"What Is Going To Happen When The Oil Reserves Run Out And The Tankers Stop Arriving?"

by Michael Snyder

"A lot of people out there seem to think that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is not that big of a deal, and that is because we aren’t feeling the consequences yet. By the end of this month, the last oil tankers that left the Persian Gulf before the war with Iran began will have arrived at their destinations. And right now nations all over the globe are running through their strategic energy reserves. Some nations have months of oil left, and some nations only have weeks of oil left. As those reserves start to run dry, we are going to witness a supply crunch that is absolutely unprecedented.

If you don’t believe me, perhaps you will believe the head of the International Energy Agency. He is warning that we are “facing the biggest energy security threat in history”…“We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history,” Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, or IEA, told CNBC on Thursday. “As of today, we’ve lost 13 million barrels per day of oil … and there are major disruptions in vital commodities,” he told Steve Sedgwick virtually at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore.

Birol has previously warned that the Iran war and ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz would result in “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced” and urged governments to bolster their resilience with alternative energy sources. For now, we are only witnessing limited rationing and limited shortages around the world because everyone is running through their strategic reserves. And so it feels like we are going to come through this okay. But the truth is that we aren’t.

Global supplies of oil and natural gas will get steadily tighter during the months ahead. The Iranians are hardly letting any commercial vessels get through the Strait of Hormuz, and even if they suddenly changed their minds tomorrow we are being told that it could take up to six months to clear all of the mines out of the Strait of Hormuz… It may take up to six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian mines, according to a new report. A Defense Department official relayed the estimate to lawmakers during a closed-door congressional briefing on Tuesday, three sources familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The assessment points to potentially long-lasting economic consequences, as the strait - now subject to dueling U.S. and Iranian blockades - is a critical trade artery that carried 20 percent of the world’s oil before the war. It appears that Iran has been using this temporary ceasefire to lay more mines in the Strait. And clearing them will not even begin until the end of the war…

Any efforts to remove the mines won’t even begin until the war ends, the official warned. The Iranian navy began placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz in March, as US-Israeli forces continued their joint attacks on the country. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is promising that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will continue until Iran finally agrees to make a deal…

I am convinced that Trump is quite serious about this. According to CENTCOM, more than 30 vessels have been redirected by the U.S. Navy since the blockade was initiated…The last update by CENTCOM, on Wednesday night, said 31 ships had been redirected since the start of the blockade. Iran has called the blockade a violation of the ceasefire agreement, while the U.S. says it will remain in place as a condition of negotiations.

With Iran and the U.S. both blocking traffic, barely anything is getting out of the Persian Gulf. It is a ticking time bomb for the entire global economy, and we are potentially facing catastrophic supply disruptions…The scale of these observed and potential supply disruptions is without precedent. The 1973 oil embargo wiped roughly 7 percent of global oil production off the market but was politically reversible. The present crisis has reduced 13 percent of global supply, at least temporarily, and it is a physical disruption. The recovery of damaged infrastructure will take months or even years. Finally, the Middle East accounts for about 30 percent of total global oil supply; in a worst-case scenario, virtually all these volumes could be at risk.

The nations that will be the least affected are those that either do not need to import oil or that have accumulated large reserves. For example, China possesses the largest strategic oil reserves in the entire world…New data from the US government released this week shows just how aggressively China added to its oil reserves ahead of the war in Iran. The US Energy Information Administration estimates China ended 2025 with nearly 1.4 billion barrels of oil stocked away, compared to 1.2 billion barrels among the 32 members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes 413 million barrels in US coffers. And the US has been drawing down its stockpile, with the latest US reserve levels showing about 405 million barrels following the sale of over 8 million barrels in the first half of April. Even though the Chinese buy more oil and natural gas from the Middle East than anyone else, they will be able to function normally for many months. Other countries will not have that luxury.

Before the war, it was being projected that the strategic reserves that the UK is holding can only last for about 90 days… As of February 26, according to the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, the UK holds about 38 million ⁠barrels of crude oil and 30 million barrels of refined products, as strategic reserves. The reserves are thought to be able to last around 90 days. Other European countries are in even tougher positions.

Shortages of jet fuel will probably start to show up first. At this point, we are being told that Europe only has about six weeks of jet fuel left…Jet fuel prices have risen even faster, doubling in price to almost $200 a barrel. And as the war drags on, jet fuel is getting harder to come by for countries that don’t produce it or have limited supplies. “In Europe, we have maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” the International Energy Agency’s executive director, Fatih Birol, told the Associated Press on April 16.

It appears to be inevitable that flights will be canceled and planes will be grounded on a widespread basis. In fact, Lufthansa has already announced that it will be eliminating about 20,000 short-haul flights… Lufthansa is cutting roughly 20,000 short-haul flights this summer, citing a spike in jet fuel prices that has rendered many routes “unprofitable” as the global aviation industry grapples with rising costs.

The German carrier said Tuesday the cuts, which will run through October, are expected to save about 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel. The airline noted that fuel prices have roughly doubled since the outbreak of the Iran war. “In total, 20,000 short-haul flights will be removed from the schedule through October, equivalent to approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, the price of which has doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict,” the company said in a statement. “The schedule adjustments reduce the number of unprofitable short-haul flights across the Lufthansa Group network.”

