Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

King Donald's War, Part 5. After 13/15 U.S. deaths, Hundreds of Iranian deaths, $50B spent fighting it, and a massive increase in the price of oil, King Donny surrenders to the Iranians. The "If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied" edition.

April 8,2026

What MAGA wizard King Donny said at the start of the war:



What the befuddled demented agreed to as an a starting point now:


The MAGA's I know and read about are already bragging this up as another example of Trump brilliance.  This demonstrates how completely brainwashed MAGA really is.  There is a Trump Derangement Syndrome alright.  It's what allows people who voted for no more overseas wars, lower prices, a return to (Calvinist) Christianity, and a deep belief in a conspiracy to keep the Epstein files hidden vote for a man who has now waged two wars, surrendered to a Muslim theocracy, caused higher prices, while hiding the Epstein files and living a life contrary to the Gospels to be worshipped no matter what he does.

We lost this war, completely.  We not only lost it for us, we lost it for Israel too.  Israel, which duped Donny into the war, deserved it.  The American people did not.

Thirteen American servicemen died for nothing whatsoever, other than an attempt at the greater glory of Trump.  Their lives were wasted. Their deaths didn't serve the nation, but one man.  Six were Army National Guardsmen.  Six were members of the USAF.

No Trumps or Musks, or the children of the rich, died.  If you visited Epstein Island, your family wasn't fighting.

And by the way, the oligarchs grew richer during the war, due to timely made trades and a rise in the price of oil, which made regular Americans poorer.

Trump once claimed that veterans were suckers.  The veterans of this war are.  But more than that, those who voted for Trump were proven to be.  There was no excuse to support him in the last election and there's no excuse not to remove him now.  

Before the war Iran was a theocracy.  It still is.

Before the war the Iranian people wanted freedom. They still do, and still lack it.

Before the war Iran could launch missiles and drones at their enemies. They still can.

Before the war Iran had 1000 pounds of uranium.  It still does.

Before the war the Strait of Hormuz was open.  Now Iran gets to charge a toll for its passage.

During the war Iran shipped more oil at a higher price than it did before the war.

The names of the thirteen known men and women who gave their lives, not for their country but for Donald Trump, are:

CWO Robert Marzan
SFC Nicole Amor
SFC Noah Tietjens
Sgt Declan Coady
Maj. Jeffrey O'Brien
Cpt. Cody Khork
Sgt. Benjamin Pennington
Maj. John "Alex" Klinner
Cpt. Ariana Savino
TSgt. Ashley Pruitt
Cpt. Seth Koval
Ct. Curtis Angst
TSgt. Tyler Simmons

Only some of the names of the 170 some Iranian girls the U.S. killed during the war are known.  Those names, including a few of the names of their teachers, are:

