Rufus T. Firefly: Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot.
Duck Soup.
Trump doing is signature creepy old guy dance..
June 4, 2026
Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky crossed party lines to vote with Democrats in favor of the resolution to end the illegal assault on Iran.
The measure goes on to the Senate. We'll see what happens there, as Trump's stabbed some Senators in the back, and they're ready to gut him like a fish now.
The action of the Senators is based on conscience. I believe its the right one, but it also serves to remind us that we're now in an incredibly bad spot in regard to the war against Iran, and in the Middle East in general.
It should have been obvious to anyone that decapitating the Iranian regime would not lead to a liberal democracy. The Iranian people have no real ability to overthrow their government and when they tried before the war, after we urged it, they were mowed down. It's the IRGC that has the guns.
When the July 20 plotters mapped out their attempt to kill Hitler, in the attempt that almost worked, it involved wiping out the Nazi state. The idea wasn't just to kill Hitler, but to remove the Nazis in every form. Men like Himmler, Goebbels and Goering would have ended up against a wall had the plot succeeded. Removing those in the seat of power just opens up a vacuum for those positions to be filled. Moreover, in the Iranian case, they'd planned for such eventualities, which we should have known as prior selective US assassinations didn't change the direction of the regime at all.
Moreover, the regime has no place to go. It's not as if they can walk out of their offices retire to cabbage farms. They have to remain in power. Like the German SS in 1945, the IRGC has no place to go. It has to keep the regime in power.
All of this is obvious.
It was likewise obvious that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz and that would so severely disrupt the world's petroleum supplies that it would actually boost the move to green energy, although people still have really awakened to that reality.
And it should have been obvious that those advocating for the war had ulterior agendas. Israel doesn't care about U.S. global considerations and is well aware that the U.S. is a declining power. Convincing a weak minded Trump to go to war with Iran was completely in its interest, and it doesn't care about considerations about defending Taiwan or South Korea.
Pete Hegseth and the pack of far right wing Evangelical would be Crusaders don't care what this will cost. In the view of those in that minoritarian group of American Protestants, a big war will bring on the end of the world and the return of Christ, now. They don't worry about the Just War Theory, as their convinced this is a Divinely ordained mission.
And, it's obvious right now, that the Iranian regime can in fact outwait Trump and its doing it.
The war can only come to an end in one of two ways. We quit, and leave the mess we created as it is, which is a complete and total defeat, or we undertake a largescale ground invasion. Those are the only two options.
The second one leaves open the question of should a country pursue a victory against a legitimate enemy when the war started illegally. It's only a hypothetical question, however, as Trump, who was so stupid as to believe the war would end in a few days, does not have the stomach for that. That really would cause there to be a vote on the war and he knows he'd loose it.
That means the only other option for ending the war is simply leaving, which is a complete defeat. Trump also can't bring himself to do that, as he can't stand the thought that he is what he is, a loser.
So, Trump's option will be increasingly just to ignore the war. He basically just hopes it will go away. In the meantime, like Hitler in the bunker, he plays with models of a reimagined gaudy capital city.
And increasingly look like this to the world.
June 8, 2026
Iran launched something on the order of thirty ballistic missiles on Israel today, and Israel retaliated with air strikes on Iran.
Israel also hit sites in Lebanon.
June 9, 2026
Iran shot down a U.S. helicopter, the US retaliated with airstrikes
Iran hit a U.S. airbase in eastern Jordan with ballistic missiles.
June 11, 2026
The IRGC has announced its shutting down the Strait of Hormuz.
Pete Hegseth is at Guantanamo Bay being a blowhard.
June 12, 2026
Trump claims a deal has been worked out, Iran says no final deal has been reached.
Trump claims he called off massive attacks. Iran claims it controls the Straits of Hormuz.
Frankly, Iranian state media is much more reliable than the stream of crap that comes out of the Oval Office, so we don't really know what's going on. This is the 39th time in the war that Trump has claimed a deal is close, so you have to be extremely gullible to believe what he's saying at this point. It's not even at the "trust but verify" level, so much as the distrust and see what happens in a day or two level.
June 13, 2026
Leaked details of the Trump deal with Iran show Iran pretty much prevailing in the agreement. There will be, under the agreement, 60 days in which to discuss nuclear topics, which means that if Iran chooses not to resolve them, they won't be resolved. Once the war is stopped, and it never should have started, there will be no stomach for resuming it.
