Trump Versus Powell, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba — Everyone?

Markets are in sell-off mode ahead of today’s opening for a simple reason. You’ll need a scorecard to separate signal from noise. So, let’s line ’em up, shall we?

Trump vs. Powell

Began developing Friday when the Fed was served subpoenas over – at least ostensibly – the $2.3 billion renovation plans for Fed buildings.  Where this escalated was a rare Sunday news video from Jerome Powell who is now in Trump’s sights for a criminal probe.  Have a listen here: Federal Reserve on X: “Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell.

A bit more background is found in a Time report: What to Know About the Investigation Into Jerome Powell | TIME.

What ties all of our threads into a Trump vs. Everyone framing is that none of this is pure ideology so much as control surfaces. The Federal Reserve, sanctioned states, energy choke points, and currency systems are all levers in the same global machine. When those levers move at once, markets don’t see “news” — they see stress in the plumbing.

How stressed?  Well the early Dow futures were down 350, the S&P down 42, while the NASDAQ was eyeing more than 200 down.

Sure – seems like a lot if the coffee hasn’t hit yet – but the reality is that’s less than the rally Friday tacked on – so not the end of the world.  At least, not yet.

Trump vs. Iran (and World)

Here’s a Trump play that’s even harder to understand without reading between the lines.  Yes, there have been demonstrations against the hardline government in Tehran.  As you could predict, US Looking at ‘Some Very Strong Options’ – Trump Warns Iran as Protests Escalate.

But here’s the part that gives it away.  Trump says weighing tough response to Iran crackdown, says Tehran called to negotiate,  But, with whom and about what?  The demonstrations don’t – for now – involve U.S. actions:

The unrest in Iran began in late December as a deepening economic crisis, fueled by crushing inflation, skyrocketing food and fuel costs, and a dramatic collapse in the value of the rial that has eroded living standards and squeezed ordinary households. What began with bazaar merchants and shopkeepers walking off the job over the plummeting currency and rising prices quickly spread to include university students, workers, and broad swaths of the public, who are no longer simply demanding economic relief but are chanting anti-regime and pro-freedom slogans and calling for political change.

Sure: the demonstrations, now nationwide and in all 31 provinces, reflect not just frustration over cost of living but a crisis of legitimacy — a rejection of longstanding clerical rule and corruption, demands for dignity and human rights, and anger at the political and economic system that has brought Iran to this point of social rupture.

HOWEVER – and this is the key thing – the protests are not about the Iranian nuclear program.

A further point?  You don’t, in effect, negotiate with bystanders. So what 60-years of “news logic” tells me is the odds of the U.S. driving some portion of the protests (via 3-letters, five-eyes, and Tel Aviv) are roughly 113 percent.

Trump vs. Cuba

Cuba fits the same template, though with a longer fuse. Going back to Fidel, Bay of Pigs, Missile Crisis in ’62 -pain in the American ass.  Why go hot now?  Because not just Russia would look at Cuba for field position – so would China.

There’s also a whiff of the “Iran Playbook” is you inspect closely: Recent protests there have centered on blackouts, food scarcity, and the collapse of the peso, not ideology. People aren’t marching over Marx versus markets; they’re marching because refrigerators are empty and lights go out.

Yet Washington’s posture toward Havana is again hardening, as we read, Trump vows to cut off Cuba’s oil after toppling Venezuelan ally Maduro.

Trump’s Asymmetric Moment

Trump’s like the kid in the schoolyard; surrounded, he’s trying to “take the first punch” at everyone.

Thing is, in systems theory, asymmetries can be momentary.  So where’s a checklist of things to keep an eye on:

Three Sources of Concern

The first is that Iran may have sleeper cells in the U.S.  As we all know, the Mexico border leaked like a sieve under both parties for decades.  We have no doubt that “domestic terrorism” is just ahead and probably just a matter of time on target.  The nightmare return reading headlines like Chaos erupts as U-Haul drives into crowd during anti-Iranian regime rally in Westwood (L.A.). Reading stories like this you have to wonder “Accident, provocation, or opening salvo?”

The next gitter point is resource pricing.  Gold and silver were both a lot stronger today.  They always rise during uncertainty, but we’re moving north of that now. Gold, silver prices hit all-time highs amid geopolitical tensions.  Yeah, this is the stuff that can survive EMP.