1. Hana Dehqani, eight years old

2. Fatemeh Salari, 34 years old

3. Reza Habashian, seven years old

4. Arya Bahadori, nine years old

5. Ali Asghar Zaeri, eight years old

6. Zahra Bahrami, seven years old 

7. Ahmad Soltani, eight years old

8. Hamed Par-ashegh-nezhad, seven years old

9. Fatemeh Yazdan-panah, young girl, age unknown

10. Mahdis Nazari, seven years old

11. Athena Chamani-nezhad, six years old

12. Amirghasem Zaeri, seven years old

13. Fatemeh Dorazehi, 10 years old

14. Arad Ahmadizadeh, eight years old 

15. Saman Karimzadeh, seven years old

16. Fatemeh Shahdadi, age unknown

17. Nadia Shahmiri, nine years old

18. Parham Ranjbari, nine years old

19. Mahmoud Gholamyani, 35 years old

20. Fatemeh Rahdar, 10 years old 

21. Amir-Hassan Rasouli, eight years old

22. Zahra Behrouzi, eight years old

23. Mohammadhatam Raisi, 10 years old

24. Asna Raisi, 12 years old 

25. Benyamin Jangjou, eight years old

26. Mohammad-Sadra Zarei, eight years old 

27. Maryam Pazark, 10 years old

28. Liana Mohammadi, seven years old

29. Mandana Salari, 29 years old

30. Sara Shayesteh, five years old

31. Zoha Pasand, eight years old

32. Esra Zakeri, nine years old

33. Salma Zakeri, six years old

34. Fatemeh Taherifard, 29 years old

35. Zahra Ansari, seven years old

36. Fatemeh Fadavi, 10 years old 

37. Mahna Zarei, two months old

38. Athareh Zarei, 10 years old

39. Alireza Zarei, nine years old

40. Mohammadreza Shahsavari, eight years old

41. Samira Basarde, 38 years old

42. Ehsan Saleminia, six years old

43. Fatemeh Zahra Karimi, seven years old

44. Zeynab Bahrami, 10 years old

45. Mohammad Shah-dousti, eight years old

46. Reza Barani, seven years old

47. Athena Ahmadzadeh, 10 years old

48. Khadijeh Darvishi, nine years old

49. Roqayyeh Karimi, 42 years old

50. Reza Ranjbar, six years old 

51. Marzieh Bashiri-far, 38 years old

52. Mohammad-Mehdi Chegini, 10 years old

53. Mohammadian Bahrami, 17 years old

54. Ali-Akbar Karyani Pak, eight years old

55. Hananeh Mehdikhah, seven years old

56. Fereshteh Sangarzadeh, 44 years old 

57. Mohammad-Ali Karyani Pak, seven years old

58. Parsa Mokhtari-nasab, 12 years old

59. Arina Arab-Kish, eight years old

60. Makan Nasiri, 12 years old

61. Esra Farahi-Zadeh, young girl, age unknown

About half of the American lives were due to a mid air accident, but they're just as dead as they would be had they died fighting.  All of the Iranian lives lost that are listed are due to a targeting accident.

What the death toll for anybody in Lebanon, which opened up as a theatre of war while this was going on, we don't probably really know.

May the perpetual light shine upon them.

If any question why we died, 
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

None of these people had a choice in the offering of their lives for Trump's desperate attempt to have a legacy.  American voters do have a choice on allowing him to continue to kill in an attempt to gain one, however.  They'll have that choice in November, and through their members of Congress, they have a sort of choice now.  The second it becomes clear to Republican members of Congress that their phony jobs are in danger by supporting a madman, they'll suddenly have never supported him. 


April 9, 2026

Nothing is going through the Straits of Hormuz yet. . . a sign that shippers doubt the ceasefire will hold.

And it hasn't in Lebanon, where Israel continues to conduct operations arguing, logically enough, that it doesn't apply there anyway.

April 13, 2026

Well negotiations are going badly so now King Donny is threatening to blockade Iranian ports.

The world's worst dealmaker screws up the Iran negotiations

Forget the "Art of the Deal” myth.

April 17, 2026

There apparently is an agreement for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

April 18, 2026

A suspicious package caused a lockdown on parts of F. E. Warren yesterday.

Related?  I don't know, but then, I don't know.

The Straits of Hormoz were announced open yesterday, and then Iran announced that they are under strict Iranian control today.

April 20, 2026

The United States announced a second round of talks in Pakistan and even discussed the delegation, with Trump claiming the parties were close to a deal.

Iran said nope, it wasn't going to any talks.

April 21, 2026

Some reporters are indicating that the US and Iran were close to a deal to end the war and that it was blown up by Trump's tweeting.

April 22, 2026

Trump was going to rain down destruction if things weren't moving yesterday, yadda yadda, yadda. . .


On other matters related to Mad King Donald's War, there are persistent rumors that recently he asked for the nuclear codes and was denied them by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Did that happen?  We just don't know.  If it did, we are way past the point where the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.  But again, we don't know.

April 23, 2026

More head's rolling in the DoD:

It's well known that Hegseth has the Secretary of the Army in his sights but hasn't been able to pull that off yet.

Interesting . . . 

