"Welcome to the Theater of the Absurd"

"Welcome to the Theater of the Absurd"

by Charles Hugh Smith

"The real world no longer matters, what matters is the performance on stage. Welcome to the Theater of the Absurd. In the present era, all the world is a stage and everything is a performance on that stage: welcome to the Theater of the Absurd, a Hollywood set fabricated of cardboard and plaster made to look like gold leaf and marble columns, where the contraptions and ropes that do the magic are hidden behind purple velvet drapery. Every detail has been designed to create the illusion of permanence and power to rivet our attention and distract us from noticing that behind this faux fabrication, the world is on fire.

Since the entire point of the theatrics is to cloak the decay of the status quo from serving shared interests to a craven scramble of self-enrichment, no expense is spared in the theatrics, for as the gulf between the reality of who's getting richer and who's losing ground and what the performers claim--this is the best of all possible worlds because of technology and Progress--widens, it becomes necessary to pour more resources into the performances, lest the losers catch on that the performance is the con that keeps the self-serving status quo from being revealed as an extractive, exploitive arrangement favoring the few.

As the audience is no longer entranced by mere performance, the theatrics must be ramped up to absurd heights. Leaders shout continually through the megaphone of social media, every pronouncement is exaggerated to self-parody, jokers prance around as Wall Street jugglers perform tricks, and faux trials run continuously in the background, exiling star performers as part of the enthralling theatrics.

The audience soon habituates to the exaggerations, and so the absurdity is notched higher. Every outrage is played out on stage, and soon the audience is no longer outraged by anything, for every aspect of the performance is now accepted as "normal." In this jaded state, the audience becomes restive and starts booing the performers.

The Theater of the Absurd resorts to throwing money into the audience, creating frenzies as all those losing ground stampede to collect the coins as their last best change of getting rich enough to avoid the fires burning behind the stage.

While the money is being thrown into the increasingly agitated mob, audience members are invited onto the stage to perform their own theatrics. This taste of fame is electrifying, and soon the stage is a seething mass of onlookers seeking their moment in the spotlight, leaders claiming divine inspiration, and a crush of jugglers, clowns, and jokers pressing forward and being pushed off stage in the melee.

Since the performance is now the key to the survival of the status quo arrangement, nobody's paying attention to the fires burning behind the stage set. The real world no longer matters, what matters is the performance on stage. Welcome to the Theater of the Absurd, where the performance is more real than the world burning behind the flimsy simulations and facsimiles of permanence and power."

- https://www.oftwominds.com/

"Social Media is the Opposite of Social Life"

"Social Media is the Opposite of Social Life"

by David Cain

"I remember a surreal moment about twenty years ago, which felt like the beginning of something bad, and it was. I was at a bowling alley with some friends, and a few people in our group were talking about Facebook. I knew what it was but had no interest in it. Then one of them turned to me and said, “There’s lots of pictures of you on Facebook!” This kind of stunned me and I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t joined this website but somehow I was one of its features. A year later all of us were using it. It was exciting at first, because it seemed to give us more access to the people in our lives. We could post photos, make plans, and stay connected to a wider circle of people.

I should note for younger readers that the term “people” at that time only referred to real, physical beings: persons with bodies that walked and drove around and did things. Having friends largely meant physically traveling to the same apartment, bowling alley, restaurant, or movie theater, positioning our bodies amongst each other in this physical space, and interacting using our faces and voices and hearts. The part of your life that consisted of this type of physical activity was called social life.

Social media was meant to facilitate this thing called social life. Facebook’s original purpose was to keep you in touch with people who would otherwise fall out of your social circle, namely people you went to school with. It didn’t really do that. It mostly became a thing to do on your computer by yourself. Within a few years, social media came to be seen as a sort of processed-food version of social life: convenient, low-quality sustenance that should not make up most of your diet. It still seemed like food though, just crappy food.

I’ve been complaining about social media forever by this point, and so has everyone else. But a recent effort to actively rebuild my social life has revealed something about how these two things relate. Social media isn’t a cheap and inadequate facsimile of social life; it’s its exact opposite. It isn’t worse than social life at fostering personal connection, it undoes personal connection and reverses our social skills.

This is because social media doesn’t really allow you to interact with people. People are living beings with beating hearts and live emotions. Social life has always been about engaging in the immediate physical presence of such beings. Social media avoids exactly that part, while allowing you to exchange information and symbols of approval.

In a real social interaction, you’re entangled with the other person, physically and emotionally, in real time. Eyes are looking, faces are expressing, and emotions are humming, one hundred percent of the time. It’s nothing like browsing content or sending off messages — it’s much more akin to riding a horse. Moment-to-moment care is required. It can take you to all kinds of new places, but it has its hazards. You have to stay alert, watch your footing, and keep your heart open to this other living thing you’re entangled with. Doing it badly can lead to a nasty upset or even physical danger.

Online, you don’t interact with living beings. You interact with filtered bits of data issued by unseen, presumably living beings – messages, pictures, links, memes. Each party communicates like a paranoid medieval king, who sends out heralds to convey his latest position, then raises the drawbridge again.

Real interaction isn’t information exchange. It involves performing a host of specific, right-brained skills, all at once – how to get someone’s attention in a way agreeable to them, how to explore their preferred topic, how to take offense gracefully, where to put your eyes and your body, how to know when to unpack and when to summarize, and a lot more.

It all must be done live, with an audience. The human being is built for this sort of thing, but it still has to be learned by doing. The voice, face, body, and heart can work together the way a competent driver’s hands, feet, and eyes operate the steering wheel, gas pedal, turn signal, and mirror as though they’re one. When it’s really clicking, it’s a beautiful thing.

