The Roosevelt Dime was introduced on what would have been the late President's 64th birthday. The design replaced the Mercury Dime.
Plans for honoring Roosevelt on the dime commenced very soon after his death. He's been on the dime so long, I actually can't recall every seeing any other design, although I'm sure that I have.
By TUBS - This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15952232
Transcarpathia (Ruthenia) became the Zakarpattia Oblast of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The region of Ruthenia is obscure to Americans, but the Ruthenian Catholic Church is fairly well represented in the U.S. as a significant Eastern Rite branch of Catholicism.
The United Nations passed UNSCR calling on Iran and the USSR to resolve the crisis caused by the Soviet invasion of Iran.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
James Madison
January 2, 2026.
The United States v. Iran
We start off this year with the no more forever wars president threatening to intervene in Iran.
Iran is a bad actor, without a doubt, but what we'd particularly note here is that Trump's policy of intervention is beginning to look a lot like the Neo Con policy. A person can like that, or not, but it's not what he was promising at all. I'd heard various Trump supporters cite the "no more forever wars" line as (one of) their reasons for supporting him.
January 3, 2026
United States v. Venezuela
The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and took Maduro and his wife prisoner.
No Declaration of War exists, of course, and there's no Congressional authorization for the use of force. This is, therefore, an illegal operation.
The news is too early to really make any definitive predictions about how this will turn out. Wars, however, tend to end when the attacked party decides they are over. Maybe this will tip the scales in Venezuela and things will change. Or maybe his followers dig in and carry on, in which case we are now committed to a wider conventional war, and perhaps a following guerilla war.
As usual, when he reads a prepared statement, he sounds awful. While called to address the illegal attack in Venezuela, it meandered into the usual Trump mental mush addressing various Trump favorite topics and fantasies. Use of the National Guard in various states ended up being addressed by the clearly senile illegal occupant of the Oval Office.1
Trump has made it clear the U.S. intends to occupy Venezuela, apparently forgetting that simply seizing the head of state doesn't amount to a full surrender of anyone opposing a U.S. presence. This will require thousands of U.S. troops on a continent in which we've never had boots on the ground. People aligned with Maduro have no reason to cooperate with the US at all, and have plenty of reason not to.
Inside Venezuela there were protests over the U.S. action. Outside of the country Venezuelan expats celebrated the news.
Trump also made it clear that he intends to reverse the fifty year old nationalization of Venezuelan oil. Either Trump, or more likely somebody in his regime, has a real pre World War One view of the world, as this example of imperialism and gunboat diplomacy makes clear. Trump actually cited the Monroe Doctrine and his new security priorities.
Trump justified the action on the basis of ending Venezuelan drug exports to the U.S.
By way of a set of predictions, and knowing more about the use of military force that Donald Trump does, if the U.S. isn't in complete control of the country within thirty days, this will evolve into a guerilla war requiring no less than 100,000 U.S. troops. If the U.S. hasn't turned the country over to Venezuelans within one year, it'll evolve into a low grade guerilla war requiring no less than 50,000 boots on the ground.
January 4, 2026
United States v. Venezuela
So where are we now?
Yesterday it looked like, for awhile, that effectively what the US had done was to have mounted a coup of the Venezuelan government with the silent complicency of Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodríguez, sidestepping Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado Parisca.
Then came Trump's babbling senile statement about the operation.
Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as the country's President. She's just as left wing and Maduro, and she immediately indicated that she regard Maduro as the President and that she's not cooperating with the US.
So, what was achieved? We don't know, but unless we're going to do a full scale invasion of Venezuela, all we may have done is replace one left wing leader with another.
A bit closer to home, sort of:
Well, of course they did. Was there any doubt?
January 5, 2026
Yemeni Civil War
Saudi backed forces retook Mukalla.
Nigeria
Gunmen killed 30 in Kasuwan-Daji.
Syria
Britain and France carried out a joint airstrike late Saturday on an underground facility where members of the ISIL were located.