In other news, Iran is reporting that its Revolutionary Guards seized to vessels. Granted, that's not the Iranian Navy, but it does show that Iranian forces are more resilient than the US claims.

April 24, 2026

Trump's war on the global food supply

Just the latest moral and logistical atrocity.

April 25, 2026

Talks that were supposed to start today, aren't.

April 26, 2026

News has leaked that an Iranian Air Force F5 hit a US base in Kuwait awhile back.

The F5 was a great airplane.  They haven't been made since 1987 but they're in the class of weapons, like the A10, that just keeps on keeping on.

The interesting thing here is that we've supposedly completely destroyed the Iranian Air Force and Navy, and yet the Iranians are still capable of flying (they were pretty limited in this before the war) and putting small boats in the sea.  In order to really defeat Iran, we would have to be troops on the ground, and the Iranians will fight.

April 27, 2026

Guests and panelist on This Week made it clear that the momentum with the war is now with Iran and that if proceed on the current path, Iran will come out of the war stronger than they went in it.  

April 28, 2026

It's hardly been noticed, in part because of the attack at the Correspondence Dinner, but the US is on the verge of basically formally surrendering to Iran and leaving Iran a more powerful nation than it was when the war started.

Trump Blinked

This will close out this edition.  The man who is attributed with the Art of the Deal, which of course was ghostwritten, is being shown the Art of the Squeal by a nation that's not impressed with him, and which is run by people vastly more intelligent than he is.  He's going to surrender.  He won't call it that, but that's what he's about to do.

And with the surrender imminent, we'll go on to a new edition of this thread. 

Last edition:

King Donald's War, Part 4. The Raving Madman threatens to resort to mass war crimes.

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Monday, December 3, 1945. A Walk In The Sun.


A Walk In The Sun was released.  I'm personally not a great fan of the movie, but many regard it as one of the greatest World War Two, and indeed war, films ever.

3 December 1945

3 December 1945: The first landing and takeoff aboard an aircraft carrier by a jet-powered aircraft were made by Lieutenant-Commander Eric Melrose Brown, M.B.E., D.S.C., R.N.V.R., Chief Naval Test Pilot at RAE Farnborough, while flying a de Havilland DH.100 Sea Vampire Mk.10, LZ551/G. The ship was the Royal Navy Colossus-class light aircraft carrier, HMS Ocean (R68), under the command of Captain Casper John, R.N.

The Arab League voted to boycott all goods from Jewish Palestine.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided International Shoe Co. v. Washington holding that held that a party may be subject to the jurisdiction of a state court if it has "minimum contacts" with that state.

This ad appeared in Sheridan's newspaper:



Last edition:

Friday, November 30, 1945. Executing Germans for ordering the killing of civilian sailors and for directly killing downed airmen.

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Monday, November 26, 1945. Now's the Time, Wolves and War Brides, Questionable claim about Goering, Test tube babies in Virgin hospitals, Japanese social insurance, ties for Christmas.

Recorded on this day in 1945:

 The Sheridan Press reported on wolves and war brides.


The story on the big wolf is ironic in a contemporary context.  Wolves were wiped out in Colorado, probably and in Wyoming, probably, until the major reintroduction effort of the 2000s began.  It's been a huge success in Wyoming, for which I'm glad, in spite of my initial skepticism.  An ongoing effort is occuring in Colorado, which is meeting a lot of opposition in the anti nature Freedom Caucus era.

The Rocky Mountain News, which I remember from the 70s, 80s and 90s, when it was the best, in my view, of the two Denver papers, was a bit sensationalist at the time, which I've only recently come to appreciate.  It was always a "tabloid", with that sort of paper format for some reason having a reputation of that type.  I've never heard of the story related by the headline here:


A little digging finds that this claim was flat out untrue.


The News also reported on, oddly enough, test tube babies, something that is way earlier than I'd have ever supposed.


The first "test tube" baby was born in 1978.  That person Louise Brown, is still with us.  The first example of IVF in a mammal did not occur until 1959.  Apparently the proponent of this suggestion was well ahead of her time in terms of scientific knowledge.

