King Donald's War, Part 5. Quagmire. The $25,000,000,000 and thirteen American lives later, "So we (but not Donald) were in Vietnam for 18 years. Iraq, many, many years....I've been doing this for...six weeks" 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.

Last edition:

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.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, F. E. Warren AFB, Food, Hypocrisy, Iran, Israel, King Donald's War, Lebanon, Lies, Sic transit Gloria Mundi, Straits of Hormuz, Trump Derangement Syndrome, United States, United States and Israel v. Iran, War

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 3. The Wharton Way.

 

 "The Wharton Way"

Our strategic plan guiding us towards greater influence, innovation, and engagement for the advancement of business, education, and society at large.

Wharton School of Business website.

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.

March 23, 2026

Even the best-case scenario for energy markets is disastrous

Whatever happens, high prices will outlive the Iran war 

March 24, 2026

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.

# # #

The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to more than 170 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is celebrating its 250th year of service to customers amidst a network modernization plan aimed at restoring long-term financial sustainability, improving service, and maintaining the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

For USPS media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter; Instagram; Pinterest; Threads; and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube Channel and like us on Facebook. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

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.

April 6, 2026

Trump's Total War Budget

“More bombs, less of everything else” is a tough campaign platform.

West Texas is $110/bbl this morning.

April 7, 2026

All roads lead to higher prices and slower growth.

IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva.

April 14, 2026

We had in Wyoming record distributions of Meals on Wheels…So I’m worried.  I’ll admit it.

Cynthia Lummis.

April 15, 2026

Headlines in the CST:

Forbes: Trump’s wealth soars 60% since return

Trump administration will refund importers

Treasury chief confident on low core inflation

That last thing comes from Bessant so basically it's propaganda, as everything he says is.

April 18, 2026

The Rural Blog: Inflation surged in March due to Iran war and tariffs: War-related price pressures worsened inflation in March, which the Federal Reserve was already struggling to regulate, reports Colby Smith f...

High oil prices, explained by an expert

"It’s hard to know what level would make Americans start to really restrict their consumption."

April 19, 2026

Oh oh. . .

April 21, 2026

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

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.

April 28, 2026

‘There’s a day of reckoning coming’: Energy experts expect another spike at the pump

April 29, 2026

The United Arab Emirates has left OPEC.

Farmers turn on Trump: “It’s gonna be the nail in the coffin.” -

 

Frankly, it speaks ill of me, but I have almost no sympathy for farmers who voted for Trump.

Unfortunately, it's not only the nail in their coffins, but in everyone's else's as well.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 2. The "War, what's it good for?" edition.

Labels: Economics, Petroleum, Trump War Inflation, United States and Israel v. Iran, Wyoming, Wyoming's boom and bust economy

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:

Navy Secretary leaving role ‘effective immediately,’ Pentagon announces

Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve as the Navy’s acting secretary amid John Phelan’s sudden departure.

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.

Labels: Catholic, Christianity, Donald Trump, King Donald's War, religion, The Madness of King Donald, United States and Israel v. Iran, War Crimes

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 130th Edition. Narratives

The things they've said.

The attempted assassination at the White House Correspondence Dinner has spawned some interesting events and narratives.

One thing is that apparently Trump called several prominent reporters who were at the event that night, and expressed concern for their well being.  That's outright remarkable given his generally abusive self centered public persona.

He also made a statement about needing to come together.

That's true, but at least one politician interviewed about it had a very difficult time not expressing skepticism.

Already, I'd note, Trump fans have yelled out about how Democratic and left wing rhetoric cased this.  Well, bull.

There is a lot of hostile verbiage directed at Trump, and much of it is due to the horrible things he says all the time.  Just a few weeks ago he noted how he was glad a public figure was dead.

Trump brought American political rhetoric into new territory when he very first started to run for the Oval Office.  Republicans who complain about the language directed at him, and some of it is vile, need to look in the mirror.  

Ballroom fixation

Amongst comments made by Trump were those stating this is proof we need his expensive ballroom, which is tied up in litigation.

The logic of that would be that the ballroom, if built, will have expensive security features.  Where it fails in logic is that the dinner event was a private one, not a state function.  Unless everything a President accepts an invitation to is held in the ballroom, things like this would not be prevented.

But here's another, and frankly radical, thing to consider. 

Maybe Presidents need less protection, not more.

At one time there was a tradition that members of the public could wait in line at the White House to shake the President's hand on New Years. That ended in 1932.  Now it would be unthinkable.

The only thing that's changed since 1932 is us.  If the President's under constant threat, and of course there were three Presidents that were assassinated prior to 1932, that's because of us or some other factor.

