Your nails could be a sign of whether a recession is coming or not ZME Science
Shadow of a Doubt Harper’s. “How OCD came to haunt American life.”
To fight screwworm, the U.S. is opening a South Texas facility to disperse sterile flies Texas Tribune
CVS Throws a Temper Tantrum Boondoggle
BREAKING: SpaceX Starship explodes during static fire test pic.twitter.com/ChTSKp3KIO
— BNO News (@BNONews) June 19, 2025
Climate/Environment
‘Cancer is just everywhere’: could farming be behind Iowa’s unfolding health crisis? The Guardian
The best 360 @insta360 reframe Timelapse known to man. Captures the full lifecycle of the Wallace/Wallfleet Nebraska tornado. 77 minutes of mind blowing footage condensed down to 1 minute. Streamed LIVE on the @RadarOmega app. pic.twitter.com/QBt07Tu8Nk
— Aaron Jayjack (@aaronjayjack) June 17, 2025
Huaiji, Guangdong suffered the largest flood in history, with the water level reaching 55.22 meters, 0.43 meters higher than the highest water level in history, and almost the entire county was flooded pic.twitter.com/vOM0WO0tju
— Jim (@yangyubin1998) June 18, 2025
Pandemics
Getting warmer. The actuarial data do not suggest Covid excess deaths will magically improve in 2034.
The estimates only go through 2033 and remain on a troubling trajectory. The estimates were derived prior to the U.S. anti-vaccination policies, so likely underestimates. https://t.co/mEhLUSF8xX
— Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA (@michael_hoerger) June 18, 2025
China?
Now it’s AI: Magnificent 7 companies can’t build AI data centers without Chinese bismuth Inside China / Business
China’s COSCO in Talks to Join $19B CK Hutchison Port Sale Amid U.S.-China Tensions Bloomberg
China’s central bank chief expects new currency order to challenge dollar FT
Does China have an Internationalist Foreign Policy? ZZ’s Blog
India
India’s Great-Power Delusions Foreign Affairs
India’s next 10-minute delivery? Domestic workers on demand Mint
Africa
US Africa Command Launches Airstrike in Somalia Targeting al-Shabaab Antiwar
Old Blighty
War With Iran: Made in Britain? Kit Klarenberg
European Disunion
Military-tech upstart Anduril pushes further into NATO with German arms maker deal The Register
Syraqistan
Israel Kills Over 70, Wounds Hundreds as Tanks Open Fire on Aid Seekers in Gaza Truthout
***
Trump Privately Approved of Attack Plans for Iran but Has Withheld Final Order WSJ
Exclusive: Iran delivers response to new US proposal Amwaj
There Is No Such Thing as a Quick U.S. War on Iran Drop Site
Iran warns US intervention in conflict with Israel risks ‘all out war’ Al Jazeera
Iran Launches First Strike on Israel Using Mach 13+ Fattah Hypersonic Missile: Can it Turn the Tide of the War? Military Watch
Israel Is Running Low on Defensive Interceptors, Official Says WSJ
EXPLAINER – Israel’s strikes on Iran: Major sites and fears of ‘regional nuclear emergency’ Anadolu Agency
IAEA chief confirms agency has ‘no proof’ Iran building nuclear bombThe Cradle
Scoop: Gabbard’s Senate Intel briefing postponed amid Iran tensions Axios
‘Israel’ may stage false flag to force US into Iran war, experts warn Al Mayadeen
***
Although damage is seen in videos, Iran’s IRGC claims it didn’t target Soroka hospital, but rather Israeli army’s “C41 Directorate” military facility. @Jerusalem_Post article from March confirms their “walking distance” proximity https://t.co/tbfkVrBAO4 https://t.co/sKt0ImrkJe pic.twitter.com/l5nJdpWx0w
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) June 19, 2025
BBC Verify Live: How we’re authenticating footage after Israel hospital is hit BBC
The large amount of footage coming out is VERY suspicious, given Israel’s recent crackdown on media.
This may be a concerted effort to garner Western sympathy in preparation for a large-scale attack on Iran—possibly with U.S. involvement.— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) June 19, 2025
***
Bombs, Blackouts, and Solidarity: Six Days That Shattered Lives in Iran Femena
I lived and traveled in Iran for months. In Tehran I lived with the family of a retired bank worker who saw me looking for housing. I roomed with his son for months, ate all my meals with them, and they never accepted any money. Once I was sick and throwing up and they all came… https://t.co/KU7oOuhi5o
— Jonathan AC Brown (@JonathanACBrown) June 18, 2025
***
Trump must help Israel finish the job to dismantle Khamenei’s regime – editorial Jerusalem Post. Provides a blueprint for regime change, in case there were any doubts, including:
Forge a Middle East coalition for Iran’s partition. Encourage long-term plans for a federalized or partitioned Iran, recognizing that Khamenei’s theocratic regime cannot be reformed. Offer security guarantees to Sunni, Kurdish, and Balochi minority regions willing to break away.
Pashinyan to pay historic visit to Turkey at Erdoğan’s invitation CivilNet. Azerbaijan president possibly there too. Potential headache along Iran’s northern borders. See NC here.
REPORTAGE: Maryam Rajavi at the European Parliament — “The Fundamental Issue in Iran Is Regime Change” Iran News Update
This woman is a cult leader https://t.co/WghevsIWsT pic.twitter.com/Ea4qrRHECb
— Lily Lynch (@lilyslynch) June 18, 2025
Speaking of cults:
Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz on Israel and theology. pic.twitter.com/w9JdKOC22W
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 18, 2025
***
America’s war on the world Julian MacFarlane
Iran Has Not Asked Russia For Military Help: Putin AFP
Ukraine and Iran: two fronts of a piecemeal world war Thomas Fazi
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia sanctions on pause as Iran conflict heats up Semafor
EU chief says pressure off for lower Russia oil price cap France24
The Territorial Defense Corps revealed Military Land
April Showers Bring Nazi Startups Azov Lobby Blog
The Minister for the Return of Ukrainians has decided… not to return to Ukraine 🤡
Oleksii Chernyshov — Vice Prime Minister and Minister for National Unity — was tasked with bringing Ukrainians back to the motherland. Instead, he left the country on a “business trip” and has… pic.twitter.com/Jcpz8jqaUl
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) June 18, 2025
Trump 2.0
Mulvaney warns of safety concerns over White House’s new flagpoles The Hill
MAHA
Exclusive: US to drop guidance to limit alcohol to one or two drinks per day, sources say Reuters
Democrats en déshabillé
AIPAC Demands Democrats “Stand With Israel” on Iran Drop Site
House Democrat Under Fire for ‘Reckless and Repugnant’ Resolution Backing War on Iran Common Dreams
Obama Legacy
Obama warns America is ‘dangerously close’ to moving away from democracy The Independent
Citigroup chose Obama’s 2008 cabinet, WikiLeaks document reveals WSWS. From 2016, still germane.
