StatCounter

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

John Wilder, "Enjoy Until Midnight. Then Back To Work"

"Enjoy Until Midnight. Then Back To Work"
by John Wilder

"I had a football coach that had a speech that he saved for the team after we had won a big game. Since we were 2-7 my senior year, he rarely got to use it. It went something like this: “Alright, team, we won the big game and are feeling pretty good right now, except for Jenkins. I’m pretty sure he was left-handed, anyway, so don’t worry too much about him. We won. Enjoy it. Relax. Until midnight. After midnight, it’s back to being hungry for a win – the score is zero-zero.” Since this was before the GloboLeftElite clouded the minds of men, he’d then hand out cigarettes and beer to the freshmen and sophomores, with cigars, tequila and strippers for the upperclassmen. I loved high school. I learned a lot about Destiny there, though I think that was just her stage name. I never did get all the glitter off the truck seat.

Anyway, Trump has once again assumed the presidency. This is not the naïve, friendly, Trump of his first administration. Nope, he’s played the game, had four years to marinate in his mistakes, and is surrounded by a bunch of people who are nearly as pissed off as he is. The biggest initial impact, besides bleaching the Oval Office to get the old man smell out, are the plethora of Executive Orders he issued nearly immediately. I’ve got an incomplete list below, and let’s spend a few minutes reveling in them.1,500 pardons for January 6 protestors.

This was a big one, and was needed for legitimacy. So many of the folks on January 6 did absolutely nothing wrong in what was effectively the largest panty raid in American history – you could tell because Nancy Pelosi certainly had her panties in a bunch. Sorry for that. Now you probably need mind bleach.

The sentences for the protesters were, in almost every case, extremely disproportionate to the crimes alleged. This is justice.Declared a national border emergency. This was one that really got the goat of the GloboLeftElite. Butch Maddow, MSNBC© Lesbian at Large, reporting from the MSNBC™ Safe Space© bunker, immediately asked where Steiner’s troops were. But what happened is the border shut down. Immediately. The Border Patrol ceased their most recent duty of diaper delivery and social work and began, well, patrolling the border.

Removed birthright citizenship. Pure genius, and well overdue. If I vault over my neighbor’s fence and my woman gives birth on his lawn, I don’t have a claim to his house. Oddly, that’s been our theory for decades. The wording of the amendment establishing citizenship at birth clearly says, “and under the jurisdiction thereof.” Criminals are not citizens, and not under the jurisdiction, just like diplomats, people on student, tourist, or work visas, or ILLEGAL ALIENS aren’t.

Boot ‘em. Sadly, this isn’t retroactive, but this is a start. Already H1-B Indians are complaining that they can’t chain migrate their 4,323 close relatives from India because of this. Yes, this makes me cry inside. But it’s tears of joy. Shut down refugee resettlement.

Every picture about this particular order showed the fat Squatamalan woman wearing designer clothes crying because her appointment to negotiate to come into the United States was cancelled. She had a cell phone (nicer than mine) showing that her appointment was cancelled. Why, oh why does it make these people cry when they are told that they have to live in their home country surrounded by people just like them?
Food stamp balance: $13,401.82
Cash Balance: $4,498.85
WTF! I repeat, for emphasis, WTF!

Rescinded 78 Biden Executive Orders on DEI. Imagine you’re a diversity trainer. Imagine you had a contract to teach diversity to listless herds of .gov employees. Imagine now you’re unemployed. I know, I know. I’m in pain, too. It’ll probably take plastic surgery to remove the smile from my face.

Froze .gov hiring. This is a good start. Now start firing ever DEI employee, every gun control policy wonk, and every third employee, randomly. That’s a better start. 

Required immediate return to in-person work for .gov employees. They have to go to work? In a building? That’s not their home? And put on pants? Sheer monstrosity!

Required regulation cutting. This is a sleeper, because it has a huge ability, if done right, to lower costs for businesses and individuals. We’ll see.

Required removal of climate policies that raise costs and withdraw from the Paris Accords. Again, a sleeper because all of that alternative energy is really, really costly when compared to regular old energy, and yet raise your costs invisibly because the cost is just passed on to you via your bill. The Paris Accords aren’t a treaty, because the GloboLeftElite couldn’t pass a treaty. It’s just...an agreement that bound us to GloboLeftElite goals, i.e., they keep their jets, but we have to have crappy cars. Or, it was an agreement.

Withdrew from the World Health Organization. I’ve written about this bureaucratic overreach with no particular purpose after they actually did some good and important things. Mainly, it’s a bunch of high-paying jobs and a really cool building with a rooftop café for foreigners to sip cappuccinos while they laugh at us plebs.

Created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate entire agencies and many .gov jobs. I’ve written about DOGE before. I’m certainly in hopes that it works, though, like so many of the above, it all depends on the executions. After fair trials, of course.Removed the security clearances from the 51 intelligence officers who said that Hunter’s laptop was fake, and, also John Bolton.