It's notable that the suggestion had a strong eugenics characteristic.  That drive is also now very much coming into fruition, with designer babies now becoming a thing.

On the underlying concern, the explosion in births and the drop in the average age for a woman to first give birth that commenced at this time shows the concern was misplaced.  As a Catholic, of course, I regard IVF as both unnatural and immoral.  The bizarrely pro natalist Trump administration is all in on it.

The News also reported on Japanese social insurance, something being brought in by the progressive and distributist MacArthur occupation.


The cartoons of the day.


A classic gift was suggested.


British troops swept the Sharon plain in reaction to a prior days terrorist attack.

Ezra Pound was indicted for a second time on 19 counts of treason.

Last edition:

Friday, October 17, 2025

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 7. The snatching victory edition.

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.

I don't speak Russian, and I have no idea what's being said, but I'm sure that the Russian soldiers being shown in the photos are dead.  Russian casualties are massive.

All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

Voltaire

Here's something to consider about the war between Russia and Ukraine as the juvenile demented Putin fanboy King Donny, who declared himself a war hero yesterday, attempts to bring the war to an end.

Ukraine may very well be winning this war.

Russian casualties are massive.  According to one report, the Russians sustained 20,000 combat deaths last month, and have sustained 1,000,000 casualties so far in the war.  Russia is only still able to be in the war at this point as it's not a democracy.  A democratic regime could not sustain this rate of attrition.  The U.S. Army became combat ineffective in Vietnam after 50,000 deaths. . . for the entire war.

Which is not to say that the Russian Army has been terribly effective.  It hasn't.  Putin isn't holding back in the war, he can't ramp it up any more than this.  He's even brought in foreign mercenaries in the form of North Korean troops, who also proved to be ineffective.



The Czar was a decent man.  Vladimir Putin is not.  He was a member of the KGB.  He is also a student of Russian history and seeks to revive what the USSR lost, which itself sought to restore what had fallen apart in the Russian Revolution, a Russian Empire.  

He needs Ukraine for that.

The collapse of the Imperial Russian Army was somewhat sudden.  As late as 1917 it was able to launch a massive summer offensive that gained ground. Then it stopped. Then it collapsed.

At this rate, the end is coming for Putin.  The Russian Army continues to gain a little ground, but just a little.  If it stops, and is pushed back a bit, the end of Putin's rule may come pretty quickly.

Putin likely knows that, which is why he flew to Alaska, knowing that he could depend on his loyal little lap dog to piss all over the floor in joy when he saw him, and do his bidding.

What should occur now is this.

The secondary tariff bill directed on countries that receive Russian oil should pass Congress.

US arms supplies, and European ones (which have actually amounted to more than American ones) should resume.

Contacts should be made within the Russian military and government who can facilitate the change in regime, many of whom are likely afraid right now of being pushed out of five story window.

Personally, I'd go further than this, although I know its unlikely to happen right now.  I feel NATO forces should be deployed to those Ukrainian provinces which have not seen Russian incursions on a "do not enter" basis.  I'd also encourage the raising of Western units that would be equipped in a Western fashion, made up of men who are veterans of Western armies, along the lines of the American Volunteer Group and Spanish Blue Division (and yes, I know that this is an unfortunate example) of World War Two.  I'm pretty sure that substantial numbers of good Western troops could join the fight in that manner, but I also know that this won't occur.

At any rate, Trump ought to just go back to the golf course and leave the serious world alone.  The serious world ought to back Ukraine, which may very well be winning the war.

August 21, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War


Major Russian refinery  hit last night.

August 22, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

The UN had declared that a famine is occuring in Gaza.

Russo Ukrainian War

The Russians hit a US owned factory in Ukraine last night.

The Ukrainians hit a fuel train in Crimea.

US v. ISIL

U.S. forces killed an  ISIS ‘key financier’ in Syrian  raid on Aug. 19.

August 25, 2025

Middle East

Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's capital yesterday.

August 29, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine took out 4.7% of Russia's refining capacity last night.

