Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• In the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration is trapped between the specter of a global economic recession and a naval catastrophe. Energy arteries are constricting to a point of “nonlinearity,” where every day the Strait of Hormuz remains closed multiplies the economic pain exponentially. Iran will bomb Liquefied Natural Gas tankers first—vessels that could “explode like the Beirut bomb”—followed by oil tankers to maximize environmental and economic chaos. But there’s also a huge risk in sending US naval assets as escorts into a war zone. White House analysts call the Strait their “Death Valley.”

• Iran has begun laying mines ...