Happy Friday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,235 words…4.6 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: California Ballot Count, Putin-Trump Tunnel, Lebanon to Iran: Backoff! Candace Owens & Taliban In Russia, Knicks-themed Subway Entrance, Bitcoin Crashes...& much more!
🏝 What is the name of the smallest inhabited kingdom on Earth? Scroll down to find out!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🗳️ California's Ballot Count Drags On — And Trust Is on the Ballot Too
California's primary isn't just deciding who runs LA & California— it's become a flashpoint for one of America's most combustible debates:
Is slow vote-counting a feature or a vulnerability?
❓ Critics are asking a simple question: Why does the nation's most populous state still take days or even weeks to finish counting ballots?
Most states produce near-final results on Election Night, while many countries count far larger voting populations, within 24-48 hours.
California's system allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive later, meaning officials don't know the exact final universe of ballots when polls close.
👀 That uncertainty has fueled suspicion. Trump, his allies and independent journalists point to:
Unusual ballot batches
Reports of voter registrations tied to shelters, public toilets or street corners
Shifting margins in races involving non-Democrat candidates like Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton.
🪪 California's system prioritizes access — universal mail ballots, no ID requirement, up to 7 days post-Election Day for ballots to arrive.
Defenders call it inclusive.
Skeptics call it a chain-of-custody problem.
🔍 Federal investigators are now involved — U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli visited LA County's processing facility with the FBI/DOJ. Multiple fraud probes are open. No charges tied to this primary yet; full canvass runs through early July.
💡 Why it matters: The biggest issue may not be who wins. It's whether millions of voters believe the process is trustworthy. Even if investigations ultimately find no systemic wrongdoing, California's lengthy counting process is increasingly becoming a political story of its own—one that both parties believe could shape confidence in elections heading into November.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
Left: Candace Owens at the forum; Right: Taliban member attending forum
🚄 The Putin-Trump Tunnel
Russia just revived one of the wildest infrastructure ideas on Earth: a rail tunnel connecting Russia and Alaska beneath the Bering Strait.
Putin's investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev stood at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum and announced an MOU for a 70-mile undersea rail tunnel — cheerfully dubbing it the "Putin-Trump Tunnel."
The tunnel would connect Eurasia and North America carrying freight, passengers, and Arctic resources.
Russia claims it could cost under $8 billion and be completed in less than eight years. Skeptics say that's a fantasy, pointing to brutal Arctic conditions, missing rail infrastructure, and estimates exceeding $65 billion.
💡 The fine print: Today's MOU signing is with a private engineering firm — not the US government. Washington has offered zero public confirmation. But in a warming US-Russia moment, even aspirational tunnels send real signals.
🇱🇧 Lebanon's President Tells Iran: "It's Not Your Country"
In a CNN interview, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun delivered one of the bluntest rebukes of Iranian influence heard from a sitting Arab head of state in years — telling Tehran's IRGC directly: "It's not your country, it's our country."
Aoun accused Iran of using Lebanon as a "bargaining chip" in its US negotiations — while ordinary Lebanese "pay the price."
The EU responded same day — approving €100 million for the Lebanese Armed Forces, explicitly framed as a tool to reduce Hezbollah's grip.
💡 Bottom line: Aoun is threading a needle — publicly humiliating Iran while quietly building the army that would enforce Hezbollah's disarmament. The EU just handed him a down payment.
🎤 Candace Owens' "Family Vacation" Somehow Includes a Kremlin Forum
Far-right commentator Candace Owens arrived in Russia billing the trip as a faith-based family holiday — cathedrals, icons, the works.
She somehow ended up on panels at the SPIEF, Russia's answer to Davos.
The SPIEF forum headlined by Putin, also hosted representatives from the Taliban, North Korean delegates, and Kremlin insiders.
On stage, she questioned US aid to Ukraine and criticized Western media — programming that fit the forum's agenda neatly.
The guest list also featured Steven Seagal. Make of that what you will.
💡 Bottom line: Whether this was a vacation that became a speaking gig or a speaking gig that needed a cover story, Russia got exactly the Western-critic soundbites it was looking for.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
34th St. subway station; Source: X.com/@mta
💀 Maine's Democratic Senate Frontrunner Has a Nazi Tattoo, a Sexting Scandal, and Bernie Sanders' Full Support
In the span of one week, Graham Platner's Maine Senate campaign absorbed a sexting exposé, a NYT report alleging physical intimidation from ex-partners, and confirmation of a chest tattoo resembling the SS Totenkopf — which he says he got while drunk, and didn't understand what it meant.
Platner's defense: undiagnosed PTSD, a dark period, political hit jobs. He has not considered dropping out "not once."
Bernie Sanders' response to all of the above: "Of course" he still backs him.
Ro Khanna is headlining a Bar Harbor rally with Platner tomorrow, calling his past behavior "wrong and toxic" — then showing up anyway.
💡Democrats need Maine to flip the Senate, and Platner is still their best shot at beating Susan Collins (R) — which tells you everything about how the party is doing the math right now.
🏀 🚇 NYC's Hottest Tourist Attraction? A Subway Entrance!
The MTA doesn't do much overnight that makes people smile. But after the Knicks clinched their first Finals berth since 1999, workers painted the 34th Street–Penn Station staircase full Knicks orange and blue — and swapped the globe lights for half-basketball fixtures.
It's now the hottest photo spot in Manhattan — fans flooding in for selfies, “Go Knicks” chants, and the kind of collective joy New York reserves for once-in-a-generation moments.
💡 When a subway entrance becomes a landmark, you know New York has entered full basketball delirium.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
📉 😬 Bitcoin's Reality Check
Bitcoin just crashed below the key $60,000 level $BTC ( ▲ 1.53% ) for the first time since 2024, wiping out more than half its value from last year's $126,000 peak.
The selloff triggered roughly $1.5 billion in liquidations as leveraged traders got steamrolled.
Adding fuel to the panic: Strategy sold Bitcoin for the first time in years, while spot ETFs saw heavy outflows.
⚡ Crypto's fear gauge is now flashing extreme fear.
💰 Uncle Sam Wants AI Shares?
The Trump administration is in early talks with OpenAI and other major AI firms about the federal government taking voluntary equity stakes — potentially distributing returns to Americans via dividends or children's savings accounts.
Sam Altman pitched the idea directly to Trump in early 2025 and has kept pushing it with senior officials since.
No deal is close — stake size, valuation, and structure are all unresolved. Similar conversations reportedly include Anthropic.
⚡ If it happens, it would be the most significant government entry into private tech ownership in US history. A lot of "ifs" still to go.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Tavolara
The World’s Smallest Kingdom
The world’s smallest “kingdom” is Tavolara, a tiny Italian island (~ 2 sq miles) ruled by a part-time fisherman/restaurateur named Antonio Bertoleoni, with ~57 residents and 100 mountain goats.