I found this one particularly delicious. These intelligence grifters retire and use their credentials to maintain access to secret information, and then sell their opinions to big corporations or mainstream media. Sadly, I’m not sure the Executive Orders covered Bolton’s mustache, which I think is Bolton’s primary sensory and information storage organ.

Declared that there were only two genders. It took mankind 2020 years to forget this, but one stroke of the pen and it made sense again. I wonder what will happen to all of those trans celebrity kids now that they’re illegal. Maybe we can send them to Guatemala, too.

Declared that it’s now the Gulf of America. A troll from Trump, but a beautiful, hilarious troll that the GloboLeftElite will focus on while Trump’s busy gutting the federal government like a trout or an MSNBC© Safe Space™. There are, of course, more, like firing the DEI obsessed Coast Guard L.I.C. (Lesbian in Charge) or shutting down most foreign aid, immediately.

So, tonight, I’ll sit back and not gripe. I’ll enjoy the moment. Until midnight."

Musical Interlude: Flash And The Pan, "Hey, St Peter"

Flash And The Pan, "Hey, St Peter"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70 million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the gorgeous island universe is one of the largest Hubble images ever made of a complete galaxy.
NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms. In fact, on close inspection the nucleus of this classic barred spiral itself shows a remarkable region of spiral structure about 3,000 light-years across. Unlike other spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, NGC 1300 is not presently known to have a massive central black hole.”

Chet Raymo, "Lessons"

"Lessons"
by Chet Raymo

"There is a four-line poem by Yeats, called "Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors":

"What they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass."

Like so many of the short poems of Yeats, it is hard to know what the poet had in mind, who exactly were the unknown instructors, and if unknown how could they instruct. But as I opened my volume of "The Poems" this morning, at random, as in the old days people opened the Bible and pointed a finger at a random passage seeking advice or instruction, this is the poem that presented itself. Unsuperstitious person that I am, it seemed somehow apropos, since outside the window, in a thick Irish mist, every blade of grass has its hanging drop.

Those pendant drops, the bejeweled porches of the spider webs, the rose petals cupping their glistening dew - all of that seems terribly important here, now, in the silent mist. There is not much good to say about getting old, but certainly one advantage of the gathering years is the falling away of ego and ambition, the felt need to be always busy, the exhausting practice of accumulation. Who were the instructors who tried to teach me the practice of simplicity when I was young - the poets and the saints, the buddhas who were content to sit beneath the bo tree while the rest of us scurried here and there? I scurried, and I'm not sorry I did, but I must have tucked their lessons into the back of my mind, a cache of wisdom to be opened at my leisure.

Whatever it was they sought to teach has come to pass. All things hang like a drop of dew upon a blade of grass."

"A Lof Of People Will Be Disappointed..."

“When science discovers the center of the universe,
a lot of people will be disappointed to find they are not it.”
- Bernard Baily

The Poet: Linda Pastan, “What We Want”

“What We Want”

“What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names-
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.”

- Linda Pastan

The Daily "Near You?"

Wichita Falls, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Hang In There..."

“Using time, pressure and patience, the universe gradually changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds. You’re being worked on too, so hang in there. Just because something isn’t apparent right now, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. It’s not until the end do you realize, sometimes your biggest blessings were disguised by pain and suffering. They were not placed there to break you, but to make you.”
- “The Angel Affect”

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.”
- Richard Bach

"The World As I See It": Albert Einstein's Thoughts on the Meaning of Life”

"The World As I See It":
Albert Einstein's Thoughts on the Meaning of Life”
by Paul Ratner

“Albert Einstein was one of the world’s most brilliant thinkers, influencing scientific thought immeasurably. He was also not shy about sharing his wisdom about other topics, writing essays, articles, letters, giving interviews and speeches. His opinions on social and intellectual issues that do not come from the world of physics give an insight into the spiritual and moral vision of the scientist, offering much to take to heart.

The collection of essays and ideas “The World As I See It”* gathers Einstein’s thoughts from before 1935, when he was as the preface says “at the height of his scientific powers but not yet known as the sage of the atomic age”.

In the book, Einstein comes back to the question of the purpose of life on several occasions. In one passage, he links it to a sense of religiosity. “What is the meaning of human life, or, for that matter, of the life of any creature? To know an answer to this question means to be religious. You ask: Does it many any sense, then, to pose this question? I answer: The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life,” wrote Einstein.

Was Einstein himself religious? Raised by secular Jewish parents, he had complex and evolving spiritual thoughts. He generally seemed to be open to the possibility of the scientific impulse and religious thoughts coexisting. "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind," said Einstein in his 1954 essay on science and religion.

Some (including the scientist himself) have called Einstein’s spiritual views as pantheism, largely influenced by the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Pantheists see God as existing but abstract, equating all of reality with divinity. They also reject a specific personal God or a god that is somehow endowed with human attributes.