Immigration
Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says Texas Tribune. The deck: “Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.”
Judge finds Florida attorney general in contempt of court for flouting immigration order Miami Herald
With only 8% built, Texas quietly defunds state border wall program Texas Tribune
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
40,000 Cameras, From Bird Feeders to Baby Monitors, Exposed to the Internet 404 Media
Police State Watch
US resumes student visas, demands social media access DW
‘We’re going to be covering the entire city with drones:’ SFPD accepts billionaire’s $9.4M gift Mission Local
Sports Desk
The Definitive, Insane, Swimsuit-Bursting Story of the Steroid Olympics Wired. The deck: “At first it was dismissed as a crazy joke. Making the Enhanced Games a reality needed a Peter Thiel posse, a couple of retired swimmers, some MAGA money, and a whole lot of drugs.”
Our Famously Free Press
Working Hard to Justify Israel’s Unprovoked Attack on Iran FAIR
Imperial Collapse Watch
Iran and the Permanent War Machine: The Modern State as Organized Crime Landmarks
Air India / Boeing
Boeing 787’s Emergency-Power System Likely Active Before Air India Crash WSJ
AI
Bill Gates and Sam Altman’s nuclear groups raise $1bn as investors bet on AI FT
xAI is facing a lawsuit for operating over 400 MW of gas turbines without permits TechCrunch
This is the gentle singularity? Blood in the Machine
Antitrust
Why Is Google Still in One Piece? The Terminating a Monopoly Problem. BIG by Matt Stoller
Guillotine Watch
Report Names ‘Corporate Oligarchs’ Who Are Cashing In as Trump-GOP Austerity Assails Workers Common Dreams
‘We don’t need Bezos’: Venice activists prepare to protest against tech billionaire’s wedding Euronews
The Bezzle
Senate Passes Stablecoin Bill as Crypto Eyes a Bigger Prize Barron’s
DOJ announces largest-ever crypto seizure related to ‘pig butchering’ scams The Hill
Class Warfare
UAW Prez Threatened to “Slit the Throats” of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with DC Firms Payday Report
A Neighborhood Market, A Call to Action Working Class Storytelling
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Stopping A War On A Summer Evening
(with apologies to Robert Frost)
Trump Always Chickens Out, and though
Last night he said we’re all Gung Ho
This morning who knows what we’ll hear?
The world awaits this Trump floor show
World War Three is what we fear
We’re standing on a wild frontier
Trump has an insane choice to make
And Armageddon seems so near
But Donald’s mind remains opaque
He’d much prefer to bellyache
He’s worried about mission creep
This war will jump its firebreak
Once we step in, we’re in neck deep
Brave men will die, their wives will weep
Trump wants this handled quick and cheap
But as ye sow so shall ye reap
This is one of your best. Well done!
I always liked Frost’s poetry: bleak and spare, yet meaningful. He spoke at JFK’s inauguration. The past is another country, and the USA is not what it was in 1961.
Thank you, Antifa, for providing the link to Frost’s deathless poem.
“Your nails could be a sign of whether a recession is coming or not”
Not what I was expecting at all after reading it. I would have expected chewed finger nails to be the giveaway sign.
At the other end of the opulence scale, ageing soccer superstar and now likely near billionaire Cristiano Ronaldo paints his toenails black. Apparently, this is to combat fungi, bacteria and nail splitting. Who knows? Perhaps another fad like nose plasters, kinesiology tapes and cycle shorts, mostly now consigned to the bin of history.
https://www.menshealth.com/uk/health/a43641376/cristiano-ronaldo-black-painted-toenails/
…where did all the leg warmers from the 1980’s end up?
Ooh. Jane Fonda!
I’ve repurposed mine as gaiters over my winter snow boots. Though not as much snow these days.
Good morning. One observation from someone who competed at turf sports into my mid thirties. Cleats are hard on the feet. Really hard. I would regularly lose my big-toe nails, sometimes the second ones as well. Deep, painful cracks in the skin on the ball of the foot and skin rot between the toes were common as well. Had I heard painting the nails helps prevent some of this I would have tried it.
One main prescription to toenail fungus is to go barefoot in sunlight. The fungi supposed like the dark and Ronaldo is doing the EXACT WRONG THING.
(I am not a toenail fungusologist and would be interested in links to any actual high quality information!)
Chewing your nails is expensive. I have two nail chewers. I have been to the urgent care multiple times and one was referred to the ER because of an infection that was very painful, gross and was causing a fever. But he wanted to go to a three hour tennis clinic because one of the girls he liked was going so he didn’t say anything.
I know people with babies that have those horrible long nails – how do you change a diaper or give the baby a bath? Jai alai pooper scoopers. So gross.
I personally don’t like long nails on anyone and have always done the pale squoval mani/pedi.
Arnaud Bertrand post on the Cruz quote re: Israel, short version the passage in question doesn’t bless Israel ot make any mention of Israel, but the ‘nation’/goy/people Abraham will build/foster (which he argues would constitute all the subsequent Abrahamic religions).
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1935542770191728979
Could you imagine using something the Romans wrote a few thousand years ago as justification for any current act of war?
Thanks for the enlightening link.
When it comes to Abraham there are two other critical views I would like to note. From Bob Dylan:
And from Swiss psychiatrist Alice Miller:
No fan of Abraham am I.
Abraham is said to have come from the east, somewhere in modern Iran or Iraq. Hmm…
Thomas Mann, in his magnificent triptic “Joseph and his brohers” provides a very nice description of that run from east to west of Abraham.
The book is a masterpice. And Mann studied in depth for years (not the bible) to write it and properly capture the times.
The quote continues: “And all peoples of the world shall be blessed through you”, meaning, according to Christians, through Jesus Christ. That is, the whole world has already been blessed. No need to keep on blessing Israel.
Thank you, SOMK, for this most interesting explication.
