The Late Night Pour | What Backs the Promise?
 | Four Fingers News The News, Neat. |
| September 23, 2026 · Day 208 |
| The Late Night Pour |
What Backs the Promise?
After the 2008 crash, I started to believe the United States could borrow forever. Maybe the debt didn’t matter. ZIRP—zero interest rate policy—kept the Fed’s benchmark near zero through 2015, then again from 2020 to early 2022.
But financial confidence also rests on power. In January, U.S. forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife with CIA inside help. Washington later announced 100-year oil concessions and a 35% federal stake in the concession holder’s parent company. Rights to future Venezuelan oil income can become collateral for loans on American banks’ books. Another country’s resources become an American financial opportunity.
Maduro’s capture must’ve felt like an old formula working again. Mohammad Mossadegh’s government nationalized Iran’s oil industry in 1951, taking over the Iranian operations of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company—today’s BP. In 1953, America’s CIA and Britain’s MI6 helped overthrow him. Hundreds died, but no Americans. Eisenhower wrote that it sounded “more like a dime novel than an historical fact.”
 President Harry Truman and Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh at Blair House, October 23, 1951. Abbie Rowe · National Park Service / Harry S. Truman Library · Public domain. |
If $1 million could buy off a Venezuelan official or military insider, that’d be cheap beside the cost of missile defense. U.S. crews protecting bases in West Asia can fire two PAC-3 (Patriot) interceptors at one incoming ballistic missile to improve the chances of a hit. At the Army’s 2026 budgeted PAC-3 MSE cost, that’s roughly $7.7 million trying to stop a single missile. An insider might help secure a cooperative government. The interceptors don’t purchase Iran’s submission.
The U.S. and Israel assassinated Iran’s supreme leader. Iran kept resisting. I don’t believe Washington will secure Venezuela’s submission in Iran. Disruption at Hormuz is feeding inflation and raising borrowing costs, including the cost of financing the war itself.
The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 should’ve challenged our assumptions about what American power could guarantee. I’m watching bonds because those assumptions reach into our finances. Loans backed by future income become vulnerable when the political arrangements producing it start to fail. The risk I see is Washington borrowing to finance both the war and the financial losses it leaves behind.
— T.
The Dispatch
MOROCCO Morocco’s Turnout Falls To Its Lowest Since 2007Morocco’s parliamentary election drew just 38% of registered voters Wednesday, its lowest turnout since 2007, amid frustration over jobs and public services. The next government will oversee preparations for the 2030 World Cup while facing pressure to improve schools, hospitals and purchasing power. King Mohammed VI retains control of major policy decisions; the largest party gets to form the government. FACT BOX
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IRAN WAR Iran And U.S. Resume Talks Without Closing The GapThe first indirect U.S.-Iran talks since July’s ceasefire collapsed haven’t produced a breakthrough: a senior Iranian official told Reuters Wednesday that the sides remain far apart. Pezeshkian told the UN Iran won’t surrender; Tehran’s proposals prioritize lifting the U.S. blockade of its ports and reopening Hormuz, while Rubio said reaching a deal would take sustained work. Qatar carried messages between the delegations in New York. |
UKRAINE Zelenskyy Pushes A Winter Energy Truce; Moscow Resists A PauseUkraine wants a deal protecting power and heating before winter; Zelenskyy told the UN Wednesday that continued Russian attacks would bring retaliation against Russia’s energy system. After meeting Lavrov, Rubio said both countries had expressed interest in a limited ceasefire covering energy and grain, but Moscow reaffirmed its war aims and Lavrov rejected a temporary halt that he argued would let Europe rearm Ukraine. Kyiv also offered a Black Sea shipping truce and said it’s waiting for Russia’s response. |
NORTHWEST Washington Diesel Reaches A Record $7.47Diesel set another Washington record Wednesday at $7.47 a gallon, according to AAA, up nearly 16 cents in a week and $2.40 from a year ago. Regular gasoline averaged $5.55 statewide and $5.72 in the Seattle metro area. National diesel eased slightly to $6.52, just below Tuesday’s record. |
NIGERIA Judicial Inquiry Opens Into 37 Deaths In CustodyNiger State has opened a judicial inquiry into the deaths of 37 men held on suspicion of illegal mining, giving the nine-member commission four weeks to report. It’ll examine whether their detention was lawful, their treatment and the medical evidence. The Civil Defence Corps says it’s holding 24 personnel, including its suspended state commandant; the cause of the deaths hasn’t been established. |
MARKETS Stocks Fall As Treasury Yields Reach 5.11%A strong business-activity report and rebounding oil prices renewed inflation worries Wednesday, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield to 5.11%, its highest level since 2007. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq lost 1.1%, ending its record run. Brent crude settled at $103.08 a barrel, up 3.9%, as traders weighed Iran’s refusal to surrender alongside continuing diplomatic talks. |
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