Himself a famous atheist, Richard Dawkins calls Einstein's pantheism a “sexed-up atheism,” but other scholars point to the fact that Einstein did seem to believe in a supernatural intelligence that’s beyond the physical world. He referred to it in his writings as “a superior spirit,” “a superior mind” and a “spirit vastly superior to men”. Einstein was possibly a deist, although he was quite familiar with various religious teachings, including a strong knowledge of Jewish religious texts.

In another passage from 1934, Einstein talks about the value of a human being, reflecting a Buddhist-like approach: “The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.”

This theme of liberating the self is also echoed by Einstein later in life, in a 1950 letter to console a grieving father Robert S. Marcus: “A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.”

In case you are wondering whether Einstein saw value in material pursuits, here’s him talking about accumulating wealth in 1934, as part of the “The World As I See It”: “I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and irresistibly invites abuse. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?”
Freely download "The World As I See It", by Albert Einstein, here:

"Real Church Sign"

 
"Oh yeah, we're doing fine, thanks for asking."

"How It Really Is"

 

"PJM Grid Declares "Max Generation Alert" As Polar Vortex Unleashes Mini Ice Age"

"PJM Grid Declares "Max Generation Alert" 
As Polar Vortex Unleashes Mini Ice Age"
by Tyler Durden

"Global warming alarmists, such as Greta Thunberg, Al Gore, and the entire Democratic Party (and their far-left MSM cheerleaders), have been awfully quiet as parts of the Lower 48 experience what feels like a "mini ice age."

Doesn't Fit MSM Narrative: Parts Of US Could Rival Coldest January Since 1977 https://t.co/SX9C2nR7AZ— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 18, 2025. A blizzard blanketed regions from Texas to Florida on Tuesday, while a polar vortex continues funneling Arctic air into the eastern half of the US, sending heating demand through the roof and placing power grids on high alert.

PJM Interconnection, which coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity and ensures power supplies for 65 million people in all or parts of 13 eastern and Midwest US states and DC, issued a Level 1 emergency and "Maximum Generation Alert." PJM anticipates that electricity demand across its power grid footprint today will approach its all-time winter peak of 143,295 MW, last recorded on February 20, 2015.

The alert was issued ahead of "continued cold conditions" and "energy demand expected Wednesday and an increased amount of electricity being exported to neighboring regions, who are also experiencing the extreme winter weather," PJM wrote in a statement. "The alert also serves to notify neighboring regions that exports of electricity outside of the PJM footprint may need to be curtailed and they should plan accordingly," PJM explained.

PJM added color to what a Level 1 alert means: "When a grid operator foresees or is experiencing conditions where all available resources are committed to meet electricity load, firm transactions, and reserve commitments, and is concerned about sustaining its required contingency reserves," adding, "to notify external systems that sales may need to be recalled."

According to Bloomberg data, the average Lower 48 temperatures have averaged well below a 30-year trend for much of January. "Over 40 million people are experiencing temperatures at or below 0ºF this morning, and 10 million are at or below -10ºF...incredible," private weather forecaster BAMWX meteorologist Kirk Hinz wrote on X.

Cold temperature records being broken from Mexico to California, Washington, Minnesota to the East Coast.#natgas #Energy #oott pic.twitter.com/WiQ7x6oA0s— Kirk 🇺🇸 Hinz | BAM ⚡️Weather (@Met_khinz) January 21, 2025

BAMWX forecasted "another blast of winter arrives to start February." After a brief period of moderation the overnight GEFS says another blast of Winter arrives to start February. pic.twitter.com/LAg1hnxi2c— BAM Weather (BAMWX) (@bamwxcom) January 21, 2025

As for the Mid-Atlantic region, Goldman warned late last year that new AI data centers were creating capacity constraints on the grid. Goldman Says Mid-Atlantic Power Prices "Finally Caught Up To AI Data Center Load Growth Story" https://t.co/6BInBek7Zz— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 4, 2024

Latest reporting on the polar vortex and energy markets:

Just how fragile are power grids? We'll find out this week."
o

Adventures With Danno, "Massive Changes at Dollar Tree"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 1/22/25
"Massive Changes at Dollar Tree"
Comments here:

Dan, I Allegedly, "Businesses Have to Face the Music"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 1/22/25
"Businesses Have to Face the Music"

"Landlords Always Win: The Shocking Truth Exposed!" In today’s video, we’re diving into why it feels like landlords are always one step ahead and how this impacts businesses, especially in tough times like now. From skyrocketing rents to ruthless contract demands, we break down the reality behind the struggles of small businesses trying to survive under these conditions. Plus, a surprising insight from Gordon Ramsay himself on how landlords treat successful tenants differently! Here’s the kicker: landlords seem to have all the power, whether it’s demanding a piece of your business profits or refusing concessions during disasters like the recent LA fires. This video reveals how these practices are forcing businesses to shut down faster than ever - and why this trend might be just the beginning.

