Now Broadcasting From Riyadh
Saudi Arabia got the Iran war it wanted — plus influence over U.S. movie and television studios.
Originally posted on LeverNews.com
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Saudi Arabia’s influence over the White House.
The risky markets Trump wants you to invest in.
Corporate Dems’ plan to “win the middle.”
Operation AIPAC Fury.
The U.S. attacks on Iran this weekend followed weeks of lobbying from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who reportedly privately called President Donald Trump several times, urging him to strike Iran. Saturday’s bombing campaign also came just hours after Saudi Arabia provided billions in funding to help Paramount Skydance, which is led by Trump ally David Ellison, successfully edge out Netflix in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. Critics warn that, if approved, the acquisition — financed with the help of David’s father, GOP megadonor Larry Ellison — could give the Saudi kingdom undue influence over powerful U.S. media and news institutions, including CNN.
👉 Just over two weeks before the strikes on Iran began, the Air Force awarded Oracle (the cloud computing firm owned by Larry Ellison) an $88 billion contract spanning the Department of Defense’s classified and top-secret intelligence systems.
🥴 And just a day before the Trump administration attacked Iran, Oracle announced it would expand the use of artificial intelligence across all its government contracts, potentially exposing sensitive federal data to AI review.
Trump financial regulators are easing the path for everyday investors to access multitrillion-dollar private markets — even as policy experts warn that these markets’ potential for misvaluation, risk concentrations, and volatility could create a “systemic risk machine” for nonprofessional retail investors. For years, public pension managers and university endowments have been investing workers’ futures into alternative high-fee private funds… often with underwhelming returns. Yet last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission hosted private market executives for roundtable discussions on the “responsible” promotion of these markets to individual investors.
🤨 A recent article in the University of Chicago Law Review — written by an anonymous senior partner at a leading international law firm — argued that the private equity industry’s strategies of debt-backed buyouts, cash extraction, and short-term exit incentives “externalize predictable risks” that harm workers, patients, consumers, communities, and the environment.
Corporate Democrats met at the Wall Street-backed think tank Third Way’s “Winning the Middle” conference last weekend to discuss how the party can snuff out progressives and appeal to moderates. Speakers included former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, who blamed Democrats’ electoral losses on the party’s resistance to cryptocurrency, online sports gambling, and prediction markets. According to Messina, “most of the things [voters] really like, we are against” — but polling tells a different story. In 2025 surveys, 36 percent of Americans agreed that states allowing sports betting “is a bad thing,” up from 23 percent in 2022. Meanwhile, a bipartisan majority of voters believe crypto will hurt their local economy.
💸 Messina did not mention that he sits on the board of directors for Blockchain.com, a crypto holding platform, and previously lobbied on behalf of the American Gambling Association.
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DAY IN DATA
Tax loopholes and exemptions cost Americans more in 2025 than any individual benefits program. (Source: Peter G. Peterson Foundation)
YOU LOVE TO SEE IT
New York state lawmakers have advanced a suite of bills imposing consumer safety limits on artificial intelligence chatbots. One measure would ban chatbots from giving professional counseling, such as legal or mental health advice, and impose liabilities for damages caused by those that do. Another would restrict certain chatbot features available to minors.
NEWS DIVE
Amid the United States and Israel’s unprovoked bombing campaign in Iran, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are advocating for a vote on their resolution to block any further unauthorized military action in Iran by invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, which mandates congressional approval for the president to wage war. Congress is set to vote on the matter as early as…
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DOOMSCROLL DISTRACTIONS
🦠 The good kind. Researchers at the University of Waterloo have unveiled cancer-eating bacteria.
🐢 Homebound. Conservationists just released 158 captive-bred juvenile tortoises back to the Galápagos Islands.
🌟 Nature’s tree toppers. See the ultraviolet light emitted by treetops during thunderstorms.
FINAL THOUGHT
The inmates are running the asylum.