‘BNO News
@BNONews
BREAKING: SpaceX Starship explodes during static fire test’
To my untrained eye, that was obviously a major malfunction. You can see the problem. That fire wasn’t static at all but was very much dynamic.
Them Iranians blew it up dontcha know?
when did i vote for obama to give nasa to musk?
https://fee.org/articles/does-obama-deserve-credit-for-elon-musk-s-spacex-triumph-yes-and-no/
FTA…
Musk is no doubt the hero of America’s new dawn in space exploration, but it’s also true that his achievement would not be possible without the radical and unpopular actions Obama took in 2010 that changed the paradigm of US space flight.
I swear these people have no mirrors so one wonders how hey keep their hair so neat…must be servants for that sort of thing…
BoJo would like a word. But you are of course right, I see it as the pernicious aspect of cognitive bias. They are pathologically unable to see beyond their self reverential perspective.
I blame Putin.
Gremlins from the Kremlin!
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beVgHSO4Ewg&ab_channel=TNTproductions
No Simplicius? The non paywalled portion of last night’s version has two key revelations/assertions
–The Israelis were planning on 5000 Israeli casualties from a mass Iranian response to the initial attack. This would then immediately have brought the US in. The slow night by night Iranian destruction of military sites and low civilian casualty count was not what they wanted.
and
–Israeli jets have not been over Tehran at all and all the pictures of same are from drones or missiles with cameras. They are doing what they did in the months ago attack which is lob missiles from the western border. The attacks inside the country are all sabotage or via drones. Therefore Iran’s Russian AD is fully intact and available to shoot down American planes.
Meanwhile it’s very hard to find out what is going on in Israel but the blackout suggests things are much worse than the world is being told. Huckabee is now trying to evacuate embassy personnel via cruise ship.
War or psyop? And this psyop may be aimed at the United States. What is Trump’s role in all this?
No one here is omniscient. Please temper your expectations.
Just trying to help out. And if I may add my own speculation to Simplicius I’m beginning to agree with the joking suggestion by others here (and Musk) that Trump is on the Epstein tapes. It would certainly explain his behavior.
by the way alexander m shouts out praise for your analysis at 23 mins yesterday, and I must agree.
It’s always fun to speculate. I share your skepticism by way of Simplicius that Israel has “air superiority” over any significant part of Iranian airspace. There are rumors and posts on Telegram that several Israeli F-35’s were shot down. No proof as far as I know and we’re in the fog of war do don’t expect any magic proof fairy to show up on our doorsteps.
If the planes were shot down outside Iranian space or fell down outside Iranian territory (we are let to understand they lobby missiles from outside Iran), Americans would be in Iraq on the spot, immediately cordoning the sites and removing any evidence, by any means necessary.
I heard Netanyahu say that he was determined to get rid of Iran’s nuclear facilities and it’s ballistic missiles. The first aim has been a bust but he is succeeding with his second aim – one Iranian missile salvo at a time.
China’s military has been integrating with Iran’s military, and conducting land and sea exercises, for over five years. Russia has been part of this, but more in the background.
Making arrangements for Chinese and/or Russian missiles to launch from existing Iranian mobile launchers would have been seen to right away. And then there is North Korea. With industrial friends backing them up, Iran is unlikely to run out of missiles or drones.
This particular Zapp Brannigan strategy comes to mind.
https://youtu.be/EF3g4Ua5e7k?si=ZjXY_2CfmrhPlK5j
I heard Netanyahu is now deploying the Irony Dome to stop incoming Iranian missiles, interceptors loaded with depleted chutzpah audaciously dare Persian rockets to go away.
Obama Warns America. The Independent.
The setting. I’m breathless at its imperial splendor. >>
Ahh, yes. Regime historian Richardson, well-known Vindman Whisperer and intelligence-community mouthpiece, plumbs the nation’s psychology with the president who:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/243850-obama-signs-nsa-bill-renewing-patriot-act-powers/
Renewed the Patriot Act.
You want to know why the U S of A is currently in a pickle (to put it politely)? The Patriot Act speeded up all of the tendencies of the Clinton and Bush II administrations to be dismissive of civil rights and civil liberties.
I realize that Obama was tired from putting on his comfortable shoes and spending the day demonstrating in a picket line with striking workers and all. (Has the minimum wage been raised since 2015?) Yet he could have taken a moment and vetoed a bill that had already generated opposition — and leaned on the Democrats.
Instead, as ever, he took the path of least resistance.
And there go democratic forms, because democratic forms are not the path of least resistance.
>>>(Has the minimum wage been raised since 2015?)
It has not been raised since 2009, DJG, and it was due to a law passed in 2006 when GWB was president.
“The federal minimum wage was last raised on July 24, 2009, when it rose from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour, the last step of a three-step increase approved by Congress in 2007. Before 2007, the minimum wage had been stuck at $5.15 per hour for 10 years. Frustrated by inaction at the federal level, states and, increasingly, many cities and counties have moved to raise the wage floor.”
states and cities can raise the wage floor, but only the fed min wage determines the poverty level. Increase the contribution level from 125,000 to 1 million and social security is flush. Get rid of the 75 year pension requirement for usps while you’re at it. The dems don’t even try. “Fighting for!”…No, they’re not.
Thank you, tegnost. I completely agree.
This is a good watch (it’s long) – the text on the YT cover is “Obama Created Trump”:
American Democracy Is Collapsing, And This Man Predicted It | Aaron Bastani Meets Joseph Stiglitz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPxjIWL-8Ck
I happen to agree with the assessment that Obama was elected to undo all the neolibreal decay (Wall St), and War on Terror decay, but he betrayed America and leaned into all of that.
He was America’s last grab at the brass ring on the merry-go-round that takes a couple generations to go around. His legacy is the failure to save America from the oligarchs. He instead, wanted to become one of them.
Simplicius link.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/iranian-abyss-will-us-take-the-plunge
We Don’t Need Bezos in Venexia.
According to my invitation (although this is public knowledge), the service is at San Giorgio Maggiore, which is a small separated island with a vaporetto stop. The Venetians love their little boats, which may, somehow, mob the island.
The reception is in the Scuola Grande della Misericordia. This is where the disruption is going to get disruptive. How does one get 250 pampered guests and their palanquins to a scuola that is on a small canal on the other side of the Grand Canal?
In a city with so many pinch points?