We also talk about the crazy creative financing methods popping up in real estate and how this could shape the market moving forward. Want to know why some businesses fail in just 90 days while others thrive? What about the “Costco effect” and its surprising impact on other industries? Don’t miss this one."
Comments here:

Bill Bonner, "Warren to the Rescue"

Median home prices rise from $63,700
 in Q1 1980 to $420,400 in Q4 2024
"Warren to the Rescue"
Those who loaded $36 trillion of debt onto the backs of Americans
 now promise to make them rich by taxing foreigners. Those who squandered 
enough money to build every family in America a new home.
by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland - "Suddenly, everybody is on board. ‘Ready to work with’ Donald Trump. Democrats. Republicans. Tech bros. Hollywood stars. Everyone. All of those who rigged-up the economy now say they are ready to de-rig it. Those who spent money as if they had robbed it from a bank now seek ‘efficiencies.’Those who loaded $36 trillion of debt onto the backs of Americans now promise to make them rich by taxing foreigners. Those who squandered enough money to build every family in America a new home...

Yes, they voted for every cockamamie boondoggle to slime its way through Congress...spending authorizations that ran to more than 1,000 pages, that they didn’t read... payoffs to powerful lobbies... bribes to voters... billions...trillions...in unnecessary, wasteful spending...debt that went up year after year...as the jackass programs multiplied.

And now, those same people are signing up to reform the system. They are ready to dig into the rules, regulations and spending programs that they themselves put in place... and tear out those that slow down the economy and put unnecessary burdens on our ‘working families.’ ‘The decline is over,’ says the man in the Oval Office. To his credit, Mr. Trump is leading the chorus. (The man is not all bad!) The Washington Post: "Trump embarks on vast effort to revoke federal regulations."

But not everyone is on-key. One voice, in particular, like a clanging gong - with a note so shrill and false it makes deafness a virtue is that of Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Wall Street Journal: "Elizabeth Warren: If Trump Wants to Unrig the Economy, I’m In." "I will lead Democrats on the Banking Committee to lower costs, advance security and cut red tape. I’m ready to work with Chairman Tim Scott, Donald Trump and business leaders whenever they support policies that rebuild the middle class, advance our economic and national security, and fight the corruption of those who seek to use government to enrich themselves."

What has she been doing for the last eleven years in the US Senate? Rigging up the economy, of course. Spending money the feds don’t have. Causing investors to wonder what their collateral is really worth. The result? “Mortgage rates surpass 7% in new blow to home market,” says the Wall Street Journal. Houses have never been so unaffordable. Prices are high. Interest rates are high. And average earnings, for the people who buy them, are low. An emergency!

If this keeps up, soon millions of American families will suffer from homelessness. Or, housing prices will fall. Ms. Warren claims that capitalism can’t do the job. She wants to improve it. Nation of Change: "Elizabeth Warren’s Accountable Capitalism Act: A push for corporate accountability and worker rights." But capitalism is not to blame for the high price of housing. Capitalism responds to whatever circumstances it encounters. And when it runs into zoning regulation and building codes... interest rate manipulation... high taxes... and inflation - all imposed by the feds - it adjusts as best it can. It builds houses for rich people - because they can afford to buy them. Poor people are ‘priced out’ of the market.

But Ms. Warren is determined to make the situation worse. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "Elizabeth Warren unveils bill that would spend half a trillion dollars to build housing. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced the bill that could boost housing production in the U.S., funding some 3 million units…. The bill would revise the federal estate tax for the nation's wealthiest residents to off-set the cost to the federal government, and is expected to generate billions. The plan would allocate resources to state and local governments, and grassroots and community organizations, and is designed to tackle local housing needs by funding creative local approaches and solutions."

Yep. Spend more money. That ought to do it. Always worked in the past."

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Jeremiah Babe, "Late Night In Los Angeles - The Road To Hell"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 1/21/25
"Late Night In Los Angeles - 
 The Road To Hell"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: 2002, "A Gift of Life"

 
Full screen recommended.
2002, "A Gift of Life"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Who knows what evil lurks in the eyes of galaxies? The Hubble knows -- or in the case of spiral galaxy M64 - is helping to find out. Messier 64, also known as the Evil Eye or Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, may seem to have evil in its eye because all of its stars rotate in the same direction as the interstellar gas in the galaxy's central region, but in the opposite direction in the outer regions. Captured here in great detail by the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, enormous dust clouds obscure the near-side of M64's central region, which are laced with the telltale reddish glow of hydrogen associated with star formation.
M64 lies about 17 million light years away, meaning that the light we see from it today left when the last common ancestor between humans and chimpanzees roamed the Earth. The dusty eye and bizarre rotation are likely the result of a billion-year-old merger of two different galaxies."

"One Day..."