And none of it resembles in any way what you do when you thumb through an app. Social media is just a kind of solitary data processing game. You can exchange information while staying safe from the delicate challenges of real interaction. You can issue your opinions without the heat of real eyes looking at you. You can feel heard, and engage with “the world,” without ever having to account for the immediate presence of another person’s heart.

I think that’s why social media remains somewhat irresistible to many of us. The human being has powerful cravings for certain social rewards – approval, status, reassurance - but would like to have them without the hazards of real social life. Mucking up a real interaction is painful, and if your skills are poor, improving them is a major trial. Social media walls off all that trouble, while allowing some of the low-level rewards to come through, in the form of likes, stars, hearts, and other fake internet points. You can enjoy these scraps of approval while the wall shields you from the heat and danger of real-time entanglement with another human being.

These platforms now offer filters to make sure only the agreeable bits of other people come through. If someone gets annoying, you can mute them. You can filter out messages containing particular words. The algorithm will learn your intolerances, and show you only the parts of others that require less of your empathy and understanding. It’s no wonder that many people pride themselves on having zero tolerance for differences of political opinion - that degree of intolerance is actually possible now. I’m sure some people have figured out how to use this technology to aid social life. But I think most of us have ended up using it unwittingly to the exact opposite effect, as protection against social life.

I guess what I’ve discovered, or re-discovered, is that social life was always a matter of physical action. It’s about getting your body into proximity with other bodies, of physically entering the voice- and heart-radius of other people. It involves things like dressing in front of a mirror, finding parking, entering buildings, shaking hands. It’s sitting across from people in living rooms, restaurants, and church basements. This sounds so obvious typing it out, but somehow I forgot for about twenty years."

- https://www.raptitude.com/

“Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!

No sense have they of ills to come, nor care beyond today.”

- Thomas Gray,

“Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College”

- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

'How it Really Is"

US Debt Clock, Real Time:

- https://www.usdebtclock.org/

"People Are Not Ready For What Happens When the Food Runs Out"

Full screen recommended.

American Finance, 4/10/26

"People Are Not Ready For What 

Happens When the Food Runs Out"

"A global hunger crisis is accelerating and it’s closer to home than most people think. With over 318 million people facing severe food insecurity, rising fuel and fertilizer costs, supply chain breakdowns, and policy changes are creating a perfect storm that could impact food availability in the U.S. This video breaks down how global famine risks, economic pressures, and fragile supply systems could soon hit your grocery store and what it means for your future."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Americans Are Struggling"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 4/10/26

"Americans Are Struggling… 

Inflation Surge Sparks New Fears"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Market Meltdown and Boring Historian, 4/10/26

"Why Millions of US Households Will 

Completely Drain Their Savings This Summer"

"What this video explains is a growing financial pressure building beneath the surface of the American economy, where multiple forces are converging at the same time to create a situation that could significantly strain millions of households during the summer of 2026. It breaks down how record-high credit card debt, rising living costs, and declining savings are forming a mathematical squeeze rather than a speculative prediction. The data shows that Americans are carrying over $1.28 trillion in credit card debt while dealing with prices that are roughly 26% higher than just a few years ago. At the same time, fuel prices have surged sharply, everyday essentials are becoming more expensive due to tariffs, and consumer confidence has dropped to historically low levels. Together, these factors are reducing purchasing power while increasing financial obligations, leaving households with less flexibility than ever before.

The video further explains a four-stage cycle that has appeared repeatedly in past economic stress periods: first comes a savings cushion, then gradual depletion, followed by reliance on debt, and finally a breaking point where spending can no longer be sustained. According to the analysis, the U.S. is currently in the third stage, where debt is being used to maintain living standards after savings have already been exhausted. With interest rates on credit cards exceeding 20%, even maintaining existing debt is becoming more expensive each month. At the same time, additional pressures such as higher gasoline costs during peak summer driving season and rising grocery prices are expected to hit households simultaneously, accelerating the strain.

Historical comparisons to events like the 2008 financial crisis and the inflationary shocks of the 1970s are used to show how similar conditions in the past led to sharp declines in consumer spending once households reached their financial limits. The key takeaway is that when essential expenses rise faster than income and borrowing capacity is maxed out, consumer spending - which drives a large portion of the economy - can suddenly contract. This creates a ripple effect, impacting businesses, employment, and overall economic stability.

Ultimately, the video emphasizes that the issue is not a single factor but the combination of rising costs, high debt, low savings, and weakening consumer confidence all hitting at once. It highlights that the real risk lies in the timing and overlap of these pressures, which could lead to a noticeable slowdown in spending and broader economic consequences in the months ahead."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

The Unfolded States, 4/10/26

"People Are Living Beyond Their Means And Going Broke"

"Millions of people are working full-time, paying their bills, and still ending up with nothing left at the end of the month. This video breaks down how that actually happens, step by step. From student loans and rising rent to unexpected expenses and shrinking savings, the financial pressure is building in ways most people don’t fully see. Using real-world examples and current data, we look at how the cost of living crisis is changing everyday life. Why income growth isn’t keeping up, how debt quietly compounds, and why more people are living paycheck to paycheck even when they’re doing everything right. This isn’t just about bad spending habits - it’s about how the system is shifting. If you’ve ever felt like your money doesn’t go as far as it used to, you’re not alone. The question is no longer just how people got here… but whether it’s getting harder to stay ahead."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

"We're so freakin' doomed!" - The Mogambo Guru

"Vance Warns Iranians Ahead Of Pakistan Talks: US "Has All The Cards" & "We Want The Nuclear Fuel" (Excerpt)

"Vance Warns Iranians Ahead Of Pakistan Talks: 

US "Has All The Cards" & "We Want The Nuclear Fuel"

by Tyler Durden

Excerpt: Summary:

ͦ Vice President Vance (who's been tapped to lead talks) warns Iranians: Trump "has all the cards" and cannot have a nuclear weapon. Follows Pentagon/WH declaring "total victory". Iran says it has upper-hand.

ͦ US, Iran agree to meet for first direct talks in Islamabad. Situation fragile given that Iran is threatening to hit Israel again over IDF's massive Lebanon airstrikes. Tehran says 3 clauses already violated.

ͦ Iran meanwhile demands stiff fees for ships passing through Hormuz during the ceasefire, and says it holds the final authority on which vessels get to pass. Tehran leaders have asserted 'victory' for Iran, amid positive international reaction to the ceasefire.

ͦ The first two ships since the ceasefire was announced have crossed the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said it will demand that shipping companies pay tolls in cryptocurrency. Hours later, Fars announces a halt to ships' passage. This as IDF pummels Lebanon.

ͦ Saudi Arabia's vital East-West oil pipeline carrying crude from the Gulf to the Red Sea for export has been attacked at a pumping station, oil rises on the news. There's been sporadic attacks on other Gulf states too. Kuwait sees key energy, water sites hit."

Full article is here:

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

o

"Iran Demands Israel Halt Lebanon Attacks As Both Sides

 Arrive In Pakistan, Trump Threatens Strikes If Peace Fails"

Bill Bonner, "Red In Tooth And Claw"

"Red In Tooth And Claw"

Overall, an estimated 20 to 40 million people died in the Mongol conquests. 

And Genghis, taking advantage of the young women who were captured,

 has left more descendants than any other known human.

by Bill Bonner

“Raising the stakes so high beforehand, he [Trump] maximized the damage to

 global perceptions of U.S. power...this is a clear strategic defeat for the U.S.”

- Jennifer Kavanagh, the former director of RAND’s Army Strategy program.

Baltimore, Maryland - "The costs are being tallied. The bills are coming in. The Telegraph led off with an important question: What has Trump’s Iran War achieved? Not much, was the answer. Stuff has been blown up. People were killed. So great was the destruction that you would hardly look at Iran today and call it a ‘winner.’ When the US and Israel set out to blow stuff up, they do a pretty good job of it.

But compared to what Trump threatened - the ‘end of a civilization’ - the country got off easy. The civilization in question has been around approximately 5,800 years longer than the US. And it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, any time soon. There are still 90 million people in the country. They still may have enriched uranium. And now they have tighter control of the Strait of Hormuz...and have discovered how to use it. Most important, they are still alive. This point must have weighed on them as they considered their options. Donald Trump had given them a choice. Either do as he said...or die.

This was not the first time Iran had heard such threats. Genghis Khan routinely made the offer to the Persian cities in his path. ‘Give us your gold, your food, and your daughters...or we will kill you,’ said the Great Man. But Genghis didn’t chicken out. If a town refused, it would be besieged...and eventually, almost everyone in it would be killed. Along with the dogs and cats.

Genghis killed as a strategy. He committed such gruesome and terrifying war crimes so that few cities would oppose him. The city of Nishapur, for example, resisted. But Genghis had the leading generals and best war technology of 1221. Catapults, flame throwers, germ warfare, artillery - he had it all. After a short struggle he took the city and slaughtered as many as 1.7 million people. Overall, an estimated 20 to 40 million people died in the Mongol conquests. And Genghis, taking advantage of the young women who were captured, has left more descendants than any other known human.

But so far, there is hardly a passing resemblance between Genghis Khan and Donald Trump. Whether it is reciprocal tariffs or wiping out whole civilizations, Trump’s threats - unlike those of the Great Khan - are mostly empty. And instead of erasing his chosen enemies, Trump may inadvertently give them a boost. French commentator Arnaud Bertrand believes Trump has just done Iran an immense favor:

‘JP Morgan calculated that, as per the new Hormuz toll arrangement (which Gulf states have confirmed is allowed in the ceasefire plan), Iran may get $70-$90 billion in additional annual revenue, representing a stunning 20% of its GDP, in extra revenue. Hilariously, Trump commented on Truth Social that the arrangement means “big money will be made” and “Iran can start the reconstruction process.” Damn right: they gained the single most valuable geographic rent on earth, by a huge margin. For comparison, the Suez Canal earns Egypt “only” $9-10B/year, and the Panama Canal about $5B.’

Iran is also reaping some surprising collateral benefits. Not only can it sell its crude; it sells at a premium. Oilprice.com: "March has turned into a month of hard power tests for Iran — and so far, it has been quietly exceeding expectations. By effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz to all but its own cargoes (or the ones that have received their approval), Tehran has demonstrated that the trajectory of the conflict is far from being dictated by its counterparts. Faced with the risk of acute shortages in medium-sour crude, the US administration has been forced into a partial sanctions retreat, allowing Iranian barrels already at sea to re-enter the market. The result is a striking reversal - Iranian crude, once deeply discounted, is now trading at a $1/bbl premium to ICE Brent, while the pool of willing buyers is slowly but steadily widening."

Meanwhile, what about the US? Is it a ‘winner’ too? Maybe. All issues may now be settled by brute force, since no one trusts the US or the Israelis to bargain in good faith. This alone makes the US a kind of winner. In a world ‘red in tooth and claw,’ the US has an advantage. It has the longest teeth and the sharpest claws of any beast in the jungle. Alas, the law of the jungle tends not to work very well...not in the post-Genghis modern world. You can murder people with bombs...but what good does it do you?

And there’s always collateral damage. For the US, it’s just beginning to show up. So far this year, palm oil is up 20%. Gasoline is up 43%. Heating oil is up 68%. And so you see, Americans will pay the costs of war - including the ‘reparations’ collected as tolls - for both sides. And you can expect no relief from the Fed. The next ‘inflation’ report is likely to show the CPI over 3%. This leaves no room for the Fed to reduce rates. Is this a victory? You decide."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"This Is Going To Be A Complete And Utter Disaster For The Global Economy"

by Michael Snyder

"Iran is still holding traffic through the Strait of Hormuz hostage, and the entire world is going to suffer. Before the war, commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz flowed freely, and the global economy functioned normally. But even though there is a temporary ceasefire, Iran continues to maintain a stranglehold on the waterway, and they are insisting that this will continue to be the case when a permanent deal to end the war is reached. In other words, the Iranians are making it clear that this is how things are going to operate from now on, and they know that the U.S. and Europe are not eager to do what it would take militarily to reopen the Strait. Of course even if there is a military operation to reopen the Strait, it will take an extended period of time before it is safe for commercial traffic to pass through the waterway once again. Any way that you look at it, the truth is that this is going to be a complete and utter disaster for the global economy.

The Iranians were supposed to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of the ceasefire deal. But that has not happened. In fact, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has ominously declared that “the Strait of Hormuz is not open”… The Strait of Hormuz has not opened to ship traffic after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, said the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or ADNOC, on Thursday. “This moment requires clarity,” said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber in a social media post. “So let’s be clear: the Strait of Hormuz is not open. Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled.”

Iran has made clear that ships must obtain its permission to pass through the strait, Al Jaber said. “That is not freedom of navigation. That is coercion,” the ADNOC chief said. Only a handful of ships are getting through right now. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Iranians are only going to allow about a dozen ships to pass through the Strait each day…

 Iran told mediators it will limit the number of ships crossing the strait to around a dozen a day, and the Iranian Navy warned ships anchored near the strait that they would need Tehran’s permission to cross.

Before the war, about 10 times as many vessels were traveling through the Strait of Hormuz on a daily basis. The Iranians are telling us that any vessels that attempt to pass through without authorization “will be destroyed”…On Wednesday, Iran warned that oil tankers will be destroyed if they try to travel along the strait without permission, as it seeks to retain control over the passage during the ceasefire. A radio message was broadcast yesterday by the regime to all oil ships in the vital waterway, saying: ‘If any vessels try to transit without permission, [they] will be destroyed.’ This is going to starve the global economy of desperately needed oil, natural gas, petrochemicals and fertilizer, and Iran fully understands this.

Any ships that Iran authorizes to pass through the Strait must “sail through Iranian waters around Larak ​Island to avoid the risk of naval mines”… Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have told vessels to sail through Iranian waters around Larak ​Island to avoid the risk of naval mines in the usual lanes through the strait, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday. Vessels are to enter the strait north of Larak Island and exit just south of it until further notice in coordination with the IRGC’s navy, Tasnim quoted the IRGC as saying. Iran has essentially admitted that they have mined the Strait of Hormuz. Even if the war ended immediately, it would take a long time to make sure that all the mines were gone.

The Iranians are forcing commercial ships to enter their own territorial waters so that they can charge a toll of up to 2 million dollars per vessel…Iran is charging tolls of up to $2 million per ship to pass through the strait, a maneuver dubbed the “Tehran Toll Booth” in shipping circles.

When asked about what Iran is doing, the White House said that it is “completely unacceptable”… White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the alleged closure of the strait, based on reports from Iranian state media, is “completely unacceptable.” And President Trump is pledging that once a permanent peace agreement is reached the Strait of Hormuz will be “OPEN & SAFE”…

There is just one huge problem. The Iranians are insisting on control of the Strait of Hormuz as part of any peace deal. So Trump is going to be faced with a decision. Either he will give the Iranians what they want, or he will start the war back up again.

But let’s be wildly optimistic for a moment. Let’s assume that the Iranians totally give in and allow commercial traffic to flow freely through the Strait of Hormuz. Even if that were to happen, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz would not return to normal levels for a very long time to come.

We know that this is true, because traffic through the Red Sea has still not returned to normal even though there has been a ceasefire with the Houthis for quite some time… Analysts told CNBC that the Houthis in Yemen disrupting the Red Sea last year provides a reference point to how quickly traffic could recover following a potential ceasefire. “In the Red Sea with the Houthis, the ceasefire agreement was last January and traffic has not returned,” Nikos Petrakakos, managing director at maritime investment manager Tufton, told CNBC in an interview. “As long as there’s a threat of an attack, that’s enough. You don’t actually need the attack.”

The bottom line is that the crisis in the Middle East is going to continue to massively disrupt the global economy for an extended period no matter what happens next. The last tankers that departed prior to the war are arriving at their destinations, and we are already starting to see rationing and shortages all over the globe. In fact, Madagascar just declared a nationwide energy emergency… Madagascar has declared a two‑week nationwide state of energy emergency amid severe fuel shortages caused by the US and Israel’s war in Iran. The presidency said the decision was taken following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting over fears the situation could lead to public disorder. The “severe fuel shortages” that they are now experiencing will not be alleviated any time soon.

In Myanmar, a “rationing system for private vehicles” has just been imposed…Amid fuel shortages, Myanmar’s military government has implemented a rationing system for private vehicles. Under the singular scheme, vehicles with even-numbered licence plates are only allowed to drive on even dates while those with odd-numbered plates can only drive on odd dates.

This is just the beginning. Supplies of oil and natural gas are starting to get really tight in Europe, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has warned that what the continent is facing is “probably beyond what we can imagine at the moment”…

For the European Union, the short-term consequences of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz - steeply rising gasoline and diesel prices, and a severe jet fuel shortage putting foreign travel at risk - could be dwarfed by the long-term implications of a prolonged closure. An industrial crash, higher manufacturing prices passed on to consumers in the form of damaging inflation, fertilizer shortages and resulting spikes in food prices, and higher household utility bills all have the potential to upend European politics.

What is already being called “the biggest global energy crisis in history” could have still more drastic consequences, and the EU is particularly exposed, with most of its major economies significantly more dependent on fossil fuel imports than the UK. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde last month described the long-term effects for Europe as “probably beyond what we can imagine at the moment”.

Little wonder, then, that the EU has convened the dreaded European “working group”. EU Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said on Friday that the bloc is exploring “all possibilities” to deal with a “long-lasting” shock, in which “energy prices will be higher for a very long time.” Jørgensen mentioned fuel rationing and releasing emergency oil reserves as potential steps to mitigate the crisis; fuel rationing has already been introduced in Slovenia, while fuel restrictions have been issued at four Italian airports.

And the International Monetary Fund is publicly admitting that there will be shortages of diesel and jet fuel “for some time”…The world will experience diesel and jet fuel shortages “for some time” because of the war in Iran, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The halting of normal flows through the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz – the vital oil and gas shipping route – “will for some time continue to have ripple effects”, said the organization’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva. She specifically mentioned shortages in refined oil products, diesel and jet fuel.

This is really happening. Even if Iran surrendered, which will never happen, fully opened the Strait of Hormuz immediately and started feverishly removing the mines, the world will still experience enormous supply disruptions throughout the remainder of 2026. Of course the truth is that Iran does not intend to give in on anything. The Iranians believe that they have won, and they are going to stick to the list of 10 demands that they have been relentlessly sharing with the world on social media.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration plans to stick to the list of 15 demands that it is making. There is no way that those two lists are compatible. So it appears that more fighting is probably inevitable, and that will just make economic conditions even worse."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

"Alert! Massive Military Movements, NATO Sending Warships To Hormuz, Trump Loses Mind"

Canadian Prepper, 4/10/26

"Alert! Massive Military Movements, 

NATO Sending Warships To Hormuz, Trump Loses Mind"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Iran Deploys 350 Hwasong-19 ICBMs - Israel AT Risk, U.S. Trembles"

Full screen recommended.

Prof. Jiang Xueqin, 4/10/26

"Iran Deploys 350 Hwasong-19 ICBMs -

 Israel AT Risk, U.S. Trembles"

"This analysis examines a rapidly shifting strategic landscape as Iran deploys 350 Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missiles, a system originally developed by North Korea and capable of delivering multiple warheads across continents. The implications are immediate and profound: Israel faces a compressed decision window, while the United States confronts escalating risks across multiple fronts. Professor Jiang Xueqin breaks down the military capabilities, geopolitical signaling, and strategic consequences behind this development. What unfolds next may not be gradual - but sudden, decisive, and potentially irreversible in reshaping the balance of power."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Reclimbing The Escalator to World War III"

"Reclimbing The Escalator to World War III"

by Leo Hohmann

"This Iran war is quickly moving from an unwise, not well-planned military excursion into a catastrophic failure that can only end up in full-blown World War III, followed by the Great Digital Reset and Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The two-week ceasefire deal announced on April 7 already lies in shambles, having been exposed as never a serious attempt to end this war. It was a ruse meant to temporarily de-escalate and buy time to prepare for the next big battle.

Ultimately, if Trump is serious about bringing Iran to its knees and installing a new U.S.-backed puppet government, he will have to launch a ground invasion. He stupidly thought he could avoid that, and maybe he could have if he hadn’t started the war with two massive blunders related to dead school girls and the elimination of Iran’s top spiritual leader. But now he can’t. Not if he really wants to deliver to his globalist masters the total defeat of Iran’s Islamic regime. This is the quintessential case of, be careful what you wish for... I’m not saying it’s impossible to pull off, but it will cost far more American lives to dislodge the mullahs of Iran than any rational American would see as “worth it.”

Not only is America not mopping up Iran like would be expected of a global super power whose next closest rival is, according to President Trump, light years behind, but it’s starting to look like Iran has more up its sleeve, and in its arsenal. It is acting according to a very well thought out, pre-planned and rational strategy to take down a superpower, and perhaps the whole post-World War II world order with it.

Iran may have lost all of its (non-existent) air force, and most of its navy, but it still has a million-man army that hasn’t been touched. To think they will have mass mutiny and come over to America’s side is wishful thinking. They are waiting to take on whatever Trump can throw at them on the ground. Should Trump prove stupid enough to launch such an invasion, he will send tens of thousands of brave U.S. military men to their graves. And for what? Even if successful, Trump will have to answer for why he needed to expend thousands of American lives to reopen a shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, that was already open before he started this war. Why did he need to expend those lives to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, when they could have had one at any point in the last 25 years if they really wanted it?

Iran not only has a million-man army, it also retains plenty of missiles and drones and has demonstrated the capability to replace at least some of the munitions that have already been fired. This is more than enough to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed whenever it determines that Washington is not abiding by the ceasefire framework, a deal which in Trump’s own words, was never a serious effort to end this war.

His latest comments, soaked and maranated in 100-proof chest-pumping Trumpian hubris, were posted to his Truth Social account around midnight April 9:

“All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.”

This “real agreement,” that he demands Iran comply with is unconditional surrender, so its regime can be replaced by a U.S./Israeli puppet. The prospect of having Israel and America as their new overlords might be the only option Iran’s people would despise more.

Trump added that, “If for any reason it is not (complied with), which is highly unlikely, then the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN AND SAFE. In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!”

So there you have it. In Trump’s eyes, the ceasefire agreed to earlier this week was nothing but a fake deal meant to buy some time for whatever Trump’s next move will be against Iran, to be followed by another unnamed conquest.

Not only is the U.S. military under Trump’s command flailing on the battlefield, it’s losing the narrative war, and that could end up being more catastrophic than the battlefield stalemate that Iran has proven capable of achieving, turning it from a route, as Trump described it, into a prolonged war of attrition that America isn’t prepared to wage.

As the Trump regime pauses to figure out its next move, Israel has unleashed holy hell on its northern neighbor, Lebanon, with indiscriminate scorched-earth bombing and uprooting of civilians, including many Christians. Netanyahu’s government says it wasn’t part of the fake U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal and will conduct business as it sees fit, taking advantage of an opportunity to turn southern Lebanon into the next Gaza.

The military war on the ground was not going particularly well, but the narrative war is going even worse. While Trump’s diehard sycophantic supporters may be willing to swallow whatever lie of the day he chooses to feed into their brains, the majority of Americans, and people across the world, are waking up. They see him for what he is. An absolute crazy and dangerous tyrant bent on world conquest. Again, these are not my words. They’re his.

Trump still thinks he can conquer Iran and then move on to his next pursuit, which could be anyone’s guess. Trump sees himself as a conqueror set out to conquer. And he will not stop until someone stops him. Is he an archtype of a future antichrist? Is he THE antichrist? I have no idea. But he’s certainly being used to bring about death and destruction on a mass scale.

All the April 7 fake ceasefire did was reset the escalatory ladder, guaranteeing that we ascend back up, likely in a matter of days if not weeks. Neither side is in a position for any good-faith negotiations and any semblance of such is fake, has always been fake, and will always be fake. This is a fight that will be settled on the battlefield in blood, not on paper in any diplomatic way. I have been warning for at least five years that World War III was coming. Few wanted to hear that message. Almost none took it seriously. Now it’s here. And despite however many times you tell yourself that this is not that. It is. The demonic forces behind human warfare have clearly been unleashed and we will witness death and destruction on a scale never before seen, very possibly worse than World War II.

It is clear now why Trump was selected to be the U.S. president at this point in history. He is probably the only politician in America who was insane enough to do the bidding of the global Luciferian death cult looking for a complete blank slate upon which to build an entire new world based on AI control, tokenization of all assets, and a form of tyranny that will make Orwell’s novel look like amateur hour. Write it down now. Before Trump leaves office, the world will be completely turned on its head, the population will be much smaller, all rogue nations will be brought to heel, and the survivors will be left mostly destitute and begging for some semblance of normal life to return. If global Luciferian power elites are successful in pulling this off, and right now I don’t see enough people willing to wake up and speak the truth necessary to stop them, we the people will be right where they want us. Desperate. Demoralized. Destitute. Crying out for help from anywhere it might look to be available.

And, yet, there is a number of Americans who still can’t see the trajectory we are on, and how Trump is being used to set us up for complete collapse - economically, politically, culturally, and even spiritually for those who do not have a rock-solid relationship with the God of gods and Lord of lords.

This war started off badly with the Feb. 28 strike on an Iranian elementary school, killing 175 school girls and their teachers. On that same day, the U.S./Israel murdered Iran’s top spiritual leader and his family, giving him martyr status among a people who appreciate martyrdom, who already saw themselves as victims, and now they’re all willing to die fighting us. It got worse from there. With no clear messaging as to what this war was really about, they cycled from one pronounced goal to the next: Stopping Iran’s nuclear program. Liberating the oppressed Iranian people. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial tanker traffic (which they seem to forget was open to free-flowing traffic before Trump launched the war). Even the stealing of Iran’s oil was proffered by Trump earlier this week as a possible side benefit. But the real reason was always regime change.

Trump chimes in daily with his patented emotionally charged and schizophrenic social-media posts. On Monday of this week, Trump said if it were up to him he would just “take the oil.” It was there for the taking and he wanted to take it. He would “take it,” he would “keep it,” and “make a lot of money.”

That’s just more rantings of a madman who is being manipulated by others, who himself has no understanding of anything outside of himself. This war was always about one global order being phased out and a new one being ushered in. All else is distraction. Iran is one of the outlier nations that is not beholden to the one-world economic system, which was OK under the current world order but not acceptable for the coming new world order based on an AI-powered beast system and one-world digital control grid.

So here we are, back at square one, with a war that will no doubt head right back up the escalatory ladder after less than 24 hours of euphoria based on the outlandish idea that maybe, just maybe, cooler heads had prevailed and this war might be winding down. Not that any of us with a clear-eyed perspective on the players involved in this global theatrical performance ever believed that was possible for a minute. That’s why, for years, I ended my articles with this: Pray for peace, prepare for war. Nothing has changed."

- https://leohohmann.substack.com/

"The Madness of King Trump and his Schmeacefire"

King Trump wet his pants and ran after 

posting his absurd annihilation threat.

"The Madness of King Trump and his Schmeacefire"

by David Haggith

"Apparently the reason there is so much confusion over Trump’s Schmeacefire is that no written agreement signed by all parties exists! Iran is operating off any one of three lists of its own demands, believing (or claiming to believe) that one of those is what the Trump Administration agreed to. Team Trump is operating off of the list of its demands, claiming that was what was agreed to. Israel is operating off wanton desire to exploit the void. JD Vance, Trump’s key negotiator with Iran now, is operating on the basis that this is all just a simple misunderstanding between mortal enemies.

One might have reasonably thought that, on a matter as important as whether or not an entire civilization gets wiped off the face of the earth forever, as the Peace Prez threatened on his way to the Nobel late one night, a signed agreement of mutual understanding might have been a good idea!

Apparently, what we are witnessing is the art of the no-deal deal, which is deployed if you need to rapidly retreat from a bellicose bluff of destroying your enemy in four hours… after they called your bluff. It is used so that both parties can say they almost totally agree to a total non-agreement, telling EVERYONE there is very little daylight now between their positions (but only because they are both working off different pages and agreeing only to their own page).

What the Schmeacefire deal gives to the Don is this: If he now steps back into war because the deal is broken (all over the place), he can step in without reissuing the bombastic and deranged threat of total annihilation, which would include destroying the lives of those millions of Iranian citizens he said were ready to revolt against the ayatollahs and the 1,000,000 Christians who live on a razor’s edge inside Iran. He can now try to let that vain threat fade into the next news cycle and later claim he never said it.

One would think the president hammered out his original bluff while drinking too much Smirnoff late at night, holding a gold-plated telephone in hand, after a hard day of reviewing the latest plans for his new East Wing billionaire party bunker. Smirnoff, though the prez doesn’t drink, is the kind of liquor that inspires a good Schmeacefire.

So far, the no-deal deal has been shredding faster than… well, it cannot be shredded because it apparently does not exist on any signed paper. So, let’s just say, neither Israel nor Iran have been honoring the oral assumptions. The president, meanwhile, seems happy to take a break in order to down a few more tacos and diet colas. The war actually accelerated on Israel’s end in what some are describing with the most common word in the English language these days—an apocalypse in Lebanon (though holocaust* would be the correct word). Iran responded by reclosing the strait within hours of decreeing it partially open for limited extortion traffic and by bombing more oil pipelines, etc.

* I don’t think it is any stretch at all to say that destroying all of Iran’s electricity and all of its major bridges could have easily resulted in civilian genocide equal in scale to Hitler’s holocaust of the Jews. Tehran is no longer an Oasis with a few Arab tents. You cannot keep a modern city of millions alive in a desert at this time of year without electricity and without most of their arterial roads. How do you keep enough food in the country without refrigeration and without roads to move new food into the city? How do you get emergency water in when lack of electricity shuts down all the plumbing and lack of roads and railroads limits the ability to transport in such massive quantities? How do you breathe inside of modern high-rises that trap in the desert heat (some with windows that do not open) without HVAC?

The world that could have been: The cussing, diaper-wetting, sole destroyer of NATO continues to rage against the treaty organization that the US & Friends founded, which could have been strong-armed by a noble American president of a truly peaceful mindset into a purely defensive alliance, as originally, intended by sharpening its language to clarify that NATO will desist forever from starting anymore preemptive wars, even against terrorists (meaning without an initial attack by the terrorists), putting NATO back in its original WWII box. He or she could have enforced what I’ll call the Eisenhower Doctrine, though it was more of a warning, against the MIC.

A president of strong, noble character, could have also petitioned congress, while the president’s party held the majority and the president held the party, to terminate its wide-open approval of presidential war powers over every vague terrorist threat and to take back into congress’s own hands the solely-held constitutional obligation to be the entity that declares wars; thus pressing Democrats to join in removing those powers from their future presidents’ hands, too, while fulfilling his or her vows of being the Peace President.

A true Peace President of a conservative, constitutional mold could have also demanded congress revoke the vast expansion of intelligence gathering on Americans under George Bush the Second’s misnamed “Patriot Act” that turned out be what many of us constitutionally minded folk feared - something totally open to the FISA abuses under which the Don, himself, claims he was persecuted with illegal “lawfare,” especially during the Orwellian days of Joe Biden. But all of that would be to expect the Donald to virtuously honor his campaign promises, which was never going to happen.

The world that is: Instead, the deranged, self-appointed emperor of the new Greenland-North-and-Central-America+Venezuela-hemispherical-conglomeration-project said the pause created by the Schmeacefire opens room for his generals (he likes to call them that) to start preparing for a “new conquest!” In that context, the wannabe world conqueror then proceeded to talk again about taking over Greenland. Apparently, the mad, baby-boy king is tired of Iran’s uncooperative war, so he wants to move on to a new game with other friends who will play by his rules and let him win better.

As Trumpty Dumpty made overtures from his padded play pen for retreating to some of his earlier grand visions for making America great again, such as conquering Canada, the baby king also proclaimed his unilaterally recognized victory over Iran to be a “beautiful thing” because apparently the version of the Schmeacefire he is working off of says that he will get fifty percent of the new revenue from the Hormuz Toll, a joint financial agreement of which the mullahs claim they have no knowledge.

Expressly to make certain that sharing not happen, the Iranian leadership is collecting the toll in Bitcoin with something like fifteen-second transaction windows as a way to make sure that instantaneous US sanctions will not likely be able to snarf any of the extortion money away from them, a common practice for which the dollar remains wide open. This is, of course, also a new move to terminate the petrodollar.

No, I’m not making up Trump’s glee over joint ownership of the new tolling authority to create additional comedy. It writes itself. Well, TheRump writes it for me: "Trump welcomed the idea on Wednesday, telling ABC: ‘We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it - also securing it from lots of other people. It’s a beautiful thing.’

By “we” he means he and his team. It might be beautiful for the United States… if the US winds up on the take with Iran. Not for any other nation or people. As another unwritten agreement, it is also unclear whether the US government will share fifty percent of the extortion funds or whether that share will go strait to Trump, Inc. Perhaps Trump’s team of star negotiators will even switch the form of crypto being used to $Trump to make the president happy. Well, that will only happen in his Pepsi-pounding dreams because Iran is never going to agree to shared custody of the globally extorted funds in international waters. That’s its racket.

All of this baloney goes to underscore the list of many reasons I laid out yesterday for paying subscribers as to why and how this ceasefire is likely to deteriorate into madness. It seems that is already happening with talk of shared international extortion.

MegaMAGA Truth: Another encouraging and interesting article today shows how even Trump’s own Truth Social is suddenly coalescing against him. Over forty-thousand posts raged against the president within twenty-four hours of his insane claim that he would end Persian civilization as we have known it for thousands of years. (More posts than the number of years Iran’s nearly ten-millennia-old civilization has been around.) Apparently, there are still thousands of people among conservatives who have a heart and soul. On a website that is almost entirely made up of people who have been head-over-heels infatuated with Donald Trump …More than half of those responding to Mr. Trump’s warning on Tuesday morning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die,” were deeply critical of his comments. Here is a smattering of representative comments:

"An account named President Trump 100%, wrote that Mr. Trump had demonstrated a “lust for blood.” Trump loving conservative wrote that such threats would destroy the president’s legacy. “I’m honestly heartbroken,” the user added."

In response to Trump’s “Praise be to Allah.” Trumpwillsaveus2024 wrote “Even if it was a joke, you’re actually so immature it’s sad and I voted for you twice, and stick up for you all day long on Facebook.”

Peace, who says she is “MAGA, not Republican…. Christian trying to do God’s will,” wrote, “I don’t support prez yahoo or this kind of talk. It’s Easter. What’s wrong with you? I voted x3 for you. WTH is wrong with you.”

MagnumForce44 said, “While I have been a staunch supporter of you, and voted for you all three times, I take exception to the vulgar language and the potential damage to the innocent Iranians who were asking for regime change.”

“Mr. President you are losing me as a supporter with this kind of behavior. I have supported you for so long and I am just to my point where I am ready to wash my hands of supporting you. I have been put through a lot of garbage for supporting you since 2016.”

Going “through a lot of garbage for supporting” Trump is what anyone can expect to get when they give their fealty to an easily recognized narcissist who boasts more than any human in history and who has the stinking morals of a blustering, bodypart-grabbing, locker-talking, accused rapist of underaged women, serial-marriage, deal-breaking, serial bankruptcy, snake-oil salesman for president. It is not like there were only a few warning signs!

But now the revotes are coming in fast and furious:

Only a quarter to the comments on the ultra-Trump site were supportive, which is now the lowest show of support for Trump ever on Truth Social, exceeding any same-sized period during the MAGA outrage over Team Trump’s handling under AG Blondi of the Epstain Defiles.

I know many GOOD people - friends and family with kind hearts- who supported Trump out of vain hopes that he would bust up the evil deep state in this nation and end the imperial wars that have overrun the past 40 years. A great goal, but it was an illusion. I never believed it - not from the man born with a millionaire’s golden spoon in a mouth so big it could swallow Manhattan; but I fellowship with and care about those who did. It is time for everyone to wake up and realize the hard truth that Trump is nothing but a self-serving megalomaniac like Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar.

It’s time to join the many former ultra-Trump supporters on Truth Social - and even the major celebrity supporters like Joe Rogan, Alex Jones, Nick Fuentes, MTG, Tucker Carlson, Megan Kelly and others - who admit they feel swindled and get on the right side of history! A president who threatens to annihilate a nation in what sounded for all the world like drunken-rage posting - a nation that has not attacked our nation - who exhibits as many signs of dementia as Joe Biden-His-Time needs to be removed from office before he destroys what little is left the world and of the United States’ reputation and credibility and of any hope of peaceful living during the remainder of our lifetimes.

It is time to make clear there is no ignoring the danger of demented kings when they violate so many major campaign promises in such enormously destructive and deranged ways. Unless you just want to burn it all down, it is way past time to take this conquering clown off the world stage.

Here is a video that strongly declares the madness of King Trump & Baby Netanyahu and the absolute illegality of their war on Iran, especially if Trump follows through on his genocidal threats, should you need any additional convincing that this is INSANITY. It also lays out how Trump is the deranged climax of decades of US imperial policy by both parties:"

- https://www.thedailydoom.com/

Musical Interlude: The Moody Blues, "The Voice"

The Moody Blues, "The Voice"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"No, hamburgers are not this big. What is pictured is a sharp telescopic view of a magnificent edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628, a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this deep galactic portrait puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, The Hamburger Galaxy.

The tantalizing island universe is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local Universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk.”

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170503.html

"I Can Pretend..."

“I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here I can pretend... I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come and Gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend...”

- Olethros, in “Sandman”

"Wars And Rumors Of Wars: The Middle East"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 4/9/26

"Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: 

How Iran Brought Trump to His Knees"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Prof John Mearsheimer, 4/9/26

"Iran Just Flattened Tel Aviv - 

 Millions Are Fleeing!

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Jeffrey Sachs, 4/9/26

"Analysis Of America Iran Deal & 

Why Trump Is Losing The War"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Middle Class Is Breaking: Food Banks See Unprecedented Demand"

Full screen recommended.

Michael Bordenaro, 4/9/26

"The Middle Class Is Breaking:

 Food Banks See Unprecedented Demand"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Ceasefire Fraud, Markets Rigged, Tanking Economies"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 4/9/26

"Ceasefire Fraud, Markets Rigged, Tanking Economies"

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

- https://trendsjournal.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Brooklyn, New York, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"How Could You? A Dog's Story"

"How Could You? A Dog's Story"

by Jim Willis

"When I was a puppy I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" - but then you'd relent and roll me over for a bellyrub.

My house training took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed, listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs," you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" - still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love."

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them, especially their touch - because your touch was now so infrequent - and I would have defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams. Together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being your dog to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now you have a new career opportunity in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog or cat, even one with "papers."

You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life. You gave me a goodbye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too.

After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you - that you had changed your mind - that this was all a bad dream... or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.

I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table, rubbed my ears and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.

She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged me and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself - a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. With my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not meant for her. It was you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty."

- http://www.crean.com/jimwillis/

○

"If there are no dogs in Heaven,

then when I die I want to go where they went."

- Will Rogers

Dogs are better people than people will ever be...