"Know Your Adversary… Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Not a Fortunate Son"

"Know Your Adversary… 

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Not a Fortunate Son"

by Larry C. Johnson

"I say adversary instead of enemy. Mr. Khamenei and the Iranian people are not the enemies of the US. They did not attack us on February 28, we attacked them… And we did so while the Iranians were engaged in good faith negotiations, or so they thought. Iran’s new Ayatollah shares something in common with President John F. Kennedy and President George H. W. Bush… He’s a combat veteran.

Since 1960, the United States has only had two presidents who actually fought in a war… In the case of Kennedy and Bush that was World War II. I concede that Kennedy played a key role in fanning the flames of the Vietnam war but, before he was murdered, he reportedly was going to put an end to the US role. George H.W. Bush oversaw the first invasion of Iraq in 1991, but he at least made sure the US confined itself to ejecting Iraq from Kuwait. The rest of the lot, the ones who embroiled the US in subsequent needless wars, had zero combat experience. Donald “Bone Spurs” Trump avoided serving in Vietnam. He was too wealthy and entitled to be bothered with enlisting in the Army or the Marine Corps… Just another Fortunate Son:

I think it is important that the American people understand that Mojtaba Khameni was a 17 year old boy from a privileged family - sort of like Baron Trump - who ignored his father, enlisted, fought on the front lines in that war with Iraq and was wounded. He absolutely knows the cost of war.

Mojtaba Khamenei (full name: Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, born September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, Iran) is the second son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He served as a teenager in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the final years of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988). Just a reminder… The US played a critical role in helping Iraq attack Iran by providing the chemicals used to make chemical weapons and by providing intelligence to the Iraqi General Staff.

Mojtaba joined the IRGC around 1987 (some accounts say 1986) after completing secondary school, at approximately age 17. He was from a privileged family and, by virtue of his age, could have stayed home. But he chose to fight for his country against a foe that had launched a war of aggression against Iran at the behest of the Untied States. This was during the later stages of the war, when Iran was conducting offensives and facing Iraqi counterattacks. He was assigned to the Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion (also spelled Habib bin Muzahir or Habib Ibn Mazaher) within the 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division of the IRGC Ground Forces. This unit consisted largely of ideologically committed volunteers and operated on the western front. The battalion’s name references a companion of Imam Hussein from the Battle of Karbala, reflecting the religious-martyrdom ethos common in IRGC units.

Mojtaba saw real combat. One account mentions he went “missing” at one point during the recapture of Mehran (a border town that changed hands multiple times). Details on specific combat roles, injuries, or awards remain limited. Public accounts indicate he participated in several IRGC operations, including:

Operation Mersad (1988), the final major battle of the war, which involved repelling an Iraqi-backed Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) incursion into Iran.

Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas 2, 3, and 4 (part of a series of offensives aimed at recapturing territory).

Operation Valfajr 10 (Dawn 10), a major Iranian offensive in 1988.

Mojtaba’s service in the Habib Battalion helped him build lasting personal and institutional ties within the IRGC. Many comrades from this period later rose to senior positions in Iran’s security, intelligence, and military apparatus (including figures like Hossein Taeb, who headed IRGC intelligence, and others associated with Qassem Soleimani’s circle). These wartime relationships are widely viewed as a foundational element of his influence in Iran’s hardline and security networks.

After the war ended in 1988 with Iran’s acceptance of a UN ceasefire, Mojtaba shifted focus to religious studies in Qom and later assumed behind-the-scenes roles. He has maintained strong connections to the IRGC and Basij (where he reportedly held a command role in later years), but his wartime service is often highlighted in Iranian narratives as evidence of his revolutionary credentials. Unlike Donald Trump, who only knows war through the movies he watches, Mojtaba Khamenei learned at a young age the horrors of war and the sacrifice it entails. Keep that in mind in the coming days."

- https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/

"April 6 Predictions: The 48 Hours That Will Decide Everything!"

Prof. Jiang Xueqin, 4/4/26

"April 6 Predictions: 

The 48 Hours That Will Decide Everything!"

"Trump's deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expires. Three scenarios possible:

(1) Diplomatic breakthrough (15-20% probability) - oil crashes to $70-80, S&P 500 rallies 10-15%.

(2) Deadline extension (45-50% probability) - oil stays $100-120, recession probability crosses 50%, prolonged uncertainty.

(3) Military escalation (30-35% probability) - oil surges to $150-200, S&P 500 enters bear market, global recession, fertilizer crisis becomes catastrophic.

This analysis covers all three scenarios with probabilities, economic mathematics, the hidden fertilizer/food crisis threatening global food security, what April 6 really means politically, and what you should do now. The next 48 hours determine the economic trajectory for the rest of 2026."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Your Friends Need Your Money And Food, The Party Is Over; All Hell Will Reign Down In 48 Hours"

Jeremiah Babe, 4/4/26

"Your Friends Need Your Money And Food, 

The Party Is Over; All Hell Will Reign Down In 48 Hours"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Americans Warned: A Dangerous Summer Is Coming"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 4/4/26

"Americans Warned: 

A Dangerous Summer Is Coming"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, “Cycle Of Time”

Full screen recommended.