 

Gerald Celente, "It's About The Human Spirit, Not The Political Crime Syndicate"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 1/21/25
"It's About The Human Spirit, 
Not The Political Crime Syndicate"
"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."
Comments here:

"2025: The Year the Global Order Unravels"

"2025: The Year the Global Order Unravels"
by Nick Giambruno

"World War 3 is already well underway, even though most don’t recognize it. Russia, China, and their allies want to transform the current US-led world order that has been in place since the end of WW2 from unipolar to multipolar - giving themselves a bigger seat at the table in the process. The US and its allies want the unipolar status quo to prevail.

WW3 is unlikely to evolve into a direct kinetic war between the US, Russia, and China because that could invite nuclear Armageddon, where everyone loses. Instead, WW3 is playing out on different levels - proxy wars, economic wars, financial wars, cyber wars, biological wars, deniable sabotage, and information wars. This is World War 3. It’s happening right now and rapidly escalating. 2025 could be the year it all comes to a head.

As I see it, World War 3 is a conflict between two geopolitical blocks. The first block consists of the US and its allies who have hitched their wagons to the unipolar world order. I’m reluctant to call this block "the West" because the people who control it have values antithetical to Western Civilization. A more fitting label would be NATO & Friends.

The other block comprises Russia, China, Iran, and other countries favorable to a multipolar world order. Let’s call them the BRICS+, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and other interested countries. BRICS+ is not a perfect label, but it’s a decent representation of the countries favorable to the multipolar world order. Some countries don’t fall decisively into one category. I’ve put these countries in a separate Non-Aligned category. They are prime arenas of competition for NATO & Friends and BRICS+.

Below is an approximate map of the geopolitical chessboard as I see it. Click the image to enlarge.


I believe proxy warfare will likely determine who wins World War 3 and gets to shape the new world order. Proxy wars are a method by which major powers fight their battles indirectly, using smaller nations or groups as stand-ins rather than confronting each other directly. Major powers support, equip, and finance smaller groups or nations in a proxy war to fight against a common adversary. This support can include military training, weapons, funding, and other resources. The critical point is that the major powers do not engage directly in combat.

There are numerous ongoing proxy wars in World War 3. However, the ones I believe will prove decisive will be in Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Middle East. The other proxy wars are peripheral in comparison.

Unlike in Europe (Russia) or East Asia (China), there is no sophisticated nuclear power to deter NATO & Friends from more aggressive military action in the Middle East. Iran is, therefore, the weak link in the BRICS+ alliance to push for a multipolar world order. That’s why I expect NATO & Friends will make their last stand to scuttle the emergence of a multipolar world order and preserve the US-led world order in the Middle East.

The Middle East is roughly divided into two different geopolitical groups. The first is the US and its allies - Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and others. (Though Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are members of BRICS+, their true allegiance is with the agenda of NATO & Friends).

The second group consists of Iran and its allies - the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, several Palestinian groups (including Hamas), and an assortment of militias in Iraq. Iran is a key member of BRICS+ and a proponent of a multipolar world order. That’s why Russia and China stand behind Iran with economic, political, and military support.

In early 2024, the geopolitical momentum in the Middle East appeared to be with Iran and its allies. However, that all changed recently as the Middle East has undergone its most significant geopolitical transformation in generations. It culminated with militants supported by Turkey, Israel, and the US overthrowing Bashar al-Assad in Syria. It dealt a severe blow to Iran and its allies and, by extension, the multipolar agenda of BRICS+.

Previously, it seemed Turkey was moving closer to BRICS+. However, after recent events, it’s now unambiguous. After delivering the biggest geopolitical win for NATO & Friends in decades, there’s little doubt Turkey is fully onboard with their agenda. Turkey has emerged as the dominant power and kingmaker in Syria, extending NATO & Friends’ influence into new strategic territory in the heart of the Middle East.

Turkey’s ambitions likely extend well beyond Syria. Erdogan has made no secret of his intention to create a Neo-Ottoman Empire. He now has a golden opportunity to make this a reality with the help of NATO & Friends. Turkey’s conquest of Syria is not without immense challenges. The country remains fractured and unstable.

Armed Kurdish forces, avowed foes of Turkey, control about a third of Syria. Assad loyalists are concentrated in the coastal region and other parts of the country. They remain heavily armed and hostile to the new Syrian authorities. There are ISIS remnants that haven’t submitted to the new government either. Then there is the Israeli military, which has destroyed all of Syria’s previously formidable air defense systems. The Israeli Air Force now has free reign over the skies of Syria. Israeli tanks and soldiers have occupied new strategic parts of the country.

In short, the new Syrian authorities have a gigantic mess to deal with. They do not have a monopoly on the use of force within Syria’s borders, and it’s unlikely they’ll be able to achieve that anytime soon. That’s why Syria could easily continue being a geopolitical black hole, sucking in blood and treasury from anyone who tries to stabilize a situation that cannot be stabilized. Presuming Syria can be stabilized - which is a big if - who will pay for the hundreds of billions required for the country’s reconstruction after more than 14 years of war? Nobody knows.