June 14, 2026
In the "I'll believe it when I see it" category, a CST headline:
TRUMP: PEACE DEAL
TO BE SIGNED SUNDAY
We'll see.
cont:
Iranian sources have indicated that there is a deal immanent, and it will include:
Fully opening the Strait of Hormuz immediately
U.S. to lift naval blockade within 30 days
No new sanctions imposed while negotiations continue
The U.S. will suspend current sanctions, allowing Iranian oil to be openly sold
$25 billion in Iranian assets to be unfrozen, including direct cash transfers
Formation of an economic development and reconstruction plan
Iran agrees it will neither produce nor acquire nuclear weapons
Fate of the nuclear program, including stockpile of highly enriched uranium, to be negotiated and finalized within 60 days
Full sanctions relief following a final agreement in 60 days
This is an overview, so it doesn't say anything about anything else. Some of these things can just happen, but the big thing the war may have been over (it was never clear what it was over), that being the nuclear program is really vague. Nothing will mean anything unless there's a way to verify what Iran is doing.
The $25B in frozen assets is about 1/4 the total amount that's frozen, I think. That's a major concession by the United States as the assets have been frozen since 1979.
The war has been completely illegal all along. Now the question is whether the war was worth it. It really doesn't seem that this achieved anything that the Obama era agreement hadn't. It might actually achieve less.
That it's time for Trump's birthday is interesting. I suspect a bit of political theater there. His administration will be declaring it a great victory, but it's pretty clear it isn't. The Iranian regime is more hard line than it was before, and its more in control than it was before. It actually retains a significant missile inventory, and there's no reason to believe it won't resume its past behavior pretty quickly.
June 15, 2026
So it seems like a deal has been reached, but it seems that for the most part the war didn't achieve much over what Obama's had, with no illegal war.
More than that, Iran's government is now more hardline than it was before, and they'll be receiving a massive infusion of cash.
June 17, 2026
The Memorandum of Understanding (not treaty) between the illegitimate Trump regime and Iran to end the Trump illegal war, with comments:
1 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles.
Interesting that its admitted that its a war, confessing that its launching by the United States is a crime. Frankly, Trump should be impeached for this.
2 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.
So, not only did we not change the regime, we've agreed not to touch Iran's.
3 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.
4 — Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.
So, we're pulling out.
5 — Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.
6 — The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.
So we're paying for the damage we did during the war.
7 — The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.
And we're lifting the sanctions.
8 — The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.
Iran promises not to build what it had already promised to build, and there's no agreement on nuclear materials.
9 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.
10 — The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.
11 — The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.
Some Iranian assets have been frozen for 47 years.
12 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.
13 — Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.
14 — The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council.
Effectively, the war was about nothing. We killed people, murdered them really as there was no declared war, didn't change the regime, don't know where the nuclear material really is, didn't actually deplete their missile stockpiles as much as thought, demonstrated to the Chinese that we're much weaker militarily than might have been supposed, encouraged Israel to take advantage of the situation by invading Lebanon, and used up a significant amount of our weapons stockpile.
Incredible.
With this astounding result, we'll close out this edition.
King Donny before he was a national embarrassment, and just working on being a family one.
April 30, 2026
Secretary of Defense Hegseth testified the war had cost the US $25B so far.
We clearly have absolutely no idea how to get out of it or win it.
May 1, 2026
Iran responded to King Donny's threats to ramp up the war on Iran, now in a ceasefire, with threats of their own.
They seemed rather unimpressed by Donny.
Donny's administration says it doesn't have to comply with the sixty day provision of the War Powers Act due to the ceasefire.
May 3, 2026
Iran sent the US a fourteen point peace plan.
May 4, 2026
The U.S. rejected Iranian peace proposals and is now going to escort ships through the Straits of Hormoz. Iran threatened to strike the ships and has already claimed to have hit a U.S. Navy craft with missiles, which the U.S. denies.
cont:
Iran attacked ships in the straits today with small surface vehicles and it resumed drone strikes on the UAE.
May 6, 2026
Yesterday was Taco Tuesday, and so we have this headline from the Tribune.
Well of course we do. Trump's an ignorant man with extremely limited world experience with a cabinet of sycophants. This was a war run by ignoramuses.
Trump paused his latest version of the illegal war with his escort program in the Straits of Hormuz. We have no way out of the war that anyone in D.C. grasps.
The US has clearly and absolutely lost this war, not succeeding in a single one of its objectives. At this point, absent ground operations, this is humiliating US defeat, worse than the loss in Vietnam.
May 7, 2026
Taco's flip on the most recent operation is because Saudi Arabia denied the US use of its airspace.
It seems to be the case that Taco didn't inform the kingdom of the operation before coming up with it.
cont:
So, now we're hitting targets in Iran again, the war we won several weeks ago, and which was definitely over before we started blockading Iran.
Compared to this, the Allied landings at Gallipoli in World War One were an absolutely stunning success.
May 10, 2026
Headline from the CST:
Let's be honest, the Administration is incompetent. Governed by flaky theories, linked to a romantic image of the past in more ways than one, and headed by a person with dementia. Of course it's no closer to an end.