United States v. Venezuela
Pope Leo XIV commented on Venezuelan independence yesterday, stating:
The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration and lead us to overcome violence and to undertake paths of justice and peace, safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, ensuring the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respecting the human and civil rights of each person and of all, and working to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and concord, with special attention to the poorest who suffer because of the difficult economic situation.
Columbian guerilla groups Unión Camilista Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) issued a warning to the US about the US having a presence in Venezuela.
FARC is a Communist guerilla movement while the ELN is a "Catholic Communist" or Liberation Theology guerilla movement. Columbia is their main focus, but they operate in Venezuela.
While the raid has been portrayed as lacking casualties on the U.S. side, U.S. troops were in fact wounded and have been air evacuated to the U.S.
Hageman's failure to say anything is really interesting. MAGA boosted the platform of "no more forever wars" but the US has been fighting everywhere, and is threatening to attack a NATO ally, Denmark, over Greenland, an act that would be deeply immoral and flat out insane. Indeed, the fact that the country is being lead by a mad man is increasingly clear, with most Republicans doing nothing about it.
Wyoming has had a strong commitment to the military. Indeed, an overly strong one as not only do an unusually large number of Wyomingites volunteer for military service, which is admirable, the state had nearly supported a military against the government attitude in recent years. Now, with it appearing that the US might send Wyoming's sons and daughters to die in Venezuelan jungles while doing something that will gut the state's oil industry, some may be having second thoughts. Hageman may be hedging her bets for her Senate run, or she may actually be among those who are horrified by the insane neo colonialism of the Trump interregnum.
January 6, 2026
Venezuela and Greenland.
There's a lot of weird war related news circulating today.
Trump claims that the government of Venezuela is going to, well, here:
The U.S. doesn't need millions of gallons of oil to be sold to the US, and further the means by which Trump claims this will happen, he'll control the sales, is legally dubious.
Frankly, I don't believe that this will occur. Much of what Trump has been saying about Venezuela is a lie and I suspect this is too.
If it isn't a lie, Wyomingites are going to get another dope slap from the demented fool they voted for. It'll take the price of oil in the state for years. It's at $46.37, below profitability, right now.
Of course, the goal would be to depress the price of oil, which consumers in most locations want depressed, even though we ought to be weaning ourselves off of oil. But closer to home, this is another example of why Wyomingites are absolute idiots to vote for the GOP.
The Nobel Peace Prize winning Venezuelan woman who probably ought to be running the country is headed home. Hopefully she takes over the government, although there's every sign that the Venezuelan socialist party will continue to do so and not much will really change.
Trump, who is demented, is now threatening Greenland.
If we lived in a sane time they'd be taking him out of the Oval Office in a straight jacket, but the Republican Party is now largely bat shit crazy so there's a real chance we'll do this, even while, for the first time, some Republican leaders are dismissing it.
Trump needs to be removed via the 25th Amendment, and like yesterday.
January 8, 2026
United States v. Venezuela
It looks like Il Duce Don's intervention in Venezuela is receiving the same treatment the outbreak of the Second World War did in Nazi Germany
Readers of the epic The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich will recall that while many Germans were enthusiastic about Hitler coming to power, the public was not thrilled at all with the outbreak of World War Two. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The difference, maybe, is that democracy had already fled in Germany by 1939, whereas its trying to hold on in the United States.
This is being hailed in some quarters as a rational plan, fitting into sort of a trend line to express relief when Marco Rubio says something as opposed to Donald Trump.
Well, at least it's a plan.
The problem with it is that it really requires Venezuela's cooperation and there's no reason to believe that will be forthcoming. In this sense, it's likely to be like the 1954 Geneva plan for Vietnam, which everyone agreed was a nifty plan, and never stood a chance.
The main goal of the Socialist in Venezuela right now is no doubt to stay in power, which the Trump administration seems content to let them do. That may be because Rubio knows that removing them would involve a large-scale war.