2002, “Cycle Of Time”

Beautiful...

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Colorful NGC 1579 resembles the better known Trifid Nebula, but lies much farther north in planet Earth's sky, in the heroic constellation Perseus. About 2,100 light-years away and 3 light-years across, NGC 1579 is, like the Trifid, a study in contrasting blue and red colors, with dark dust lanes prominent in the nebula's central regions.

In both, dust reflects starlight to produce beautiful blue reflection nebulae. But unlike the Trifid, in NGC 1579 the reddish glow is not emission from clouds of glowing hydrogen gas excited by ultraviolet light from a nearby hot star. Instead, the dust in NGC 1579 drastically diminishes, reddens, and scatters the light from an embedded, extremely young, massive star, itself a strong emitter of the characteristic red hydrogen alpha light."

- http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090130.html

o

Full screen recommended.

Beyond The Stars, 8/31/24

"James Webb Telescope Just 

Announced The True Scale of the Universe"

"In an exciting announcement that has left scientists and space enthusiasts in total awe, the James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled the true scale of the universe. This incredible feat has allowed humanity to peer into the deepest and most mysterious corners of the cosmos, providing a new perspective on our existence on the vast canvas of the universe.

One of the most surprising findings has been the discovery of distant galaxies that had never been observed before. Some of these galaxies are billions of light-years away, which means that the images captured by the telescope allow us to travel back in time and observe the universe in its earliest stages. In addition, the James Webb Telescope has provided detailed information about the formation of stars and planets in various regions of space. The images reveal the complexity and beauty of stellar birth processes, providing a deeper understanding of how stellar systems originate and evolve.

The data collected have also enabled astronomers to more accurately calculate the age of the universe and its expansion. This milestone represents a crucial step in understanding the evolution of the cosmos and how it might develop in the future.

The announcement of the James Webb Telescope marks a before and after in astronomy and astrophysics, leaving an indelible mark on human knowledge. The true scale of the universe, now revealed, invites us to reflect on our place in the cosmos and impels us to continue exploring and unveiling the secrets still hidden in the far reaches of infinite space. This new era of space exploration promises to reveal many more astonishing discoveries, and humanity is poised to take in and understand the vastness and complexity of the universe as never before."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

"In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three billion Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, 2 trillion galaxies like this. And in all of that... and perhaps more, only one of each of us."

- "Dr. Leonard McCoy"

Chet Raymo, “The Journey”

“The Journey”

by Chet Raymo

"Here's a deep-deep sky map of the universe from the March 9, 2006 issue of Nature. The horizontal scale is a 360 view right around the sky; the vertical gaps at 6 hours and 24 hours are the parts of the universe that are blocked to our view by the disk of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The vertical scale - distance from Earth - is logarithmic (10, 100, 1000, etc.) measured in megaparsecs (a parsec equals 3.26 light-years). Across the top is the Big Bang, and the oldest and most distant thing we can see, the cosmic microwave background, the radiation of the Big Bang itself. A few relatively nearby galaxies are designated at the bottom. All that stuff in the middle that looks like smoke or dusty cobwebs are quasars and galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

A smoke of galaxies! (2 trillion galaxies according to latest estimates.- CP) A universe cobwebbed with Milky Ways! Each galaxy itself a smoke of stars, hundreds of billions of stars, many or all of them with planets. My book, "Walking Zero," is about the human journey from the omphalos of our birth into the world of the galaxies, a journey many of us are disinclined to make. Here is how the Prologue to the book begins:

"Each of us is born at the center of the world. For nine months our physical selves are assembled molecule by molecule, cell by cell, in the dark covert of our mother's womb. A single fertilized egg cell splits into two. Then four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two. Ultimately, 50 trillion cells or so. At first, our future self is a mere blob of protoplasm. But slowly, ever so slowly, the blob begins to differentiate under the direction of genes. A symmetry axis develops. A head, a tail, a spine. At this point, the embryo might be that of a human, or a chicken, or a marmoset. Limbs form. Digits, with tiny translucent nails. Eyes, with papery lids. Ears pressed like flowers against the head. Clearly now a human. A nose, nostrils. Downy hair. Genitals.
 

As the physical self develops, so too a mental self takes shape, not yet conscious, not yet self-aware, knitted together as webs of neurons in the brain, encapsulating in some respects the evolutionary experience of our species. Instincts impressed by the genes. The instinct to suck, for example. Already, in the womb, the fetus presses its tiny fist against its mouth in anticipation of the moment when the mouth will be offered the mother's breast. The child will not have to be taught to suck. Other inborn behaviors will express themselves later. Laughing. Crying. Striking out in anger. Loving.
 

