“Sometimes fate is like a sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that has nothing to do with you, this storm is you. Something inside you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up the sky like pulverized bones.
You have to look! That’s another one of the rules. Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what going on. In fact, things will be even worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.”
- Haruki Murakami
“Closing your eyes won’t make the awfulness go away. It may be that nothing will. But dwelling on it, dreading the evil, playing out the misery in your head – doesn’t this feed the monster? You can’t close your eyes to life, but you can choose where your gaze lingers.”
"When I see the blind and wretched state of men, when I survey the whole universe in its deadness, and man left to himself with no light, as though lost in this corner of the universe without knowing who put him there, what he has to do, or what will become of him when he dies, incapable of knowing anything, I am moved to terror, like a man transported in his sleep to some terrifying desert island, who wakes up quite lost, with no means of escape. Then I marvel that so wretched a state does not drive people to despair."
“I cling like a miser to the freedom that disappears
as soon as there is an excess of things.”
- Albert Camus, "Lyrical and Critical Essays"
"Let me tell you a story about a haunted house and all the thoughts it evoked in me. Do we believe we can save ourselves by saving things? Or do our saved possessions come to possess their saviors? Do those who save many things or hoard believe that there are pockets in shrouds? Or do they collect things as a magical protection against the shroud?
These are questions that have preoccupied me for weeks as my wife and I spent long and exhausting days cleaning out a friend’s house. Many huge truckloads of possessions have been carted off to the dump. Thousands of documents have been shredded and thousands more taken to our house for further sorting. Other things have been donated to charity. This is what happens to people’s things; they disappear, never to be seen again, just as we do, eventually.
Tolstoy wrote a story – “How Much Land Does A Man Need’’ – that ends with the answer: a piece six feet long, enough for your grave. As in this story, the devil always has the last laugh when your covetousness gets the best of you. Yet so many people continue to collect in the vain hope that they are exceptions. Ask almost anyone and they will reluctantly admit that they hoard to some degree.
In capitalist consumer societies, getting and spending and hoarding not only lays waste our powers, but it is done on the backs of the poor and destitute around the world. It is a system built to inflame the worst human tendencies of acquisitiveness and indifference since it teaches that one never has enough of everything.
It denies the primal sympathy of human care for all humans as it teaches that if you surround yourself with enough things – have ten pair of shoes, twenty shirts, an attic filled with things in reserve – you will be safe from the fate of the majority of the world’s poor who have next to nothing. It is an insidious form of soul murder wherein one pulls the shades on the prison-house, counts one’s possessions, and shakes hands with the Devil. And it is sadly common.
From attic to cellar to garage, every little cubbyhole, closet, and drawer in this relative’s house was filled with “saved” items. Nothing was ever thrown away. If you walked in the front door, you would never know that the occupants were compulsive keepers. While there were plenty of knick-knacks in evidence like so many houses where the fear of emptiness rules (the emptiness that is the source of freedom and creativity), once you opened a drawer or closet, a secreted lunacy spilled out seriatim like circus clowns from a small car.
Like all clown shows, it was funny but far more frightening, as though all the saved objects were tinged with the fear of death and dissolution, were futile efforts to stop the flow of time and life by sticking a finger in a dike.
Let me begin with the bags. Hidden in every corner and closet, there were bags stuffed in bags. Big bags and little bags, hundreds if not thousands, used and unused, plastic, paper, cloth bags with price tags still on them. The same was true for boxes, especially empty jewelry boxes. Cardboard boxes that once held a little something, wooden boxes, cigar boxes, large cartons, boxes from every device ever purchased – all seemingly being saved for some future use that would never come.
But the bags and boxes filled each other so that no emptiness could survive, although desolation seemed to cry out from within: “You can’t suffocate me.”
Tens of thousands of photographs and slides were squirreled into cabinets, closets, and their own file cabinets, each neatly marked with the date and place of their taking. Time in a “bottle” from which one would never drink again – possessing the past in a vain attempt to stop time. These photos were kept in places where their taker would never see them again but could find a weird comfort that they were saved somewhere in this vast collection. Cold comfort by embalming time.
It so happens that while emptying the house, I was rereading the wonderful novel, Zorba The Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis. There is a passage in it where a woman has died, and while her corpse lies in her house, the villagers descend on her possessions like shrieking vultures on a carcass.
Old women, men, children went rushing through the doors, jumped through the open windows, over the fences and off the balcony, each carrying whatever he had been able to snatch – sauce pans, frying pans, mattresses, rabbits... Some of them had taken doors or windows off their hinges and had put them on their backs. Mimiko had seized the two court shoes, tied on a piece of string and hung them round his neck – it looked as though Dame Hortense were going off astraddle on his shoulders and only her shoes were visible….