And a history of comedies by Gozzi and Goldoni?
Let the festivities begin! I hope that the Bezos entourage has laid in a fine stock of venegazzù to keep me happy as I loll in my gondola, awaiting access to the Canale della Misericordia.
Sono stronzi loro.
PS: Just a question about anatomy in the U S of A. I have seen photos of Lauren Sanchez. How does she get her spherical breasts to float above her shoulders? Is there some advanced new “Trump enhanced” surgery that I am not aware of?
Her face too has a strange look to it which I call Late Stage Empire because of the plastic surgery. If you don’t believe me, search Google Images for ‘Lauren Sanchez’ and filter it to images taken in the past month.
Circles back to the steroid Olympic games and Peter Thiel D’Sousa article linked today.
Them silicon valley folks take their silicon seriously. Like a weird Kurzweilian portent.
Ever read, “Enough”, by Bill McKibben, regarding the singularity?
(I expected it to be about consuming) . Quite a read.
Being one for wild speculation, I assume Kristi Noem’s rush to the hospital was a negative reaction to some sort of Botoxie- cocktail.
Mucho mucho surgery
Bezos lucked into marrying the perfect woman in his early twenties and he traded her for that?
Yes. Mackenzie Scott (multi-billionaire) is giving away her portion of Amazon through a philanthropic progam. She gave $20M to my local community college to encourage greater Hispanic enrollment. The Raices (Spanish for root) program encourages Hispanic college enrollment and enhances their first in family college foray with both financial and academic support.
Anti-gravitic minishields?
if you are interested in the economics of being an auto mechanic. an allegory of how incentives drive outcome, and how everything is becoming a monopoly or monopsy (ZIRP was one of many triggers, imo).
the comments are just as illuminating, and these forces are likely found in multiple industries
23 min. Car Care Nut channel
“The mechanic shortage has been going on for some time but now it is hitting a new height.
In this video we discuss the reality of the automotive industry and why it is basically going upside down. For years greed and mistreatment have led to the single biggest mechanic shortage. Older mechanics retiring and the young generation losing interest in the industry due to the older generations advice not to enter.
I hope this video help bring awareness to how difficult it is to be a mechanic in these times.”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9cfbhxsqW84&
Thanks for that video which I have bookmarked to watch later. When you said ‘Older mechanics retiring and the young generation losing interest in the industry due to the older generations advice not to enter.’ I bet that is something that happens in a lot of fields. Here is one that I have heard to be true-
‘Older soldiers retiring and the young generation losing interest in the military due to the older generations advice not to enter.’
I wonder how many industries and careers that this is happening in too.
Plumbing and HVAC are two more. The independent shops get bought out and rolled up, then the remaining workers are told about the new arrangement. The new owners treat the business like another monopoly opportunity combined with an extraction process.
Medicine and healthcare is one.
It was about forty years ago that I started telling my students not to continue in computer science. They’re finally starting to listen.
There was that clip yesterday from X with the beautiful doctor explaining why docs are leaving the fileld due to moral injury…
My wry response to anyone who tells me their son or daughter is going into teaching is, “what? You couldn’t talk them out of it?”
Speaking with 50 years experience in auto repair, and currently owner of a rather large auto repair shop? I would state the biggest reason for the lack of skilled technicians is more the result of decades of high school guidance counselors telling kids that something is wrong with them if they choose to get their hands dirty.
Yesterday, I hired a 21 yo “B+” level technician with 3 years experience. $40/ hour. My top level techs are in the $50-60/hour range.
His job cannot be outsourced offshore. He won’t lose his job due to AI. He has 100% company paid healthcare that he can afford to use. Within 2 years he will earn $100k annually, working M-F 8-5.
Yes, the older technicians are retiring. But there are still awesome opportunities in the profession for someone who can think for himself. “Older technicians telling them to get out?”. I tell my young guns that I will train them to operate their own shop in 10 years time, should they desire. Then I show them how, but most don’t want to deal with the public or the paperwork.
How much of the work of auto mechanics has been deskilled by digitalization? The need to acquire expensive diagnostic tools to figure what is wrong with the numerous chips embedded in vehicles, work often reduced to replacing electronic components, etc?
I assume the problems have gotten vastly more difficult, because computers are now involved.
“Is this behavior firmware or hardware. Or both, Dog forbid?”
I purchase all the pricey test equipment at my shop, because I don’t want a tool I need dependant on whether or not a certain team member remains with us. Believe it or not, it’s still a LOT of hands on mechanical parts replacement. Today we installed water pumps, steering components, minor engine repairs, a clutch, etc. Yes, good techs always have their own diag tools, but that’s a point of professional pride more than anything. Most of them are tool junkies.
“After the second step up on the ice cream truck it is consensual” (Tool truck meme)
One of my sons hired on as a dealership automotive technician the afternoon of getting his high school diploma. The kid grew up with a multimeter so he is doing great.
Now he is an aircraft mechanic (a mechanic is a little more hands-on than being a “technician” /s) and his paid off automotive taco stand is parked in my garage.
I became an airplane mechanic in the mid 1980s to have a job that would be hard to be off-shored. It has worked pretty well.
Sadly, airplane mechanics are no longer safe from outsourcing:
Why US Airlines Send Their Aircraft To Central America For Maintenance & Retrofits
I don’t think you understand the industry and daily operations. There is still a need for at station maintenance.
Yes, heavy maintenance is outsourced, but that is cost offsetting due to lack of facilities/space in the US. If you want good results you have airline representatives on-site and monitoring results to meet your reliability standards.
When outsourcing started in the 1990s the results for heavy checks were poor and had reliability problems. Airplanes would be released from the Maintenance Repair Overhaul operations and then spend weeks being worked on by the airline before return to service.
A lot of this was due to moving away from the internal groups with institutional knowledge and quick access to the engineering departments. The airlines then improved their maintenance documentation and on-sight supervision.
I have been very impressed working with Aeroman in El Salvador to resolve problems before leaving heavy check.
I should add, that if you are an aircraft technician with flexible morals, there are a lot of positions available in the US in the death and destruction, excuse me, defense industries. Many of these are union represented shops.
