The Bulletin: June 17–23, 2026
This past week’s articles of interest…


If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview.
The Illusion of Freedom — The Most Effective Prison Is the One You Can’t See — Global geopolitics
Are Banks More Powerful Than Governments? | ZeroHedge
No More Dystopian Stories: How to See a Future Worth Living
Are Energy Markets Tighter Than Investors Realize
A Game of Musical Chairs — Ecosophia
The $300 Billion Wager: Inside The Private Fund At The Center Of The U.S.-Iran Framework | ZeroHedge
Silt, Anchovies, and Economic Disaster — The Daily Reckoning
The Die Is Cast — Energy And Financial Markets Upset Inevitable
Humans Create Empires For The Same Reason They Create Egos
Persistence, Complexity, and Power
ECB: Iran Peace Deal Won’t Erase Europe’s Energy Price Shock | OilPrice.com
[Essay] A Guide to Staying Human (Part 2): Navigating Dread and Carrying the Weight of Tomorrow
Canada has been warned — by Kathleen McCroskey
Godzilla El Nino Update for June 18, 2026
Newsletter, 6/18/26 — by Jeffrey Strahl — Lockdown Times
We’re great at documenting decline and surprisingly bad at understanding recovery
The Regenerative Reserve Asset
US-Iran Deal: It Ain’t Over Till the Fat Lady Sings
An Urgent Message: Learn How to Do Something
Groupthink on the Economics of Climate Change
The Collapse Chronicle 06.20.26
Russian Oil Refinery Over 1,200 Miles From Ukraine Attacked In Another War First | ZeroHedge
We’re Winning the War on the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)
Not Just Another “Super” El Niño Article — by Tom Harris
REGENERATING THE BIOREGIONAL COMMONS
How Land Barons, Industrialists and Bankers corrupted Economics
Strategic Oil Reserve Nears Collapse… US Must Choose: Guns or Butter
The Power of the Press — by Nathan Knopp — System Failure
The Wave and the Rider: Tolstoy in the Persian Gulf | Art Berman
The Mask and the Barrel: Oil Scarcity Beneath Market Euphoria
When Trust Itself Becomes the Casualty
Functional longevity in preparation for collapse
Science Snippets: Sea Levels Dangerously Underestimated
Do we have free will? (BONUS episode)
Supporting Cardiovascular Health and Recovery: What the Evidence Actually Shows
PLEASE NOTE: This list is just ‘of interest’. It does not mean I personally endorse or agree with the content of a listed article; in fact, some I certainly do not agree with. But these are all part and parcel of stories told by our species about our world. Some are published by the authors for ‘educational’ and/or ‘informational’ purposes, some are for far more nefarious ‘narrative management’ ones–you, the reader, can decide which is which. Keep in mind a relevant passage from a Bill Rees paper: “We begin with a reminder that humans are storytellers by nature. We socially construct complex sets of facts, beliefs, and values that guide how we operate in the world. Indeed, humans act out of their socially constructed narratives as if they were real. All political ideologies, religious doctrines, economic paradigms, cultural narratives — even scientific theories — are socially constructed “stories” that may or may not accurately reflect any aspect of reality they purport to represent. Once a particular construct has taken hold, its adherents are likely to treat it more seriously than opposing evidence from an alternate conceptual framework.”
If you have arrived here and get something out of my writing, please consider ordering the trilogy of my ‘fictional’ novel series, Olduvai (PDF files; only $9.99 Canadian), via my website or the link below — the ‘profits’ of which help me to keep my internet presence alive and first book available in print (and is available via various online retailers).
Attempting a new payment system as I am contemplating shutting down my site in the future (given the ever-increasing costs to keep it running).
If you are interested in purchasing any of the 3 books individually or the trilogy, please try the link below indicating which book(s) you are purchasing.
Costs (Canadian dollars):
Book 1: $2.99
Book 2: $3.89
Book 3: $3.89
Trilogy: $9.99
Feel free to throw in a ‘tip’ on top of the base cost if you wish; perhaps by paying in U.S. dollars instead of Canadian. Every few cents/dollars helps…
https://paypal.me/olduvaitrilogy?country.x=CA&locale.x=en_US
If you do not hear from me within 48 hours or you are having trouble with the system, please email me: olduvaitrilogy@gmail.com.
You can also find a variety of resources, particularly my summary notes for a handful of texts, especially William Catton’s Overshoot and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies: see here.