If the Strait of Hormuz is not opened soon, this will only be just the very beginning. David Roche can see what is happening, and he is suggesting that a worst case scenario is ahead of us… Irishman David Roche see’s what’s coming: “We are going to run out of fuel in the global economy. The markets are in cloud cuckoo land. We are moving beyond initial inflationary affects to the second stage where there is no gas to price. Within a few months we will be in an economy which has to adjust downwards to eliminate demand for fuel that’s not there”

Sadly, if we can’t get the Strait of Hormuz opened we really will experience a global nightmare. It is so frustrating to me that so many people out there do not seem to understand this. Just because we aren’t experiencing the full consequences of this crisis today does not mean that those consequences are not coming. It is going to take time for the strategic oil reserves to run dry. But once they do, things are going to get really crazy."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Lawton, Oklahoma, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Remember..."

"Every time you wake up ask yourself what good 

things am I going to do today? Remember that when the 

sun goes down at sunset it will take a part of your life with it."

- Native American Saying

"One Day..."

 

"Knowing..."

“Knowing can be a curse on a person’s life. I’d traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn’t know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can’t ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now.”

- Sue Monk Kidd

"Memnoch The Devil"

"'Memnoch the Devil' is a novel by Anne Rice in which the concepts of good and evil are questioned. Through Memnoch's interactions with God and Lestat, all of the characters question their motives, and they search their souls to try to determine whether they are truly good people or not.

Lestat is a vampire who is tracking a victim that he has taken a special interest in, a drug lord, murderer and art smuggler named Roger. During his hunt he has become aware of another presence following him as well and has become frightened of what may be tracking him. For some reason he believes that this may be the Devil that is tracking him and he calls upon his close friend and fledgling, David, for comfort and advice. David advises that perhaps the events taking place may have something to do with the victim of choice, or with the victim's daughter, Dora, a religious leader. David actually feels more as though Lestat may be losing his mind.

When Lestat takes his victim, something unusual occurs that shakes Lestat. The victim first talks to Lestat, which is something that no other victim has been able to do. Also, Roger comes back to Lestat to tell him his life's story, make corrections to the gaps that Lestat has been made aware of and to ask that Lestat watch over his daughter. Lestat accepts the responsibility, but must also deal with his own personal feelings for Dora, as well as the past. Lestat 's past with women causes him trouble in this area in keeping his promise. Lestat's stalker turns out to confront him in the middle of his living up to this new responsibility and he must attempt to fulfill his promise to Roger and take on the challenge that has been placed at his feet.

Memnoch, the Devil has come to ask for Lestat's assistance as his first lieutenant. Lestat must now decide if he will accept the Devil's proposal and keep his soul. Furthermore, Lestat has to reconcile his religious ideas with the true history of the beginning of the world and the parts that both God and the Devil play in the world that exists and the afterlife. He is given the opportunity to find out the answer to the very question that has plagued mankind since the beginning, but once he does have the answers, will he be able to choose a side, and if so, will it be the right one? Lestat is taken to Heaven and to Hell, as well as to the beginning of time and even to the crucifixion of Christ to witness the events as they truly happened and make his decision based on what he witnesses."

Download "Memnoch The Devil", by Anne Rice, here:

- https://www.magicgatebg.com/

An astonishing, can't-put-it-down book...

"We're Living In A Time..."

Alan Parsons Project, "Lucifer"

Revelation 12:7-9, King James Version:

"7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

I've always wondered, why does God need an army?

And what if God's army lost? What then?

So angels can kill and be killed - where do their souls go then?

Hey! Just asking, don't burn me at the stake!

"How It Really Is

o

"When the Measuring Stick Shrinks:

 Why Everything Feels Expensive at Once"

Bill Bonner, "Rough Trail Ahead"

Cattle drive on the Rio de la Plata

"Rough Trail Ahead"

by Bill Bonner

"We’ll go down and cross the wide Rio de la Plata ourselves in a couple of weeks...but here’s the latest from our daughter, in Argentina: ‘Everything has gotten so expensive. I can barely keep up with it. Even simple things, like leaving a tip. I might have left 100 pesos a year ago...now, I leave 1,000 pesos. I don’t know how the local people do it.’

Naked Capitalism adds some precision: "According to the Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), inflation increased 3.4% in March 2026, its highest level in the past 12 months. That figure represented a sharp increase on February (2.9%). It was also the tenth consecutive month of month-on-month increases in inflation. On an annual basis, inflation is now as high as 32.6%. Granted, that’s still much lower than it was 27 months ago when Milei took over the reins and sent inflation to the moon with a 52% devaluation of the Argentine peso, but the mere fact that it is once again rising on a consistent basis is a major cause for concern."

President Milei looked at the full part of the glass: “If we take core inflation and remove the effect of meat, it is the same as last month at 2.5%.” Argentine cattlemen produce some of the best beef in the world. But now that they are free to export it, the beef remaining in the country is so expensive few people can afford it. Britannia Daily: "Argentina’s beef consumption plummeted to a 110-year nadir in mid-2024 as citizens increasingly substituted poultry and pork for what had been a dietary staple, with donkey meat representing the latest adaptation to deteriorating purchasing power."

There are a lot of wild burros in the countryside. They are a nuisance. Fences are not just to keep the cattle in...but to keep the burros out. The locals sometimes shoot the burros; they do not eat them. And while it costs only about a third as much as beef, ‘let them eat donkey meat,’ is not likely to be a popular political slogan.

For all we can tell, President Javier Milei is the only world leader since Jefferson with a clear idea about how things ought to work. But there is no guarantee that they actually will work that way, and not necessarily when you want them to.

Government takes many different forms. But the one form all governments share is that of a criminal enterprise. At the end of the day, the feds force people to do things they don’t want to do, surrendering either their property or their liberty. And since honest wealth is what a person gets when he is free to get it, any interference is likely to make him poorer. That is why ‘the government that governs best governs least.’