The US sent a counter proposal to Iran. They haven't replied.
What is new is that the UK and France are deploying ships to the region in anticipation of using them to keep shipping lanes open.
We'll remind everyone once again that this war is completely illegal, and Trump should be impeached and removed from office for the illegality.
May 11, 2026
Iran's counter proposal was rejected by the US.
May 18, 2026
The UAE was hit by drones yesterday, and an attempt was made on Saudi Arabia.
Donald Trump warned Iran it was running out of time.
The New York Times informed readers that Israel had constructed a secret base over a period of a year in Iraq for the war.
May 19, 2026
Trump threatened Iran with massive devastation and then called it off claiming that regional states asked him to.
Whatever.
The ignoramus has backed himself and the entire country into a corner and has no idea what to do.
May 20, 2026
Aided by a defecting Bill Cassidy and some other defecting Republicans who finally decided they weren't a complete pack of cowardly little sissies, Congress advanced a War Powers bill.
This isn't the same as voting on it, they're just advancing it so it can be voted on. Still, it's a blow to the Big Sissie.
May 24, 2026
Contrary to what reports are holding, no lasting solution to the conflict with Iran has been reached, particularly in regard to the nuclear material.
We appear to be on our way to something no better than what Trump ripped up in the form of what President Obama had negotiated.
And he didn't have to kill a bunch of Iranian school girls to get it.
May 26, 2026
Americans are waking up the news of more war in the war that Trump said he'd already won and a couple of days ago said a deal was close to ending.
These strikes were on missile locations and boat launching sites.
May 28, 2026
Iran retaliated with an attempted strike on a US base in Kuwait.
Trump threatened to "blow up" Oman, a US ally, if it didn't cooperate on the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel declared a swath of Lebanon a "combat zone".
And with the entry demonstrating Trump's insanity, we will close out this issue.
May 29, 2026
Iran and the US agreed to a ceasefire extension involving opening the Strait of Hormuz and starting nuclear weapons talks.
June 1, 2026
The U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes yesterday, and Iran's civil government announced it was completely yielding to the Revolutionary Guard.
Israel pushed deeper into Lebanon.
cont:
Iran is withdrawing from peace talks. Donald Trump claims he doesn't care.
June 2, 2026
From this afternoon.
Seems like a good place to start a new entry on a war that was only going to last a few days and which Trump has repeatedly told us all is over.
The U.S. Senate passed bills creating Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.
You can tell the likes of Harriet Hageman and Deseret Mike Lee weren't in Congress at the time.
The Kingdom of Iraq extended the "D'Arcy Concession" of the oil fields in the Diyala Governorate for an additional 35 years past its scheduled expiration date of May 27, 1961. In reality, events would cause the concessions to be renegotiated after World War Two and expire in 1958, the year that the Kingdom of Iraq itself expired.
Most of the concession territory was in Iran and was cancelled in 1932.
Mount Tokachi erupted in Hokkaidō, Japan, killing 140 people.
The volcano is located within the Daisetsuzan National Park.
The House of Commons voted to nationalize the British coal industry. The House of Lords would follow and Royal Assent would be received on July l2.
C-45. By LanceBarber at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Liftarn using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12001474
A C-45 crashed into the 58th floor of the Bank of Manhattan building killing all five passengers but nobody else, given that it occurred at 8:00 p.m.
Things were not going well in Iran.
We've dealt with this a bit already, but this event was caused by Soviet support for Azerbaijani and Kurdish rebels.
Cher in high school.
Cherilyn Sarkisian, better known by her stage name Cher, was born in El Centro, California. Bobby Murcer, the baseball announcer and player, was born in Oklahoma City.
Murcer passed away in 2008, but Cher is still with us.
Donald J. Trump, who fancies himself a Wile E. Coyote level genius, is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business.
It certainly doesn't show, or Wharton isn't all it has been cracked up to be.
Having gotten the United States into an illegal war as Bibi Netanyahu talked him into it, Donny appears to have been taken off guard that Iran could and would close the Straits of Hormuz, hit tankers, and hit oil and gas facilities throughout the Middle East.
Why wouldn't they?
Perhaps if Melania lets Barron go see his father over Spring Break, assuming they're not perusing travel brochures entitled "where we can go to live after Don dies where people won't know we're Trumps", and assuming that Barron isn't doing the right thing and enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, they can break out some hex and counter games and play Naval based Superpower v. Land based regional power" and see how that works out.
Anyhow, Donny Trump (did we mention that he fancies himself a Wile E. Coyote level genius?) has lifted sanctions on already loaded oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, which means that Iran now has a source of cash it didn't before the war started.
So, we didn't wipe out their nuclear capabilities in the Twelve Day War, their government hasn't fallen in this one, people have not risen up to toss out the Iranian government, the Straits of Hormuz are closed, we didn't stockpile oil before the war, the price of oil has skyrocketed, and now the Iranians can legally transport some oil
Assuming that Trump isn't secretly trying to destroy the American economy and benefit Iran (and Russia), it's hard to see the smarts in any of that.
Petroleum is back up over $100/bbl, basically because King Donny is a liar.
March 26, 2026
And the war inflation hits packages:
U.S. Postal Service Announces Transportation-Related, Time-Limited Price Change
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service filed notice today with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding a time-limited price change to better align its costs of transportation with the market. This temporary price adjustment will provide needed flexibility for the Postal Service by helping to ensure that the actual costs of doing business are covered, as required by Congress.
While this price increase is a time-limited adjustment, it will provide a necessary bridge to a permanent mechanism to reflect market conditions in prices for competitive products that can support the Postal Service’s ability to achieve the universal service obligation in a more financially sustainable manner going forward.
The planned price change, which was approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on March 24, is an 8 percent increase that would affect base postage prices on the following retail and commercial domestic competitive products: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. No other products or services would be affected, including First-Class Stamps. Pending favorable review by the PRC, the price change would go into effect at midnight Central Time on April 26 and would remain in place until midnight Central Time on Jan. 17, 2027. At that time, the Postal Service can determine if a different long-term approach is needed.
Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges. We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized world.
The time-limited price change is consistent with industry practices and will support the Postal Service’s ability to continue achieving its public service mission — providing a nationwide, integrated network for the delivery of mail and packages at least six days a week — in a cost-effective and financially sustainable manner over the long term, just as the U.S. Congress has intended.
The PRC will review the proposed price change before it is scheduled to take effect on April 26. Complete USPS price filings, with prices for all products, can be found on the PRC website’s Daily Listings section at prc.arkcase.com/portal/filings. Price tables are also available on the Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.
# # #
March 27, 2026
More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Guess they aren't as woke as Chuck and demented Don would claim.
And this two years ago before the tin pot dictator decided to destroy the world's oil importation system.
March 30, 2026
West Texas is at $100/bbl this morning. Brent is at $115/bbl.
With the Houthis now in the war, there's a fairly good chance the Red Sea will be effectively closed, massively widening the war, and propelling the world into a King Donny causes severe recession.
March 31, 2026
Brent is at $114.88. West Texas at $104.
The price of almost everything is rising.
This is your economy at war. An undeclared war by a demented octogenarian.
Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Natural Gas Transmission, Processing, Storage, and Liquefied Natural Gas Capacity
Presidential Memoranda
April 20, 2026
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY
SUBJECT: Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Natural Gas Transmission, Processing, Storage, and Liquefied Natural Gas Capacity
On January 20, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14156 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), under the National Emergencies Act. That order found that hostile foreign actors have weaponized America’s reliance on foreign energy and used it to cause dramatic swings in international commodity markets, leaving the United States and its allies dangerously exposed. It emphasized that America must develop its capacity to supply reliable, diversified, and affordable energy to international allies and partners to compete with hostile foreign powers, strengthen relations with allies and partners, and support international peace and security.
Consistent with that declaration, I find that ensuring sufficient natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity is critical to sustaining United States defense operations and ensuring allied energy security. Inadequate pipelines, processing, storage, or natural gas and LNG export capacity would leave the United States and its partners dangerously exposed in times of crisis.
Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the “Act”) (50 U.S.C. 4533), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 303(a)(5) of the Act, that:
(1) natural gas and LNG capacity, including gathering and transmission pipelines, compression, processing plants, underground storage, LNG liquefaction, storage and marine load, export facilities, and critical distribution infrastructure, are industrial resources, materials, or critical technology items essential to the national defense;
(2) without Presidential action under section 303 of the Act, United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide these capabilities for the needed industrial resource, material, or critical technology item in a timely manner due to financing constraints, long-lead equipment and construction schedules, permitting delays, and infrastructure bottlenecks; and
(3) purchases, purchase commitments, financial support for the development of production capabilities, or other action pursuant to section 303 of the Act are the most cost-effective, expedient, and practical alternative methods for meeting this need.
I have declared a national emergency under Executive Order 14156, and I further determine that action to expand domestic natural gas transmission, processing, storage, and LNG capacity is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability. Therefore, pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6) of the Act for the purpose of expanding such capability.
You are authorized and directed to implement this determination, including making necessary purchases, commitments, and financial instruments to enable these projects, and to publish this determination in the Federal Register.
DONALD J. TRUMP
April 27, 2026
I listed to all three weekend shows. They were grim.
This Week made it clear we're headed into an economic crisis thanks to the damage to oil infrastructure. It may take years to repair and prices are not going to decline very soon, if ever.