Our third arhythmia is the event-chain that could start tomorrow on inflation dope.  Consumer prices – the inflation report – will land with inestimable impact.  If inflation is strong (which we expect) then the Fed Meeting at the end of the month ( Jan. 27th-28th) might not lower rates.  And tell me what would happen if the Fed actually raised rates?

Trump needs a whipping boy – and looks like Powell is it.  Expect Trumpian narrative engineering to accuse the Fed of partisanship. But ask anyone with an economics degree or street smarts, and they are likely to admit Tariffs are just a one-step-removed Sales Tax on Imports.

Which combines (along with other factors we’ll get into in Wednesday’s Peoplenomics report) to drive down West Coast port activity.

From Trump’s view,syphoning some of the cream off the west coast economy may be acceptable – he’s managing a likely Newsom run and not trying to line the pockets of the “retired railroader” in Omaha.

My strategy for today? Besides being an old man with a nappy cold and cough?

Watch the price of the metals. And hope that tomorrow’s scope of study won’t be pushed even wider by events to come.

Around the Ranch: PBTM

“Personal, Brutal, Time-Management.”

Mr. Ure’s “drug cocktail” continues as the first cold in at least five-years is beginning to ease its grip.  Here’s a curious thing:  Son G2 – off being medical lead on a MSFT server farm build or two somewhere up in Yankee country – has been hit with the same miserable cold, too. Not COVID and neither of the flu’s, but gnarly and useless as they come.  An odd co-inkydink, for sure.

One trick a learned long ago?  Even when your body feels like crap, the brain can still be driven to some effect. This is why there is a special “double report” on Peoplenomics this week.  And it figured into my latestramble on my AI research website: A Hidden Guild Response: On the “Plausibility Gap”.

This article – and the First Monday report that spawned it – as fascinating studies if a recurring problem with new technologies:  Existing socioeconomic powers always grab for control over tech.  This isn’t anything new – goes back to the birth of obscene phone calls when landlines were still being strung.  It continued in US v. Pacifica (1978) – which as every old news director know, is where the FCC’s “naughty seven words” came from.

More recently, we saw power change hands between Jack the Twitter versus X-Elon.

As you’ll read in the paper, the frontier of control (especially of ‘the narrative’) rests with whether a “a central authority” should declare what a “conspiracy theory” is (via AI implementations) or whether – my own Shared Framework Experience direction (where users set their own sensitivity thresholds) isn’t more beneficial to wide-ranging cross-domain research.

This doesn’t seem like a big deal – except it really is. 

Do we want another ginned-up “false consensus” channel run by the next generation of “Jack in the boxes?”  I don’t think so.  When you get to be old and cranky – with a cold – your tolerance for central authority bullshit thins and you want to do something about it while stumbling for the exit.

Like it or not;l A.I. is here and the (typically liberal) academics are yammering about ownership of central truth.  Um, no.

There’s a simple way to allow AI users to extend use of their own Mind Amplifiers wherever it leads them.  Explained in my paper Refining the AI–Human SFE Model (and Why It Matters) – Hidden Guild.  It’s really like you can now pick “themes” for your web browser, dark theme, summer, and all that.  Essentially, users should be able to use (or skin) AI for their preferences.

It’s very much like the James Dale Davidson,  William Rees-Mogg et al choice between actual freedom and being force-fed by a Nannhy State.  Ask Maduro how that worked out.

(If you saved $50,000 by skipping B-school? Davidson and Rees-Mogg did not coin the term nanny state, but they popularized and systematized it in a socioeconomic and geopolitical framework, especially in their books The Great Reckoning (1997), and The Sovereign Individual (1997).

They used “nanny state” to describe late-industrial governments that:

  • tax heavily,
  • regulate behavior,
  • promise cradle-to-grave security,
  • and become brittle as technology erodes their revenue base.

Kinda like…oh, you know…NOW.

Which is – sad to say – what the battle for control of AI freedom is all about. Thankfully, I can still pick a high-contrast theme in a web browser and I should be able to tell AI my research preferences in like manner.  This is what cross-domain extensibility looks like.

Write when when I stop coughing,

George@Ure.net

49 thoughts on “Trump Versus Powell, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba — Everyone?”

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  1. I hope you feel better soon George. It is so odd for you to get a cold because you limit your exposure. I wonder if your recent dinner companions are sick too.