“Scoop: Gabbard’s Senate Intel briefing postponed amid Iran tensions”
Gabbard is in a tough position. Recently she testified to the Senate that there was zero prof of Iran developing nukes. End of story. But when Trump was asked by reporters aboard his plane about that he didn’t care and he knows that Iran was developing nukes. His good buddy Bibi told him so. Apparently there was a clash between Trump and Gabbard at a Cabinet meeting how she was not on the same page as him. I would assume that Trump and others in the Cabinet want Gabbard to fabricate some proof to justify America going to war. But Gabbard is not stupid. She would remember how Colin Powell incinerated his career forever with his WMD dog-and-pony show at the UN and I am sure that she does not want to go down in history as the person that got America into an unnecessary war with bogus evidence like happened to Powell. She would also know that Trump would blame her after the war was over with that bogus evidence and leave here twisting in the wind. And Trump? He would claim innocence and how Gabbard lied to him.
She’d be best remembered if she quit and outed him. Her career would suffer and she’s already blacklisted by the other side. She’s indeed in a tough pickle.
If the Iran attack was a long term plan known to the cabinet then her recent post about visiting Hiroshima would also be explained. I believe Taibbi/Kirn may have talked about this.
The plan may be know to the Cabinet but the Gang of Eight – the eight leaders within the US Congress who are supposed to be briefed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch – say that they know nothing about any such plans and are in the dark as well-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight_(intelligence)
Another norm being trashed.
They are literally a joke.
Just a front to be able to claim “scrutiny”.
Cotton, Schumer, Warner?
wtf
Never fear, were it known to them, as with Iraq, they were heartily approve it! For Democrats in particular, it will be the violation of norms that rankles, not another unnecessary war.
That story was disturbing. Obviously there is a behind-the-scenes struggle going on. It’s pretty clear which side this “senior administration official” is on. And I’m sure ultra-neocon warmonger Tom Cotton is in no hurry for Tulsi to testify before his “Intelligence” committee. She is indeed in a tough position. Even if she resigned in protest she would get no traction in the “liberal” media that has already demonized her relentlessly. She could be a guest on Tucker Carlson’s show I suppose, but how much could she really discuss without being charged with violating “state secrets”?
She will best be remembered for not betraying her oath tho the Constitution by staying at her post telling truth to power and to the people until Trump either gets on her very public page or he fires her or he goes down in flames for ignoring her advice come the midterms – and maybe even before the midterms. She has the potential to develop a public base that will make her a viable candidate for a successful third party or one section of the Uniparty that wants someone sane in the highest office. She could well be the ideal candidate to pull together disillusioned MAGA supporters, restive Democrats – particularly the young, and older school Democrats and Republicans some of whom can remember the days when there was the occasional thinking candidate with real political courage.
Time will tell. If my memory serves me well, she gained popularity (with me anyway) for a strong stance on not putting US troops in harm’s way for bad strategies or corporate interest.
Gabbard will be remembered as a complete coward who did not immediately resign and condemn the administration’s bloodthirstiness when Trump humiliated her by saying that he didn’t care what she said.
It’s braver to stay and fight than to resign and condemn. Gabbard has never been a coward. Being humiliated by Trump is pretty trivial in the scheme of things; resigning because of it would just be an ego thing.
Of all the apparatchicks in Benedict Donald’s employ, Tulsi is the only one with seemingly a scintilla of a conscience.
DropsiteNews: President Trump replied, “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Including himself.
Is there any stand-up comedy on this?
The combination of WH´s incompetence and total confusion to be observed by the entire world and the clueless warmongering in Europe which on the other hand has zero military capacity are epic.
This conflict so far is the first one really living up to “idiocracy” of the collective West.
p.s. Anyone remember the 1980s flick “The Gods Must Be Crazy”?
Perhaps he’ll flip a coin? But his tweets with the all caps shouting never make a lot of sense.
More likely Trump is sane and knows that Carlson and Bannon are right and he’s waiting for the false flag to provide some sort of justification. It’s the plan itself (if there is one) that is insane.
Is it possible to flip a meme coin?
I suspect the argument about the US attacking Iran is between whether to attack late on Friday (minimum news cycle) and whether to attack during a prime news cycle (Trump’s first preference).
P.S. Yes, a great movie: Gods Must Be Crazy.
“I suspect the argument about the US attacking Iran is…prime news cycle”
That´s fucking insane, right.
In da movie bizniz they usual say that stories gotta be sexed up to live up to screenstory demands which is actually correct.
Which makes it ever more insane if such an idea that you point out is not a fictious exaggeration for sake of dramatisation but what we call the real world.
But our media above all make me cry. And even alternatives buy into the whole militarily incompetent bullshit about what Yves in the latest entry points out, such as air superiority.
Am supposed to go see the Wes Anderson movie soon. Wonder how that´s gonna work out for me…🙄
I would skip the Wes Anderson, which I have seen. His movies have gotten more & more formulaic with less and less heart.
Yes, I didn´t plan to see it but had a promise to keep.
Reading those movie reviews is a bit like reading political commentary on Ukraine or Israel – they always try to sugarcoat what doesn´t work. Of course with artistic movies often the issue is precisely what you address.
p.s. What I found interesting/funny was that tiny element used referring to the CIA-funded European cultural initiatives (Paris Review et. al.) of the 1950s/60s where also personnel/intellectuals were working for the CIA (the Michael Cera character).
Starting a war is always a nice distraction card to play. Is Musk threatening to release anything spicy or is he too busy blowing up his own rockets?
So true and legacy media would like to make sure you understand. Here are two of a large handful of similar headlines coming across my feed,
Taking on Israel’s greatest foe has banished Netanyahu’s political troubles in an instant, CNN
Netanyahu’s political woes take back seat as critics unite behind him over Iran, Times of Israel
No links, google ’em if you really want to read ’em.
High Noonteenth
H(uckabee) Bomb
Trump has found his Kryptonite – the mild mannered, steady Jerome Powell.
Immune to bullying, the Dread Pirate (my term of endearment for Powell) has defied Orange Julius once again. Refusing to lower rates … and in fact, cutting the predicted number of cuts this year and next.
Eat dot plots, Orangeman!
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/18/federal-reserve-fed-powell-trump-rates-00412831
A short speech by former German MP Sevim Dagdelen (BSW) in Madrid on NATO
machine-translation
We have a world to win that needs to be changed
https://archive.is/gRlqM
German original
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=134654
p.s. Machine-translations even of such a simple text do not work out. Hm.
Sensible young woman.
