The Sy Hersh effect: killing the messenger, ignoring the message

"Severely Curbed": Gold Shipments Through Dubai Stalled In Wake Of Strikes On Iran Gold shipments through Dubai are set to stall for several days after airlines suspended flights amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s response, according to three industry sources and Reuters. Because gold is typically transported by air for security and insurance reasons, the cancellations are expected to sharply limit physical flows. Reuters writes that Dubai is a key supplier to Switzerland, Hong Kong and India. Sources said the broader impact on global supply will depend on how long the...

The Strait Of Hormuz Crisis Exposes A Fatal Flaw In Economic Thinking Authored by Kurt Cobb via Resource Insights, Even a 4–5% loss in global energy supply could translate into a comparable drop in economic activity due to energy’s central role in all production. Disruptions in oil and LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz are already removing a significant share of global energy, with cascading impacts across industries. Rising energy costs trigger widespread knock-on effects—from food and travel to semiconductors—potentially leading to a severe global recession. A priest, an engineer, and an economist are...

The US military has completed a full withdrawal from Syria, Syrian officials told Middle East Eye on Thursday, marking the end of a military presence that first began with US special operations troops in 2015. So far, the withdrawal hasn’t been confirmed by the US military, but back in February, The Wall Street Journal reported […]