    • Let me say this gently as not to offend everyone:
      One note on sources. Over the decades I’ve learned that consistency matters more than cleverness. For that reason, I ignore organizations associated with Lyndon LaRouche. This isn’t about ideology or whether any single argument sounds persuasive in the moment. It’s about continuity of thought over time. LaRouche-linked groups have a long record of sharp narrative pivots—positions taken, abandoned, inverted, and repackaged as circumstances change. That’s not how durable thinking works. By contrast, if you pull something I wrote in Peoplenomics or UrbanSurvival twenty-five years ago, the core logic will still hold—even if the surface details have evolved. Long-term coherence is the only reliable signal I’ve found in a world full of short-term narratives, and once a source shows it doesn’t value that, I stop allocating attention to it.
      I’ve always sougdht to be a constitutional values-based guy. Yes, Lyndon LaRouche was involved in communist politics early in his career. Specifically, he joined the Socialist Workers Party—a Trotskyist communist group—in the late 1940s and remained a member until around the mid-1950s or early 1960s, depending on the account. He later broke away to form his own radical leftist organizations in the 1960s and 1970s, such as the National Caucus of Labor Committees, before shifting toward more eclectic and far-right conspiracy-laden views in subsequent decades.
      Oddly, his views are antiglobalist for now. My alternatrrives, I think have been less dependent on core authorities ands more on values, as a comparison.

  4. Here’s hoping you feel better soon! The wife and I have had that crude since before Christmas…..probably from the grandson in Day-care.
    Just now starting to feel almost human. Doc side it wasn’t flu or cold…….not sure what exactly it is…lead to a secondary sinus infection. But at least we are still above the dirt! :)

  5. (““Personal, Brutal, Time-Management.”
    Mr. Ure’s “drug cocktail” continues as the first cold in at least five-years is beginning to ease its grip. Here’s a curious thing: Son G2 – off being medical lead on a MSFT server farm build or two somewhere up in Yankee country – has been hit with the same miserable cold, too. Not COVID and neither of the flu’s, but gnarly and useless as they come. An odd co-inkydink, for sure.”)

    Self medication.. is way cheaper lol lol lol.. I have been trying to see a specialist for my sinus issues for the better part of a decade.. they had been treating me for what was thought as allergies for thirty years.. because of the insurance industry playing physician roulette.. I got one that would give me the recommendation.. It only took a few months to get in..they took a biopsy and swab..then sent them off to the lab.. so far the lab is still working on them.. this morning when I checked I seen a nasty gram in my text messages about payment setup.. so curious me..I called.. so far the lab bill has sent a partial bill to the billing office not even done with their tests.. the bill so far is eighteen thousand dollars and the clerk was curious why I just started to laugh when she told me.. I said would you prefer check, card or cash lol lol lol I asked so what about Medicare and my suppliment insurance policy oh this is your portion lol lol guess I won’t be quitting work anytime soon lol lol lol.. heaven help me when the specialists bill is filed and if they send me to yet another specialist.. cheaper to just die ..or self medicate..

    • Lab Corp discounted my recent testing bill from several hundred dollars to about $25 per their ins co contract … which my Medicare Advantage insurance carrier paid (so I owe nothing).

      Sheesh … how can a several hundred dollar lab bill really only be about $25? Heck if I know but I did note a couple of weeks ago Lab Corp just built a new million dollar hanger at the local airport in which they are now parking their jet … umm

    • ure diagnosis process sounds AFU, regards sinuses.

      I had sinus surgery at thomas jefferson in phila in 90’s, by head of department..who was close friend of father in law who was head ENT/Head&Neck surgery – HUP. He literally wrote the books on the subject.
      Chronic Sinusitis – what Ure guys testing for ? is it blind fishing expedition ?

      Xrays of sinuses- full scan, low level therapy with low dose antibiotic, corticosteriod spray, and nasal lavages.
      Next step is the scope, they can do a cursory glance w/o sedation, but need sedation to really get in there and poke around.
      There is/was a ENT at Cedars that pioneered “sinus angioplasty” for follow up sinus surgery – that FiL was opposed to and and vehemently opposed my Son doing an internship with..kid still did an internship at CedarsSinai, but with Kidney Cancer specialist -spent the summer building Cell lines and surfing Newport.
      In my case there were polyps and shredded turbinate, all cleaned out and ready to go…after a night in hosp recovery. First shot of Demerol was like BLISS, when woke up after that and rang bell for Nurse/moar, they gave me pills -*^$#@)! fkrs.
      Sent me home with boosted Percocet’s, never take shit again. 1st day home lying bed, feeling miserable, who should pop up ON MY BEDSIDE ?