August 30, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

Israel declared an area within Gaza a "combat zone".

September 3, 2025

United States v. Drug Cartels

The US sank a drug transporting ship belonging to the Tren de Aragua through an illegal use of the U.S. military.

September 8, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Over the weekend the Russians launched largest drone attack of the war.

Guess Putin doesn't really care much about Donald "Col. Kilgore" Trump's two week deadlines.

Middle East War

A Houthi drone hit an Israeli airport.

Hmmm. . . . doesn't seem like that war ended either.

September 10, 2025

Middle East War

Israel hit Hamas' political headquarters in Qatar in an airstrike.

Qatar hosts a significant US military mission.

Russo Ukrainian War

Poland shot down Russian drones that entered Polish airspace en route to Ukraine.

September 14, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Trump called on all NATO countries to boycott Russian oil and to impose tariffs on Russia and China.

Trump's thought on this, as with so much else, are based on his business experience.  A country willing to sustain the loss rates that Russia is, isn't going to be cowed by the loss of oil sales.

Domestic Use of the Armed Forces

And then there's this ongoing stupidity:


September 16, 2025

Israel in Gaza

Israel had launched a new ground offensive apparently to take Gaza City.

Domestic Use of the Armed Forces

Trump has signed an order to deploy National Guardsmen to Memphis.

United States v. Drug Cartels

The US sank a second Venezuelan civilian boat yesterday.

September 23, 2025

Middle East War

A wave of countries has recognized a Palestinian state as the US influence over the globe has decreased under the Trump administration and as support for Israel has diminished due to the ongoing situation in Gaza.

Palestinian statehood was already recognized by the majority of the globe's nations, but now over half of Europe's nations do and only the US and Panama do not in the Americas.

September 24, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Hmmm. . . while I'm grateful that Trump is suddenly supporting Ukraine, sort of, why the change in view?

Chances are high that Trump thinks his yapping achieves something.  Now, he probably suspects, Vlad Putin will be shaking in his boots.

He won't be.

September 26, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

Donald Trump claims that he won't allow Israel to annex more of the West Bank.  

Said Mahmoud Abbas, whose party governs the West Bank, expressly rejected the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and stated that Hamas needs to turn its weapons over to the Palestinian Authority, which is very rapidly achieving recognition as the Palestinian sovereign.

United States goings ons

Secretary of Defense Hegseth ordered all flag rank officer to report to him next week, an extraordinary move.  No reason has been given for it.

October 2, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

Israel ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City  and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter and face the “full force” of Israel’s latest offensive.

This is a war crime.

October 3, 2025

United States v. drug cartels

Trump designated drug cartels as unlawful combatants in what is in fact an unlawful use of U.S. military power.

October 6, 2025

United States goings ons

Donald Trump has deployed units of the California National Guard into Oregon illegally.

update:

The judge which earlier ruled that the Oregon National  Guard could not be deployed for this purpose has extended the order to California and Texas National Guardsmen as well.

October 12, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

A Trump Administration brokered ceasefire which is designed to stop the fighting, secure the release of hostages, and lead to an eventual new Gazan (Palestinian Authority) government seems to be holdings.  Gazans are returning to their wrecked homes.

United States goings ons

While the rulings are interlocutory in nature, the Federal Court and Federal Appeals Court with jurisdiction in Illinois have blocked the illegal deployment of National Guardsmen in the state.

October 14, 2025

Gaza

Hamas is back in the streets in Gaza and killed at least 33 people for what it terms crime.

October 17, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Senile real estate developer Donald Trump will be meeting with Vlad Putin in Hungary.

The illegitimate Second Trump Administration pulled tomahawk missiles it had previously promised to Ukraine back.

Ukrainian President Zelensky will meet with senile real estate developer today.

Gaza

The senile real estate developer threated Hamas with death if violence continues inside of Gaza.

United States v. Drug Cartels

No reason was given, but it's likely that his conscience wouldn't allow for what is going on in that command.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Marjorie Taylor Greene sounding like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. . . something's going on.


