Hard Pass

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8431134

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/47533

US President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that he is putting his administration's scheme to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz on hold after just one full day, a decision that came hours after top American officials touted the president's so-called "Project Freedom" at press briefings.

Trump said in a social media post that he paused the project—which allowed just two commercial ships to pass through the strait—"based on the request of Pakistan and other countries." The US president, whose war of choice is historically unpopular with the American public, also asserted that "Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran," a claim that Iran rejected.

As Pakistan's prime minister welcomed Trump's announcement, an unnamed Iranian official told Drop Site's Jeremy Scahill that the US president's short-lived operation "failed completely" and that his statement announcing the pause of Project Freedom was "riddled with falsehoods." The official added that "we will not participate in direct negotiations until the United States formally announces the end of the blockade."

The US president said in his post that the illegal US naval blockade of Iran would "remain in full force and effect."

"Trump is desperately bouncing from one extreme to another," said political scientist Robert Pape in response to Trump's announcement.

Trump's decision to put Project Freedom on hold came shortly after Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the president's initiative as a bold mission to rescue some 1,600 vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed in response to the unlawful US-Israeli war and subsequent naval blockade.

"Iran's plan, a form of international extortion, is unacceptable. That ends with Project Freedom," Hegseth declared during a press briefing on Tuesday morning.

Rubio similarly decried Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz—located in Omani and Iranian territorial waters—as violations of international law.

"There is no international law that allows you to say: I’m going to put mines in an international body of water, and I’m going to blow up ships that don’t listen to us and try to go through," said Rubio.

Legal scholar Maryam Jamshidi rejected the top US diplomat's assessment, calling it "all wrong."

"Hormuz is not international waters," Jamshidi wrote. "It’s an international strait composed of the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Iran can mine its territorial waters during wartime. The laws of naval warfare also allow Iran to target ships in certain cases. The US is the only criminal here."

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

The EU’s Ambassador to Canada, Geneviève Tuts, says the bloc is looking to "elevate" its relationship with this country and take it to the "next level."

In an interview with the CBC’s Power & Politics on Tuesday, Tuts dismissed the idea of outright membership, but said Canada and the EU should look for "something else, something stronger than what we have today."

"We have to be creative, we have to be innovative, and we are creative in Europe, we have ideas," Tuts said.

Recent polling suggests the idea of Canada joining the EU is gaining in popularity within Europe. The notion has been floated by France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

A country can join the EU if it fulfils what's known as the Copenhagen criteria, a list of specific values such stable democratic institutions, the rule of law and human rights. Any European State which respects these values may apply.

While Tuts said that poses obvious geographic restrictions for Canada, "that doesn’t mean that we should not look for another form of co-operation."

...

Are you tired of wrong llm summaries yet? Well too bad cause I just came across my first one in the wild as I have that feature normally turned off.

I am currently learning C and I am not sure the summary feature is doing me any favors.

US President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that he is putting his administration's scheme to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz on hold after just one full day, a decision that came hours after top American officials touted the president's so-called "Project Freedom" at press briefings.

Trump said in a social media post that he paused the project—which allowed just two commercial ships to pass through the strait—"based on the request of Pakistan and other countries." The US president, whose war of choice is historically unpopular with the American public, also asserted that "Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran," a claim that Iran rejected.

As Pakistan's prime minister welcomed Trump's announcement, an unnamed Iranian official told Drop Site's Jeremy Scahill that the US president's short-lived operation "failed completely" and that his statement announcing the pause of Project Freedom was "riddled with falsehoods." The official added that "we will not participate in direct negotiations until the United States formally announces the end of the blockade."

The US president said in his post that the illegal US naval blockade of Iran would "remain in full force and effect."

"Trump is desperately bouncing from one extreme to another," said political scientist Robert Pape in response to Trump's announcement.

Trump's decision to put Project Freedom on hold came shortly after Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the president's initiative as a bold mission to rescue some 1,600 vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed in response to the unlawful US-Israeli war and subsequent naval blockade.

"Iran's plan, a form of international extortion, is unacceptable. That ends with Project Freedom," Hegseth declared during a press briefing on Tuesday morning.

Rubio similarly decried Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz—located in Omani and Iranian territorial waters—as violations of international law.

"There is no international law that allows you to say: I’m going to put mines in an international body of water, and I’m going to blow up ships that don’t listen to us and try to go through," said Rubio.

Legal scholar Maryam Jamshidi rejected the top US diplomat's assessment, calling it "all wrong."

"Hormuz is not international waters," Jamshidi wrote. "It’s an international strait composed of the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Iran can mine its territorial waters during wartime. The laws of naval warfare also allow Iran to target ships in certain cases. The US is the only criminal here."

Posting a series of charts help people navigate the current dialogue for the topic.

Canadian and American gas prices and changes percentage. Also shows the nearly undetectable impact of removing things like Carbon taxes

https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/gasoline-prices

Even after becoming a net exporter of oil and the general perception of American oil culture. The fate of their nation isn't tied to oil, but it does substantially burden gas prices and other aspects of their economy.

Economic profits generated from oil extraction, measured as the difference between production value and costs, expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/oil-rents-as-a-share-of-gdp?tab=line&country=CAN%7EUSA%7ESAU%7EARE%7ERUS&tableSearch=canada

U.S. crude oil exports surge to record as tankers flock to Gulf Coast during Iran war

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/03/us-crude-oil-exports-surge-to-record-as-tankers-flock-to-gulf-coast.html

Inflation adjusted oil prices. After the highs is usually a big drop.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/oil-prices-inflation-adjusted?time=earliest..2024