One thing that's clearly changed is that the President is treated much more like a king now than he was in '32.  Air Force One is the very symbol of that.

These trappings ought to be stripped away.  If a President needs to fly somewhere, on official business, the Air Force has airplanes.  There doesn't need to be a designated special one.  Nor does there need to be a Marine Corps helicopter dedicated for the President.  If he's just flying to a resort to golf, he can by a commercial airline ticket.

Maybe part of the overall problem is that they're given too much and separated from the people they are supposed to serve.

A big dumb ballroom emphasizes that.

It actually is true that prior Presidents lamented their being a lack of entertainment space. Well, too darned bad.  Rent a hotel room.  

And I'm not in favor of a giant bunker on the White House grounds either. 

Maybe if a  person is more like everyone else, they'll think twice about things that harm people.  I don't want them exposed to violence, but making things so they can inflict it video game style is not a good thing, and elevating the President above the people isn't either. 

And now you know. . .

how thousands of other people live every day.  With one exception, when I listed to interviews of people from the press who had been at the event, things were not too surprisingly focused on themselves.  The one exception was somebody who pointed out that they had excellent security but that most people don't, and that a lot of people live in fear of their family members, including children, being killed every day.

That's an excellent point.

Trump said something about this being just part of the price of holding office, which is easy to say for somebody who has a taxpayer funded security team.  It shouldn't be part of the price of holding office, and exposure to violent death shouldn't be something you have to endure just because you live in this country.

Anti Christian?

When I went to Mass yesterday there was a Sheriff's truck parked in front of the Church. That's not a parking spot.  When I went in, there was a uniformed sheriff's officer in complete kit.  That's unusual.

I wondered if something was going on.  Maybe not.  He went to Communion like everyone else, so maybe he was just on his way to work.

Trump claimed that the shooter had been a Christian than apostatized and that was part of his motivation.  We'll see.  If so, it's ironic, as there's no visible evidence of Trump taking Christianity seriously.

What our enemies must be thinking.

It's been long believed that Iran has sleeper cells in the US.  If they do, they haven't activated them in the current war.   They either don't really have them, or they're holding back as it provides them with an advantage.

I can see where the latter might be the case.  The old joke, dating back to World War Two, was that Hitler was the best general the Allies had, and that same may apply to Trump.  He might be the best general the Iranians had.

That we went into the war with Iran with no clue what we were doing, and what our enemy was actually like, is to plain to excuse away.  We have no idea whatsoever what we're doing and have no way out of the war.  It's going to wreck the global economy.  At this point, and we're at the sixty day mark, Trump legally has to submit the question of continuing the war to Congress, which will have to determine, as a practical matter, if we're going to engage in a full scale ground invasion of the country or surrender and leave Iran stronger than it was.

The Iranians maybe gambling on the latter, and it'd probably be a good gamble.

Anyhow, assuming they have sleeper cells, they've really shown restraint.  Yesterday proved that a dedicated group of men could have breached security and completely decapitated the American government.  We participated in doing that, which is beyond the Pale in war normally, in this war.  On the basis of turnabout is fair play, it's amazing they haven't tried it. Maybe they just didn't think it'd work.

They know now it would have, although presumably the administration won't be dumb enough again to put the complete administration together in one room.

The others who must be looking are Russia and China, China in particular. But not at that, but at the war itself.

We've pretty much burned through our war reserve of missiles.  If war came with China, we couldn't fight it.

Tone Deaf

Once a week now we get identical sized flyers from Chuck Gray and Reid Rasner promising to support the demented octogenarian that put us a war that's going to completely wreck the economy, and whose wrecking a lot of other things.

Maybe that still works in Wyoming.  Trump has a lot of fans here.  But as prices get higher and higher, and we sluff into a summer that's going to be hot and dry, with a tourist industry that's going to fall flat on its face, I wonder.

For the first time, actually, I got a sort of nervous "what do you make of the assassination" from somebody whose a huge Trump supporter and knows I'm not.  I think he was looking for reassurance of some sort.  I gave analysis. That probably isn't what he was looking for.

Proof of Devine Providence?

Franklin Graham was quick to come out with what I was sure would occur.  Trump's survived three assassination attempts and that is, he suggested, proof that God wants him in power.

Adolf Hitler survived over 40 assassination attempts. There are five known plots on Stalin's life.

A person should never dismiss something being the Hand of God, but we shouldn't presume to know the mind of God either.  Nor should we ignore, as the examples above show, the Problem of Evil.

On that, we can presume that God allows an evil to occur, but does not cause it, in order to bring a greater good out of it.  While foreseeing the future is always risking, I could see that being the case here.

In spite of what Trump/Gray/Hageman/Barrasso/Rasner and others believe, or claim to believe, the ongoing use of fossil fuels is harming the world. This may actually accelerate their end.  

Let me restate that, it is accelerating their end.

Countries all around the globe, including China, are rapidly phasing out fossil fuels for power generation.  China is leaping into electric vehicles big time.  Europe has, I believe, 2030 as the date for the end of the import of Russian oil.

The war is freeing the globe of US influence, something we'll regret and with it our steadfast refusal to look at reality.  We're being put in our place, and the era of fossil fuels is coming to a rapid end.

The other thing, it seems to me, that Trump is brining about is the discrediting of American Evangelicalism.  I.e., people like Graham.  

Evangelical churches are particularly an American thing.  They're strong in the US in a way they aren't anywhere else.  Where they evangelize outside the US its nearly always where Catholics have made it safe for them to go.  The latching on to Trump by them in a very public manner is hurting Christianity in general, but them in particular.  Catholicism is already growing world wide and, while the story is only now being noticed, it's growing in the US.  I suspect Trump is accidentally helping bring hte latter about.

On firearms.

On assassinations, one thing worth noting, although I won't detail it, is that so far the only assassin/would be assassin who seems to have had a clue what he was doing was the guy who shot Charlie Kirk, although even there it's clear that the shot being lethal was essentially accidental.  There's very free access to firearms in the US, although I suspect that this will start being curbed back due to Trump, but that free access doesn't mean competence.  

People who are really familiar with firearms are unlikely to go out and try to kill somebody.  This is true of "military style" firearms.  There's a group of firearms aficionados who like military style firearms, but aren't very likely to use them in any lethal fashion.

This may simply be because people know and like firearms know what they'll do, and are unlikely to be people who use them in that fashion.  It's the people who buy them just because they're worked up about politics, on the right or the left, or who have an exaggerated fear of being attacked, who are the problem here.  Fortunately, they're not all that likely to actually know how to use them.

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 129th Edition. An unfortunate observation of our times.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Antipathy, Catholic, Christianity, Civil War, Death, Donald Trump, Empathy, Introspection, Reconstruction, religion, Sic transit Gloria Mundi, The Practice of Law, Zeitgeist

A Fossil Fuel Free Future is Here.

This was obvious, but will remain unrecognized for quite some time, for the same reason that coal is almost dead, but people don't grasp it.

Average people's ability to really grasp an existential change in something is pretty poor as a rule.  It's not so much that people choose to live in the past as it is that they have no grasp that the past of their younger lives and of their parents lives, the latter of which a lot of people hold to in a sort of mythical way, evolves.  We see that a lot in the U.S. right now.

The entire imaginary economy of Donald Trump is one that's grounded in a mythical 1970s, when he was young and clubbing and men lusting after girls in their teens was basically okay, du e to the sexual revolution.  MAGA, for its part, imagines a mythical 1950s economy, not understanding why the economy of the 1950s was the way it was.  In both instances, and particularly in regard to the 1970s economy, things were not as rosy as imagined.

Coal has been dying ever since the Royal Navy went to oil for ships.  We've discussed that before here:

Coal: Understanding the time line of an industry

Labels: boats and ships, British Navy, Coal, Daily Living, Industry, Lodging, Mid-Week at Work, Petroleum, Railroads, Transportation, U.S. Navy, United States Fuel Administration

Coal is not coming back.  In fact, it's demise is accelerating.  Lot of the globe, including China, in spite of what a demented Donald Trump thinks, is racing towards renewables.  Trump can't really imagine it as he's 80 years old and in the 70s there weren't very many big windmills, although even then there was a push towards renewable power.

Indeed, that push was started by the Arab Oil Embargo and people have been working on the technology ever since.  Now renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels for power generation.  Only nuclear can compete.

Every since the 70s engineers have been working on electric vehicles as well. Their day has arrived.

And Donald Trump started a war that will accelerate the pace of this change, rapidly.  Trump might end up being recalled as the greenest President ever, accidentally.

The change just won't be a switch to clean electrical power, and that switch is rapidly coming and no amount of John Barrasso and Harriet Hageman calling for the mythical "clean coal" will stop it.  It's also going to be a switch away from the sort of vehicle based economy we have now.  People aren't going to stop owning cars, but already a younger generation really isn't all that enamored with them.  Self driving vehicles, as much as I hate the idea, are coming in. With them will come self driving semi tractors and more importantly, in my view, remotely driven electric trains.

There's no reason that railroads can't be controlled like giant model train layouts.  Model trains already provide the model for it.  We're not far from that day.

That day is coming now whether Donald Trump, Harriet Hageman, John Barrasso, or people with an emotional tie to fossil fuels like it or not.  Your livelihood depending on it won't matter either.

It's already happening.