What, if anything, goes on in the mind of the developing fetus we may never know. But this much seems certain: To the extent that the emerging self has any awareness of its surroundings, its world is coterminous with itself. We are not born with knowledge of the antipodes, the plains of Mars, or the far-flung realm of the galaxies. We are not born with knowledge of Precambrian seas, the supercontinent of Pangea, or the Age of Dinosaurs. We are born into a world scarcely older than ourselves and scarcely larger than ourselves. And we are at its center.
 

A human life is a journey into the grandeur of a universe that may contain more galaxies than there are cells in the human body, a universe in which the whole of a human lifetime is but a single tick of the cosmic clock. The journey can be disorienting; our first instincts are towards coziness, comfort, our mother's enclosing arms, her breast. The journey, therefore, requires courage - for each individual, and for our species.
 

Uniquely of all animals, humans have the capacity to let our minds expand into the space and time of the galaxies. No other creatures can number the cells in their bodies, as we can, or count the stars. No other creatures can imagine the explosive birth of the observable universe 14 billion years ago from an infinitely hot, infinitely small seed of energy. That we choose to make this journey - from the all-sustaining womb into the vertiginous spaces and abyss of time - is the glory of our species, and perhaps our most frightening challenge.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

e. e. cumming, "Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you because when you’re hard 

up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink..."

"Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you

because you would rather black the boots of

success than enquire whose soul dangles from his

watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you

unflinchingly applaud all

songs containing the words country home and

mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because

when you’re hard up you pawn your

intelligence to buy a drink and when

you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and

because you are continually committing

nuisances but more

especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you

are perpetually putting the secret of

life in your pants and forgetting

it’s there and sitting down on it

and because you are

forever making poems in the lap

of death 

Humanity, i hate you"

- e. e. cumming

Free Download: Mark Twain, "Letters From The Earth"

"Mark Twain's 'Letters From the Earth'"

by Wikipedia

“Letters from the Earth” is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. Initially, his daughter, Clara Clemens, objected to its publication in March 1939, probably because of its controversial and iconoclastic views on religion, claiming it presented a "distorted" view of her father. Henry Nash Smith helped change her position in 1960. Clara explained her change of heart in 1962 saying that "Mark Twain belonged to the world" and that public opinion had become more tolerant. She was also influenced to release the papers due to her annoyance with Soviet propaganda charges that her father's ideas were being suppressed in the United States. The papers were edited in 1939 by Bernard DeVoto. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. The title story consists of eleven letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man.

Textual references make clear that sections, at least, of “Letters from the Earth” were written shortly before his death in April 1910. (For instance, Letter VII, in discussing the ravages of hookworm, refers to the $1,000,000 gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr. to help eradicate the disease – a gift that was announced on October 28, 1909, less than six months before Twain's death.)"

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_the_Earth

○

Excerpt: "Letters From the Earth"

by Mark Twain

Excerpt: "This is a strange place, an extraordinary place, and interesting. There is nothing resembling it at home. The people are all insane, the other animals are all insane, the earth is insane, Nature itself is insane. Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his very very best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm. Yet he blandly and in all sincerity calls himself the "noblest work of God." This is the truth I am telling you. And this is not a new idea with him, he has talked it through all the ages, and believed it. Believed it, and found nobody among all his race to laugh at it.

Moreover - if I may put another strain upon you - he thinks he is the Creator's pet. He believes the Creator is proud of him; he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes, and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to Him, and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea? Fills his prayers with crude and bald and florid flatteries of Him, and thinks He sits and purrs over these extravagancies and enjoys them. He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered. The daily affront, the daily defeat, do not discourage him, he goes on praying just the same. There is something almost fine about this perseverance. I must put one more strain upon you: he thinks he is going to Heaven!"

Freely download "Letters From the Earth", by Mark Twain, here:

- https://faculty.mtsac.edu/jmcfaul/

The Daily "Near You?"

Addis Ababa, Adis Abeba, Ethiopia. Thanks for stopping by!

The Poet: Anne Sexton, "Courage"

"Courage"

"It is in the small things we see it.

The child's first step,

as awesome as an earthquake.

The first time you rode a bike,

wallowing up the sidewalk.

The first spanking when your heart

went on a journey all alone.

When they called you crybaby

or poor or fatty or crazy

and made you into an alien,

you drank their acid

and concealed it.

Later,

if you faced the death of bombs and bullets

you did not do it with a banner,

you did it with only a hat to

cover your heart.

You did not fondle the weakness inside you

though it was there.

Your courage was a small coal

that you kept swallowing.

If your buddy saved you

and died himself in so doing,

then his courage was not courage,

it was love; love as simple as shaving soap.

Later,

if you have endured a great despair,

then you did it alone,

getting a transfusion from the fire,

picking the scabs off your heart,

then wringing it out like a sock.

Next, my kinsman, you powdered your sorrow,

you gave it a back rub

and then you covered it with a blanket

and after it had slept a while

it woke to the wings of the roses

and was transformed.

Later,

when you face old age and its natural conclusion

your courage will still be shown in the little ways,

each spring will be a sword you'll sharpen,

those you love will live in a fever of love,

and you'll bargain with the calendar

and at the last moment

when death opens the back door

you'll put on your carpet slippers

and stride out."

