"Shall We Play A Game?"

“A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”

- "War Games"

"This is the "lesson" scene from the movie "War Games" where we learn that the only way to win in Nuclear War is not to play.

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the 1983 science fiction thriller, "WarGames." In the film, all of the United States nuclear launch capabilities is given to a computer called “Joshua” or WOPR, which stands for War Operation Plan Response. It is programmed to consistently run military simulations to concoct the best plan of an attack if nuclear retaliation is needed. David Lightman (played by Matthew Broderick) unwittingly hacks into Joshua and causes the computer to think that the Soviet Union has launched missiles at the United States.

The quote comes from the very end of the film. David forces Joshua to play tic-tac-toe against itself in the attempt to make it understand the concept of mutually assured destruction. As Joshua obtains the final launch code, it runs through all the possible scenarios in an attempt to find a winning plan. After cycling through all of them and not finding one where anyone survives, the machine delivers the quote."

○

"It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump." 

- David Ormsby-Gore

The Daily "Near You?"

Frankfurt Am Main, Hessen, Germany. Thanks for stopping by!

"None Of You Seem To Understand..."

“A person who has not been completely alienated, who has remained sensitive and able to feel, who has not lost the sense of dignity, who is not yet ‘for sale’, who can still suffer over the suffering of others, who has not acquired fully the having mode of existence – briefly, a person who has remained a person and not become a thing – cannot help feeling lonely, powerless, isolated in present-day society. He cannot help doubting himself and his own convictions, if not his sanity.”

- Erich Fromm

"The Meaning of Life is Not Happiness"

"The Meaning of Life is Not Happiness"

by Todd Hayen

"I can’t tell you the number of times every day I hear from clients in my practice, “All I want is to be happy.” And they don’t know why they are not happy, they claim to be healthy, to have a good family, a good job that pays them lots of money, and a good marriage. Other than the usual ins and outs of life they really have nothing to complain about - but they are not happy. I then ask them if they think there is meaning in their life or purpose, invariably they say “No.” Sometimes they ask, “What is that? Isn’t the meaning and purpose in life to be happy?” No, it is not.

Happiness is only one of the many states of being we encounter in a whole and complete life, and if we become unhappy simply because we think we are not happy as often as we believe we should be, we have missed the point.

We have been on this “happiness” kick for quite some time, and once again I have to say I think it is part of the agenda - maybe originally an unconscious part of a movement in society to focus on acquiring “things.” But that has always been a central part of the formula in the agenda’s effort to control.

Again, maybe it was an organic result of our natural tendency to focus on the flesh—the physical attributes of living through the senses, and an innate desire to “instantly gratify” those senses at any opportunity offered. Check out Huxley’s "Brave New World" for a view of a dystopian culture in the future that focuses entirely on the satisfaction of primal urges through the senses. Huxley had it figured out almost 100 years ago.

There have been scads of books written on happiness. Most of them conclude that the pursuit of happiness through the acquisition of physical objects (consumerism) is a dead-end pursuit, and, like a shot of heroin, will send you on a high for a moment that quickly wears off. Most people have some idea of this and understand that obsessive consumerism is typically a road to oblivion.

But again, a lot of people have not figured this out yet (need I say “young people?”), considering our entire society is based on consumerism. Try getting away from it for even 10 minutes. If you don’t go out into the woods or barren desert with no cell phone, you won’t be able to. That is about the only way to detach yourself from the world that is trying to entice you to consume.

So, even if we could remove the curse of consumerism and instant gratification from our lives, wouldn’t our central pursuit still be the state of happiness? - continual happiness? Yes, typically it would be. Even deep spiritual interventions have the goal of happiness - if you are one with God, or Jesus, or Mohammed, you will be happy. Shouldn’t the word “happy” be replaced with “content” or even “peace?” It certainly should be, because that is what I believe most of the religious traditions mean by the word “happiness.” “Contentment” and “peace” have very different meanings to “happy.”

If we are fully enlightened, are we even allowed to be happy? Of course, we are. Being happy is one of the most precious gifts of being a living creature. Should we expect to be happy all of the time? No, of course not. That would be a curse. Should we expect to be content or at peace all of the time? Yes, I believe that is indeed possible and should be a goal we all strive to attain.

I spent a large part of my life studying the works of Ernest Holmes and "The Science of Mind". I studied Phineas Quimby, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Joel Goldsmith and others as well. The surface level of what I gleaned from this study was to “think positively” - to avoid focusing on darkness in the world and see only God’s love and beauty as reality.

What is found in the depth of these philosophies is quite a different matter. I will not go into this in this article as it would take a book to even begin to explain what I mean. Suffice it to say that the true message behind all of this is that the material world is a manifestation of our thought and consciousness - and is not the only reality.

However, my view is that as long as we are in the material form, living in a material creation, we have to encounter the manifestation of evil, darkness, and suffering - not ignore it. Part of our purpose and meaning in this world is to deal with everything we encounter, not turn away from any of it. Therefore, for a large portion of our lives, we may not be happy.

Dealing with darkness is not typically a happy endeavour, however, it doesn’t mean we cannot be at peace and be content when we are dealing with it. Darkness, suffering, and pain are but an “appearance” - an illusion - in the material realm. Through this illusion, we may even find meaning, and purpose, as we deal with the darker sides of life and existence.

Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor offered a profound critique of the view that happiness is the ultimate meaning of life. In his seminal work, "Man’s Search for Meaning," Frankl argued that life’s true meaning is found not in the pursuit of happiness but in the pursuit of meaning. Having survived the horrors of concentration camps, Frankl observed that those who endured suffering and still found a reason to live, did so by finding a sense of purpose, not by chasing happiness. He developed the concept of “logotherapy,” a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the human desire to find meaning in life, even in the most challenging circumstances.

Frankl believed that humans are not driven primarily by the search for pleasure or happiness, but by the need to find meaning in their experiences. He argued that people can endure tremendous suffering if they have a sense of purpose to guide them.

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how,” Frankl wrote, quoting Nietzsche. According to Frankl, meaning can be found in work, love, suffering, and even in facing death. Happiness, in his view, is not something to be pursued directly; rather, it ensues when individuals live in alignment with their values and pursue meaning.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian writer and dissident who chronicled the horrors of the Soviet Gulag, similarly questioned the notion that happiness is life’s primary objective. In his works, such as "The Gulag Archipelago" and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," Solzhenitsyn explored themes of suffering, totalitarian oppression, and the human capacity for endurance. Like Frankl, Solzhenitsyn saw meaning in suffering and responsibility rather than in the pursuit of happiness.

Solzhenitsyn argued that life is about more than personal joy or comfort. In his famous Harvard Commencement Address in 1978, he critiqued the West’s focus on materialism and individual happiness, warning that such pursuits could lead to moral and spiritual decay.

Solzhenitsyn believed that humanity’s purpose lay in the moral and spiritual development of the soul, not in the pursuit of happiness or worldly success. According to him, suffering could serve as a catalyst for this growth, offering individuals the opportunity to transcend their immediate desires and connect with deeper values such as truth, justice, and personal responsibility.

Solzhenitsyn’s view is particularly striking in his emphasis on responsibility. He believed that in the face of evil and injustice, individuals must take responsibility for their actions and decisions. A life well-lived, in his view, involves moral courage and a willingness to confront suffering and injustice rather than seeking comfort or happiness at all costs.

Wonder where I am going with this? I don’t think you have to wonder very long. I have heard again and again from those whom I love that I spend too much time “looking for bad things” that I am too interested in the wars, in suffering, in the deaths from the vaccines, in starving children. They claim that I need to give up on all of this and just enjoy what I have, the good life, the sunshine, the company of those whom I love - to be happy.

First of all, I cannot imagine turning my back on the world like that. Secondly, I am happy. In a strange way, my work which does focus on a lot of “bad” things brings me peace and contentment. My belief in God and in the beauty of physical existence - nature, art, music and love, to name a few of the things that God brings to this world through our consciousness, are always forefront of my mind.

The evil and ugliness are illusions nestled in those other realities. Yes, they limit our expressive creation, so they must be faced and dealt with. Every choice we make to see love in the world despite the hate we first face, is an act of Christ Consciousness - turning the hate that we see into the love we know sits behind it, is a truly meaningful pursuit. What could make a person happier?"

- https://off-guardian.org/

"The Great Enemy"

"The Great Enemy" 

by Wendell Berry

"In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.

In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less and less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, and shares. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced or placeless citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...

Thus, although we are not slaves in name, and cannot be carried to market and sold as somebody else's legal chattels, we are free only within narrow limits. For all our talk about liberation and personal autonomy, there are few choices that we are free to make. What would be the point, for example, if a majority of our people decided to be self-employed?

The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means."

"How It Really Is"

 
Same as it ever was, and will be...

Dan, I Allegedly, "High Alert - Fears of U.S. Banking Outages"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 3/6/26

"High Alert - Fears of U.S. Banking Outages"

"Banks are going on High Alert as global tensions rise and concerns grow about cyber attacks, infrastructure disruptions, and potential impacts on the banking system. In this video Dan from i Allegedly breaks down why banks are preparing for possible disruptions and what it could mean for everyday Americans. We also cover updates on jobs data, major business changes, the explosion of data center construction, and why companies like Comcast and Spectrum are losing millions of customers. Stay informed with real-world economic news and analysis that impacts your money, your job, and your future."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"US-Israel-Iran War, Day 7, 3/6/26"

Full screen recommended.

Danny Haiphong, 3/6/26

"Iran's Missile Barrage Smashes Tel Aviv,

 US-Israeli Defenses Fail"

"Renowned journalist Sharmine Narwani of The Cradle joins the show to break down Iran's historic 21st wave of retaliation against US and Israel dubbed Operation True Promise 4, and what the strikes tell us about the state of the ongoing war."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 3/6/26

"Larry Johnson: Cluster Warheads Rain Down - 

Iran's Retaliation Update"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Col. Douglas Macgregor, 3/6/26

"What Happens Next In This War Will Shock You"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Frontline Press USA, 3/6/26

"Missiles Over Tel Aviv:

 Why Iran at 10% Is Most Dangerous"

"Iran just struck Tel Aviv with cluster munitions - at 10% of its opening launch capacity. Israeli air defenses held. B-2 bombers returned to Iranian airspace within hours. And Israeli commanders issued three words that should be generating more attention than they are: "surprises ahead." A military power degraded to 10% is not a defeated power. It is a cornered one. And cornered powers make decisions that fully operational powers never would. 

In this analysis, we go beyond the breaking news timeline to examine what this exchange actually signals - and what the next 72 hours determine for the entire trajectory of this conflict. We break down the strategic logic of Iran's decision to strike Tel Aviv at degraded capacity: what the doctrine says about escalation as a survival mechanism, and why ninety percent degradation doesn't diminish the threat calculus - it intensifies it. We examine the counterstrike architecture: B-2 sorties returning to Iranian airspace, simultaneous strikes on dozens of launch sites, and Israeli commanders describing objectives that go far beyond tactical air superiority. Then we run the scenario tree that no press conference is addressing directly."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Stupidest - and Potentially Most Dangerous - War Since 1945"

"The Stupidest - and Potentially Most Dangerous - 

War Since 1945"

by David Stockman

"The sheer barking hypocrisy of the Donald’s, yes, unprovoked and senseless attack on Iran is surely one for the record books. After years of noisy campaigning against the Forever Wars and 12 months back in the Oval Office spent in hot pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize, the Donald has not only started an utterly unnecessary new and very hot war, but did it essentially by gratuitously putting America’s vast War Machine out on a "loaner" to Bibi Netanyahu.

And, no, we did not don our tinfoil hat this AM. Little Marco Rubio removed all doubt when he said in absolutely explicit terms recently that American troops in the Middle East were in "imminent danger" because the Donald had given the old green-lit wink and nod to Bibi to kill the Ayatollah and decapitate Iran’s leadership. So Washington had to preemptively protect US forces caught in harms’ way by joining Bibi’s strike.

If that doesn’t constitute renting out the US War Machine to the genocidal madman who is allegedly America’s "ally", we don’t know what else to call it. After all, the Donald only needed to have told Bibi "f*ck, no!" and the current horror show in the Middle East would never have started. In any event, the fact remains: There is not a single plausible reason based on America’s Homeland Security for attacking Iran. So what we have is an utter betrayal of everything Trump has ever said about war & peace and the conduct of American policy abroad.

Once again, sadly, Bibi Netanyahu has bamboozled the man’s smallish brain, negligible knowledge of the region’s history and his gigantic ego into the goddamned dumbest foreign military intervention by Washington during the last half-century. And that includes a lot of stupid-ass competition.

Trump on the campaign trail: "We are finally putting America First. Our policy of war regime change and nation-building is being replaced by the pursuit of American interests… It is the job of our military to protect our security, not to be the policemen of the world."

Now, if this were just a standard case of the kind of political hypocrisy that is par for the course in Washington, Trump’s Iran attack might be dismissed as more of the same old, same old. You might even say the sheeples of America should not by surprised that the ravenous wolf they knowingly re-elected wasn’t a vegetarian after all.

Indeed, you might well conclude, as we have, that Donald Trump has now proven himself to be the most deceitful fraud in US political history. But even that wouldn’t be the whole story or even the most important part of it. Unfortunately, there are far more insidious forces at work in this horrific turn of events than just standard political hypocrisy and campaign lies. What we really have here is a vast war machine, a false neocon foreign policy narrative and an infrastructure of Empire so deeply embedded in the very warp and woof of America’s process of governance that the outcomes of elections have become essentially immaterial. Or as our friend Tom Woods astutely observed, elections don’t matter much because we always elect John McCain.

And it seems to be getting worse with time. In fact, here is the box score for the last 10 US military interventions and the number of them embraced by each of America’s four presidents during the 21st century to date. The Donald is winning hands down because he loves the glory and spotlight of sitting in the Situation Room making real time movies on the giant screens there, commanding the US bombers, missiles, drones and the whole armada of warfare. It is so damn obvious that it is no surprise that Bibi has gotten the Donald’s number and now literally has him on a leash:

George Bush the Younger: 5/10.

Joe Biden & auto-pen: 5/10.
Barack Obama: 7/10.
Donald Trump: 10/10.

The map of Washington’s global empire depicted below is utterly and completely irrational in the world of 2026. But its very existence and all the machinery and interests behind it explain why even a "no more wars" loudmouth like Donald Trump ended up launching–at Bibi’s behest- the stupidest and potentially most dangerous war yet since 1945.

The Iran war is the product of an embedded war apparatus, a recycled neocon script, and a political class that can’t say no. It’s barreling toward a disaster of historic proportions."

- https://internationalman.com/

The Failure of US and Israeli Air Defense"

AN-FPS-132

"The Failure of US and Israeli Air Defense"

by Larry C. Johnson

"While the US and Israel are delivering some punishing blows in Iran, Iran continues to successfully attack US military and intelligence targets in the Persian Gulf countries and is pummeling Israel. Since February 28, 2026, amid escalating US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian retaliatory attacks (including drone and missile strikes on US diplomatic facilities and regional bases), the US State Department has ordered the closure or indefinite suspension of operations at several US embassies in the Persian Gulf and broader Middle East region. These include:

Saudi Arabia (U.S. Embassy in Riyadh): Closed after Iranian drone attacks targeted the compound on March 2–3, 2026. The embassy urged Americans to shelter in place and avoid the area.

Kuwait (U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City): Closed following an Iranian drone/missile attack on or near the facility (reported March 2–3, 2026). Operations halted “until further notice.”

Lebanon (U.S. Embassy in Beirut): Closed on March 3, 2026, due to ongoing regional tensions and threats (though Lebanon is not strictly Persian Gulf, it’s often grouped in Middle East alerts).

Operations at the US embassies in Doha, Dubai and Manama also have been dramatically scaled down. The videos posted during the last five days show Iranian missiles and drones hitting targets in the six Gulf countries virtually unopposed.

The real damage is being done to US military bases/installations in the region. The following US military bases/installations in the Persian Gulf (or directly associated with Gulf states) have been confirmed or reported as attacked/hit since February 28, based on US military statements, satellite imagery analyses (e.g., Planet Labs), media reports (NYT, CNN, Al Jazeera, Stars and Stripes), and official confirmations from host nations. Here is how the Western media sources are spinning these attacks:

Naval Support Activity Bahrain / U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet Headquarters (Manama, Bahrain) — Targeted multiple times with missiles and drones. Damage included destruction of several structures, radomes (radar domes), satellite communications terminals, and warehouses. Bahrain confirmed attacks on the base, with explosions and smoke reported.

Al Udeid Air Base (near Doha, Qatar) — The largest US military facility in the Middle East. Hit by Iranian missiles (at least one confirmed impact, with others intercepted). Qatar reported interceptions of dozens of missiles/drones targeting the base, with minor damage in some cases. No major casualties reported from these strikes.

Ali Al Salem Air Base (Kuwait) — Struck by ballistic missiles and drones. Satellite imagery showed damage to buildings and structures. Kuwait confirmed interceptions and hits; part of multiple strikes across Kuwaiti sites hosting US troops.

Camp Arifjan (Kuwait) — Attacked with drones/missiles, resulting in US casualties (at least three service members killed and several wounded in one incident). Low-resolution imagery indicated damage.

Camp Buehring (Kuwait) — Reported hits/damage from projectiles, per satellite analysis and US reports.

Al Dhafra Air Base (Abu Dhabi, UAE) — Targeted with missiles/drones. Satellite imagery showed damage to buildings (at least three–four structures hit between February 28 and March 1). UAE defenses intercepted many incoming threats.

Prince Sultan Air Base (Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia) — Bombarded by Iranian ballistic missiles. Saudi defenses intercepted many, but reports confirmed attacks on the base (roughly 40 miles from Riyadh).

The damage that is being inflicted is far greater and more severe than the Pentagon is reporting. The most damaging result of the Iranian attacks has been the destruction of critical radar systems that are supposed to provide an early warning of Iranian missile launches. These include:

The AN/FPS-132 Block 5 Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) at or near Al Udeid Air Base (Qatar) — Valued at approximately $1.1 billion. This is the largest and most critical US-operated ballistic missile early-warning radar in the Middle East, with a detection range of up to 5,000 km for launches.

The AN/TPY-2 Radar (associated with THAAD system) at Al-Ruwais Industrial City (UAE) — Estimated value $500 million. This forward-based X-band radar provides precise tracking for terminal high-altitude missile defense. Iran claimed destruction, and open-source satellite imagery (Planet Labs) shows a direct hit.

Radome (radar dome) and satellite communications terminals at Naval Support Activity Bahrain / US Fifth Fleet HQ (Bahrain) — A verified Iranian drone strike hit a radome (protective cover for radar/satcom antennas) on February 28–March 1. Satellite imagery (NYT, Planet Labs) shows destruction of at least two large radomes/SATCOM terminals and related structures. These are sophisticated but not standalone “early-warning radars” like the AN/FPS-132; they support naval ops and C2 (command and control).

The Al Dhafra Air Base, a major U.S. Air Force hub in Abu Dhabi hosting the 380th Expeditionary Wing and advanced aircraft, was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones in late February–early March 2026 waves.

Satellite imagery and multiple analyses confirm that a key US radar system at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan was heavily damaged or destroyed during Iran’s retaliatory strikes in late February–early March 2026. The radar in question is an AN/TPY-2 (Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Model 2), a high-resolution X-band phased-array radar used with the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile battery. This radar is designed for detecting, tracking, and discriminating ballistic missiles (including in terminal phase) and is one of the most sophisticated US forward-deployed missile defense sensors.

Iran’s destruction of the AN/TPY-2 and the AN/FPS-132 radars has eliminated the early warning capability of the US military in the region. Prior to their destruction, Israel and the US would have a 15 to 30 minute warning when a missile was launched from Iran and could, in theory, take counter measures and prepare their air defense systems. Videos from Israel during the last two days show that 90% of Iranian missiles are hitting their targets without being intercepted.

The unknown variable is how many missiles does Iran still have in its inventory. The US is betting that Iran is running out of missiles. I believe that Iran’s stockpile is far larger and more robust. We’ll see how things develop as the war enters its second week."

- https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/

"Emergency Update: You Have Only 14 Days Before Global Oil Supply Collapses"

A terrifying must-view!

Full screen recommended.

Money Over History, 3/6/26

"Emergency Update: You Have Only 

14 Days Before Global Oil Supply Collapses"

"Emergency update: the world could be heading toward a major oil supply crisis within the next 14 days. As tensions rise across the Middle East, critical oil infrastructure and global energy routes are under threat. Analysts warn that if production stops or shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, the global oil supply chain could face a serious shock."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Iran Launches Massive Missile Attack on $20B U.S. Aircraft Carrier - Samson Option"

Full screen recommended.

Money Over History, 3/5/26

"Iran Launches Massive Missile Attack

 on $20B U.S. Aircraft Carrier - Samson Option"

"Iran has launched a massive missile attack toward a $20 billion U.S. aircraft carrier, triggering a major response from the United States Navy and raising serious concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East. Aircraft carriers are the most powerful naval weapons on Earth, carrying over 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, making them the centerpiece of U.S. military power projection. The reported missile launch from Iran has sparked global attention, as analysts debate the implications for regional security, naval warfare, and the balance of power in the Persian Gulf."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Escalating Iran War Will Bring Hell On Earth"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 3/5/26

"Escalating Iran War Will Bring Hell On Earth"

"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."

- https://trendsjournal.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"March, 5: Everything Must Go"

"March, 5: Everything Must Go"

By No1

"Hegseth said eight weeks yesterday. Today he said a hundred days. That’s September. Four days became four weeks became eight weeks became a hundred days. At this rate the Pentagon will be asking for “whatever it takes” before the ink dries on the next headline. (oh wait, Draghi’s lawyer is calling)

Tehran took the heaviest bombardment yet. Again. I know I wrote that sentence yesterday too. Strikes across residential neighbourhoods, police stations, a hospital in Bushehr where footage shows newborns being evacuated. The IDF claims 113 waves across western and central Iran. 5,000 airstrikes. 1,600 sorties. Iranian state media puts the death toll at 1,045.

Click image for larger size.

That’s roughly one dead Iranian for every five airstrikes. Either Iran’s air defense is doing more work than anyone’s admitting, or most of these “precision strikes” are hitting empty buildings. And paintings. Let’s not forget the paintings.

On the Israeli side, we effectively have an information blackout. CNN admitted on air - on camera - that the Israeli government doesn’t allow them to show it. A CNN reporter. Saying the censors won’t let her report the war. Israeli military censorship laws make it nearly impossible to independently verify anything. Bahrain is arresting people for filming missile impacts. The only country in this conflict with a functioning free press is... Iran?

I need that drink again.

The IRGC announced wave 20 of ballistic launches today. Twenty. And for the first time, incoming ballistic missiles hit the centre of Tel Aviv without sirens going off. Read that again. No sirens. I’ve been tracking the radar destruction campaign since day one. Today it stopped being a data point and started being people who didn’t get to run for shelter. The sensor network I’ve been writing about is now degraded to the point where missiles are arriving unannounced. That’s the practical consequence of $3.4 billion in ground-based sensors turned to scrap.

Kill the radars. Shoot down the drones. Then bring the heavy stuff. And boy, did the heavy stuff arrive! A Khorramshahr missile launched at Tel Aviv today. 1.5-ton warhead. First confirmed combat use. For context, most of what Iran’s been firing carries 500 to 750 kilos. This is a city-killer that showed up on day six, precisely when the defense network is Swiss cheese. Plus cluster warheads. Plus missiles with multiple independent warheads. Ten separate attacks on Tel Aviv today. Between 2:30 AM and 11 PM. The escalation ladder the IRGC telegraphed on day one - “what comes next are systems you have never seen” - is being climbed one rung at a time.

Yesterday I wrote about the B-52s coming out, and I said I wasn’t sure whether that meant the precision munition cupboard was getting bare or Iranian air defence was degraded enough for the old bombers to fly. Today I have an answer. It’s neither. Or rather - it’s both, but not in the way Hegseth wants you to believe.

The B-52s are carrying standoff cruise missiles. Lobbing them from hundreds of kilometres out. You don’t do that if you own the airspace. You do that because you don’t trust the air defence environment enough to fly your slow, fat bomber anywhere near the target. Nothing says “total air superiority” quite like refusing to enter the airspace you claim to control.

And yet. The IDF says 113 waves of strikes. “Complete control of Iranian skies”. My take? The F-35s are doing smash-and-grab runs. Pop in from over the Caspian Sea, the Gulf or Iraqi airspace, drop ordnance, get out before Iranian air defense can lock on. Not loitering. Not “unrestricted”. Fast in, fast out. If Iranian air defenses were truly gone, you’d fly a B-52 overhead with gravity bombs at a fraction of the cost. You wouldn’t need a cruise missile from 500km out. That they do tells you the gap between the PR and the pilot.

The Yak-130 shootdown from yesterday also makes sense in this context. Iran sent a training jet - a training jet - against F-35s. Not to win. To force coalition aircraft to manoeuvre, burn fuel, reveal approach corridors. A human sensor, basically. Expendable. The same logic as with the drones, just with a pilot inside.

Meanwhile, two Iranian Su-24 bombers flew at 80 feet (that’s 24 metres for those believing in the metric system) over the Persian Gulf - practically skimming the water - and got within two minutes of Al-Udeid before Qatar shot them down. That’s not ‘air superiority’. That’s an environment where both sides are losing aircraft and neither controls anything. And they are reducing attack frequency. “Declining weapon stocks”. That leaked today.

Day six. Rationing. I wrote about the stealth-to-standoff-to-gravity-bomb progression yesterday. Today we can add a new step: rationing. This ties into the deployment of the HELIOS laser weapon - a directed energy system everyone’s been promising for decades. A 60-kilowatt beam on a single destroyer somewhere off the Iranian coast. Sounds impressive. But let’s run the numbers.

HELIOS effective range is about 5 miles (8 km). A Shahed drone does 500 km/h. That gives the laser a roughly 36 seconds of reaction time. For one drone. On one ship. In perfect weather. Doesn’t work against ballistic missiles. Doesn’t work in rain, dust, or fog. And the IRGC is launching thousands of drones from launch sites across a country three times the size of France.

The maths haven’t changed. They’ve just gotten more desperate. The US deployed HELIOS in early February - weeks before the war - which means they knew the interceptor cupboard was going to run bare and this was the Hail Mary. That they’re showcasing it to Congress now tells you that the conventional magazine is in real trouble.

Two more F-15Es down. Maybe three. CENTCOM denies it. Naturally. The IRGC says their air defenses brought one down over southwestern Iran. Both crew ejected. Helicopters flew into Iran to extract them. That extraction - deep inside enemy territory, on the record - is an extraordinary admission all by itself. You don’t send rescue choppers into a country whose air defenses supposedly don’t exist.

Then today: Iran published a video. An actual video. Jet. Boom. Iraqi sources say it happened over Iraqi airspace - not even over Iran. Basra police dispatched units to find the pilot. Both crew apparently recovered with light injuries. That’s five F-15Es gone in under a week. Three to the Kuwaiti friendly fire (turns out it was a Kuwaiti F/A-18 that launched three missiles at three US jets). Two to whatever CENTCOM wants to pretend didn’t happen despite the video evidence.

Iranian state media is releasing satellite imagery faster than Western sources. That’s new. Somebody is feeding them pictures, and the resolution is better than what the OSINT community has access to. I wonder who has lots of satellites and a strategic interest in Iran surviving this war?

A suicide drone - not a Shahed - struck Nakhchivan International Airport in Azerbaijan. Another one near a school. Two civilians hurt. Baku is obviously furious. Aliyev ordered retaliatory measures. Iran denied it. Instantly. I had the same reaction as with the Cyprus drone. Same smell. Different country.

Nakhchivan is a landlocked exclave. No US bases. No military infrastructure. No obvious Iranian interest. An empty airport and a school don’t match the infrastructure that Iran has been targeting all week - radars, refineries, naval bases, air defenses. This is not the same targeting doctrine.

The drone doesn’t look Iranian-made. So whose was it? Same question, same framework: cui bono? Iran gains nothing from opening another front with Azerbaijan. The US and Israel could gain a northern axis of pressure, potential access to Azerbaijani airspace, and a narrative that Iran is “lashing out wildly” at innocent neighbors. Just like the Cyprus drone conveniently arrived at the exact moment London had to decide whether to allow its bases for offensive operations.

One false flag incident is a coincidence. Two is a pattern. I’ll keep watching.

Bahrain’s main refinery is on fire. BAPCO. 267,000 barrels a day. Iranian missiles punched through despite Bahrain claiming to have intercepted 75 missiles and 123 drones in the same wave - the highest single-day figure for any Gulf state. The refinery burns anyway. This is the first confirmed direct Iranian hit on Gulf energy infrastructure. Ras Tanura on day three was disputed. BAPCO isn’t. Video from multiple angles. Locals watching and filming. (Before getting arrested for filming, because Bahrain adopted the Israeli censorship playbook.)

Bahrain produces less than 0.2% of global oil. But Iran doesn’t care about Bahrain’s barrels. This is a proof of concept aimed at every insurance underwriter on the planet. If BAPCO burns, Ras Tanura can burn. Abqaiq can burn. Fujairah can burn. The message isn’t about Bahrain. The message is about the next refinery, and the one after that.

China is in talks with Iran for safe passage of Chinese tankers through Hormuz. If that works, the strait isn’t really closed. It’s selectively open. Open for friends. Closed for everyone else. A patron-based maritime system where passage depends on whose flag you fly. Freedom of navigation, RIP.

Here’s the fun part though: Iran’s regular military says the strait is open. The IRGC says it’s closed. Internal disagreement? Or the most elegant good-cop-bad-cop in maritime history? The regular military keeps the door cracked for China. The IRGC keeps everyone else out. My thoughts? I think they’re reading from the same script.

An oil tanker got hit 30 nautical miles off Kuwait. Not near Hormuz. Inside the Gulf. Northern waters. Then three more vessels in 24 hours - the Gold Oak, Libra Trader, a container ship called Safeen Prestige that’s now on fire, and the MSC Grace. Sea-borne kamikaze drones. A new vector. One day after they torpedoed the IRIS Dena. “You sank our warship returning from a peace exercise. We’ll burn your tankers in your own waters”. Tit for tat, except the tats are getting bigger.

South Korea has nine days of LNG left. Nine. A lawmaker said it in parliament. The government replied: “doesn’t matter”. Japan has 254 days. South Korea has nine. That’s why KOSPI is the most violent major market in the world right now - crashing 12%, rallying 12%, crashing again. An industrial economy running on fumes, watching its energy lifeline close in real time. LNG shipping rates up 750% in a week.

And nobody’s talking about water. The UAE runs at 1,533% water stress. Saudi Arabia at 974%. Kuwait gets 90% of its drinking water from desalination plants. Plants that run on power. Power that runs on the same energy infrastructure Iran just proved it can hit. If targeting shifts from military bases to desalination plants, the humanitarian timeline isn’t weeks. It’s days. These countries have strategic petroleum reserves. They do not have strategic water reserves. There is no emergency water OPEC to call.

Almost 30% of global ammonia production and half of all urea are at risk or directly involved in this conflict. That’s fertiliser. That’s food. For everyone. American corn farmers, Brazilian soy growers, Indian wheat fields - they all depend on Gulf-sourced inputs that aren’t moving. Planting season doesn’t wait for ceasefires. Miss the window, and it doesn’t matter if Hormuz reopens in June. The crop that wasn’t planted doesn’t grow retroactively.

Brent at $82.55. Nasdaq flat, S&P flat, gold down 1%, silver the same. All with the strait closed, Qatar’s LNG gone, four tankers burning, and a refinery on fire. Given the scale of what’s actually happening, the dials are still reading “meh” when they should be reading “systemic crisis”. I can’t believe people aren’t pricing this in!? So the only possible explanation is that someone keeps putting their thumb on the scale.

Iran’s foreign minister went on NBC today. The exchange was remarkable. Asked if Russia and China are actively helping Iran in this war: “They have always helped us”. The journalist pressed: “Does that mean yes”? Araghchi smiled: “I’m not going to disclose details in the midst of a war”. Then, on whether Iran wants a ceasefire: “The war will continue. We see no reason why we should negotiate with the US”.

Trump called Kurdish leaders on day one. Barzani. Talabani. Told them to pick a side - America or Iran. Offered “extensive American air support”. The Washington Post reported Kurdish officials were told point blank: choose.

The wife of the Iraqi President, herself a senior figure in Talabani’s party, responded publicly: “After what happened to us in Syria, we refuse to be used as pawns by global powers again”. Thousands of Kurdish fighters reportedly crossed the border into western Iran anyway - but the political leadership is publicly distancing itself. The proxy playbook requires willing proxies. These ones remember what happened last time.

A hundred days. That’s the timeline now. A hundred days of this… Still devolving..."

- https://no01.substack.com/

Musical Interlude: The Civil Wars, "Kingdom Come"

Full screen recommended.

The Civil Wars, "Kingdom Come"

Musical Interlude: Moby, "Love Of Strings"

Full screen recommended.

Moby, "Love Of Strings"

Life, magnificent Life...

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Here is one of the largest objects that anyone will ever see on the sky. Each of these fuzzy blobs is a galaxy, together making up the Perseus Cluster, one of the closest clusters of galaxies. The cluster is seen through a foreground of faint stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Near the cluster center, roughly 250 million light-years away, is the cluster's dominant galaxy NGC 1275, seen above as a large galaxy on the image left. A prodigious source of x-rays and radio emission, NGC 1275 accretes matter as gas and galaxies fall into it. The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies, also cataloged as Abell 426, is part of the Pisces-Perseus supercluster spanning over 15 degrees and containing over 1,000 galaxies. At the distance of NGC 1275, this view covers about 15 million light-years.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110712.html

"A Message from the Hopi Elders"

"A Message from the Hopi Elders"

"You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.
Here are the things that must be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?

It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift, that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personal. Least of all, ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for!"

- Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation

Free Download: "The Essential Rumi"

"All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there. Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul? I cannot stop asking. If I could taste one sip of an answer, I could break out of this prison for drunks. I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way. Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home."

- Rumi, "The Tavern," Ch. 1:, p. 2, from "The Essential Rumi"

Freely download "The Essential Rumi" here:
- https://littlethingsaboutmeeh.files.wordpress.com/

"There Are Times..."

"The image that comes to mind is a boxing ring. There are times when you just want that bell to ring, but you're the one who's losing. The one who's winning doesn't have that feeling. Do you have the energy and strength to face life? Life can ask more of you than you are willing to give. And then you say, 'Life is not something that should have been. I'm not going to play the game. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to call "out". There are three positions possible. One is the up-to-it, and facing the game and playing through. The second is saying, "Absolutely not. I don't want to stay in this dogfight." That's the absolute out. The third position is the one that says, "This is mixed of good and evil. I'm on the side of the good. I accept the world with corrections. And may the world be the way I like it. And it's good for me and my friends." There are the only three positions."

- Joseph Campbell

"The Donkey and the Meaning of Eternity: Nobel-Winning Spanish Poet Juan Ramón Jiménez’s Love Letter to Life"

"The Donkey and the Meaning of Eternity: Nobel-Winning

 Spanish Poet Juan Ramón Jiménez’s Love Letter to Life"

by Maria Popova

Excerpt: "Beneath our anxious quickenings, beneath our fanged fears, beneath the rusted armors of conviction, tenderness is what we long for - tenderness to salve our bruising contact with reality, to warm us awake from the frozen stupor of near-living. Tenderness is what permeates Platero and I (public library) by the Nobel-winning Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (December 23, 1881–May 29, 1958) - part love letter to his beloved donkey, part journal of ecstatic delight in nature and humanity, part fairy tale for the lonely.

Living in his birthplace of Moguer - a small town in rural Andalusia - Jiménez began composing this uncommon posy of prose poems in 1907. Although it spans less than a year in his life with Platero, it took him a decade to publish it. At its heart is a simple truth: What and whom we love is a lens to focus our love of life itself.

The tenderness with which Jiménez regards Platero - whom he addresses by name over and over, like an incantation of love - is the tenderness of living with wonder and fragility. He celebrates Platero’s “big gleaming eyes, of a gentle firmness, in which the sun shines”; he reverences him as “friend to the old man and the child, to the stream and the butterfly, to the sun and the dog, to the flower and the moon, patient and pensive, melancholy and lovable, the Marcus Aurelius of the meadows.” He beckons him: “Come with me. I’ll teach you the flowers and the stars.”

And so he does: "Look, Platero, so many roses are falling everywhere: blue, pink, white, colorless roses… You’d think the sky was crumbling into roses… You’d think that from the seven galleries of Paradise roses were being thrown onto the earth… Platero, it seems, while the Angelus is ringing, that this life of ours is losing its everyday strength, and that a different strength from within, loftier, more constant, and purer, is causing everything, as if in fountain jets of grace… Your eyes, which you can’t see, Platero, and which you are mildly raising skyward, are two beautiful roses."

Together, poet and donkey traverse the Andalusian countryside in a state of rapturous harmony with each other and the living world: "Through the low-lying roads of summer, draped with tender honeysuckle, how sweetly we go! I read, or sing, or recite poetry to the sky. Platero nibbles the sparse grass of the shady banks, the dusty blossoms of the mallows, the yellow sorrel. He halts more than he walks. I let him.

[…]

Every so often Platero stops eating and looks at me. Every so often I stop reading and look at Platero."

There are echoes of Whitman in Jiménez’s exultations: "Before us are the fields, already green. Facing the immense, clear sky, of a blazing indigo, my eyes - so far from my ears! - open nobly, welcoming in its calm that indescribable placidity, that harmonious, divine serenity which dwells in the limitlessness of the horizon."

This longing for the infinite accompanies the young man and the old donkey as they cross the hills and valleys on their daily pilgrimages: "The evening extends beyond its normal limits, and the hour, infected with eternity, is infinite, peaceful, unfathomable."

Again and again, Platero’s presence magnifies the poet’s relishing of beauty, deepens his contact with the eternal: "I remain in ecstasy before the twilight. Platero, his black eyes scarlet with sunset, walks gently to a puddle of crimson, pink, and violet waters; he softly immerses his lips into the mirrors, which seem to liquefy as he touches them."

Punctuating these ecstasies are the inevitable spells of melancholy stemming from the fact that the price of being awake to life is being also awake to mortality. Aware that this enchanted life with his beloved Platero is only for the time being, Jiménez reaches into the sorrow of the future to consecrate it with joy: "Platero. I shall bury you at the foot of the large, round pine in the orchard at La Piña, which you like so much. You will remain alongside cheerful, serene life. The little boys will play and the little girls will sew beside you on their little low chairs. You will get to hear the verses that the solitude will inspire in me. You’ll hear the older girls singing when they wash clothes in the orange grove, and the sound of the waterwheel will be a joy and a solace to your eternal peace. And all year long the goldfinches, greenfinches, and vireos, in the perennial freshness of the treetop, will create for you a small musical ceiling between your tranquil slumber and Moguer’s infinite, ever-blue sky."

Full, wonderful article is here:

- https://mailchi.mp/themarginalian/

"I Went to Most Popular Park in Moscow: VDNKh"

Meanwhile, in a sane, civilized society...

Full screen recommended.

Travelling With Russell, 9/5/25

"I Went to Most Popular Park in Moscow: VDNKh"

"On the last day of Summer, what do you do in Russia? Take a walk around the World Famous VDNKh Park in Moscow, Russia. First opened in 1935, VDNKh serves to highlight the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy. The Soviet name VDNKh is an acronym meaning 'the Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy.'"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Reality Avoidance"

"Reality Avoidance"

by Morris Berman

"It’s quite amazing how the news is endlessly about filler, which is what I call it. Very little of this has anything to do with reality, which the Mainstream Media and the American people avoid like the plague. What then is real?

1. The empire is in decline; every day, life here gets a little bit worse; all our institutions are corrupt to varying degrees; and there is no turning this situation around.

2. A crucial factor in this decline and irreversibility is the low level of intelligence of the American people. Americans are not only dumb; they are positively antagonistic toward the life of the mind.

3. Relations of power and money determine practically everything. The 3 wealthiest Americans own as much as the bottom 50% of the population, and this tendency will get worse over time.

4. The value system of the country, and its citizens, is fundamentally wrong-headed. It amounts to little more than hustling, selfishness, narcissism, and a blatant disregard for anyone but oneself. There is a kind of cruelty, or violence, deep in the American soul; many foreign observers and writers have commented on this. Americans are bitter, depressed, and angry, and the country offers very little by way of community or empathy.

5. Along with this is the support of meaningless wars and imperial adventures on the part of most of the population. That we drone-murder unarmed civilians on a weekly basis is barely on the radar screen of the American mind. In essence, the nation has evolved into a genocidal war machine run by a plutocracy and cheered on by mindless millions.

Most Americans hide from these depressing, even horrific, realities by what passes for ‘the news’, but also by means of alcohol, opioids, TV, cellphones, suicide, prescription drugs, workaholism, and spectator sports, to name but a few. This stuffing of the Void is probably our primary activity. In a word, we are eating ourselves alive, and only a tiny fraction of the population recognizes this."

- https://morrisberman.blogspot.com/