The avidity for things drives many people mad, to get and to keep stuff, to build walls around life so as to protect themselves from death. To consume so as not to be consumed. Kazantzakis brilliantly makes this clear in the book. "Zorba, the Greek" physical laborer and wild man, is different, for he knows that salvation lies in dispossession.
"One day he encounters five little children begging in a village. Their father has just been murdered. “I don’t know why, divine inspiration I suppose, but I went up to them.” He gives the children his basket of food and all his money. He tells his interlocutor, a writer whom he calls “Boss,” a man whom Zorba accuses of not being able to cut the string that ties him to a life of living-death, that that was how he was rescued.
Rescued from my country, from priests, and from money. I began sifting things, sifting more and more things out. I lighten my burden that way. I – how shall I put it? – I find my own deliverance, I become a man."
In the jam-packed attic where there is little room to move with boxes and objects piled on top of each other, I found a large metal four-drawer file cabinet packed with files. In one file folder there was a small purse filled with the following: four very old unmarked keys, six paper clips, two old unworkable watches, a bobby pin, a circular case that contained what looked like a piece of a human bone, a few old medallions, tweezers, four buttons, an eye screw, a safety pin, a nail, a screw, two ancient tiny photos, and a lock of human hair.
Similar objects were stored throughout the house in various containers, bags, boxes, the pockets of clothes, in old ancient furniture in the basement, on shelves, in cigar boxes, in desks, etc.
Old receipts for purchases made forty years ago, airline baggage tags, ticket stubs, school papers, jewelry hidden everywhere, old foreign and domestic coins, perhaps twenty-five old unworkable watches, clocks, radios, clothes and more clothes, more than anyone could ever have worn, scores of old pens and pencils, hand-written notes with no dates or any semblance of order or meaning, chaos and obsessive account-keeping hiding everywhere in contradictory forms shared by two people: one the neat freak and the other disorganized.
One dead and the other forced by fate to let her stuff go, to stand naked in the wind.
How does it help a person to record that they bought a toaster for $6.98 in 1957 or a bracelet for $20 in 1970 or that they called so-and-so some undated time in the past? What good does it do to save vast correspondences documenting your complaints, bitterness, and quarrels? Or boxes upon boxes of Christmas cards received thirty years ago? Or brochures and receipts from a trip taken long ago? Old sports medals? Scrapbooks?
Photos of long dead relatives no one wants? Fashion designer shoes and coats and handbags hidden in a dusty attic where you don’t even know they are there. An immigrant mother’s ancient sewing machine weighing seventy-five pounds and gathering dust in the cellar?
Nothing I could tell you can come close to picturing what we saw in this house. It was overwhelming, horrifying, and weirdly fascinating. And aside from the useful things that were donated to charity and some that were taken to the woman’s next dwelling, ninety percent was dumped in a landfill, soon to be buried.
In his brilliant novel "Underworld", Don DeLillo writes about a guy named Brian who goes to visit a collector of old baseball paraphernalia – bats, balls, an old scoreboard, tapes of games, etc. – in a house where “a mood of mausoleum gloom” fills the air. The man tells Brian: "There’s men in the coming years they’ll pay fortunes for these objects. Because this is desperation speaking. Men come here to see my collection. They come and they don’t want to leave. The phone rings, it’s the family – where is he? This is the fraternity of missing men."
Men and women hoarders, collectors, and keepers are lost children, trying desperately to secure themselves from death while losing themselves in the process. In my friend’s house I found huge amounts of string and rope waiting to tie something up neatly someday. That day never came.
Zorba tells the Boss, who insists he’s free, the following: "No, you’re not free. The string you’re tied to is perhaps no longer than other people’s. That’s all. You’re on a long piece of string, boss; you come and go and think you’re free, but you never cut the string in two. And when people don’t cut that string...
It’s difficult, boss, very difficult. You need a touch of folly to do that; folly, d’you see? You have to risk everything! But you’ve got such a strong head, it’ll always get the better of you. A man’s head is like a grocer; it keeps accounts. I’ve paid so much and earned so much and that means a profit of this much or a loss of that much!
The head’s a careful little shopkeeper; it never risks all it has, always keeps something in reserve. It never breaks the string. Ah, no! It hangs on tight to it, the bastard! If the string slips out of its grasp, the head, poor devil, is lost, finished! But if a man doesn’t break the string, tell me what flavor is left in life? The flavor of camomile, weak camomile tea! Nothing like rum – that makes you see life inside out."