But what is true for the governed isn’t also true for the governors. The latter only get what they want by taking it - wealth and authority - from the people they are meant to serve. This is not the way they describe it in the civics books. And not a description that either Republicans or Democrats would agree with. But the real struggle - the one that matters - is not between Republicans and Democrats...nor liberals and conservatives...nor Protestants and Catholics...etc...but between the public and its overlords in what Milei calls the ‘casta politica.’

Alone among the world’s leaders, Mr. Milei seems to be willing to surrender some of his own wealth and power...so that ‘The People’ can get what they deserve. Of course, he is no saint either. It was his chainsaw message - cutting down on government - that got him the fame and power he now enjoys. Were he to abandon it, that chainsaw could swing towards his own neck.

But now approaches the real test. Naked Capitalism: "The price increases, together with the rise in unemployment, the increase in labour informality (it’s already at 43%), the fall in consumption and the purchasing power of wages paint a critical scenario for the Executive: the polls coincide in the observation of a growing social unrest with the direction of the economy and a marked loss of support for the president."

For now, Milei and his chief economic lieutenant, Luis Caputo, are asking for patience. The Buenos Aires Herald: “In economics there is causality, and this President and this government are doing things right, and that is why things will turn out well,” Caputo told the audience of business leaders, politicians, investors, economists and members of the press. Despite the challenges, the minister insisted that “the next 18 to 20 months will be the best in recent decades” for Argentina, arguing that the economic model will provide the necessary tools for the general development of economic activity."

He’s probably right. Milei and Caputo are on the right road. Eventually, it should take them where they want to go. But it is not a smooth highway. It is a rough trail, with plenty of twists and turns...and switchbacks.

And like Christ in the desert, the casta politica will tempt Milei. If he goes for it, the entire ‘establishment’ will say he is doing the ‘reasonable’ thing...powerful groups will give him campaign donations…and opinion leaders will applaud. After all, they will say, he’s making the ‘trade-offs’ that every other political leader makes.

Hire people back in the public sector? Yes, of course, it will provide much needed jobs. Limit exports...just a little? Yes, it will help lower consumer prices in the homeland. Run a deficit? (Something Milei has sworn never to do.) Well...yes...just this once; just to get over this hump.

Will he resist? Will he stick with the ‘principle of the thing’ as Christ did? “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Whatever the response, it will be a show worth watching."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"See The World, Ask What It's For..."

Moody Blues, "Don't You Feel Small"

"See the world, ask what it's for...

Understanding, nothing more."

John Wilder, "Everywhere You Look: The Game"

“I’m here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. 

 And I’m all out of bubblegum.”

 – "They Live"

"Everywhere You Look: The Game"

by John Wilder

"Most posts aren’t connected, outside of they’re all written by me. However, the last few have been following a theme that’s pretty old: mistaking The Game for reality, even Plato wrote about it. There are times we all get stuck in it. It’s pretty seductive. We mistake The Game for reality, often to our own detriment.

What’s The Game? The Game is where life moves away from reality. Money (or currency, or cash, which are not the same thing but we’ll use interchangeably in this post) was invented as a way to make trade easier. Gold and silver were great because they didn’t rust, could be split up in itty bitty increments, and couldn’t be printed. Money is an invention. Collectively, humans made it. We also invented interest rates. Back a year or so ago (I’m too lazy to look it up) I invited everyone to think differently about the world by changing one simple thing: eliminate interest on money.

If you haven’t seen the movie "They Live," you should. But when I suggested that “Let’s pretend that interest rates don’t exist,” I felt like Rowdy Roddy Piper trying to get Keith David to put on the ZZTop® sunglasses that (spoiler) allowed humans to see that half the people around him were aliens. I mean, we didn’t get in a fistfight that lasted 20 minutes, but no one wanted to play a different version of The Game. It was such a fundamental departure from the way the current world worked that people just couldn’t imagine it. This is what The Game does.

I’ll guarantee that your great grandparents moving across the American West or settling in Kentucky or working a farm in Virginny could have imagined life without interest rates. Many of them may not have borrowed money at interest at all. In their lives. It’s not that money didn’t matter, it most certainly did. But if you grubstaked a house on the prairie you might have had to borrow a dollar or two until the crop came in, but it was probably to the store, and it probably wasn’t at interest. Who would even loan against a farm? Land was free for those that could homestead it. Banking for everyone is a new invention. Just like interest rates, it was just a new rule for The Game.

The reason? Why not extend The Game to everyone so that they could transfer their wealth at six percent per year to the owners of a bank? Large amounts of society are like this. It is a large part of why it was so crucial to the COVID tRUsT tHe ScIENce crowd. This was in a time of general insanity as the “trans-women are women” and “women are exactly like men” and “black people are really oppressed and George Floyd was murdered” hysteria hit peaks.

All of these are symptoms that The Game is afoot, and there is nothing a person who has bought into The Game will fight more than having the rules of The Game challenged. And if individuals fight hard, the system will fight even harder. January 6, anyone?

If I were a suspicious man, I’d think this was all an intentional plan to move away from the real to the fantasy world of make-believe things like money. The transition for money moved from:Money is something tangible. Gold, yes. Silver, maybe along with some copper and nickel. But I don’t trust silver or copper or nickel much.