      A F-ing DEMON/DEVIL entity, I literally jumped outta that bed, and hightailed to the bathroom, sat on the john and lite a smoke. F me running but that scared the shit out me..obviously. Never took Percocet again, always had them change script to co-Tylenol..no demonics when taking that.

      It wouldbe 27 years later before I saw another demonic in real life, standing atop one of big ass green highway direction signs during morning rush hour, only one who could see it apparently, was like a big black blob of ? shit?.
      Within that month I was almost taken out by large truck tire that was coming/bouncing at speed directly at me from the other direction of 4 lane highway. My still, small voice said “dont Move, dont do anything” rather loudly/profoundly. I didnt move (bumper2bumper traffic), that fucking spinning, bouncing, speeding truck tire landed right in front of my white Camry and took out driver side fender, headlight, and radiator, on the bounce up and over my car and onto on ramp cars merging into traffic.
      I was deep into YanXin Qigong at the time, deep. when you go deep- they see you and see them.
      When I called my customer to cancel appointment, I mentioned that it was one of the worst days of my life, he said no BCP, it is one of the LUCKIEST days of your life. He is Murhican of Asian decent.

      Something dont smell right about $18k in labs and not even finished ? I call BULLSCHEISSE . Sounds more like medical malfeasance, but what do I know ? I’m just a simple minded retiree still looking for that LIGHT and sees Demonics every so often. hell I saw Poppa legba character in Phila airport waiting area/gate, big black top hat and what notz. After situating family at our assigned gate, I went back to meet this fckr, and of course he was gone, no where to be seen. A flashback/hallucinations ? Ill let you know, as I have yet to CATCH one of these things – like biggest nightmare /frustration I have historically.

      Color me FRUSTRATED and a lil distracted.

      • I wish..shocked the hell out of me..took a week of growing something though..when I talked to the business office I about fell over..the only thing I could do is start laughing..

        • what’s funny..is I talked to the doctor today..they have to go in a little more extensive… but they prescribed a pretty potent medication one that’s usually really expensive.. now at the VA it would cost me generic ten to fifteen dollars.. name brand up to tli believe something like 175.. but at the pharmacy in town name brand was $4.00 now isn’t that a twist

      • I had a stuck kidney stone. For five weeks I was on opioids while trying to rebuild a TV station. The pill was blessed relief and then I drifted off to pleasant dreams… which soon morphed into apocalyptic nightmares and woke me up sweating.

        Swore off pills until next day when stabbing pain was unbearable again, and … rinse and repeat. Now it seems I cannot fall asleep when taking an opioid. Hip surgery was a nightmare of not being able to sleep.

  6. bada bumpbumpbump, and another down, another one bites the dust..

    Why – cause you no EXERCISE regularly .

    * Prior Proper Preperation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

    Ask Ai Ure feebleness, the ratio of Healthy Peeps who EXERCISE regularly to Getting ill, Versus lazy “blackshoes ..is it whiskey or is it wine, or is it lack of PT time?” , who never EXERCISE.

    Superiority takes dedication and hard work, rather than Ure current slackadasical attytudes towards EXERCISE. Really think you “got enough wind” in youse to last the length of a firefight ? Need less than 5 minutes, but wit no exercise in Ure past, you be sucking wind in first 2 minutes of action. Good luck reloading/repositioning while youse be sucking wind and Ure head be spinning.

    Yeah yeah “I’ll just take a break and catch my wind, all the while Mohammad,Ishmael, Wang and Longguong be bearing down youse from the road..

    echo from the 60’s – JFK initiative – Go Chicken Fat, Go!
    Ready – https://youtu.be/8df2skF8gnQ?