On the way out the door on our final day cleaning the house, I found a beautiful boxed fountain pen on a windowsill. I love pens since I am a writer. This one shone brightly and seemed to speak to me: think of what you could write with me, it said so seductively. I was sorely tempted, but knowing that I didn’t need another pen, I left it there, thinking that perhaps the next occupants of this house would write a different story and embrace Camus’ advice about an excess of things.
Look around you, see all the fine possessions you have, how proud you are of it all. Then ask yourself how many of them you will take back into eternity when your time comes. None. No, you will take out exactly what you brought in... nothing, "and all your money won't another minute buy." Fill a bowl with water, and place your hand in it, then take it out. The hole left in the water is how long you'll be remembered. You are, as we all are, "dust in the wind..."
"Is your "laziness" actually exhaustion? Is your "need for control" actually a desperate search for safety? The traits you likely judge most harshly in yourself are often not defects - they are scars. We tend to believe that if we were "better" people, we would be more relaxed, more trusting, or more open. But psychology tells us a different story: these behaviors are not signs of a broken character; they are signs of a nervous system that has worked incredibly hard to keep you safe. In this deep dive, we look at the biology of survival. When you endure chronic stress or childhood instability, your brain - specifically the amygdala - rewires itself for hyper-vigilance. You become an expert at reading micro-expressions and anticipating danger, but you lose the ability to rest. This video explains why you feel like a car with the engine revving in neutral, why you might feel "numb" to survive, and why your high-functioning armor is so heavy to carry. It is time to understand the machinery under the hood so you can finally stop fighting your own biology.
This is for the person who has always been the "strong one." If you are the friend everyone calls in a crisis, if you were called an "old soul" as a child, or if you feel like you are constantly holding up the ceiling so it doesn't collapse on everyone else - this analysis is for you. It is for anyone who is tired of being resilient and just wants to be human. You are not broken. You are simply a survivor who is still wearing armor in a room where the war ended years ago."
"A 92-year-old man, small, very proud, dressed and clean-shaven, with his hair perfectly combed, moves into a nursing home one morning at 8:00. His 70-year-old wife has recently passed away, forcing him to leave his home. After several hours of waiting in the nursing home lobby, he smiles kindly when we tell him his room is ready.
As he walks to the elevator with his walker, I give him a description of his small room, including the drape hanging from his window as a curtain. "I like it a lot," he says with the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old boy who has just received a new puppy. "Mr. Vinto, you haven't seen the room yet, wait a minute."
"That has nothing to do with it," he says. "Happiness is something I choose in advance. Whether I like my room or not does not depend on the furniture or the decorations - it depends on how I perceive it. In my head it is already decided that I like my room. It is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I can choose, I can spend the day in bed counting the difficulties I have with the parts of my body that do not work, or get up and thank the heavens for the ones that still work. Every day is a gift and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on the new day and on all the happy memories I have collected throughout my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you have accumulated."
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in your bank account of memories. Thank you for participating in filling my bank account, where I continue to deposit. Remember these simple rules to be happy:
"On his deathbed at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer Steve Jobs said this... "I have reached the pinnacle of success in business. In the eyes of others, my life is the epitome of success. However, apart from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is just a fact of life that I am accustomed to. At this moment, lying on my sick bed and looking back on my entire life, I realize that all the praise and riches I was so proud of have faded and become insignificant in the face of impending death.
You can hire someone to drive the car for you, make money for you, but you can't have someone carry the disease for you. Lost material things can be found. But there is one thing you can never find when you lose "Life".
When a person enters the operating room, he or she will realize that there is a book that he or she has not yet finished reading: “The Book of Healthy Living.” Whatever stage of life we are in at the moment, we will eventually face the day when the curtain falls. Feel affection, love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends... Treat yourself well. Appreciate others.
As we grow older and therefore wiser, we gradually realize that wearing a $300 watch or a $30 watch both tell the same time...Whether we carry a $300 wallet or a $30 wallet, the amount of money inside is the same; Whether you drive a $150,000 car or a $30,000 car, the road and distance are the same and you arrive at the same destination. Whether you drink a $300 bottle of wine or a $10 bottle, the hangover is the same; whether the house we live in is 300 square meters or 3000 square meters, the loneliness is the same.
You will realize that your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you fly first class or economy, if the plane goes down, it goes down with it…
So… I hope you realize, when you have companions, friends and old friends, brothers and sisters, with whom you chat, laugh, talk, sing, talk about north-south-east-west or about heaven and earth. Enjoy life and don't obsess over material things." He was silent for several minutes, then uttered his final words, "Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow..."
Exposing the Financial Crisis Millions Are Living Right Now"
"Modern depression risks are showing up in places most people don’t expect - paychecks that don’t stretch, “normal” bills that feel impossible, and a growing sense that the economy is moving without us. If you’ve felt that pressure lately, this breakdown will help you make sense of it. Here’s the thing: inflation isn’t just higher prices - it’s a slow drain on purchasing power that hits every household differently. We’ll connect the dots between wages, debt, housing, and the widening wealth gap, so you can see how today’s poverty cycle is being reinforced in real time. What most people miss is the resilience side. This video shifts the focus from panic to practical strategy: budgeting basics, building a small buffer, protecting cash flow, and simple “survival” habits that reduce stress and increase stability. We also compare key patterns from past depressions to what’s happening now, using data and real-world examples to spotlight risks - and smarter moves you can make next."
"It is often said that timing is everything, and that is certainly true when it comes to war with Iran. By October 27th, national elections will have been held in Israel to determine the 120 members of the twenty-sixth Knesset. The polls do not look good for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at all, and so he is probably going to be out of a job. Solving the “Iran problem” is the number one thing that Netanyahu wants to accomplish before he leaves, and so the clock is ticking. Even if there was some sort of a dramatic development that prevented the U.S. from attacking Iran, top Israeli officials have already warned that they would just go in anyway.
Of course it isn’t just the Israelis that are facing time pressure. Mid-term elections in the United States are scheduled for November 3rd, and history has shown us that they are often not kind to whichever party controls the White House. President Trump knows that if the Democrats end up taking control of the House and Senate his hands would really be tied at that point. He doesn’t want to leave the “Iran problem” to future administrations, and so he is highly motivated to act now.
If a war is going to be politically beneficial, it should be over by the time an election arrives. Voters like victories. Voters do not like wars that drag on indefinitely with no end in sight. So ideally Netanyahu and Trump would like to see this crisis with Iran wrapped up by the middle of the year. But if Netanyahu and Trump wait too long, the window of opportunity that they currently have may close completely.
This is likely one of the reasons why the Iranians have been working so hard to delay matters. If negotiations can be stretched out long enough, Netanyahu will be voted out of office and President Trump will be saddled with a highly hostile Congress which would not be eager to fight Iran. So the Iranians keep talking about how much they are eager to talk, but meanwhile they are refusing to agree to any of President Trump’s demands. Unfortunately for the Iranians, it appears that time is running out on their little game.
On Tuesday, Marco Rubio was scheduled to deliver a very important briefing to the “gang of eight”… Marco Rubio will deliver a rare briefing to top US lawmakers on Iran at the White House on Tuesday as Washington deploys its largest force of aircraft and warships to the Middle East since the 2003 buildup to the Iraq war.
The audience for the secretary of state’s briefing is reported to include the so-called “gang of eight”, which includes the senior lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate, as well as the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. The select group is briefed by the White House on classified intelligence matters, which can include preparations for significant military action. Rubio last publicly briefed the group on 5 January, the day after the US launched its successful operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Normally, this sort of a briefing doesn’t happen unless something really big has just occurred or something really big is about to occur. Many are suggesting that this is a sign that military action against Iran is imminent. Others believe that we won’t see anything happen until the weekend at the earliest. On Monday, President Trump suggested that a war with Iran is something that could be “easily won”…
Since the Iranians are not inclined to give him what he wants, Trump is reportedly envisioning a series of limited strikes that will force Iran to make major concessions. But if the limited strikes do not accomplish that goal, Trump would be ready to initiate a broader campaign…
"President Donald Trump warned his aides that if diplomacy or targeted strikes do not convince Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program, he will consider larger actions, according to a report. While negotiators from the U.S. and Iran will meet Thursday in Geneva to try and find a solution that would avoid military conflict, Trump has been considering other options should the talks fail, according to The New York Times. Both sides have ramped up military preparations in the region in recent days as Trump has been leaning toward carrying out a strike to show Iran that it must give up its ability to make nuclear weapons, Trump advisors told the Times."
This is a huge gamble, because once the missiles start flying a conflict with Iran could spiral out of control very rapidly. On Monday, the Iranians warned that they will respond “ferociously” even to a series of limited strikes…Iran vowed on Monday to retaliate “ferociously” against any attack by the United States and reiterated warnings of a regional conflagration in response to President Donald Trump’s threat of limited strikes. The bellicose rhetoric from Tehran and Washington came as both sides were set to hold indirect talks in Geneva on a potential deal regarding Iran’s contentious nuclear program, with a US official confirming discussions would resume on Thursday without offering further details.
As Iran faces US pressure backed by a build-up of military force in the Middle East, university students have started the new semester with anti-government protests, reviving slogans from nationwide demonstrations that peaked in January and were met with a deadly crackdown.
And the head of Iran’s military is telling us that his forces will “inflict heavy casualties” on us if we attack… "Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi warned the United States against any military action against Iran, saying it would suffer heavy losses in the event of aggression. “We have not initiated any war, and in the past our approach was to prevent the expansion of conflict and reduce casualties. However, the actions of the United States have caused us to change our approach, and this time, if they make a mistake, we will inflict heavy casualties on the enemy,” Mousavi said. “Our nation and armed forces are determined to stand to the end against the hegemonic system.”
The Iranians keep hinting that they have some big surprises up their sleeves. Do the Iranians possess weapons that we do not know about? If the Iranians actually decided to use unconventional weapons against Israel, the Israelis would respond with overwhelming force. And then the entire world would descend into a state of chaos.
Speaking of unconventional weapons, the Russians are alleging that the UK and France actually intended to equip Ukraine with nuclear weapons…Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) alleged London and Paris were engaged in a clandestine operation to arm Kyiv with more muscle against Moscow by supplying it with a ‘wonder weapon’. ‘Britain and France realize that the developments in Ukraine leave no chance of achieving their much-desired victory over Russia at the hands of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,’ said a statement today from the spy agency.
However, the British and French elites are not prepared to accept defeat. It is believed that Ukraine needs to be equipped with “wunderwaffe”. ‘Kyiv would be able to claim more favourable terms for ending the hostilities if it possessed a nuclear bomb, or at least a so-called “dirty bomb”."
Let us hope that this report is not accurate. Let us hope that the Russians simply got a hold of some bad information. Because giving nukes to Ukraine would be absolutely insane. Unfortunately, we live at a time when the entire world seems to be going nuts. The kinetic phase of World War III is nearly upon us, and we are going to witness so much death and destruction in the months ahead. So enjoy the last remaining moments of relative peace and quiet while you still can, because everything is about to change."
Paris, France - "Poor Jeff Epstein. The kindest word you will hear about him in the press is that he is dead. Apart from that he is a ‘monster’...an ‘evil’ man...a ‘criminal’. Anyone who had anything to do with him, too, is now denying it. The New Republic: "Howard Lutnick Exposed for Even More Lies About His Epstein Ties." The commerce secretary said he cut off contact in 2005. Emails in the Epstein files show otherwise.
We are disappointed. Even more reprehensible than Epstein himself is the way his former friends have dumped him. To a man, they ‘cut off ties’...and claimed they ‘never met the man.’ And now, everyone who ever sent him a birthday card is expected to apologize...and get a defense attorney. It almost makes us feel sorry for him. No one recalls Epstein’s warm smile...or his generosity. “What kind of a girl do you want,” he would offer his guests.
We wonder what was said about him at his funeral. ‘He was kind to pets,’ one orator might have offered. ‘He recycled his trash,’ another might have added. ‘He was a good friend,’ was bound to come out. But why then was no one a good friend to him? One of the victims, for example, told the FBI that Epstein had helped Lutnick make millions of dollars on New York real estate. And yet, Lutnick treated the dead man like a pariah.
If Jeff Epstein were quoted on the Dow, he would probably be an extreme bargain. Everyone who could has already dropped him. His stock probably would be selling at a deep discount. The press carries only negative stories on him. And everything he ever touched is viewed with suspicion if not outright disgust. And since no one else will stand up for him...we won’t either. But we will at least admit that Epstein’s stock is probably oversold.
As far as we know, Epstein may have taken advantage of his victims. But at least he didn’t kill them. Or even rob them. Neither George Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, or Donald Trump can say that; all of them ordered killings...murders...and bombings. Donald Trump now worries that he might not make it into Heaven. We don’t know, but we’d suggest he renounce his sins and seek redemption as soon as possible.
As for Epstein, he must have been a pretty good spy. His friend list included the richest, most powerful people on the planet. Some went along for the fun. Others had darker motives. Les Wexner, for example, claims Epstein was just a very clever ‘con man.’ Associated Press: "The billionaire behind the retail empire that once blanketed shopping malls with names such as Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch told members of Congress on Wednesday that he was “duped by a world-class con man” — close financial adviser Jeffrey Epstein. Les Wexner also denied knowing about the late sex offender’s crimes or participating in Epstein’s abuse of girls and young women.
“I was naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” the 88-year-old retired founder of L Brands said in a statement to the House Oversight and Reform Committee released before his interview."
Epstein, had he not been strangled before he could spill the beans, could probably sue for defamation. Wexner must have some of the highest paid lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors in New York. Did they allow themselves to be ‘duped’ by a two-bit crook from Brooklyn? Didn’t they spot the con? Or were they not supposed to?
Wexner claims to be an innocent businessman. But not everyone thinks so. From Drop Site: "In 1991, the Columbus Police Department was investigating the mob-style assassination of Arthur Shapiro, an attorney whose firm worked for The Limited. In March 1985, Shapiro was due to testify before a grand jury in a major tax evasion case — but the day before his testimony, he was shot twice in the head, at point-blank range, in his car outside a Columbus cemetery.
In June 6, 1991, a Columbus police analyst submitted an internal memo that suggested Wexner’s business was connected to organized crime. The memo identified several Wexner corporate entities formed by the slain lawyer’s office, some of which appeared to be linked to Wexner’s New Albany property development. Epstein’s name later appeared as an officer of some of these same companies when they were dissolved a few years later."
We have our own remote recollections on the subject. Many years ago, we were interested in what really went on at Mena airport in Arkansas. Rumors claimed that it was a drop site for cocaine smuggling...and had been given a pass by the Clintons. The ‘liberal’ press didn’t want to follow the story, so we followed it ourselves. We hired an investigative reporter, Chris Ruddy (now at the head of NewsMax), to go down and see what he could find out. The results were not conclusive. But later, we learned that the suspicious air traffic, by Southern Air Transport, had been re-routed to Columbus, Ohio. Another of those strange coincidences?
The story of the Iran-Contra caper is long, sordid and complicated. But in its cast featured many of the appalling characters who now play a role in the Epstein saga. There is the CIA, for example...the mafia...lowlifes...high lifes — there is even Ghislaine Maxwell’s father laundering money for Israel (which was shipping weapons to Iran)...and Barry Seal....who flew his gun-running missions out of the very same airport that Epstein turned into Southern Air Transport’s headquarters — in Columbus, Ohio.
We don’t pretend to understand it in any detail. Nor will we go into the ‘weeds’ of how, out of 20,000 airports in the US, the drug smugglers/CIA airline would choose the one used by Les Wexner’s import empire. Epstein, Wexner’s very close associate for 20 years, apparently helped to broker the deal.
Another long-time friend who gave Epstein the heave-ho was Donald Trump. Epstein became persona non grata at Mar al Lago; Trump explained why: “He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again, and I threw him out of the place...”
And then there was another monumentally disloyal friend, Leon Black. He says he was blackmailed by Epstein. Black paid Epstein $158 million. What for? It appears Black really was being blackmailed. If so, it is one for the record books. The details are murky. The Russian girl involved demanded $100 million. How much Epstein got, we don’t know. But Black and Epstein were apparently still friends, as Epstein was giving him advice on how to deal with the ex-mistress. He might threaten to have the Russian secret service bump her off, Epstein suggested.
What a world! What a show! Sex. Violence. Money. Rich people. Powerful people. Jerks and jackasses....all of them. So, let’s give poor Epstein some credit. We have him to thank for hours of fun for journalists, conspiracy theorists, spooks, prosecutors...the cover-up folks at the Department of Justice...and many more."
"Iran is reportedly acquiring China’s Mach 3.3 supersonic CM-302 missiles, capable of striking U.S. aircraft carriers with devastating precision. These advanced anti-ship weapons move 3.3 times the speed of sound, maneuver at low altitude, and are designed to bypass even the most sophisticated Aegis defenses. With two carrier strike groups now in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. faces its greatest naval threat in decades. Analysts warn that these missiles could change the balance of power in the region, challenging America’s ability to defend its ships and projecting force."
Guarantee a Slam-Dunk Success if the US Attacks Iran"
by Larry C. Johnson
"Why has Donald Trump deployed almost 30% of the US Air Force inventory of F-35A jets to Jordan and Saudi Arabia when these aircraft are unable to penetrate deep into Iran without air refueling near the Iranian border. They are essentially useless for inflicting damage on high priority targets in Iran if Iran’s air defense systems are intact. Let me explain.
I will try to make this as simple as possible… The majority of the combat aircraft the US has deployed to the Middle East are based in Jordan’s Shaheed Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base, which is is roughly about 1,400–1,500 km (around 870–930 miles) from Tehran in a straight line, and Prince Sultan Air Base, which is 680–750 miles from Tehran.
The distance from Iran’s western border to Tehran varies depending on the exact point along the border, but here’s the real-world breakdown: Straight-line (as-the-crow-flies) from the closest western border point - say, near Mehran or Qasr-e Shirin on the Iraq border - to Tehran: About 400–450 kilometers (248–280 miles).
From a mid-western spot like Kermanshah (a major city right on the border): Roughly 430 km (267 miles) to Tehran.
If you’re measuring from the far-western edge (e.g., near the Turkey-Iraq-Iran tripoint): Closer to 500–550 km (310–342 miles).
Averaging it out for military planning: ~425 km (264 miles) is the practical ballpark - about a 30–40 minute flight for an F-35 at subsonic cruise.
According to Lockheed Martin and US Air Force data sheets, the effective combat radius of an F-35A when flying in a stealth configuration (i.e., using only internal fuel and internal weapons bays to preserve low-observable characteristics) is >590 nautical miles (approximately 1,093 kilometers or 679 statute miles).
How is your addition and subtraction math skills? Let’s use Kermanshah as the point of reference for the flight plan of a squadron of F-35As that are trying to attack Iran. If those planes take off from Jordan, they will need to refuel when they are 200 nautical miles from the Iranian border. They would then have barely enough fuel to reach Tehran, drop their bombs and return to the border with Saudi Arabia.
But the F-35As most likely will be carrying a AGM-158B JASSM-ER (Extended Range, the current primary operational variant) with a 1,000 pound warhead. The maximum range of the AGM-158B is 575 miles (approximately 925–1,000 km). To have the best chance of an effective strike without entering Iranian air space, the F-35A should launch about 250 miles west of Iran’s border.
So what’s the problem? It is the YLC-8B Chinese radar that has been supplied to Iran. The YLC-8B is a three-dimensional, long-range anti-stealth surveillance radar developed by China’s Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology. It’s a UHF-band radar, which is particularly effective against stealth aircraft because longer radio wavelengths are harder for aircraft to evade through traditional radar-absorbent materials. Here are its key capabilities:
Detection range: Up to 700 kilometers (about 430 miles) for ballistic missiles, and around 270to 330 kilometers (170 to 205 miles) for conventional aircraft.
Stealth detection: Specifically designed to detect aircraft with small radar cross-sections, including the F-35 Lightning II and the B-2 Spirit bomber, at distances exceeding 200 kilometers.
Targets a one-square-meter radar cross-section at useful ranges.
Rapid deployment: Can be deployed or dismantled in under 30 minutes, making it mobile and hard to target.
Integration capability: Can reportedly be linked with BeiDou satellite navigation and integrated into air-defense networks. If that radar is deployed 30 miles from Iran’s western border, it will - in theory - be able to detect and target the F-35A squadrons 400 miles inside Saudi Arabian territory.
This is a genuine game-changer for Iran’s air defenses. Stealth aircraft like the F-35 rely on their low radar cross-section to approach targets undetected. The YLC-8B’s UHF-band operation partially neutralizes that advantage. Even if the radar doesn’t provide precise targeting data for SAMs, it can provide early warning and track approximate positions - which is invaluable for air defense planning and force deployment.
The maximum safe distance for airborne refueling of F-35As in Saudi territory - while avoiding detection by a YLC-8B radar deployed 30 miles (about 48 km) inside Iran’s western border with Saudi Arabia - would be approximately 380–430 miles (610–690 km) from the Iranian border, to err on the side of caution.
To summarize, the optimal launch point for an AGM-158B by an F-35A puts it well within the Chinese radar’s range for detection. Then there is the question of intercepting the AGM missile. The Russians reportedly have provided Iran with S-400 and S-300 air defense systems. The S-400 uses a family of missiles for layered defense, so the “maximum range” depends on which one is loaded. Consensus from reliable sources (e.g., Wikipedia aggregates, CSIS Missile Threat, GlobalSecurity.org, Army Technology, and Russian defense reports) breaks it down as follows:
40N6 / 40N6E (long-range, active radar homing): 400 km (250 miles) – This is the system’s advertised maximum for aerodynamic targets (e.g., aircraft, AWACS, cruise missiles at high altitude). It’s designed for standoff engagements, including potential over-the-horizon shots, and is the basis for claims of the S-400’s superior reach.
48N6 series (e.g., 48N6E3 / 48N6DM): 240–250 km (150 miles) – Common medium-range option, used for most intercepts including stealth aircraft, drones, and some ballistic threats.
9M96E2: 120 km (75 miles) – Shorter-range, high-maneuverability missile for tactical threats like low-flying cruise missiles or aircraft.
9M96E: 40 km (25 miles) – Point-defense variant.
So what does this all mean? As long as the F-35As stay outside the range of the 40N6/ 40N6E missiles, it is unlikely that Iran will be able to shoot down any of the US aircraft. However, the Chinese radar, working in tandem with the Russian S-300 and S-400 systems have a high probability of destroying the AGM’s before they reach their targets.
Iran is unlikely to be sitting passively waiting to be hit. While the US will be launching AGMs at Iranian targets, the Iranians will be launching drones and ballistic missiles at the air bases in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as going after other US targets in the region. I think this helps explain with General Caine and CIA Director Ratclifffe reportedly told Trump that they could not guarantee the success of a surgical strike. This will mark the first time since the end of WW II that the US will engage a country with a missile/drone capability that could neutralize US air assets and inflict heavy damage of US and ally military infrastructure."
That's Not The Question. 'Sometimes You Need A Dictator'"
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"Music just makes everything better- even traveling through a busy and crowded train station. Which is precisely why French train company SNCF decided to put pianos smack dab in the middle of select train stations. The pianos- which are known as “À vous de jouer” pianos, or "It’s your turn to play"- are free for anyone to use, and lucky travelers were treated to a real show when two complete strangers improvised a beautiful piece together.
Full screen recommended.
One man had just sat down at the piano and started playing what sounds like "Una Mattina" by Ludovico Einaudi when the second man, in the white shirt, approaches and observes admiringly. At the 1:10 mark, the second man jumps in, augmenting the original music. The two men barely look at each other as their composition grows, but more and more travelers stop to watch as it becomes obvious something beautiful is unfolding. The men really hit their stride around the 2:50 mark, then shake things up again around the 4:30 mark, at which point the entire train station seems to have stopped in awe of them. After their big finale, they finish with nothing more than some shy shrugs and a high-five, proving once again that music is not only universal, but truly magical."
"Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. Assembled from 51 exposures recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 20th and 21st centuries, with additional data from ground based telescopes, this mosaic spans about 40,000 light-years across the central region of M101 in one of the highest definition spiral galaxy portraits ever released from Hubble.
The sharp image shows stunning features of the galaxy's face-on disk of stars and dust along with background galaxies, some visible right through M101 itself. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about 25 million light-years away.”
“The monstrous thing is not that men have created roses out of this dung heap, but that, for some reason or other, they should want roses. For some reason or other man looks for the miracle, and to accomplish it he will wade through blood. He will debauch himself with ideas, he will reduce himself to a shadow if for only one second of his life he can close his eyes to the hideousness of reality. Everything is endured – disgrace, humiliation, poverty, war, crime, ennui – in the belief that overnight something will occur, a miracle, which will render life tolerable. And all the while a meter is running inside and there is no hand that can reach in there and shut it off.
All the while someone is eating the bread of life and drinking the wine, some dirty fat cockroach of a priest who hides away in the cellar guzzling it, while up above in the light of the street a phantom host touches the lips and the blood is pale as water. And out of the endless torment and misery no miracle comes forth, no microscopic vestige of relief. Only ideas, pale, attenuated ideas which have to be fattened by slaughter; ideas which come forth like bile, like the guts of a pig when the carcass is ripped open.
Somehow the realization that nothing was to be hoped for had a salutary effect upon me. For weeks and months, for years, in fact, all my life I had been looking forward to something happening, some intrinsic event that would alter my life, and now suddenly, inspired by the absolute hopelessness of everything, I felt relieved, felt as though a great burden had been lifted from my shoulders. At dawn I parted company with the young Hindu, after touching him for a few francs, enough for a room. Walking toward Montparnasse I decided to let myself drift with the tide, to make not the least resistance to fate, no matter in what form it presented itself. Nothing that had happened to me thus far had been sufficient to destroy me; nothing had been destroyed except my illusions. I myself was intact. The world was intact. Tomorrow there might be a revolution, a plague, an earthquake; tomorrow there might not be left a single soul to whom one could turn for sympathy, for aid, for faith. It seemed to me that the great calamity had already manifested itself, that I could be no more truly alone than at this very moment. I made up my mind that I would hold on to nothing, that I would expect nothing, that henceforth I would live as an animal, a beast of prey, a rover, a plunderer. Even if war were declared, and it were my lot to go, I would grab the bayonet and plunge it, plunge it up to the hilt. And if rape were the order of the day then rape I would, and with a vengeance.
At this very moment, in the quiet dawn of a new day, was not the earth giddy with crime and distress? Had one single element of man’s nature been altered, vitally, fundamentally altered, by the incessant march of history? By what he calls the better part of his nature, man has been betrayed, that is all. At the extreme limits of his spiritual being man finds himself again naked as a savage. When he finds God, as it were, he has been picked clean: he is a skeleton. One must burrow into life again in order to put on flesh. The word must become flesh; the soul thirsts. On whatever crumb my eye fastens, I will pounce and devour. If to live is the paramount thing, then I will live, even if I must become a cannibal. Heretofore I have been trying to save my precious hide, trying to preserve the few pieces of meat that hid my bones. I am done with that. I have reached the limits of endurance. My back is to the wall; I can retreat no further. As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which I have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle world in which the lean spirits roam with sharp claws. If I am a hyena I am a lean and hungry one: I go forth to fatten myself.”