Okay, gold is so important you can’t touch it but you can keep your silver coins. Only the government. Oh, and the gold that we just took from you? We’re going to immediately double its value. But the dollar will always be backed by gold. Silver in coins are too expensive to make. We’ll just make them out of base metals. Gold? We’re just going to have dollars. You can buy your gold back. Pennies? Too expensive to make, we lose money on every single one we make. We’ll skip ‘em. Say, have you tried some of this electronic digital cash so we can track everything you buy? So convenient and easy! The reality has been twisted, and taking your money from you via interest payments and taxes wasn’t enough, they had to take the money, too. The rules of The Game have been changed.

And me arguing that getting rid of interest rates is a crazy thought experiment? The way your money was taken the same way your rights are taken. They are removed slowly, people are nudged. If you follow the Supreme Court, the plain language of the document has been twisted so far as for some judges to believe that somewhere in the Constitution is the protected right of dual citizens toExist, and Serve in jobs like congressman or as a federal judge.

But, yet, the plain language allowing me to own military-grade weapons means that I shouldn’t be allowed anything more powerful than a shotgun pellet gun bb-gun squirt gun dart gun Nerf™ gun, and my right to the Nerf® gun isn’t absolute.

The rules of The Game have been changed. The same way that your rights are taken is the same way your values are taken. Imagine society in 1950. Perfect? No. If you didn’t mow your lawn, you couldn’t get a job or a loan. Society rejected you, but those may have been features, rather than bugs.

Likewise, gays couldn’t adopt and certainly couldn’t get jobs where they would be alone with children – that would be insane! But then The Game changed. The Catholic Church decided that they could trust gay priests, since priests were celibate and, besides, God loves gay people, too, right? Ouch. Not so much. It wasn’t the “priest” that caused the problem, it was the “gay”. Gay people existed then. Not in such large numbers because, for large numbers of gay people today “gay” is a choice. And back then, the choice was made for you, and communities who had sexual fetishes about latex-covered toasters didn’t exist because there was no Reddit™ to connect them all.

That was better. Rule changes to The Game have spread farther, faster in our connected world. But our values have been ripped away via rule changes to The Game. Nothing is wrong, except thinking something is wrong. Silly. The Game is about inclusion. Even to the point of including people who hate you. This is what is wrong with the world today.

Yeah. See what that’s doing with birth rates. But its also on purpose. These values have been chipped at every year since at least the 1950s until the only value that The Game will leave you with is the value of money. And they’ll even take that away from you. Just try on the damn glasses, why don’t you?"

- https://wilderwealthywise.com/

Showing people the truth...

"If you're going to tell people the truth make them laugh,

otherwise they'll kill you."

- Oscar Wilde

Dan, I Allegedly, "It’s Official - Everyone’s Broke Now"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 4/24/26

"It’s Official - Everyone’s Broke Now"

"Americans are being squeezed from every direction - and it’s reaching a breaking point. In this video, I break down the real numbers behind rising costs, from mortgage payments jumping over 40% in just a few years to skyrocketing rent, insurance, food, and everyday expenses. People aren’t saving anymore - they’re surviving. Whether it’s $4,000 rent in Los Angeles or thousands dropping health insurance entirely, the system is becoming unaffordable for millions.We also look at how businesses are responding, from airlines cutting thousands of flights to companies raising prices just to stay alive. This isn’t just inflation - it’s a full-blown cost-of-living crisis impacting every aspect of life. If you feel like you’re working harder but falling behind, you’re not alone. Watch this breakdown and see why more people are living paycheck to paycheck - and what it means for the future of the economy."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Massive Price Increases At Walmart!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 4/24/26

"Massive Price Increases At Walmart!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"When It Comes to Using Proxies, The US Far Surpasses Iran as a Sponsor of Terrorism"

MEK Logo

"When It Comes to Using Proxies,

 The US Far Surpasses Iran as a Sponsor of Terrorism"

by Larry C. Johnson

I have previously addressed the lie that Iran is the number one sponsor of terrorism. Now I want to look specifically at the question of how many Americans, both civilian and military, have been killed by proxies who have received assistance from Iran. The I will flip the script… How many Iranians, civilian and military, have been killed by US proxies? The numbers are staggering. US proxies have killed almost 28,000 times the number of Iranians than Iranian proxies have killed Americans. These numbers come primarily from US Department of Justice indictments, State Department reports, American Jewish Committee (AJC), and compiled victim databases.

The principal Iranian proxies routinely identified in US government reports on terrorism are Hamas, Hezbollah, and a variety of Iraqi-Shia groups. If I used the strict definition of terrorism - i.e., the use of violence against civilians for political purposes - the number of actual terrorist deaths from Iranian proxies would be less than 300 since 1979. If I relied only on the strict definition, I would exclude all attacks on military targets. However, since the US statistics on terrorism include the 1983 bombing of the US Marines barracks in Lebanon and the roadside bombs targeting US forces in Iraq from 2003 -2011, I am including the military fatalities for both sides.

HAMAS: At least 60–70 Americans (including dual US-Israeli citizens) have been killed in attacks attributed to or carried out by Hamas since its founding in 1987. This is an approximate total based on US government, DOJ, and research compilations. The vast majority occurred on or after October 7, 2023 attack (the single deadliest incident.)

43–46 Americans killed (US Department of Justice indictment of Hamas leaders in 2024 confirmed at least 43; some sources, including the State Department, cite 46). These numbers include dual US-Israeli citizens murdered at kibbutzim, the Nova music festival, and other sites near Gaza. Several additional Americans were taken hostage, with some (e.g., Hersh Goldberg-Polin) died in captivity as a result of Israel’s unconstrained bombing of Gaza.