For some reason German altern. news site Multipolar is linking to this December 2024 piece on the true nature of OCCRP investigative network
The hidden links between a giant of investigative journalism and the US government
The OCCRP, the largest organised network of investigative media in the world, hid the extent of its links with the US government, this investigation can reveal. Washington supplies half of its budget, has a right to veto its senior staff, and funds investigations focussing on Russia and Venezuela. Yann Philippin and Stefan Candea report.
https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/021224/hidden-links-between-giant-investigative-journalism-and-us-government
p.s. To be honest before this short-lived scandal I had never really taken notice of the group. Its size and level of cooperation should have been a red flag from get go to outsiders.
Chris Hedges
War Deja Vu
The lies told to ignite the war with Iraq have been resurrected to ignite a war with Iran. The assessments of intelligence agencies and international bodies are dismissed, replaced by hallucinations.
Jun 19, 2025
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/war-deja-vu
Useful Idiots, preview
Trump Outsources Iran WMD Lies to Israel
Plus, we watch Aaron’s return to Piers Morgan
Aaron Maté and Katie Halper
Jun 19, 2025
https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/trump-outsources-iran-wmd-lies-to
– ‘REPORTAGE: Maryam Rajavi at the European Parliament …’
We also have today’s version of Ahmed Chalabi and her brave, patriotic “government in exile” as well.
You really can’t make this s**t up. As that great statesman George W. Bush once said, “Fool me once…”
22m ago
14.47 CEST
Julian Borger
Julian Borger
Benjamin Netanyahu has just left Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva. He toured the site and gave a statement to the press.
According Ynet news, he said: “The entire people of Israel are paying a price. We are going through a blitz, and we are going through it in an astonishing way.”
“There are personal costs, people have been hurt, families have lost their loved ones. Each of us bears a personal cost, and my family has not been exempt – this is the second time that my son Avner has cancelled a wedding due to missile threats. It is a personal cost for his fiancee as well, and I must say that my dear wife is a hero, and she bears a personal cost.”
Share
Updated at
15.02 CEST The Guardian Live
I really feel Bibi’s pain. His son’s wedding cancelled twice. All those shekels down the drain. And all those poor settler colonists paying a price on earth before they enter the pits of Hell to meet with their Master.
Avner? Isn’t that the one that ducked out to Florida at the start of the war so he wouldn’t have to serve in Gaza? I could be wrong here.
No. This is the other one. He’s usually regarded as a decent human being, unlike the Florida one, but this makes you wonder.
Is the man in the suit standing next to the terrorist also a terrorist?
Looks that way. Maybe a DEI remake of Goodfellahs is on the cards.
– ‘Trump must help Israel finish the job to dismantle Khamenei’s regime’ – editorial Jerusalem Post. “Provides a blueprint for regime change, in case there were any doubts, including:
“Forge a Middle East coalition for Iran’s partition. Encourage long-term plans for a federalized or partitioned Iran, recognizing that Khamenei’s theocratic regime cannot be reformed. Offer security guarantees to Sunni, Kurdish, and Balochi minority regions willing to break away.”
I was wondering what happened to Perle, Feith, and Wurmser. They are apparently writing editorials for the Jerusalem Post, still pushing for completion of their version of the Yinon Plan.
Quite a piece of work that Yinon Plan-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinon_Plan
My thought after reading this was to break up Israel into three segments. The first would be for secular Israelis who by themselves would get on quite fine. The second would be made up of Ultra-orthodox and as most of them won’t work, they would be dependent on donations from overseas organizations to keep afloat. The present government often sites settlements like this next to secular communities so that the later can pay for the former. The third would be for the Settlers that too can fund themselves without secular Israel giving them everything on a silver plate while poorer Israelis get neglected. Sounds like a plan to me.
Tomorrow a Kiev editor will rewrite that replacing Khameini with Putin and Iran with Russia.
Level and frequency of delusions is awesome.
If U.S. could put all its mech brigades into Kuwait and rolled them NE they would be greeted with roses and good beer.
re Jerusalem Post and regime change
Saw this piece the other day and strikes a curious note that a board member of the Atlantic Council writes about dismantling a country.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/now-is-the-time-to-dismantle-the-iranian-regime
[in the about the author line:] Ahmed Charaiserves on the boards of several prominent institutions, including the Atlantic Council
It is no longer enough to contain the regime. It must be structurally and strategically dismantled—its tools of repression broken, its propaganda discredited, and its regional influence undone…The regime in Tehran has chosen escalation, terror, and war. Containment is no longer viable. Appeasement is no longer defensible. The Islamic Republic must be dismantled not through invasion but through comprehensive pressure: strategic, economic, informational, and ideological…To support Israel is to stand against tyranny.
re: Wahttps://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?_wpnonce=44c2bc742b&cid=4232011&pid=294229r With Iran: Made in Britain? – Kit Klarenberg
Thanks for the link. My questions: made in Britain, or made in London, or made in The City of London? War can be very profitable. There’s all that oil plus Iran’s important geographical position in the BRICS plans for a north-south transportation corridor. Capturing control of the oil plus thwarting the BRICS plans could be a two-fer. / my 2 cents
Something in my earlier comment got messed up in the text before I had time to correct so trying again.
War With Iran: Made in Britain? – Kit Klarenberg
Thanks for the link. My questions: made in Britain, or made in London, or made in The City of London? War can be very profitable. There’s all that oil plus Iran’s important geographical position in the BRICS plans for a north-south transportation corridor. Capturing control of the oil plus thwarting the BRICS plans could be a two-fer. / my 2 cents
And when Trump seizes Iran’s oil, he will once again say ‘We’re keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops behind only for the oil.’ You can be sure that he is keeping an eye on Iran’s oil and gas – or as George Bush would call it, it’s Patrimony.
At this point, after 25 years (or 35 years, depending on your start date) of ME wars, I start to see US pres and Isr pres and UK pres as captured by higher (financial) interests than own countries’ civilian interests and prosperity. Trillions of dollars and pounds that could be used domestically are instead gone for no domestic improvements in schools or healthcare or infrastructure, only greater debt for which said citizens are expected to receive austerity at home to ‘balance the budget(s).’
adding: war is very profitable for the banks that lend to govts in a war. Powell knows this, much new borrowing/printing is likely ahead if T goes to war. Powell has no incentive to lower interest rates at the moment, imo. Either huge new borrowing is ahead at rates that will enrich the Fed, or rates will stay high enough to make T think twice about another borrowing binge for another endless war. / my 2 cents.
We’re the privateers of America…
Apologies to Ms Slick.
A stellar batch of links today!
re: Explainer on Israel’s strikes on Iran.
Here’s one on Iran’s strikes on Israel.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/18/mapping-irans-most-significant-strikes-on-israel
“Boeing 787’s Emergency-Power System Likely Active Before Air India Crash”
This sounds really bad. When Sully’s plane lost both engines forcing him to land on the Hudson, he too immediately deployed the ram air turbine to get some power back for vital systems. If that Air India flight also had to do that, then things must have really fallen quickly apart for them as they were taking off. Now I’m really invested in finding out what that investigation will discover.
nothing new in that article. Discussion sites have pretty much agreed the video circulating show (and moreso audio suggests) that the RAT had deployed.
The problem, and the WSJ article adds nothing, is reasoning back from RAT deployment to cause. Mostly attempts to find either a cause that affects both engines near simultaneously or else some major electrical failure.
One feature of 787 which hasn’t been discussed from what I’ve come across is the electrical system is designed to distribute main current carriers to various points within the aircraft, where it is then stepped down and connected to the various loads. This in contrast to prior designs with a more centralized system. The idea was to reduce the weight of cabling from the centralized system going all over the aircraft.
So far I haven’t come across any postings of detailed circuit diagrams you sometimes see during investigations. The pilot-level diagrams you see in manuals often lack some of the specificity you need.
The 787 has a combination electric/hydraulic system. The RAT provides both electricity and hydraulic power/pressure for a few specific items.
I highly recommend the bloncolario youtube channel for the best, complete and up to date information from an active airline pilot.
here are his 2 most recent videos on the crash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPk31EhtakE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSo3DZP-FJ4
Have a Cigar
(Sung to the tune of the Pink Floyd classic, by a wyrma-tunga Lindsay Graham)
Come in here, dear Don, have a cigar
You’re gonna go far
You’re gonna fly high, the death toll’s going high, Pol Pot would love you!
I’ve always had the deepest respect, I mean that most sincerely
Iran was just fantastic, that is really what I think
Oh, by the way, what’s that stink?
And did we tell you the name of the game, Don?
We call it worming into your brain …
We’re just knocked out
We heard about the MAGA sell-out
You gotta get that Tulsi out
You owe it to the chosen, they’re so happy they can hardly count
Wolfowitz and Dick are just green … have you seen the radioactivity charts?
It’s a helluva start, it could be made into a monstrous death toll if we all pull together as a team
And did we tell you the name of the game, Don?
We call it worming into your brain …
“Mulvaney warns of safety concerns over White House’s new flagpoles”
Had the same thought, when I saw this on the news tonight, that this article mentioned. Namely, how are those choppers suppose to fly in now that they have a great big flagpole in the way. So often we see Presidents getting out a helicopter to walk to the White House but will this be possible anymore?
Presidents will start flying in those small electrical helicopters modified for additional protection and bumper car fuctionality. I say, add a couple of flippers, bumpers, score display, and Escape from New York style president carrying device.
Yes, there is a scene in the book “Nuclear War: A Scenario” by Annie Jacobson in which the President’s helicopter goes down. Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t go well. Highly recommend that book.
America’s war on the world – Julian MacFarlane
The article ends with this line: “In the meantime, Iran gets by with a little help from its friends.”
Unfortunately, the USA is getting by with help from friends too. None of this is possible without bases all over the world (among other things), some that have come about with use of force more than others, yet all needing cooperation from players in other parts of the world.
Iran Has Not Asked Russia For Military Help: Putin – AFP
With the fog of war, it’s challenging to know how much weight to give reports of what is being said by officials.
But it has to be kept in mind that historical relations can play a part in various countries’ calculations.
newspeak comes on cats feet:
https://coloradosun.com/2025/06/18/amache-sand-creek-massacre-historic-sites-trump-executive-order/
That Fahrenheit 451 feeling is creeping up.
Thanks, Amfortas. Another must-read.
I belonged to the Japanese American Citizens League for some eighteen years. (No, I am not even hapa, but they had a very active branch in Chicago and excellent health insurance as a benefit of membership.)
There are Japanese Americans who wouldn’t dignify Amache with the term “relocation center.” They would describe it as a concentration camp.
But that term might hurt some fee-fees.
Nevertheless, I recommend reading the article. (Trigger warning and all…)
To do something like that in the face of what’s going on in the middle east, is most interesting prioritizing.
Keeping opposition playing Whack-A-Mole.
Thinking about the targets of the USA and associates busy-body global interventions.
Check this out. Not for the narrative twist, but for the map.
https://www.newsweek.com/world-map-countries-indebted-china-development-finance-loans-2081770/
Hovering your cursor over country gives the dollar amount.
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/500-federal-agents-and-soldiers-raid-marijuana-farms-in-rural-southern-california/
500 federal agents and soldiers raid marijuana farms in rural Southern California
dern. have i been in a coma and just dreaming the last 40 years?
is it still 1985?
I think you’re off by one year.
April Showers Bring Nazi Startups. Avov Lobby Blog.
I wasn’t going to put my toe in this swamp, but I do encourage you to do so. It is a long parade of horrible people subverting the U.S. government. You may have heard that the U.S. of A. is no longer a functioning republic: Read this report for confirmation.
Also, after the bafflegab about misinformation, malinformation, disinformation, fake news, and Heather Cox Richardson, I threw all of those vogue terms out the window.
There are lies, bullshit, and marketing.
From this article, a perfect example: ‘To hear it from the Azovites, “We combine the expertise of military professionals, engineers, and entrepreneurs to help startups, investors, and defense companies accelerate time-to-market, test products in real combat conditions, and attract funding.” AB3 Tech offers “rapid feedback,” “practical insights,” “brand recognition,” a “competitive edge,” “combat-proven performance data,” “video content of product performance in battlefield conditions,” and official “letters of interest to gain credibility in fundraising.” Their website promises that these neo-Nazis are “trusted by defence industry leaders for real-world validation.”’
time-to-market ? Now wouldn’t that mean war?
So consider the categories of lies, bullshit, and propaganda, all blended into wonderful U.S.-style marketing lingo.
I wonder if one of the answers to the current malaise in the U S of A would be to shut down all undergrad business programs and all business schools. Americans are “managing” themselves into poverty, oblivion, and massacres. With a little help from their Aryan friends.