    • Ure doesn’t talk about exercise much – more of a bullshit topic. I manage my conditioning – I push the hr up to 80-86% of hr max at least 3 x weekly. over horus not minutes – 3-10 reps of hard phs work, cycle up to 110-120 bpm, then cooldown to 90 bpm rinse repeat and my bp recvoery curves are more typical of 50 yo – don’t a DI – need the fucking cold to leave. Sometimes, thyme is what matters most lol

      • George is right. You don’t have to join a gym or do the Chicken Fat boogie or even the hated chicken dance at weddings. The secret is to keep moving every day no matter what your age. Get your butt off the sofa, get your legs and arms moving and get your heart rate up.

        I marvel at the deck work, tree cutting, etc. that George does regularly at his age. Swinging a hammer, digging post holes, carrying lumber is exercise.

        By the way g, I recall you mentioning your dentist’s comment about yours and Elaine’s apparent age a short time ago. You both are doing some regular exercise to get those comments.

        P.S.

        When “Mohammad,Ishmael, Wang and Longguong be bearing down youse from the road”, I am sure if they get close to George, he has a surprise for them and it’s not his retreat.

      • re: Eye of Horus, god of healing
        feat: call of the Chicago Caliphate

        President Obama delivered his “A New Beginning Speech” at Al-Azhar (“The Radiant One”) University, Cairo in June 2009. Dating to 970ad, the institution is named after Fatima al-Zahra, daughter of The Prophet. ABC7 Chicago notes a new beginning this June in South Side’s Jackson Park neighborhood named after #7. An embedded help wanted video clip saw #44 put out a call to “Launch the Legacy” with OPC (Obama Presidential Center).

        Intrigued, I reviewed the Obama website. Unskilled public-facing jobs offer $20 to $24 per hour. Security officers receive the lowest salary bracket, but they will enjoy opportunity to occasionally work outdoors in all weather conditions. Also the OPC will proudly be using Google Drive for administrative tasks.

        How does this compare with the purportedly parsimonious Firm’s website in London? Currently entry level visitor experience positions to commence in June at Buckingham Palace offer £14.80 (~us$20) per hour. Mind you there is also a 20% staff discount at the Royal Gift Shop.

        It seems the Obama (“to lean/bend”) surname belongs to a Nilotic (Nile) tribe in Kenya named Luo (“The People”).

        Hoist the storm jib and stay warm!

      • “more of a bullshit topic.”

        As the single most important thing a Human being can do to Promote good HEALTH, I beg to differ..”bullshit topic”.

        Single most important anti cancer therapy there is. Have you seen the trillions of $ going into diabetes/obesity and cancer ?

        What the what bullshit ?

        I just dont get it, dont understand. oh well.

        Sometimes you eat Croc, and sometimes the Croc be eating youse.

  7. Glad you’re doing better, be sure to take Zinc, drink warm tea – Peppermint, chamomile, or Green with fresh squeezed lemon and honey if your throat sore…

    • Yeah, locally sourced honey from local pollen, and lemon. Hot tea temp and sip frequently. I’ve suffered pollen allergies since childhood. And now it’s not just seasonal. Seems something here in the tropics is always pollenating.

  8. N____ had a post yesterday on how many for seekers have predicted dates of the end..
    no one will predict the true date..
    here is my response to that post..
    No one is ever going to pin down an actual date. Every tradition that talks about an ending or a return says the same thing — the exact moment isn’t something people can calculate. There are signs, there are patterns, there are warnings, but the actual event comes suddenly, in a moment no one expects. That’s why arguing over timelines never really gets anyone closer to understanding what’s happening. The focus is on staying aware, not predicting the clock….. When it comes, it will come in a moment — sudden, like a flash. None of us can control the timing. All we can do is prepare our lives in a way that leaves something meaningful behind.

    My own preparations aren’t for myself. They’re for the ones who come after, the ones who might someday uncover what we’ve built or written or preserved. Every civilization before us did the same. They left warnings, stories, and lessons carved into clay, written on bamboo, hidden in scrolls, or passed down through memory. They wanted future generations to understand what they did right, and especially what they did wrong.

    You see it in the Book of Wars among the Dead Sea Scrolls — a record of conflict meant to remind people what unchecked division and greed leads to. You see it in the ancient Chinese texts that teach how people should treat one another, how to live with restraint, compassion, and harmony so that peace is possible.

    Across cultures and centuries, the message is the same:
    Prepare your life so that what you leave behind helps someone else avoid the mistakes of the past…. Sadly man rarely listens to these teachings and focusses on temporal pleasures or things they see as value instead of the true treasures of life..