Pre-October 7 Attacks (1987–2023): Hamas carried out or claimed responsibility for numerous suicide bombings, shootings, and other attacks during the First and Second Intifadas and subsequent periods that resulted in the deaths of roughly 15–25 Americans, based on cross-referenced State Department chronologies and victim lists (exact counts vary slightly due to dual citizenship and attribution debates). Documented American deaths include:

2002 Hebrew University bombing (Jerusalem): 5 Americans killed.

2003 Jerusalem bus bombing: 5 Americans killed. Other notable incidents (Second Intifada era, 2000–2005): Americans killed in attacks such as the Sbarro pizzeria bombing, Park Hotel Passover bombing, and various bus bombings (e.g., Alan Beer, Malka Roth, and others).

Earlier attacks (1990s): Smaller numbers, including incidents like the 1996 Jerusalem bus bombing (3 Americans) and others. Scattered additional deaths in the 1990s–2010s from stabbings, shootings, and bombings.

HEZBOLLAH: At least 270–300+ Americans (including service members and civilians, plus some dual U.S.-Israeli citizens) have been killed in attacks attributed to or carried out by Hezbollah (or its direct precursors like Islamic Jihad Organization) since its formation in 1982.

Major Incidents and Breakdown

1983 Beirut Attacks (the deadliest period):

April 18, 1983: U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut - 17 Americans killed (including 8 CIA personnel).

October 23, 1983: U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut - 241 Americans killed (220 Marines, 18 Navy sailors, 3 Army soldiers). This remains the single deadliest attack on U.S. Marines since Iwo Jima and the largest loss of American life to Hezbollah.

September 20, 1984: U.S. Embassy annex bombing in Beirut — 2 Americans killed.

Other Notable Attacks: 1980s hostage crisis and related violence: Several Americans were kidnapped and murdered, including CIA station chief William Buckley (1984–1985) and U.S. Marine Colonel William Higgins (kidnapped 1988, murdered 1989).

Scattered attacks in the 1980s–2000s: Additional deaths from hijackings (e.g., TWA Flight 847 in 1985, where U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem was murdered), bombings, and operations in Iraq (Hezbollah-trained Shiite militias targeting U.S. forces post-2003).

The key take away from this data is that Hezbollah stopped attacking US targets in the 1990s and was not the face of Islamic extremism. Hezbollah focused its energy on attacking Israeli military targets.

OTHER IRANIAN PROXIES: At least 620–650+ Americans (mostly U.S. service members, plus some contractors and civilians) have been killed in attacks by Iranian proxies excluding Hamas and Hezbollah since 1979. The vast majority of these deaths occurred in Iraq during the 2003–2011 period.

Primary Figure: Iraqi Shiite Militias (2003–2011): At least 603 U.S. troops were killed by Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Defense/Pentagon assessment. These militias include groups such as Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), the Badr Organization, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, and others.

Iran provided advanced weaponry (especially explosively formed penetrators or EFPs), training, and direction via the IRGC Quds Force. This accounted for roughly 17% of all U.S. combat deaths in Iraq during that period.

US PROXY TERRORISM AGAINST IRAN: Now I want to address the antagonism of the US towards Iran, where multiple US presidents used proxies to attack Iran. Let’s start with the case of Iraq… In 1980, the CIA, acting under a finding signed by President Jimmy Carter, began providing support to Saddam Hussein with the goal of Iraq launching an attack on Iran. Saddam attacked Iran in September 1980. When the Reagan administration took power in January 1981, the support for Iraq increased dramatically with the US supplying precursor chemicals that were used to make chemical weapons, financial aid, and classified intelligence that was routinely shared with the Iraqi General Staff. The CIA handled the task of sharing intelligence until 1986 when, as a result of the Iran/Contra revelations, Saddam refused to deal anymore with the CIA and would only accept assistance from the US military. The task of carrying US intelligence to Iraq, starting in 1987, was given to Colonel Walter Patrick Lang aka Pat. Pat, who is now deceased, was a close friend of mine for more than 20 years.

Using the same standard of blaming Iran for the actions of Hezbollah, the US merits blame for its prolific support for Saddam Hussein during the war on Iran. Estimates of Iranian deaths in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988, also known as the First Gulf War) vary widely due to the fog of war, propaganda from both sides, and limited transparent records. Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, launched the war with a surprise invasion of Iran on September 22, 1980. The US provided direct, covert support to Iraq (intelligence, economic aid, and allowing allies to supply weapons) during much of the conflict.

Iranian military deaths, based on a 2013 systematic review in the Iranian Journal of Public Health (based on Iranian records), put the figure at 188,015 to 217,489 killed (roughly 70 people per day over 2,887 days of war). Iranian civilian deaths, according to Western/CIA estimates, are estimated to be 50,000–60,000 dead.

MEK: Besides using Iraq as a weapon against Iran, the US also took a page out of Saddam Hussein’s playbook. Saddam provided sanctuary and financiing, along with weapons, to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). They not only fought alongside Saddam’s forces in the war with Iran but, after the war, continued to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran.

Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Coalition forces bombed MEK bases (the group had been allied with Saddam Hussein). The MEK surrendered its heavy weapons and concentrated at Camp Ashraf. n 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld designated MEK members as “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention. US forces provided security at the camp, shielding them from Iraqi forces and preventing repatriation to Iran.

Starting around 2004–2005, the US provided clandestine support to the MEK as part of broader efforts to pressure Iran’s nuclear program and regime. This included intelligence cooperation, funding channels to dissident groups, and operational assistance. According to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh (reporting in The New Yorker in 2012), the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) conducted secret training of MEK operatives at a facility in Nevada (Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site) beginning in 2005. Training covered communications, cryptography, small-unit tactics, weaponry, and other special operations skills. This reportedly continued into 2007 (or possibly later).