“horrible people subverting the U.S. government”
Oh, poor lily white, innocent US Government, getting ravished by those barbarian hordes.
The image of US Gov that I have is that of the Red district in Amsterdam… Cannot subvert something that only works that way, because that is le reson d’etre…
And I am afraid I am diminishing with my comparison the good women and men serving in Amsterdam’s Red district.
One can argue the various USA schools of government have shown their leadership has harmed the world and the USA population.
Princeton rebranded its Woodrow Wilson School of Government as Wilson’s racist views were highlighted.
Perhaps some of these (Princeton, Harvard’s Kennedy and Victoria Nuland’s current home, Columbia SIPA) should be shut down as an international public service.
I’m calling for the unconditional surrender of Benedict Donald, resign now!
Retired General Jack Keane(?) wants the US get half-pregnant when he recommends “limited strikes” in support of Israel.
Its comforting to know that our government is again interested in mental health issues among the elderly…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WASHINGTON — Nearly six months after Joe Biden left the White House, Senate Republicans are still scrutinizing his presidency, kicking off the first in what’s expected to be a series of congressional hearings this year on his mental fitness in office.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee brought in three witnesses Wednesday — none of whom served in Biden’s administration — to scrutinize his time in office, arguing that the former president, his staff and the media must be held accountable. Democrats boycotted the hearing and criticized Republicans for “armchair-diagnosing” Biden when the committee could be looking into serious matters.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-06-18/senate-republicans-hold-hearing-on-bidens-mental-fitness-as-democrats-boycott
Marijuana’s Links to Heart Attack and Stroke Are Becoming Clearer (NY Times via archive.ph)
Never, ever COVID!
A drug that makes you lazy and hungry has been linked to cardiovascular disease. Weird.
Hungry for sweets especially. ;)
re: manufacturing consent to nuke Iran
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/19/trump-iran-attack-plans-denial
“Debate within Trump’s cabinet and Pentagon chiefs over the effectiveness of the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb, was echoed in Guardian reporting, with Trump reportedly unconvinced of the bomb’s efficacy in destroying the complex and the possibility that direct US involvement could be forestalled by negotiations with Iran.
According to two defense officials who were briefed, the thinking is that only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is located.”
For someone more knowledgeable: does a nuke actually penetrate more than a GBU-57?
P.S – I can’t describe how infuriating it is to see MSM circulating the Iran bombing Israeli hospital story after so long of seeing Gaza’s burn
So a surface burst from a ~400kt bomb will dig a crater about 40 meters deep and about 100 meters wide. Keep in mind that with a surface burst, the ground deflects the energy upwards a bit.
If you put a nuke into a MOAB that penetrated down 50 meters, its gonna vaporize another 50 meters or so.
There’s a de-classified paper on chamber formation from underground tests out there somewhere. It’s probably a better source for speculation.
Napolitano and Col. Wilkerson. utube, ~31+ minutes.
COL. Lawrence Wilkerson : Consequences of US War with Iran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlSCZkMDN6k
When Israel attacked Iran Lindsey Graham tweeted “Game On”. He was premature. When Russia and China go to Defcon 1 that will be Game On!
What I fail to understand is how everyone can be so callous to poor Bibi.
He is suffering, too, you know. The poor guy may have become a brain dead sociopath, but he still feels everyone’s pain. (should I bother with a /sarc tag?)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/19/netanyahu-son-wedding-comments-israel-backlash
From Charles Hugh Smith.
How Housing Bubble #2 Bursts
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogjun25/RE-bubble-bursts6-25.html
With the site admins indulgence.
Phyl got a begging letter the other day via snail mail. She being religion adjacent, it was from an outfit calling itself the “International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.” It spun a sad tale about an older babushka in Israel who suffered through the Holocaust and was now poverty stricken in the Promised Land. Couldn’t Phyl spare a few dollars a month to help poor babushka make her way in the Land of Milk and Honey?
We get several of such missives a week. Send money and absolve your sins. It feels very much as I imagine a Catholic in the Late Middle Ages would feel about purchasing an Indulgence. Heaven is for sale!
So far, so bad.
However, this letter included a truly subtle piece of Hasbara propaganda. It came in the form of a fold out map of the State of Israel. Looking like one of the old National Geographic maps of years gone by, it had something that made me do a double take. The land of Israel was coloured a pale beige set within tan surroundings. Looking closely, you would suddenly realize that Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights were all outlined, but otherwise coloured exactly like Israel proper. If you didn’t stop and think about it, you would assume that these territories were actual parts of the State of Israel. This is a masterful bit of subconscious propaganda.
Needless to say, we save our almsgiving for people we actually meet and mentally evaluate.
Mashiach is coming. Really! I heard it on the Internet!
Stay safe. Go sane.
Before his current job – which seems to be preparing to high-tail-it out of Israel – US Ambassador to said Land of Milk and Honey – aka Mike Huckabee – used to shill for the “International Fellowship…” group on late-night television commercials (at least here in the Midwest USA). He had this whole speech on how he met all these nice neglected people, you know, so why wont you give? I always talked back to the television asking why babushka didnt get her cut of some of the billions we USAians send over there seemingly every fortnight?
And then I happened to see the news that the founder of that group died a few years ago, coincident with my noticing the ads stopped. For about three months. Then his daughter took over. Apparently the grift was too good.
I often wonder what will happen when the last of those Holocaust-surviving babushkas are gone. Please hurry up and give (/sarc)
This was published yesterday so apologies if I missed anyone already posting this:
Tanker rates double as shipowners steer clear of Strait of Hormuz
Censorship of footage of damage in Israel
https://x.com/warfareanalysis/status/1935630477378965873?s=46
Sabereen News also showing a fair amount of damage in Israel, with lots of video both from social media and other sources, e.g.:
https://t.me/SabrenNews22/158979
https://t.me/SabrenNews22/159003
Funny how the Western media ignores that Microsoft is spook-adjacent while the Iranians will call a spade a spade.
I wonder if they consider Intel a target? Taking out a couple of those fab lines could really eff things up for Israel as a “technology leader”. Would Intel bother to rebuild? Seems kinda pointless, as long as Netanyahu is picking fights like this.
Adding: https://t.me/SabrenNews22/159022
Looks like Iran is dropping missiles near the Dimona nuclear complex.
300kg explosive hit a nearby research center.