So, we're going to sell some oil. We'll probably invest in their petroleum infrastructure. The whole thing will depress the price of oil, to the detriment of US producers, and most of the people we were complaining about in Venezuela keep their jobs.
cont:
The Senate voted to have a vote on a War Powers Resolution that would prohibit further military action in Venezuela.
Contrary to some reporting, this does not have an immediate effect of prohibiting further action in Venezuela, but there may very well be the votes to do that, in which case there are definitely enough to prohibit actions against Denmark in an insane effort to seize Greenland.
Trump is, of course, upset. This may very well take the wheels off of the Venezuelan go cart.
Also, in related news, the administration is proposing a $1.5T budget, that's trillion, for defense next year, which is also insane. The country doesn't have that kind of money. Frankly a person has to wonder if that is just some sort of bribe to the military, which may not be all that happy about some current events.
Some in the traditional conservative camp, on the other hand, are very enthusiastic over Marco Rubio and Venezuela, although no element of realism seems to have sunk into the facts that in reality, the country is run by the same political groups that were running it last week and there's very little that can be done about that other than a war of economic attrition.
January 9, 2026
Russo Ukrainian War
The US has issued a warning to U.S. citizens in Ukraine to expect a significant Russian areas attack within the next few days.
United States v. Mexico
Trump threatened in a recent interview to hit drug cartel sites in Mexico, something the Mexican government will not welcome, and will likely resist.
This was something he asked about doing in his legitimate term, and was held back by the sane people in his first administration.
Iran
Iran is experiencing such widespread civil strife it appears to becoming unglued.
Misc:
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller have all moved on to military bases out of security concerns.
Iran
Iran appears to be headed towards outright revolution.
January 11, 2026
United States v. ISIL
The US hit targets in Syria again yesterday.
January 16, 2026
United States v. Denmark
European countries, members of NATO, have sent troops to Greenland because of the insane threats by the demented clown in the White House.
January 18, 2026.
United States v. ISIL
More airstrikes in Syria.
January 21, 2026
Israel v. Gaza
Donald Trump rolled out his Bored of Peas at Davos that's supposed to keep the peace in Gaza. It's impossible to take seriously given its makeup.
And we'll conclude this edition with that pathetic action by the would be demented caudillo.
January 29, 2026
United States v. Iran
Trump is weighing a major new strike on Iran after preliminary discussions between Washington and Tehran over limiting the country’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production failed to make progress.
Wait, you're thinking, we were going to war against Iran over the government killing protestors? That's the Iranian government killing Iranian protestors, not the U.S. government killing American protestors. . . that's different.
Nope, it's missiles and the nuclear program.
Wait, you're thinking, we wiped out their nuclear program.
Um. . . .
United States v. Venezuela
PAUL: So I would ask you, if a foreign country bombed our air defense missiles, captured and removed our president, and blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war?
RUBIO; We just don't believe that this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition of war.
PAUL: Well, would it be an act of war if someone did it to us? Nobody dies, a few casualties, they're in and out, boom, it's a perfect military operation. Would that be an act of war? Of course it would be an act of war.
And with that quite correct observation, we'll close out this edition.
Footnotes:
1. A real irony is present here in that Maduro was not the legitimate head of state, at this point, of Venezuela, and Donald Trump is not the legitimate head of state of the United States.
The Truman Administration formed the Central Intelligence Group, with its official duties being:
The Central Intelligence Group is a recently created interdepartmental organization in which the State, War, Navy, and sometimes other departments participate. It coordinates all activities of the Government involved in obtaining and analyzing information about foreign countries which this country needs for its national security. It also furnishes interdepartmental analyses of this type of information or use by Government officials.
The immediate predecessor, the OSS, had been disbanded.The Group itself would evolve into the CIA very quickly.
Qazi Muhammed establishing the Republic of Mahabad. He'd be hung by Iran in 1947.