~ Anne Sexton

"What Are The Facts?"

“What are the facts? Again and again and again – what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the un-guessable “verdict of history” – what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!”  - Robert A. Heinlein

“It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones.”

- Carl Sagan

And always remember...

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,

 however improbable, must be the truth."

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Sherlock Holmes"

Hey, who lied and told you any of this was easy?

"As Americans..."

''As Americans, we must ask ourselves: Are we really so different? Must we stereotype those who disagree with us? Do we truly believe that ALL red-state residents are ignorant racist fascist knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying roadkill-eating tobacco juice-dribbling gun-fondling religious fanatic rednecks; or that ALL blue-state residents are godless unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving left-wing communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping holistic-wacko neurotic vegan weenie perverts?''

- Dave Barry

"How It Really Is"

 

Yeah, it's all a joke, but it ain't funny...

"One Week To Armageddon?"

"One Week To Armageddon?"

by Died Suddenly

"The investigators at Died Suddenly have received a very concerning piece of intel that we wanted to share with our followers regarding the war in Iran. Over the course of the last 4 years, this same source has given us intel that we have shared that has never once been wrong. Please feel free to pray about this and use discernment in what we are about to share:

America has only one week of missiles left to defend allies in Middle East. Nukes, invasion, and war with Russia all on the table. Joe Kent resigned for one simple reason: He knows the Iran war is going poorly, was started purely by Israel lying and manipulating Trump, and he refuses to lie about those facts publicly. I have spoken to several national security sources and this is the summary of what they have told me. 

1) America is one week from exhausting our supply of interceptor missiles, without which we have NO EFFECTIVE MEANS of stopping incoming missiles and drones to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Iran knows this and has intentionally kept back their biggest, most advanced, and deadly cruise missiles. Attempts by the U.S. to destroy those missile sites have failed and a good portion remain operational and ready to launch. If America cannot protect our allies in the region, they will sue for peace without us. And without protection, Israel will suffer massive casualties. The stockpile is dangerously low from the Trump administration using missiles to defend Israel since the Oct 7 attacks, and the war in Ukraine.

 2) The current Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba , survived the decapitation strike and follow on attempts, and has now successfully fled to Russia, where the U.S. is weighing committing another act of war, with Putin, by trying to kill him in Moscow. AI videos or not, Iran will never surrender if they find out they successfully killed or gravely injured Khamenei.

3) America has no good options to end this war, which needed to be finished quickly due to tyranny of variables stacked against the U.S. such as terrain, distance, lack of ground forces, and durability of the Iranian government. Options now being considered are nuclear, and futuristic weapons, like the ones which were deployed in Venezuela, that struck fear into the minds of all our adversaries, the same adversaries now watching in shock and laughter as America falters in this half cocked, expedition against one of the strongest nations in the Middle East.

4) China is weighing an invasion of Taiwan by July of this year, because of the very real distraction and depletion of U.S. military stock piles, troops, and resources, for the Iran conflict.

5) U.S. casualties have easily reached 500, with many injured and dead that have not yet been admitted by the Pentagon. America has lost 4 fixed wing aircraft, more than we’ve lost in 20 years of war combined. The aircraft were not shot down “accidentally” as previously thought. They were downed by sympathizers in the Kuwaiti Air Force. The pilot indeed went rogue, and other fractures in the shaky Middle East alliance are plausible as this war drags on. 

Russia and China have been capturing data from the combat operations, and providing satellite and intelligence support to Iran, and as part of this, have cracked the signal communication for America’s B-2 bombers, meaning, one of our primary deployment means for nuclear weapons, previously stealth and untraceable in radar, can now be tracked in flight and shot down, a major blow to nuclear deterrence and MAD threat against other super powers. This war may have effectively “evened the playing field” for China. America’s only options are bad, and Kent knew this when he resigned. Best thing we can do is literally and figuratively “put down the shovel” and stop digging our hole deeper. Cease all combat operations before this escalates into a new world war, and more Americans and allies are killed."

- https://x.com/diedsuddenly

Col. Douglas Macgregor, "The Collapse Has Already Begun"

Full screen recommended.

Col. Douglas Macgregor, 4/4/26

"The Collapse Has Already Begun"

'In this new interview, Colonel Douglas Macgregor says the U.S. president is on a path to disaster and doesn't know how to get off. Macgregor argues that the president is not getting a truthful assessment from his own side, that the "we've already won" narrative collapses every time a new wave of Iranian missiles hammers the Gulf States, and that he now faces a choice between public humiliation and an escalation that could end the dollar's reserve currency status.

Macgregor reveals that insiders he trusts estimate Iran's ballistic missile capability has only been reduced from 100% to roughly 70%, not the near total destruction being claimed publicly. He explains why the Strait of Hormuz is not being closed by Iranian missiles alone but by Lloyds of London refusing to insure anything moving through a war zone, meaning the strait cannot reopen until the war stops.