Something is going on.

Recent comments by Marjorie Taylor Greene:

I've been in the Capitol, and there are two things I couldn't find this week: I couldn't find anywhere the Epstein files, and I also couldn't find the Republican plan to fix the health insurance industry.

____________ 

"Prices have not come down at all. The job market is extremely difficult. Wages have not gone up. Health insurance is going up. Home insurance goes up. Rent is going up. Young people have no hope of buying a home."

_____________ 

“Health care crisis? Ignored.

Wages? Flat.

Bills? Sky high.

And you think this wins midterms?”

______________ 

“I’d never speak on behalf of the president, but I don’t think he’s always getting the best advice.”

_______________

I'm talking to major manufacturing companies and they are saying we're having a problem with these tariffs... 

Has regular people's stress come off? No. That should be the focus. It shouldn't be helping your crypto donors. The focus should be the people that showed up at the rallies. I don't think those people are being served.

____________________

I'm not going to... keep talking the talking points, when my own adult children can hardly afford health insurance premiums.

______________________

I’m not some sort of blind slave to the president, and I don’t think anyone should be.

I serve in Congress. We’re a separate branch of the government, and I’m not elected by the president.

___________________

Have regular people's bank accounts been helped? No, that has not happened, and that needs to be the focus — it shouldn't be about helping your crypto donors.

___________________

I'm going to read you a little list... A Hollywood producer, a royal prince, a high-profile individual in the music industry, a very prominent banker, a high-profile government official, one former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rock star, one magician, half a dozen billionaires, including one from Canada.

(This one riffs of of Massie, whom she is quoting). 

Something is going on.  Greene, who has typically sounded like a bombastic idiot, suddenly doesn't.  It's not just what she's saying, which is shocking given her prior servitude to the far right, it's the way she's saying it.

She's actually not dumb.

This means something. She's saying things that if they came from a Democrat would cause Mike Johnson to put on his little smirk and discount it.  

And then there's this:

They’re not Hamas. They’re literally women and children. And you can’t unsee the amount of pictures and videos of children that have been blown to pieces and are they’re finding them dead in the rubble. That isn’t—those aren’t actors, that isn’t fake war propaganda. It’s very real.

Usually MAGA supports anything Israel does.

This is interesting.  If it starts repeating with other far right figures we'll know that the political winds are shifting.

On rising discontent:

You better start obeying the Constitution. It's going to get real ugly if you don't follow the laws and obey the Constitution like you swore an oath to do.

National Federation of Federal Employees President Randy Erwin puts Trump on notice

A small business owner on Twitter, whose small business depends on Chinese imports, reported "hating" Trump.

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Sunday, October 4, 1925. Fawzi al-Qawuqji attacks Hama.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji lead an assault on French security installations in the city of Hama, Syria.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji had started his military career as an Ottoman officer, and then under King Faisal.  He thereafter served in the Syrian Legion for the French, before deserting in the Great Syrian Revolt.  He served the Saudis after that, and then the Palestinian Cause against the British in the 1930s.  He was wounded in the Palestinian uprising and ultimately took refuge in Germany, where he joined the German Army, ending up a prisoner of war of the Soviets.  Released in 1947, he made his way back to the Middle East and was appointed the Arab League field commander of the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) in the 1948 Palestine War.   His forces ultimately lost control of territory that was to have been Palestinian.  He retired to Syria thereafter and died in 1977.

Al-Qawuqui is one of those rare military refigures who had a track record of serving in uniformly losing causes and who not only survived them, but inexplicably continued to receive further commands.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji in May, 1948.

The Soviet Union gave up on restricting the alcohol content of beverages.

Ty Cobb, who was normally a centerfielder, pitched against the St. Louis Browns for one inning.  The Browns had George Sisler first baseman pitch for two innings against the Tigers.  Non pitchers in the pitching role would not happen again for another 92 years.

The Finnish torpedo boat S2 sank in a storm with the loss of all 53 hands.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 3, 1925. The launch of the USS Lexington.