The Socialist Soviet puppet state of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, also referred to as the Republic of Kurdistan, (Kurdish: کۆماری کوردستان, romanized: Komarî Kurdistan; Persian: جمهوری مهاباد,) was formed in the Soviet occupied portion of northern Iran.
The Milestone Mo-Tel, austensibly the first "motor hotel", i.e., motel, opened in San Luis Obispo. It closed in 1991, but is being restored.
The Iranian Parliament, the Majles-e Showrā-ye Mellī, declared Prime Minister, General Reza Khan Pahlavi, as the Shah of Iran and bringing an end to the Qajar dynasty that had ruled since 1789.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was founded.
The Azerbaijan People's Government, a puppet of the Soviet Union, began an uprising in Iranian Azerbaijan Province.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower testified before the House Military Affairs Committee that “Nothing guides Russian policy so much as a desire for friendship with the United States.” The NYT headline read:
Eisenhower Holds Training Essential to Safety of U.S.; General Says It Is Best Way to Avoid War, or if Sudden Blow Comes to Avert Disaster --Declares Russia Wants Amity EISENHOWER HOLDS TRAINING IS VITAL Says Russia Wants U.S. Amity Time Is of the Essence, He Says
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
What do we mean by the defeat of the enemy? Simply the destruction of his forces, whether by death, injury, or any other means—either completely or enough to make him stop fighting. . . . The complete or partial destruction of the enemy must be regarded as the sole object of all engagements. . . . Direct annihilation of the enemy's forces must always be the dominant consideration.
Carl von Clausewitz.
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
Isoroku Yamamoto.
It didn't work.
The United States did not destroy Iran's nuclear program, it merely set it back several months.
That was, quite frankly, a pretty predictable outcome. Indeed, I predicted it.
The question is, now what?
Iran has learned that its security is, in fact, in building a nuclear weapon. It's going to do it.
The only way to stop that would be a ground invasion of Iran, which we don't have the stomach to do, and which Israel can't do.
Israel gambled that they could take control of the air, and that this was the time to do it. That set up the scene for the US to come in with the GBU-57A/B MOP, which they gambled we would.
We committed them.
It failed.
Military gambles are always judged in hindsight. Japan didn't take out the U.S. Navy on December 7, 1941, as the carriers weren't at Pearl Harbor. If they had been, the story would be different. The Germans didn't defeat the Soviets in Operation Barbarossa, but they came close. If it had worked, it would be regarded as one of the greatest military feats of all time, rather than a disastrous miscalculation.
We'll see what happens here, but my guess is that by this time next year, Iran has the bomb.
June 26, 2025
United States and Israel v. Iran
The Trump administration is getting increasingly spastic over the developing facts that Operation Midnight Hammer didn't really work, or rather than it achieved minor success but failed to achieve its objective.
As per usual, the administration simply accuses everyone who disagrees with them of lying or insulting servicemen. That's complete and utter nonsense. The objective was a tough one and the odds were against it.
Hegseth held a press conference today that was essentially a rant due to these questions being brought up. It was pathetic.
The big difference here, as compared to other Trump counterfactuals, is that the Trump smokescreen will evaporate with a mushroom cloud.
The question is how soon.
cont:
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared victory in the recent war and discounted the damage caused by American airstrikes. His tone was absolutely defiant.
I"m quite certain that Donald Trump could declare war on the entire world and Wyoming's delegation would support it.
June 29, 2025
Israel v. Hamas
As its seemingly now become too routine to take notice of, we will note that the fighting is still going on in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis carries on, and Israeli strikes this week killed 72 people.
June 30, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
The war in Ukraine, the one that Trump promised to end upon being nominated but then later stated that was "hard", is heating up.
Looks like Trump was full of crap about his magical negotiation powers. Where's that "art" of the deal?