He lays out the numbers: commercial traffic through the strait down 95 to 97%, 15 million barrels of oil a day taken offline, Singapore jet fuel selling at $231 a barrel. He connects the war directly to the collapse of the dollar, pointing to the rise of gold, China's gold reserves in Riyadh and Hong Kong, and the emergence of what he calls the petroyuan.

He cites Nassim Taleb's argument that gold has already replaced the dollar as the real reserve currency, and warns that the US may have permanently lost its financial dominance through what he calls a catastrophic miscalculation driven entirely by Israel's Greater Israel aspirations.

Macgregor traces the war's evolution from the failed decapitation strategy to the failed attempt to provoke internal uprising to the current goal of total destruction and societal disintegration, the same strategy he says was applied to Russia through Ukraine and failed there too. He says the people who put the president on this path are not riding with him, and that Israel regards the U.S. leader as someone who will do whatever he is told.

This interview was recorded as the president delivered a prime time address claiming the war is nearing completion while simultaneously threatening to obliterate Iran's entire power grid, as Iran's foreign minister stated publicly that no negotiations are happening, and as Iranian drones struck Kuwait International Airport's fuel depots. This is one of the most important geostrategy briefings of 2026."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"High Inflation, No Jobs, No Growth… Huge Bank Warning"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 4/4/26

"High Inflation, No Jobs, No Growth…

 Huge Bank Warning"

"A new warning from Bank of America is raising serious concerns about stagflation in the U.S. economy - and it could impact everything from jobs to housing to everyday living costs. With oil prices surging past $100 a barrel, inflation pressures are heating up again while economic growth slows and layoffs begin to rise. This rare and dangerous combination - high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant growth - could signal a major shift that many Americans are not prepared for. In this video, we break down what stagflation really means, why interest rate cuts are being delayed, and how rising costs and job losses are already affecting businesses and consumers. From mortgage rates climbing again to companies shutting down and AI-driven insurance claim denials increasing, the warning signs are everywhere. If you want to understand what’s coming next and how it could affect your financial future, you need to see this now."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"We Are Being Warned That The Global Fertilizer Crisis Could Push World Hunger Way Above The Current All-Time Record High"

by Michael Snyder

"What are we going to do when global food prices go absolutely nuts and hundreds of millions of people are starving all over the planet? Even before this war with Iran erupted, world hunger was already at an all-time record high. Now, so much of the oil, natural gas and fertilizer that the globe is deeply dependent upon is trapped in the Persian Gulf. If this war drags on for months, it is inevitable that there will be massive price increases and rationing.

I realize that rationing is a very scary word, and it is not one that I use lightly. In Europe, it is being reported that fuel rationing may be coming a lot sooner than many Europeans think… A fuel rationing warning has been issued as a major energy official shared the measures that could be taken as the war with Iran plunges the world into a deeper crisis.

The European Union is currently looking into “all possibilities” as it prepares for a “long-lasting” energy blow from Iran blocking a huge chunk of the global supply, the bloc’s energy commissioner revealed. Prices for all types of fuel, including petrol, diesel and jet fuel, have risen since the start of the Middle East war but the EU’s Dan Jorgensen revealed when the situation could soon start to deteriorate further. Jorgensen said: “This will be a long crisis... energy prices will be higher for a very long time.” He added that “we expect it to be even worse in the weeks to come”.

Even if the war ended tomorrow, the damage that has been done to energy infrastructure in the Middle East would take years to fully rebuild, and more damage is being done with each passing day. For example, a major oil refinery in Kuwait that supplies 38 percent of the UK’s imported jet fuel was just attacked by Iranian drones… "An oil refinery in Kuwait where jet fuel bound for the UK is produced has been struck by Iranian drones. The Mina Al-Ahmadi plant was targeted by a “malicious drone attack” overnight, causing fires at “several operational units”, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) confirmed on Friday, as the Iran war goes on." Kuwait is the UK’s primary supplier for imported jet fuel, providing 4.1 million tons – 38 per cent of the country’s imports – each year.

Supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer are going to get tighter and tighter, and prices are going to continue to soar. If you can believe it, one gas station in California is already charging $9.99 for a gallon of gasoline…"In Los Angeles County, gas prices are inching close to $6 a gallon, but along California’s central coast, drivers are paying more than that to fill up their tanks. A gas station, Gorda By The Sea, in Big Sur is allegedly charging nearly $10 per gallon. The owner said his premium gas costs $9.99 is because he’s limited by the number of digits on his pump." People thought that I was being alarmist when I suggested that some gas stations could soon charge 7 or 8 dollars for a gallon of gasoline. Where are those critics now?

I am even more concerned about how global supplies of natural gas are tightening, because we need natural gas to produce nitrogen fertilizer… Why does a war in the Persian Gulf dictate the price of bread in London or corn in Iowa? To feed eight billion people, we rely on nitrogen fertilizers. Manufacturers forge these fertilizers by reacting atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen. They get that hydrogen, and the massive amounts of power required for the reaction, directly from natural gas.