Turkey and, by extension, NATO & Friends were popping champagne over Assad’s ouster. But the celebration may end soon as they realize they have bit off more than they can chew. Turkey, the US, and Israel will be responsible for the chaos that comes out of Syria, which is likely to balkanize with unpredictable results.

In any case, I have little doubt that NATO & Friends will try to use growing Turkish influence as a way to reshape the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East in their favor as the arbitrary lines (imposed by the Sykes-Picot Agreement of a century ago) that define most modern Middle East nation states collapse. In other words, NATO & Friends want an incipient Neo-Ottoman Empire to be the dominant power in the Middle East. BRICS+ wants Iran to be the dominant regional power.

Nobody knows who will prevail in the Middle East and, by extension, WW3. The situation is fluid, volatile, and uncertain. There is an excellent chance that NATO & Friends will lose in Ukraine and Taiwan. I think that means they will not be able to stop the emergence of a multipolar world order unless they subdue the Middle East. And they can’t do that unless they overthrow the government in Iran.

The fall of Assad is indeed a setback for BRICS+, but not a decisive defeat. If NATO & Friends want a decisive victory in the Middle East, they will need to take out the government in Iran. That’s why I think Iran will be the decisive battlefield of WW3. Here is an updated geopolitical map of the Middle East and surrounding region as I see it.

With Iran’s allies across the Middle East suffering devastating blows in 2024, the US, Israel, and their allies have the most favorable conditions to attack Iran that have existed in decades. I suspect they will not let this window of opportunity close without taking advantage of it. It could happen in 2025. If an attack on Iran does happen, I believe it will be the defining battle of WW3. But it will not be a cakewalk…

Unlike most other nation states in the Middle East, Iran (known as Persia before 1935) is not an artificial construct. By race, religion, and social history, it is a nation. European bureaucrats didn’t dream up Iran by drawing zigzags on a map. The map reflects the geographic reality of a country with natural, fortress-like mountain borders. In the east, the Roman Empire generally ended where the Persian Empire began.

The US and its allies have tried to overthrow Iran’s government for over 46 years. They’ve tried pretty much everything short of a full-scale invasion In short, NATO & Friends have few other cards to play against Iran. If the US really wants to decapitate the BRICS+ agenda in the Middle East, it would need to overthrow the Iranian government. That would require waging a full-scale regional war against all of Iran’s allies and launching a ground invasion of Iran.

Remember, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) - back when Saddam was a "good guy" - he threw over 500,000 Iraqi soldiers at the Iranian meat grinder, had the backing of the US AND the Soviet Union, and used chemical weapons on a scale not seen since WW1… and he barely made a dent in Iran. The reality is that if the US is serious about invading Iran, it would likely require total mobilization and bringing back the draft. That is not likely to happen, but even if it did, it would not guarantee US victory.

If Iran thought the US was going to invade, it could also develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent within a matter of weeks or less. It might also already have a couple of secretly obtained nukes. Given those unfavorable prospects, NATO & Friends could decide to use nuclear weapons on Iran preemptively. Iran is well aware that the US or Israel could use nuclear weapons against it. It has contingency plans for that outcome to ensure the survival of its government. Iran’s plans also likely include making a dash for developing its own nuclear arsenal to be able to respond in kind.

Further, it’s doubtful that Russia and China would just sit back and do nothing if NATO & Friends looked like they might nuke Iran. For example, Russia could decide to station nuclear weapons and Russian soldiers on Iranian soil as a deterrent. In short, NATO & Friends using nukes on Iran could lead to an unpredictable series of events that could quickly spiral out of control, so I don’t view it as a likely outcome.

The Bottom Line: NATO & Friends don’t have any attractive options when it comes to dealing with Iran. However, with the sun about to set on the US-led unipolar world order and the most favorable conditions to attack Iran that have existed in decades, they may think it’s their last best chance and go for it in 2025.

What will happen, and who will prevail? Of course, no one can know that with certainty. That being said, I think we can count on escalating tensions that could culminate in war with Iran in 2025. The implications of that are difficult to overstate. War with Iran would undoubtedly destroy all models for the energy market and cause a global economic collapse. Most people don’t appreciate how close we are to the precipice of a historical disaster. Countless millions throughout history were wiped out financially - or worse - during the previous world wars because they failed to see the correct Big Picture and take appropriate action. Don’t be one of them."

The Daily "Near You?"

Steuben, Maine, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Life Lessons From George S. Patton, Jr."

Full screen recommended.
"Patton Speech"
Patton speech in Los Angeles 1945 and death.
 Narrated by Ronald Reagan.
"Life Lessons From George S. Patton, Jr."
by John Wilder

"I have been a long-time fan of General George S. Patton, Jr. It started when I was a kid, and my history teacher even ordered a few extra Patton films for the World War II section of U.S. history because he knew I was a Patton fan. Probably the biggest accolade that he could have was from the Germans who he fought, one of whom said simply, “He is your best.”