Anyhow, Russia launched its biggest aerial of the war so far, firiging a total of 537 aerial weapons at including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles. 249 were shot down and 226 were lost.
The Russians have amassed 50,000 troops near Sumy.
Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @AdamKinzinge· 12h
So what seems clear from the intel, is that we probably should have reloaded the B2s, and gone for a second round. Instead the impulsive toddler was desperate to have a strong ending to the movie and declare a cease fire.
This is a show to him, entertainment, and he’s the “star”
July 4, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Kyiv is getting pounded by a large scale drone attack.
The US has halted many weapons transfer programs to Ukraine on the basis that the US needs to rebuilt its own arms stockpile.
July 8, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Roman Starovoyt, age 53, who had been fired as Russian transportation minister just hours prior, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his car. Russian authorities stated suicide might be a possibility.
He's also been the governor of Kursk relatively recently.
July 9, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a pause on weapons shipments to Ukraine last week. Currently it seems Trump will resume them.
Trump reports he's upset with Putin, probably for busting the bubble that Trump has any persuasion over him. Trump's efforts at bringing about peace have failed.\
July 14, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
It appears that the US will be increasing military aid to Ukraine, funneling the new arms through other NATO countries.
Trump has indicated that if Russia doesn't end the war in 50 days he will impose 100% secondary tariffs.
July 17, 2025
Israel v. Hamas
An Israeli artillery shell hit the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest.
It would seem Trump's much vaunted ceasefire didn't hold.
I suspect as these were Catholic deaths, there won't be much press on it.
Syrian Civil War
Heavy fighting has been going on between Druze and Bedouin tribes in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda, as another ceasefire has collapsed a day after Syrian troops pulled out of the area.
The area has a Druze majority.
July 20, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
The war Trump did end upon being nominated or sworn into office has been seeing some massive Russian drone assaults, including a 300 drone raid yesterday.
Israel v. Hamas
Israeli troops fired yesterday toward crowds of Palestinians seeking food from distribution hubs run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people. An air strike also occured.
Gee. . . it's almost like Trump didn't get peace in Gaza either.
Syrian Civil War
A ceasefire seems to be holding including Israel.
July 24, 2025
Thailand v. Cambodia
Thailand and Cambodia are fighting over a disputed border area.
July 25, 2025
Israel v. Hamas
France is recognizing the sovereignty of the territorial Palestinian Authority as a state.
July 27, 2025
Israel v. Hamas.
Israel is going to allow humanitarian air drops over Gaza.
July 29, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Trump has given Putin twelve days to end the war against Ukraine, which no doubt will be completely ignored.
Thailand v. Cambodia
The countries have entered into a ceasefire.
cont:
Israel v. Hamas
The UK has indicated it's set to shortly follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state if a peace isn't arrived upon soon.
It's almost like the US's opinion on this no longer matters. . .
July 31, 2025
Israel v. Hamas.
And now Canada is moving toward recognizing Palestinian statehood, a move which caused the Trump to threaten trade negotiations with Canada.
It should be clear, the US has lost its first place in the free world status in terms of these matters. Nobody is paying attention to the US on this issue and its now Eurocentric. We were replaced.
August 4, 2025
Middle East
The Houthi's hit Israel with drones today.
August 8, 2025
Israel v. Hamas
Israel has announced it intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip and eventually transfer its administration to friendly Arab forces.
The city itself is essentially destroyed. Who the "friendly" Arab forces would be really begs that question.
Donald Trump and Vlad Putin are going to meet in Alaska.
The optics of this, I'd note, are awful. But then Trump's tastes are bad tastes.
Anyhow, they're going to discuss, apparently bringing the war to an end. Putin will have the high side of any debate as Trump has proven to be totally ineffectual in regard to the war, and indeed, most things, at least from a beneficial prospective.
Putin's already apparently indicated that he'll stop the war in exchange for Eastern Ukraine. That's an awful proposal, but the risk is that demented Trump won't realize its an awful deal.
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