  10. My brother said something profound after my mother passed on that really had me think… he said as we looked at the total belongings of her life.. sitting there in a couple boxes..
    he said… (” isn’t it sad that at the end of your life, all that remains is a couple of boxes of assorted Crap, a few photos and the memories of what you stood for!”)
    it was with those thoughts in mind that I wrote my Christmas letter this year.. here it is..

    My dear family,and Friends

    As Christmas comes around again, I find myself thinking less about the gifts under the tree and more about the gifts we give each other every day — the ones that don’t come wrapped, but are felt in the heart.

    I want to share a few things with you, not as lessons, but as pieces of the life I’ve lived and the love I’ve known.

    I grew up watching two people — My parents your great?grandparents — who never raised their voices at each other. They didn’t argue; they discussed. They saved the hard conversations for their evening walk, hand in hand, where the world was quiet and they could face life together. That simple routine taught me more about love than any book ever could.

    They never used intimacy as a weapon or a bargaining chip. It was a gift of self, freely given, never withheld. Their home was built on respect, shared purpose, and the belief that love is something you do, not something you say.

    Some of my most precious memories are of them sitting on the couch together, or gathered around the kitchen table talking about the day. Nothing fancy — just the warmth of people who cared for each other deeply.

    As you walk your own paths, I hope you carry a few things with you:

    Lead with compassion. You never know the weight someone else is carrying.

    Talk to each other. Keep your communication open, honest, and kind.

    Walk the same direction. A relationship is a partnership — two people choosing the same path.

    Laugh often. Laughter is glue. It holds families together.

    Give hugs freely. A hug says, “You matter to me.” Never let the people you love wonder how you feel.

    Be the blind man. Don’t judge anyone by their clothes, their skin, their size, or their mistakes. Look at their heart.

    Treasure the simple things. Faith, family, friends — these are the real riches of life.

    If there’s one thing I want each of you to know, it’s this: You are important to me. Every single one of you.

    I give hugs because I want you to feel that truth, not just hear it. I never want any of you to say, “I wish I had one more moment.” I want you to know — right now — that you are loved, valued, and carried in my heart every day.

    This Christmas, remember that the greatest gifts we give each other are compassion, patience, laughter, and time. These are the things that build a family, and these are the things that last.

    With all my love,

  11. (“Cuba fits the same template, though with a longer fuse. Going back to Fidel, Bay of Pigs, Missile Crisis in ’62 -pain in the American ass. Why go hot now? Because not just Russia would look at Cuba for field position – so would China.”)

    China and Russia already have long?standing ties with Cuba. When Cuba reached out to the United States for help, the previous administration dismissed them, and that opened the door for China to step in. Now China has access to a warm?water port just off our coastline — something they were more than willing to provide when we weren’t.Then our open border policy..that opened up our country to countless individuals and criminal elements from countries harboring ill feelings about our past actions.

    But even beyond that, the whole idea of ‘field position’ is outdated. Modern weapons systems have changed the map for everyone. Hypersonic missiles can reach anywhere on the planet in minutes. Surveillance and strike platforms can orbit overhead. We’re living in a world where distance doesn’t offer the protection it once did. All it shows is an image of entering in someone’s personal space…

    So while people focus on Cuba as a physical foothold it only for an image of control, the larger reality is that we’re already in a global environment where any major power can reach out and touch any point on Earth at any time. That’s the world we’re navigating now… the reach out and touch someone..L
    Here’s the commercial..
    https://youtu.be/z3naDh4mS1s?si=xYPOpEqtRs7BFriz

  12. Glad to hear that you are slowly kicking the bug that got you down, definitely something running around here … and I assume there too. I will refrain from any medical treatment advice, you know all the non-prescription advice, except to note to make sure you get enough sleep. If your body when you are sick tells you to SLEEP then it is clueing you in that it needs that rest so IT can fight whatever it is that is inside you.

    As for the World At Large the world seems at present to be CRAVING Conflict and War (ala the Bible: There is a time for peace and a time for war). It has the same feel to me that 1968 had, and I am NOT referring to the assassinations in the US that year but to the worldwide protests and conflicts that broke out that year from Asia to Europe to Africa to the US. (the assassinations here in the US were just a small manifestation of that worldwide conflict infection of the populous).

    We not only currently have already a number of active Wars and almost active Wars: Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Iran, Israel/Gaza, Israel/Lebanon, China/Taiwan … but also US/Europe (over Greenland), US/Venezuela, US/Cuba, US/Mexico, US/Iran, US/Canada, Cambodia/Thailand, Myamar, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Libya, Syria, and the list goes on and on. (this dynamic includes the vast protests currently occuring in Iran – Wars can be internal conflicts not just conflicts between different countries)

    There are “times” when the populous, the WORLD’S populous, just seems primed and ready for CONFLICT. 1914 was one of those times, the world’s leadership class was ready for that conflict in 1905 but the populous was not yet primed for it so it didn’t start in 1905 when it “could” have. By 1914 the POPULOUS in addition to it’s leadership class was ready and eager. Today from where I sit the WORLD’S populous is now primed and ready for conflict. (yep, even in the US … note the protests here in the US over ICE and the killing in Minn)

    Is this a classic Biblical TIME FOR WAR? From where I sit it certainly “feels” that way.

    • re: Grandma Walton and Ike Godsey Reunion!
      feat: hidden Hester’s inferior conjunction; Kemet-less Isaac

      Cast lots, the billionaires have landed! Move over millionaire type Burismo-ites (span. “Donkey Fool”). Ukraine’s PM Mrs. Svyerdenko released a presser announcing exciting news of a deal with Dobra Lithium Holdings LLC to mine lithium in Kirovohrad. The city is named after a Stalin confidante who was disappeared in 1934. A literal translation of the name is “City of the Lord”.

      The PM names the two (privately-held) owners of Dobra (“Good”, fem.) Lithium Holdings. Firstly – according to public record – in the land of lucky charms, TechMet is headquartered in Dublin. It is co-owned by several entities: DFC (US International Development Finance Corp., QIA (Qatar sovereign wealth fund), a Swiss and also a UK investment fund, and finally a US investment fund overseen by the philanthropy arm of a US department store heir whose worth is approximately $39 billion.

      The second Dobra shareholder The Rock Holdings LLC is also privately held and has little public presence. It is allegedly an investment vehicle belonging to the president of the World Jewish Congress and former US Ambassador to Austria who is also heir of the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune.

      Lauder (formerly Lauter?) apparently meant “clear, bright” in Old German. Estée derives from Esther, the Jewish-Persian Queen of the 5th century bc for whom the Book of Esther is named after in “The Bible”. She is a descendant of one of the Four Matriarchs – Sarah – mother of Isaac and founding mother of the Israelite line.

      Old Persians (Akkadians?) knew Esther as Ishtar, goddess of love and beauty, while in Roman times she became symbolized by the planet Venus. The Purim ([casting of] “Lots”) Festival celebrates Queen Esther gaining the right of Jews to defend themselves against a Persian genocide.

      Welcome to Karaoke Night! While DJ George is resting his vocal chords, sing along with lyrics provided at the following link. Chill out with a ditty freshly plucked from a Nordic snowdrift. Here we go with Led Zeppelin’s
      “No Quarter”:

      https://genius.com/Led-zeppelin-no-quarter-lyrics

  14. Market sell off?? … funny ……….. this casino is a one way ticket up up up ….. let the rigged games continue on ……….. be safe all

    “it just doesn’t matter” …………

  16. George,
    Hope you have better luck with the “stop coughing” than I have. My wife went to a 4 day quilt retreat at the end of October 2025. She came home with a cold (whatever), and of course I got it.
    I had hystoplasmosis when I was 17, which the doctor at that time said I had lung scars similar to TB. Also told me to be prepared to cough for a long time after every cold, etc. He was right so many times. Usually lasts for a month afterward.
    This time is different. I am still coughing now. Had all the usual checks and nothing shows of any concern, just a nagging cough. Really be glad when it stops.

    • Lloyd Snider
      January 12, 2026 at 16:06

      George,
      Hope you have better luck with the “stop coughing” than I have.
      This time is different. I am still coughing now.
      _________________________________
      Lloyd,
      Don’t know what your med regimen is but the cough that nags can be a side-effect of some of the meds prescribed to those with respiratory issues.
      Google pub med for hints and facts of side issues of all of your meds. You might be surprised at what some of them do both ‘FOR’ you and ‘TO’ you. If your meds are the cause of a chronic cough, there are substitutes available that won’t. Hope this helps. I had a similar issue, switched meds and the issue disappeared soon after.

  17. ” As you could predict, US Looking at ‘Some Very Strong Options’ – Trump Warns Iran as Protests Escalate.

    But here’s the part that gives it away. Trump says weighing tough response to Iran crackdown, says Tehran called to negotiate, But, with whom and about what? The demonstrations don’t – for now – involve U.S. actions”

    …And nobody in “news” media anywhere, is mentioning Trump’s meeting last week, with Reza Pahlavi, who would both free the Iranians and eliminate its nuclear arms program, and likely also make Iran a signatory of the Abraham Accords.

    • Resident mossadnik keeps selling this Genocide narrative,

      CIRay and rest of the nests been ginning up Iran for what seems like forever. Ever since the “abrahamics” got kicked out and Oil taken back , princes of jerusalem have been setting their “dogs” (neocons) on getting it back.

      Tis fine company they keep, no? bush, darth cheney,mcstain,lightfoot lindsay..fine company indeed.

      Good luck – “darklings” the LIGHT NRG grows and aint nothing anyone/thing can do about..

      Color me – “Increasing”

  18. Yet Washington’s posture toward Havana is again hardening, as we read, Trump vows to cut off Cuba’s oil after toppling Venezuelan ally Maduro.

    Nearly 90% of Cuba’s oil comes from Venezuela. Cuba is already energy-starved. Of course we’re going to cut them off and likely ship a boatload of small arms into Gitmo, for distribution to the starving masses — just in case they wish to possess small arms. I don’t see the US doing anything kinetic though, because it won’t be necessary.
    ________

    “Could China use our Maduro “capture” as a template to seize Taiwan? ”

    No.

    They could use it as an excuse, except without Venezuelan oil their industries and their war machine are going to grind to a halt within the next few weeks.
    ______

    “China is also re-evaluating its relations with Japan as Japan will host summit with South Korea to bolster ties as Tokyo’s relations with Beijing worsen.”

    Perhaps more-importantly, Japan has begun fast-tracking the clandestine development of its own nuclear arsenal and delivery systems, based on our (and Israel’s) missiles and Russia’s hypersonics. This has the CCP more-worried than anything we are doing…
    ______

    “And along the public relations front, the race card is being played as ‘Imperial’ Russia using Africans as cannon fodder.”

    Yessiree, all those Africans who were making ~$3000/year and hangin’ with their families saved up the equivalent of $900-$1600 (USD) so they could travel (without their families) to Russia, to accept menial jobs working for Russia’s minimum wage (?27,093RUB or about $346USD per month). Then they got “Shanghaied” and pressed into service in the Russian Army so they could waltz into Ukrainian foxholes with a Claymore strapped to their bellies.

    Does no one read an entire article or essay any more? Can no one see the numerous logical disconnects within this piece of Ukrainian propaganda being foist on the Western World by The Telegraph?

    Does no one suspect I might have known of what I spoke when I said:

    “In any war, the first casualty is always the truth…”

    This is utter dreck. The Telegraph should be ashamed for republishing it and Yahoo shamed twice for repackaging it for low-information Americans.

  19. George, your “ick” seems to be everywhere. I’ve got kin from Massatuchetts to the Mojave that are down with it. I am not (yet) although I did wake up with a sore throat, today.

    What I’m currently crippled by, is a right shoulder that I’ve blasted into nonfunctionality, three times over the past seven weeks. First time, tore rotator, second time, tore bicep, this last time (Saturday) aggravated the first two, and cracked a couple ribs — right arm looks like a balloon and I’m swollen from my wrist to my gallbladder. Accordingly, I’ll be semi-megadosing CDEK as well as zinc, selenium, and ivermectin, and snacking on lemon and peach toddies, in addition to my ridiculous vitamin stacks. I suggest you contemplate doing the same. Folks like us can’t afford to get sick…

  20. We use a homeopathic recommended by a lifetime Walgreens pharmacist who didn’t really believe in what he was doing dispensing drugs. He railed against the obese and malnourished and used cold red light and naturopathic stuff. It’s called Oscillococcinum.
    You take it at the first signs twice a day. My experience has been it’s all over in 24hr. We got it at Walgreens right by the normal pharmacy.
    Not a name you easily forget.
    Stiks

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