Funds were covertly passed to the MEK and other Iranian dissident groups for intelligence collection inside Iran and anti-regime activities. The MEK supplied intelligence on Iran’s nuclear sites (e.g., Natanz) and carried out CIA sponsored operations, such as the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists. This support occurred even while the MEK remained on the US FTO list, reflecting internal US government tensions (e.g., Pentagon vs. State Department).

In September 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton removed the MEK from the FTO list, citing its renunciation of violence and cooperation on relocation. This enabled greater political and logistical support for resettling members… many eventually went to Albania where they continued to receive support and training from the CIA.

The Iranian government claims that the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) has killed more than 12,000 to 17,000 Iranians through terrorist attacks, assassinations, bombings, and armed operations since the early 1980s. This is the most frequently cited figure in Iranian official statements, state media, and court proceedings. Hell, MEK alone has killed 12 to 17 times more Iranians than Iranian proxies have killed Americans. The numbers are not even close.

I want you to keep these numbers in mind the next time you hear some nitwit US politician or pundit ranting about Iranian sponsorship of terrorism. Hands down, the US is a bigger sponsor of terrorism than Iran by a factor of at least 12."

- https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/

"Iran: What Happens Next? w/Former CIA Analyst Larry C. Johnson"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 4/23/26

"Iran: What Happens Next? 

w/Former CIA  Analyst Larry C. Johnson"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Certain Destruction Of Our Nation"

"The Certain Destruction Of Our Nation"

by Karl Denninger

"The actual budget deficit we ran last year was in fact $1.4 trillion - not the claimed $587 billion (which is bad enough, incidentally.) Last year the Federal Government spent $1,417 billion dollars out of $3,854 billion, or 37% of every dollar it spent, on Medicare and Medicaid. This was a 9.3% increase over last year's expenditure of $1,296,731 (million), all-in. But inside this figure are even-more damning numbers.

Payments to the health care trust funds were up 13.4% (!) Spending on CHIP, the plan for poor kids, rose last year by an astounding 56%. While the total spent was only $14.3 billion that rate of rise is utterly astronomical by anyone's measure.

Don't believe for a second that administrative expenses are under control, which is a claim often made for Medicare and Medicaid: They were up 32% last year for the primary hospital insurance trust fund. No, that's not a misprint. Hospital benefit payments for Medicare? Up 8.4% -- the bright spot, believe it or not. Medicare Part "D" (drugs)? Sit down: Up 26.2% to a total of $95.2 billion. Folks, at this rate of change within the next four years Medicare and Medicaid will consume just over $2,000 billion a year, or $2 trillion - an increase of $600 billion a year in spending.

Let me remind you that last year taxes (receipts) rose by a paltry 0.55%, and at this rate of increase over the next four years government revenue will absorb only $72.9 billion of that $600 billion in additional spending - and this assumes that absolutely nothing else in the budget increases in cost at the same time, an utterly fanciful notion. In other words there will be at least another $500 billion of additional annual deficit, and likely far more than the $600 billion denoted here, bringing the total to more than $2 trillion in actual deficit being run per year.

If this pattern were to continue for 10 years then Medicare and Medicaid would rise to $3,448 billion, or for all intents and purposes all of the $3,854 billion the government spends now! Worse, increased tax revenue would absorb only $184 billion of that additional cost - for all intents and purposes ZERO.

For those politicians and others who claim Social Security is going to blow at roughly the same time, no it won't. Social Security payments (for retirees and disability) rose 3.2% last year while for both retiree and disability tax receipts rose at a 5.2% rate. Yes, on a cash basis Social Security ran a deficit last year but the rate of increased tax revenue was higher than the rate of spending growth and Social Security has a $2.8 trillion dollar Treasury security cache it can redeem to cover the shortfall. At present rates Social Security may have issues in the future, but for right now it is stable. MEDICARE AND MEDICAID ARE NOT AND THEY ARE WHERE THE ENTIRE PROBLEM RESIDES. 

We will not manage to get through the next 10 years at this rate and in fact will not get through the next President's term. If we do not put a stop to this right now the stock market will collapse and lose up to 90% of its value, all pensions will collapse and at best be able to pay 50% of what was promised (are you a teacher, firefighter or police officer? Bend over because law or no law you are screwed.) The bond market will collapse as the spiral of debt will be clear to everyone and nobody will be willing to buy a bond from anyone at any reasonable interest rate, which will instantly destroy the value of all outstanding long-term Treasury debt by as much as 50-70%, government entitlements will collapse (to put that in plain language they will go to zero or effectively so) and real estate values will collapse as demanded interest rates on mortgages will make the 1980s look like a Girl Scout Party.

And by the way it is not possible to tax our way out of this and certainly we cannot do so by "taxing the rich", as is often claimed. If you confiscated all of the money made by those who make more than $500,000 a year you would not even close the deficit gap for one year. Of course if you did that the amount of money those who make over $500,000 a year would choose to make next year, and thus be subject to said tax, would be no more than $499,999, and thus you'd get zero in tax from them via this approach in year #2. Anyone running a "pay your fair share" claim is lying and they know it; again, that's the math.

We must - and can - stop this crap with existing law. Specifically, by applying 15 USC Chapter 1 to all parts of the health care industry. This will collapse the cost of care for both the government and private parties by as much as 80% and permanently end and reverse the budget problems it is causing - for the federal government, for state and local pensions, and for private firms and individuals.

I have been writing and speaking on this since I ran MCSNet in the 1990s. It has been a focus of this column since it was formed in 2007, including in this column written in 2012. We have willfully and intentionally, as a nation, ignored this issue for the last decade and we are now facing the destruction of our economy, our markets, our government, our society and our way of life if we do not put a stop to the pillaging of our economy and people NOW."

                                                        - https://market-ticker.org/

"Why Nations That Print Money Always Face The Same Ending - What History Tells Us"

Full screen recommended.

Prof. Jiang Xueqin, 4/23/26

"Why Nations That Print Money Always

 Face The Same Ending - What History Tells Us"

"Every empire that printed money faced the same ending. Rome debased its currency until coins were worthless. Weimar Germany printed until bread cost 200 billion marks. Now America sits on $39 trillion in debt, paying $1 trillion per year just in interest. The Social Security trust fund depletes by 2032. The math is not political. It is arithmetic. And history always collects. In this video, I break down the pattern no one is talking about - and what it means for your savings, your job, and your future."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Moby, "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad"

Full screen recommended.

Moby, "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Is our Milky Way Galaxy this thin? Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the spiral galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. 

An assortment of other background galaxies is included in the pretty field of view. Thought similar in shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 4565 lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210517.html

"10 Life Lessons You Should Unlearn"

"10 Life Lessons You Should Unlearn"

by Martha Beck

"In the past 10 years, I've realized that our culture is rife with ideas that actually inhibit joy. Here are some of the things I'm most grateful to have unlearned:

"1. Problems are bad. You spent your school years solving arbitrary problems imposed by boring authority figures. You learned that problems- comment se dit?- suck. But people without real problems go mad and invent things like base jumping and wedding planning. Real problems are wonderful, each carrying the seeds of its own solution. Job burnout? It's steering you toward your perfect career. An awful relationship? It's teaching you what love means. Confusing tax forms? They're suggesting you hire an accountant, so you can focus on more interesting tasks, such as flossing. Finding the solution to each problem is what gives life its gusto.

2. It's important to stay happy. Solving a knotty problem can help us be happy, but we don't have to be happy to feel good. If that sounds crazy, try this: Focus on something that makes you miserable. Then think, "I must stay happy!" Stressful, isn't it? Now say, "It's okay to be as sad as I need to be." This kind of permission to feel as we feel- not continuous happiness- is the foundation of well-being.

3. I'm irreparably damaged by my past. Painful events leave scars, true, but it turns out they're largely erasable. Jill Bolte Taylor, the neuroanatomist who had a stroke that obliterated her memory, described the event as losing "37 years of emotional baggage." Taylor rebuilt her own brain, minus the drama. Now it appears we can all effect a similar shift, without having to endure a brain hemorrhage. The very thing you're doing at this moment- questioning habitual thoughts- is enough to begin off-loading old patterns. For example, take an issue that's been worrying you ("I've got to work harder!") and think of three reasons that belief may be wrong. Your brain will begin to let it go. Taylor found this thought-loss euphoric. You will, too.

4. Working hard leads to success. Baby mammals, including humans, learn by playing, which is why "the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." Boys who'd spent years strategizing for fun gained instinctive skills to handle real-world situations. So play as you did in childhood, with all-out absorption. Watch for ways your childhood playing skills can solve a problem (see #1). Play, not work, is the key to success. While we're on the subject...

5. Success is the opposite of failure. Fact: From quitting smoking to skiing, we succeed to the degree we try, fail, and learn. Studies show that people who worry about mistakes shut down, but those who are relaxed about doing badly soon learn to do well. Success is built on failure.

6. It matters what people think of me. "But if I fail," you may protest, "people will think badly of me!" This dreaded fate causes despair, suicide, homicide. I realized this when I read blatant lies about myself on the Internet. When I bewailed this to a friend, she said, "Wow, you have some painful fantasies about other people's fantasies about you." Yup, my anguish came from my hypothesis that other people's hypothetical hypotheses about me mattered. Ridiculous! Right now, imagine what you'd do if it absolutely didn't matter what people thought of you. Got it? Good. Never go back.

7. We should think rationally about our decisions. Your rational capacities are far newer and more error-prone than your deeper, "animal" brain. Often complex problems are best solved by thinking like an animal. Consider a choice you have to make- anything from which movie to see to which house to buy. Instead of weighing pros and cons intellectually, notice your physical response to each option. Pay attention to when your body tenses or relaxes. And speaking of bodies...

8. The pretty girls get all the good stuff. Oh, God. So not true. I unlearned this after years of coaching beautiful clients. Yes, these lovelies get preferential treatment in most life scenarios, but there's a catch: While everyone's looking at them, virtually no one sees them. Almost every gorgeous client had a husband who'd married her breasts and jawline without ever noticing her soul.

9. If all my wishes came true right now, life would be perfect. Check it out: People who have what you want are all over rehab clinics, divorce courts, and jails. That's because good fortune has side effects, just like medications advertised on TV. Basically, any external thing we depend on to make us feel good has the power to make us feel bad. Weirdly, when you've stopped depending on tangible rewards, they often materialize. To attract something you want, become as joyful as you think that thing would make you. The joy, not the thing, is the point.

10. Loss is terrible. Ten years ago I still feared loss enough to abandon myself in order to keep things stable. I'd smile when I was sad, pretend to like people who appalled me. What I now know is that losses aren't cataclysmic if they teach the heart and soul their natural cycle of breaking and healing. A real tragedy? That's the loss of the heart and soul themselves. If you've abandoned yourself in the effort to keep anyone or anything else, unlearn that pattern. Live your truth, losses be damned. Just like that, your heart and soul will return home."

- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Paulo Coelho, "The Law of Jante"

"The Law of Jante"

by Paulo Coelho

"'The Law of Jante?' Of course I had never heard of this, so he explained what it was. I continued on my journey and discovered it is hard to find anyone in any of the Scandinavian countries who does not know this law. Although the law exists since the beginning of civilization, it was only officially declared in 1933 by writer Aksel Sandemose in the novel “A Refugee Goes Beyond Limits.”

The sad truth is that the Law of Jante is a rule applied in every country in the world, despite the fact that Brazilians say that “This only happens here,” and the French claim that “Unfortunately, that’s how it is in our country.” Now, the reader must be annoyed because he/she is already half way through the column and still does not know what the Law of Jante is all about, so I’ll try to explain it here briefly in my own words:

“You aren’t worth a thing, nobody is interested in what you think,

mediocrity and anonymity are your best bet.

If you act this way, you will never have any big problems in life.”

The Law of Jante focuses on the feeling of jealousy and envy that sometimes causes so much trouble for people. This is one of its negative aspects, but there is something far more dangerous. And this law is accountable for the world being manipulated in all possible manners by people who have no fear of what the others say and end up practicing the evil they desire. We have witnessed useless wars, which are still costing many lives; we see a huge abyss between the rich and the poor countries of the world, social injustice on all sides, unbridled violence, people being forced to give up their dreams because of unfair and cowardly attacks. Before starting the second world war, Hitler sent out several signals as to his intentions, and what encouraged him to go ahead was the knowledge that nobody would dare to defy him because of the Law of Jante.

Mediocrity may be comfortable, up to the day that tragedy knocks at the door and people start to wonder: “But why did nobody say anything, if everybody could see that this was going to happen?” Simple: nobody said anything because the others did not say anything either. So in order to prevent things from growing any worse, maybe this is the right moment to write the anti-Law of Jante:

“You are worth far more than you think. Your work and presence

 on this Earth are important, even though you may not think so." 

Of course, thinking in this way, you might have many problems because you are breaking the Law of Jante – but don’t feel intimidated by them, go on living without fear and in the end you will win.”

- http://paulocoelhoblog.com/

"There Comes A Time..."

"We Americans have a saying: "It's more important what you stand for than who you stand with." I do not rely upon peer opinion to decide what is right and what is wrong. I make those decisions for myself, and even if I discover that every other human alive chose differently, that doesn't mean I was wrong. There comes a time in every man's life when he has to choose sides. I have chosen my side. I am comfortable with my decision. I do not think everyone on my side is a saint, but I know that those on the other side are much, much worse.

Sometimes a man with too broad a perspective reveals himself as having no real perspective at all. A man who tries too hard to see every side may be a man who is trying to avoid choosing any side. A man who tries too hard to seek a deeper truth may be trying to hide from the truth he already knows. That is not a sign of intellectual sophistication and "great thinking". It is a demonstration of moral degeneracy and cowardice."

- Steven Den Beste

"As I've Aged"

"As I've Aged"

Author Unknown

“You ask me how it feels to grow older. I’ve learned a few things along the way, which I’ll share with you...

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of many years ago, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things. Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it). May our friendship never come apart especially when it’s straight from the heart!”

"Mama Has Settled Down To Die, Then An Old Friend Shows Up"

Full screen recommended.

"Mama Has Settled Down To Die, 

Then An Old Friend Shows Up"

"The 59-year-old chimpanzee Mama was very ill and stopped taking food and drink at the Royal Burgers Zoo in Arnhem, Netherlands. Professor of Behavioral Biology, Jan van Hoof has known Mama since 1972. In the video he visits to say goodbye to her. Mama is asleep, but is slowly awakened by Jan. When she sees who is visiting, she lights up. She takes the food she has previously refused to eat. In the video, the old friends are enjoying and kidding each other before Jan finally takes one last goodbye. Mama died one week after the visit."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Ellensburg, Washington, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Monstrous Thing..."

"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."

- Henry Miller, “Tropic of Cancer”

Freely download “Tropic of Cancer”, by Henry Miller, here:

- https://gertrudesteinsite.files.wordpress.com/

"The Soul of Liberty"

"The landing of Roger Williams in 1636" by Alonzo Chappel

"The Soul of Liberty"

by Addison Wiggin

“Human nature being what it is in the world is always going

 to face challenges, especially in preserving freedom.”

- Steve Forbes

"A short history lesson. In 1636 the English-born American theologian Roger Williams landed in what is now the state of Rhode Island. Having fled the Puritan-led Massachusetts colony, Roger Williams founded a city upon a hill and called it Providence. The new town’s mantra: Hope.

Simple, resounding, and looking to the future. Full of hope, Roger Williams created Providence on the grounds that: "No person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion, in matter of religion, who do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his own and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceably and quietly and not using this liberty to licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others."

He called it “soul freedom.” At the time it was the largest liberty event in the New World, setting the standard in our blessed Thirteen Colonies for what civil liberties in America should look like – not to mention his fair treatment of the native peoples.

Almost a century later the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America echoed Williams’ declarations, reading: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

By now we have the First memorized… If you don’t, you ought to, for it is our God-given, Madison-written, Franklin-scrawled right!"

- https://5minforecast.com/

"It May Be Necessary..."

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. 

In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, 

so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, 

how you can still come out of it." 

- Maya Angelou