For whatever reason, though, I had never read "The Patton Papers 1940-1945."  On a whim a week or so ago, I ordered a copy, and I cracked it open at lunch the day it arrived before I headed back to work. I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed a book more. I’m not sure The Mrs. feels the same way, since when I’m reading it, about every five minutes I’ll come up with a snippet to read to her. She keeps saying, “Thanks, but no tanks.”

The book itself is a compilation of diary entries, letters Patton wrote, and orders he gave in the period from 1940-1945. To have the ability to read through those are amazing, even when he just writes about the mundane aspects of his life or his son having trouble in math at school. I didn’t start at the beginning, I just picked it up and started reading at a more-or-less random spot, which coincided with his taking command of American troops in North Africa. And then I couldn’t put it down.

While many passages have resonated with me, I decided to write about one in particular today. It consists of his instructions that were provided to his officers prior to launching Operation Husky, where he and Montgomery launched a naval invasion of Sicily. Spoiler alert: he did pretty well. This is one passage I’ll make sure to share with Pugsley and The Boy because there is so much truth not only in a military sense, but in life to what Patton wrote on June 5, 1943. Stuff in italics is Patton’s (from page 261 and page 262). My comments are in plain text.

"Discipline is based on pride in the profession of arms, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of battle or the fear of death.

Discipline can only be obtained when all officers are imbued with the sense of their lawful obligation to their men and to their country that they cannot tolerate negligence. Officers who fail to correct errors or praise excellence are valueless in peace and dangerous misfits in war."

Discipline starts with a single individual. In my case, it doesn’t come from without, it must come from within. Getting up on time. Paying the bills. Having a sense of purpose in life. It has been my observation that people will do what you want when you’re looking if they fear punishment. If they are being judged, they might do it when others are around. When it becomes a value, however, they do it every time, all the time, even when no one is looking, and even when no one will ever know.

"Officers must assert themselves by example and by voice."

People watch. And people listen. Letting things slide never creates excellence.

"There is no approved solution to any tactical situation."

There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is: “To so use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum of time.”

Obviously, war isn’t a game, but the lesson for life outside of attacking Sicily in 1943 still exists. And it’s not to use Claymores (FRONT TOWARD ENEMY) and a mortar barrage to open a business meeting. But I have been involved in business and life situations where time was of the essence, and being polite just had to go out the window.

"Never attack [enemy] strength, [but rather his weakness]..."

"You can never be too strong. Get every man and gun you can secure provided it does not delay your attack..."

"Casualties vary directly with the time you are exposed to effective fire... Rapidity of attack shortens the time of exposure..."

"If you cannot see the enemy, and you seldom can, shoot at the place he is most likely to be..."

"Our mortars and our artillery are superb weapons when they are firing. When silent, they are junk – see that they fire!"

One thread that runs through Patton’s writing and actions is his devotion to attacking. Defending wasn’t something that he was interested in. In life, I think that attitude is required. It’s easy to give up, it’s easy to fall into the trap that there’s nothing more to do, nothing more to gain. It’s similar to having all A’s on my eighth-grade report card and deciding to coast on that for the rest of my life.

Potential can only be realized if we push ourselves, and we can only push on the attack. So, attack life like a poodle going after a pork chop, up to the very last breath.

"Never take counsel of your fears. The enemy is more worried than you are. Numerical superiority, while useful, is not vital to successful offensive action. The fact that you are attacking induces the enemy to believe that you are stronger than he is..."

"A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution ten minutes later..."

"IN CASE OF DOUBT, ATTACK ..." "Again, attack. But the additional thought is added: don’t listen to your fears. Fear is something that will paralyze even a strong man. And from my experience, the best way to get over fears and avoid the paralysis that comes with them is to take action. What action? Any action that leads you toward your goal. Even the smallest action often sets off a cascade of following actions that lead to...success."

"Mine fields, while dangerous, are not impassable. They are far less of a hazard than artillery concentrations..."

"Speed and ruthless violence on the beaches is vital. There must be no hesitation in debarking. To linger on the beach is fatal."

We are going to run into problems. Some of them huge. Some of them of our own making. The idea is to push through. The Mrs. and I watched a kid on the local wrestling team that was just awful in terms of skills, experience, and well, brains. But, he’d get it in his head that he could win, and he would go out and win some very, very unlikely matches. Why? He didn’t hesitate. He jumped on the chances he made.

I’ll probably have a few more of these as I go through the book. And, as much fun as it is to read, I’m going to take my time to enjoy it. I’d best show a little bit of discipline... Patton might be watching."
Full screen recommended.
"Patton" (1970), Reincarnation scene.
Freely download "The Patton Papers 1940-1945" here:

Paulo Coelho, "The Bird And The Cage"

"The Bird And The Cage"
by Paulo Coelho

"Once upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with two perfect wings and with glossy, colorful, marvelous feathers. One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. She invited the bird to fly with her, and the two travelled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admired and venerated and celebrated that bird. But then she thought: He might want to visit far-off mountains! And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird.