Although the region is not famous for its fertile fields, the energy-rich Middle East is a kingmaker in global agriculture. Nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar alone produces 15% of the global supply of urea - a solid, easily transportable nitrogen fertilizer -  and controls a staggering 50% of internationally traded urea. Spring is planting season for farmers all over the northern hemisphere, and they desperately need the fertilizer that is currently locked up in the Middle East.

If the war with Iran does not come to a rapid conclusion, it is poor countries that will be hit the hardest… Rising energy, shipping and fertilizer costs fueled by Tehran’s stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route are already being felt in the United States, but the sharpest consequences are expected to fall on poorer, import-dependent countries unable to absorb the higher costs.

Thousands of miles from the Middle East, in Brazil, South Asia and East Africa, even small increases in the price of growing and transporting food can deepen hunger and strain already fragile food systems, where millions are already struggling to afford basic staples. Some nations import fertilizer directly from the Middle East, and others import natural gas and make their own fertilizer.

Without sufficient supplies of imported natural gas, fertilizer plants in nations such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are being forced to shut down… The disruptions are halting production elsewhere, sometimes thousands of miles away from Tehran. Countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan normally produce their own fertilizer using imported Gulf gas. Without that gas, their factories are going dark.

We have a real nightmare on our hands. With 8 billion people living on the planet, having enough fertilizer is an absolute necessity. One expert recently explained that if we didn’t use any fertilizer at all, about half of the population of the entire world would be starving… The stakes of this chemical bottleneck are existential, especially for the world’s poor. “If we stopped using mineral fertilizer completely worldwide, we would probably see half of the world starving,” Anthony Ryan at the University of Sheffield, UK, explained to New Scientist.

As I mentioned earlier, global hunger was already at the highest level that we have ever seen even before this war started. Now the UN’s World Food Program is warning that a lack of fertilizer and natural gas could push global hunger way above the current all-time record high…"The World Food Program has warned that surging fuel and fertilizer costs, combined with shipping disruptions, could have serious consequences for global food security.

An extra 45 million people are projected to be pushed into acute hunger because of rises in food, oil and shipping costs, putting the global tally above its current record level of 319 million, WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told reporters in Geneva last week. “This would ‌take ⁠global hunger levels to an all-time record and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” he said. “Already, before this war, we were in a perfect storm where hunger has never been as severe ⁠as now, in terms of numbers and how deep that hunger is,” he added.

In order to meet the definition of “acute hunger”, there must be a severe lack of food and immediate intervention must be necessary in order to save lives. Hundreds of millions of others around the globe go to bed hungry on a regular basis, but they do not currently fall under the formal definition of “acute hunger”.

If we cannot get nitrogen fertilizer into the hands of the farmers before planting season is over, we will see a dramatic drop in production for annual crops such as wheat, barley and corn. Just think about how many products that you purchase on a regular basis that include wheat, barley or corn. These days, corn is literally used in thousands of different products…“If you’re feeling these costs now, it’s only going to continue to increase as the supply chain fills with higher-cost goods,” said Lillibridge. “Corn is used in over 4,000 products,” he added. “It’s not just food - it’s industrial products, like your paper that you would put in your printer has cornstarch in it, plastics, just tons of things have industrial uses from corn.” On the other hand, a lack of nitrogen fertilizer will not have much of an impact on crops that do not have to be planted every year such as olives and grapes.

We have reached such a crazy moment in human history. If you are able to grow a garden, this would be a good year to do so. Because I have a feeling that this war is not going to be settled any time soon, and that means that there will be a whole lot of hungry people during the second half of 2026 and beyond."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

"Trump’s Premature Claim About Air Supremacy and Obliterated Iranian Air Defenses"

"Trump’s Premature Claim About Air Supremacy 

and Obliterated Iranian Air Defenses"

by Larry C. Johnson

"During his Wednesday night speech, Donald Trump made the following claim about Iran’s air defenses: They have no anti-aircraft equipment, their radar’s 100% annihilated, we are unstoppable as a military force. It appears that President Trump was a bit premature. The US Air Force had a difficult day on Friday:

➡️ F-15E (48th Fighter Wing) - Shot down in southwestern Iran. Pilot rescued; WSO still missing.

➡️ A-10C Thunderbolt II - Shot down and crashed into the Persian Gulf. Pilot reportedly recovered.

➡️ 2X HH-60G Pave Hawk - Hit during CSAR mission, one crash-landed across the border in Iraq. All crew reportedly rescued.

➡️ KC-135R Stratotanker - Emergency squawk 7700 around 10:00 UTC near Tel Aviv.

➡️ F-16CJ “Wild Weasel” (F-16C Block 50/52, SEAD configuration) - Emergency squawk 7700 over Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border around 15:00 UTC; later disappeared from FlightRadar.

➡️ KC-135R Stratotanker - Emergency squawk 7700 around 19:00 UTC near Tel Aviv.

It appears that Iran has no centralized air defense C2 or any kind of joint engagement zone (JEZ) anymore. However, as evidenced by the incidents above, Iran appears to be relying on Vietnam-style guerrilla tactics of shoot-and-scoot air defense with their passive and highly tactical indigenous system… The IR-SA-7’s (pronounced “Ur-sah-seven”). These Some are specially developed missiles that can loiter at altitude, almost like a glider, completely passive, that lie in wait for one of the US older generation fighters, tankers or other support aircraft to wander too close and then hone-in. While the US can claim “air supremacy” this does not mean that US aircraft can fly over Iran without incurring the risk of being shot down.

I wonder if the Russians are paying attention to Iran’s information operations? Iran is proving to be quite clever and creative in producing videos that take trolling to new heights:

Absolutely hilarious must-view video is here:

- https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/

"Marandi: Sinister Leaders Like Trump, Netanyahu Will Push Countries To Obtain Nukes"

Gerald Celente,4/3/26

"Marandi: Sinister Leaders Like Trump, 

Netanyahu Will Push Countries To Obtain Nukes"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com

"The State Of Israel Is About To Be Wiped Off The Map Permanently"

Full screen recommended.

Col. Larry Wilkerson, 4/3/26

"The State Of Israel Is About To Be 

Wiped Off The Map Permanently"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Judge Napolitano, 4/3/26

"John Mearsheimer: Israel Defenses Completely Empty – 

The Next Wave Ends Tel Aviv"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Dining Out Is Broken… And It’s Not Getting Better"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 4/3/26

"Dining Out Is Broken… And It’s Not Getting Better"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Michael Bordenaro, 4/3/26

"Fast Food Is Collapsing As 

Gas Prices Hit A Breaking Point"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Jeremiah Babe, "Warning: Economy, War And Inflation Are About To Collide"

Jeremiah Babe, 4/3/26

"Warning: Economy, War And Inflation

 Are About To Collide"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Jeremiah Babe, 4/3/26

"People Freaking Out At The Gas Station; 

Shopping For More Security"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: "Dark Legend"

Look at the news posts below...Every day we're hopelessly saddened and discouraged at just how truly bad it really is, and knowing there's nothing we can do about it. Of necessity we need to be aware of these things, but it's not and never will be enjoyable. Then, as now, you need a short break away from it all, and this very special musical interlude is precisely that. Now and then, very rarely, you stumble upon something simply extraordinary, something that's just so astonishingly, magically beautiful and well done it's unbelievable. This is one of those times... Savor these wonderful musical images... - CP

Full screen recommended.

Dark Legend, "An Imaging of Tuesday Afternoon"

The Elves sing of the beauty of Tuesday Afternoon.

o

Full screen recommended.

Dark Legend, "An Imaging Of Nights In White Satin"

o

Full screen recommended.

Dark Legend, "An Imaging Of Forever Autumn"

o

Full screen recommended. 

Dark Legend, "An Imaging Of 'Your Wildest Dreams"

o

Full screen recommended.

Dark Legend, "A Whiter Sade Of Pale"

o

I'm a harsh critic, have done this blog for 16 years with 

over 110, 000 posts, thought I'd seen it all until finding this.

I simply cannot compliment or recommend this site highly enough.

Enjoy the magic...

- https://www.youtube.com/@DARKLEGEND-j2h

YouTube Dark Legend Channel

"A Look to the Heavens"

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

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

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

"Sometimes Even To Live..."

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage."

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether 

it is worth living is whether you have had enough of it."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

That ultimately is the question...

Adrian Lester as Hamlet: "To be or not to be..."

William Shakespeare, "Hamlet", Act III, Scene I

"When An Old Friend Takes Her Own Life"

"When An Old Friend Takes Her Own Life"

by Charles Hugh Smith

"When an old friend takes her own life, your own life is irrevocably diminished. What seemed to matter before no longer matters, and what seemed to make sense no longer makes sense. My friend had recently moved 1,000 miles away, to a town which had long extended a magnetic draw on her. But she knew no one there, and since her work was all done on computer, she toiled alone. Like any other human being in those conditions, she was lonely. Yes, she had a loyal companion in her dog, and two very close friends here in California, and a constellation of lesser friends like me; but it was not enough at a critical moment.

She'd had those moments before, and been saved: just as she'd gathered the pills to swallow, a friend had called, and she'd gotten past that moment of dark obsession. Of all the past days' memories and thoughts, one returns: what if I had sensed her despair and called her at that moment? And why didn't I sense her need for reassurance and human contact at that critical hour? I have often dreamed of her, and had done so just the week before; it was a vivid dream, not at all alarming, and I'd recounted it to her in an email. She'd made no response, and I'd given it no further thought. Was the dream a premonition? No; but perhaps it was a signal, if not of distress, then of some tendril of distress.

It is convenient is think our friends resilient, just as it is convenient for adults to believe children are resilient when turmoil or tragedy strikes the family. Yes, children are resilent--they are human beings. But they are not endlessly resilient, and their quiet after death or upheaval is not resilience or resolve, it is the numbing of terrible pain.

And so this false reliance on resilience nags at me; I was too self-absorbed to think through the underlying conditions in my dear friend's life, and how lonely she might feel. Her childhood was not positive, nor was her family more than grudgingly supportive; there were always squabbles over money and demands for fealty she could not meet. She was resilient, but only just so; and I should have been alert to the proximity of her limits.

But I am also keenly aware of the limits of my influence in her life; though we each wish with all our hearts that we could have saved her in that moment of supreme temptation and pain, there are limits to our influence.

If you think of your oldest, closest friends - I have known and loved her for 37 years now - then we cannot recall all the thousands of words exchanged or spoken, or the thousands of hours spent together. We recall some few words and scenes, and it is those few we have to cherish and ponder. But what caused us to recall those moments and not others?

We are ripe to influence and connection only rarely; even our closest friends only influence our thinking and emotions at certain unpredictable junctures. After the fact, often when things have gone awry, we remember what they told us, or the comment they made off-handedly, or perhaps most rarely, their earnestly offered advice which we'd promptly ignored.

And so I hold two uncomfortably conflicting truths: that I could have been, and should have been, a better friend to her these past few months, when she needed all her friends' presence and understanding. But feeling this, and knowing it to be painfully true does not alter the limits of my influence in her life. Perhaps I could have contacted her in just the right moment, when my call or words could have tipped her away from that terrible decision; but more likely, that is a vain hope of a heartbroken friend, looking back from the periphery of her life.

For there are limits to us, this poor amalgam of brain and emotion; yes, faith can help, pets can help, friends and family can help, medication can help, insight can help, resolve can help -but none of these, or all of them put together, is guaranteed to overcome the darkness within us at its bleakest. The sufferer must be attuned to that particular wavelength at that moment in time; and if they have spun beyond our reach, then our ability to save them is lost as well.

Those of you who were born with minds which don't follow the happier pathways, the easier pathways, know that the "normal" person cannot understand the despair felt by those prone to one or more of the many madnesses which plague the human mind and spirit. Yes, we all know despression and anxiety, but those blessed with standard-issue minds will never experience the bottomlessness the others experience.

In a peculiarity of natural selection, or God's will (perhaps, despite the false labeling imposed by language, they amount to the same thing), the human spirits with the most enthusiasm for life, the ones with the poet's spark, the ones with the keenest sensibilities and sensitivities to life, are the ones most often drawn to that terrible cliff of self-destruction.

Some may mock Thanatos, the urge to self-destruction, the yin to the will to live's yang, as illusion. But it is real, and if you have not felt it, then count your blessings.

It is ironic, and tragic, that the selfish among us, the bitter types who have soured on life and who tap an endless well of bile to blame others for their own difficulties, or those who always find the energy to trumpet their own self-glory, never end their own lives. They cling on, as if the will to sow discord and ego are indestructable. No, it is the fragile ones, the thoughtful ones, who are drawn to that dark edge, and who jump; for life is too painful to bear at times, and they think not of faith or the love of their friends and family, but of escape.

It is an illusion, a cherished one, and one I wish was true, that love alone can save a lovely soul in extremis. She was loved, dearly, and yet we who loved her could not save her. We cannot but wish with all our own lifeforce that we could have done so, but there are limits, even to love. How I wish I had felt an urge to pick up the phone and call her that day, that hour, in the hope that perhaps that simple act would have distracted her, or comforted her just enough to stay her hand. But I had felt no such urge, and so the moment was lost.

To wish for that is to wish for powers and strengths I do not possess; I am just another muddled, muddling-through human, struggling daily with my own weaknesses and demons, trying not to fail those I love in this life. But I cannot help but feel I failed her, and that haunts me, and will haunt me, even as I know that to want that power in her life is not the same as actually wielding it. Though it is natural to wish for a limitless ability to save such a dear soul, perhaps it is overstating our reach.

When an old friend takes her own life, then you come to know how little you knew of her and of her life in that distant town. There are limits on what a friend can know, at least a friend who is not in the inner circle; and perhaps even they cannot know.

We were close at times, something like cousins or perhaps at the very best, as she once told me, siblings; she had no brothers. There is no good analog or word for friendships with no romantic frisson between men and women. We did not look anything alike; I am tall and fair, and she was very petite, with skin and eyes far different from my own.

She was the much better writer, the one who deservedly won the notice of mentors and prize committees. In comparison, I am a plodder, the aspirant who rows along without attracting much notice because, well, I'm just not that good. I thought her beautiful, and liked looking at her; she had an enthusiasm for things, and life, which I admired and even envied at times.

Now she is gone, and my life is so much poorer. My only consolation, and it too is a poor one, is that I had just written her that I loved her very much, and had always loved her. She'd made no answering comment, for it was known, and understood; but I hope, in my secret heart, that it gave her some small solace to read it, and to know it was true."

- https://www.oftwominds.com/

"Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether 

it is worth living is whether you have had enough of it."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.