officials says Tehran has documented a pattern of oil market manipulation tied to Axios reports and Trump administration insiders, including evidence of a $9 billion insider trading operation linked to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

Some of the documented timeline from the $9 billion insider profit:

Between April and May 2026, a series of suspiciously timed trades in oil futures markets preceded major Iran war announcements—each tied to reporting by Axios.

On March 23, approximately $500–580 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump announced he was postponing strikes on Iran. Oil dropped.

On April 7, roughly $950–960 million in shorts were placed hours before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Oil fell around 15 percent.

On April 17, around $760 million in shorts were placed 20 minutes before Iran's foreign minister announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil dropped.

On April 21, approximately $430 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump extended the ceasefire. Oil dropped again.

On May 6, nearly $920 million to $1.7 billion in crude oil shorts were placed approximately 70 minutes before an Axios scoop claimed the U.S. and Iran were near a "14-point agreement." Oil dropped 12 percent. Traders made an estimated $125 million. Iran called the report "the Americans' wish list."

Previously, a senior Iranian official told investigative outlet Drop Site News that Tehran privately warned JD Vance during Switzerland talks that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were "abusing" negotiations—"more interested in exploiting insider knowledge to profit in financial markets than reaching a deal."

[Sabrina F. @itsmeback_]

🌍 In queste ore influencer, giornalisti e politici di sinistra stanno dando degli “analfabeti” a chi parla di invasione dell’#Europa a #Ceuta.
🧭 La loro grande scoperta sarebbe questa: “Ceuta è in Africa”. Bravissimi. Dieci in geografia, zero in logica.
⚖️ Nessuno sta dicendo che Ceuta si trovi fisicamente nel continente europeo. Il punto è che Ceuta è una città autonoma spagnola. Quindi è territorio spagnolo. E se è territorio spagnolo, riguarda la Spagna. E se riguarda la Spagna, riguarda anche l’Europa.
🧠 Il trucco è tutto qui: confondere la geografia fisica con la sovranità politica. I confini non si definiscono solo guardando una cartina. Si definiscono con il diritto, con lo Stato che amministra quel territorio, con la sovranità.

🚨 La verità è molto semplice: Ceuta si trova geograficamente in Africa, ma è Spagna. È un territorio europeo sotto sovranità spagnola. Quindi quando migliaia di persone forzano quel confine, non stanno facendo una gita fuori porta. Stanno violando un confine politico.
🎭 Ma alla sinistra questo non interessa. Loro non stanno facendo una lezione di geografia. Stanno provando a sminuire il fatto.
���� Vogliono trasformare una crisi di sicurezza, sovranità e controllo dei confini in una battutina da professorini: “compratevi un atlante”.

🔍 No. Compratevi voi un manuale di diritto pubblico. Perché sapere dov’è Ceuta sulla mappa non basta, se poi non capite cosa sia uno Stato, cosa sia un confine e cosa significhi territorio nazionale.
⚠️ La domanda vera è un’altra: perché quando migliaia di persone entrano illegalmente in un territorio spagnolo, la prima preoccupazione di certa sinistra non sono i cittadini, non è la sicurezza, non è il confine violato, ma insultare chi si preoccupa?
🧱 Perché per loro il confine è sempre una colpa, il migrante è sempre una vittima e il cittadino che chiede ordine è sempre un ignorante da zittire.
📌 Ceuta smaschera tutto: puoi anche stare geograficamente in Africa, ma se entri illegalmente in territorio spagnolo, stai entrando in territorio europeo.

“confini cancellati”.
Significa fiducia.
Fiducia nel fatto che i confini esterni dell’Europa vengano controllati davvero.
E dopo quello che è successo a Ceuta, con migliaia di persone entrate illegalmente in territorio spagnolo dal Marocco, quella fiducia è stata messa sotto pressione.
🇮🇹 Il governo italiano ha fatto una scelta di prudenza: controllare prima, invece di scusarsi dopo.
La sinistra dirà che è propaganda.
Che è allarmismo.
Che è una misura inutile.
Ma la domanda è semplice: se le regole europee prevedono controlli temporanei in caso di rischio, perché scandalizzarsi quando un governo li usa?
Schengen non è una religione.
È un sistema.
E un sistema funziona solo se tutti rispettano le condizioni.
La libera circolazione è un valore, ma non può diventare l’alibi per perdere il controllo.
Perché senza confini esterni sicuri, Schengen non è libertà.
È vulnerabilità.

[Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 @FmrRepMTG]

Republicans paid $40 MILLION of your tax dollars to Morocco to invade Spain.

And then they all pretended like borders matter and clutched their pearls like invasions are offensive.

R’s and D’s are the same and the Uniparty has put us in $40 T in debt and Americans LAST.

[ASX @ASXFREEDOM]

@ClaudioBorghi Senatore lei ci insegna che la politica estera non si fa con post su X per strumentalizzare un problema con radici che andrebbero quantomeno approfondite prima di rilasciare giudizi sull’operato altrui

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

Trump promised he would drain the swamp, but now he’s joined it.

Adelson’s & Singer’s blood money for making war in Iran & Venezuela fund his intimidation and retribution campaigns at home against those who do fight the swamp, oppose big government, & reject foreign influence.

[ASX @ASXFREEDOM]

@KimDotcom Telegram?