And she thought: “I’m going to set a trap. The next time the bird appears, he will never leave again.” The bird, who was also in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap and was put in a cage. She looked at the bird every day. There he was, the object of her passion, and she showed him to her friends, who said: “Now you have everything you could possibly want.”

However, a strange transformation began to take place: now that she had the bird and no longer needed to woo him, she began to lose interest. The bird, unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life, began to waste away and his feathers to lose their gloss; he grew ugly; and the woman no longer paid him any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.

One day, the bird died. The woman felt terribly sad and spent all her time thinking about him. But she did not remember the cage, she thought only of the day when she had seen him for the first time, flying contentedly amongst the clouds. If she had looked more deeply into herself, she would have realized that what had thrilled her about the bird was his freedom, the energy of his wings in motion, not his physical body.

Without the bird, her life too lost all meaning, and Death came knocking at her door. “Why have you come?” she asked Death. “So that you can fly once more with him across the sky,” Death replied. “If you had allowed him to come and go, you would have loved and admired him ever more; alas, you now need me in order to find him again.”

"It's Just Life..."

“Bad things don’t happen to people because they deserve for them to happen. It just doesn’t work that way. It’s just… life. And no matter who we are, we have to take the hand we’re dealt, crappy though it may be, and try our very best to move forward anyway, to love anyway, to have hope anyway… to have faith that there’s a purpose to the journey we’re on.”
- Mia Sheridan

"The Limits of Our Freedom"

"The Limits of Our Freedom"
by Mark Harrison

"Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, wrote in "Man's Search for Meaning", "Between stimulus and response there is a space, and in that space lies all our freedom."In the most extreme conditions of privation imaginable, Frankl discovered that he was, remarkably, free to choose his response to any situation. I love this quote because it sums up the essence of my philosophy. I believe it is the cornerstone of a happy and effective life. A real, experiential understanding of this radical freedom is life changing, liberating and empowering. To suddenly come upon the realization that we have always been free, not in some abstract sense, but in a real, personal and imminent way, is like being let out of prison.

We are not free to control others: The point is that we are free. And so is everyone else. That means we cannot impinge on the freedom of others. This is not some moral statement. I'm not saying we should not interfere with other people's freedom - it is simply impossible to do so. You cannot make another person do anything. Even putting a gun to someone's head cannot make them do anything. If someone is threatened to the extent that they fear for their life, they are likely to comply with whatever is being demanded of them, but this compliance is not a result of the threat, it is still a choice they make. If you doubt it, think about the people who have been threatened and not complied, think about people who have died for what they believe in rather than comply with an external demand.

The belief that we can control and coerce others, bending them to our will, is the cause of a great deal the misery in the world. This belief, springing from the external control psychology that we have overwhelmingly been conditioned to accept, is the cause of much of our pain. To let go of our belief that we can control others is astonishingly liberating. To accept other people as they are, to make no demands on them, simply to dance our own dance, as Anthony de Mello would have put it, and to accept that we cannot but allow everyone else to do the same, is not only the only choice that makes any sense, but is also the only way we can make any difference in the world.

We have a choice: In every situation, there is a choice. Accept that we cannot control other people or try to force, coerce, manipulate and bully to get our own way. The latter course of action damages relationships and, in the end, leads to pain and dysfunction. Or, we can accept people as they are, accept they are utterly free agents, accept that we cannot force them, and concentrate instead on building relationships with them and on building the inner world which echoes back to us as our experience. When we have good relationships, things work. Perhaps not in the way we might have expected, or even in the way we would have preferred, but things will work. The world is not ours to control, so let it go, and let it work in its own miraculous way. This is the effortlessness to which Lao Tzu alluded when he wrote, "The world is a mysterious instrument, not meant to be handled." Those who act on it never, I notice, succeed. 

We are responsible: We are responsible for ourselves. We make our choices and then we must live with them, not blaming others or circumstances, and not cowardly abdicating responsibility to some external forces. We are not victims! We are in control. By the same token, we are not responsible for other people. Their fear, their anger, their pain, their misery - it's all a choice they make, as freely as we make ours, and they need to shoulder the consequences of these choices, they are not our crosses to bear. Their happiness, their success, their joy - it's all their doing, not ours.

Being proactive: So here lies our freedom, it is inside us every moment and we can recognize it and live our lives according to the truth of this freedom, or we can continue to behave in the way we have been conditioned by society and try to force our way through life, pushing and coercing others into doing our will. One way is peace and happiness, the other way is pain and madness. Being proactive is the first of Steven Covey's "Seven Habits" and is the cornerstone of a truly effective life. I believe that living a proactive life, centered in the self, accepting that we can change nothing but ourselves, and choosing to focus on the good in our life and seeking to attract more it to ourselves is the purpose of our existence." 

"How It Really Is, Always Was, And Always Will Be"

 

"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw