5️⃣ ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT PUSHES TOWARD GLOBAL WAR
Day six of direct Israel-Iran conflict escalated dramatically as explosions rocked Tehran and Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei declared "the battle begins." Trump told reporters "I may do it, I may not do it" about striking Iran while Pentagon forces build up across the Middle East. Defense Secretary Hegseth confirmed "day-after" planning for Iran as Russia warns we're "millimeters away from catastrophe." The powder keg is primed—Trump's commitment to joining Netanyahu's campaign against the Ayatollah appears inevitable, despite his previous claims of being the "no wars president."
4️⃣ TUCKER CARLSON DESTROYS TED CRUZ OVER IRAN KNOWLEDGE
Conservative media exploded when Tucker Carlson eviscerated Ted Cruz in a viral interview, asking basic questions about Iran's population and demographics. When Cruz admitted ignorance, Carlson unleashed: "You don't know anything about Iran!" The heated exchange exposes the massive rift splitting Republicans between interventionists like Cruz and the isolationist "America First" wing. Cruz's defense—that he doesn't "sit around memorizing population tables"—only deepened the humiliation. The MAGA coalition fractures over foreign policy just as bombs fall in the Middle East.
3️⃣ TRUMP'S PATHETIC GOLDEN DOME LIES AFTER G7 HUMILIATION
After fleeing the G7 in disgrace, Trump immediately fabricated claims that Canada is "considering" his fantasy $71 billion missile defense system—mysteriously jumping from $61 billion just two weeks earlier. Reality check: Canadian officials confirmed the "Golden Dome" never came up at the summit. Canada's ice-cold response through UN Ambassador Bob Rae said it all: "In another context, this would be called a protection racket." Trump's desperate lies couldn't mask the truth—every G7 leader rejected him, and he ran home rather than face Zelenskyy.
2️⃣ DEMOCRATS DOCUMENT PALANTIR'S FEDERAL CRIMES
Ten Democratic lawmakers led by Ron Wyden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a devastating letter to Palantir CEO Alex Karp that reads like a criminal indictment. They're accusing Palantir of "enabling and profiting from serious violations of Federal law" by building Trump's government-wide "mega-database" of taxpayer information—violations that carry prison sentences under laws strengthened after Nixon's IRS abuses. The letter compares Palantir to IBM selling computers to Nazi concentration camps and demands answers by July 10th. With Palantir employees embedded in the IRS and four executives now commissioned as Army Lieutenant Colonels, Congress is finally confronting the surveillance nightmare.
The Shadow Network: How Three Companies Built a Permanent Backdoor to American Democracy
Our investigation into the Vanishing Votes of the 2024 election has uncovered something more alarming than temporary emergency access—a permanent shadow network of interconnected systems that threatens the integrity of every future American election. Three companies have quietly built overlapping infrastructure that could compromise voting systems through multiple pathways, creating vulnerabilities that persist long after ballots are counted. Two of the companies are directly linked to Donald Trump through their founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.
1️⃣ CANADA CRUSHES PUTIN AS CARNEY LEADS THE FREE WORLD
While Trump bailed from the G7 and skipped meetings with Zelenskyy, Canada's Mark Carney delivered devastating sanctions against Putin's "shadow fleet" and announced $2 billion in seized Russian oligarch assets will fund Ukrainian reconstruction—the first time in G7 history assets are being redistributed rather than frozen. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Zelenskyy in Trump's empty chair, Carney announced $1.2 billion in lethal aid and extended military training through 2026. The choreography was flawless: Trump humiliated and sent home early, then Zelenskyy arrives to real leadership. Every other G7 leader rallied around Carney's bold stance while America's regime abdicated leadership of the free world.
The threads connecting these stories reveal the authoritarian takeover in real time. Trump flees democratic allies to bomb Iran with his corrupt Middle East partners, while Palantir and Starlink—the same companies positioned to build his imaginary Golden Dome—construct the surveillance infrastructure to control American elections permanently. Canada steps into the leadership vacuum, proving what functional democracy looks like when it's unapologetic and morally confident.
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Advertising inquiries email next@narativ.org. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
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