Apr 242026
 


Georgia O’Keeffe New York Street with Moon 1925


Trump Says Not Anxious, ‘All The Time In The World’ To End War (ZH)
Mojtaba Khamenei With Medical Team In 24/7 Hideout, Generals Run Iran: NYT (ZH)
Trump Orders U.S. Navy to Shoot Any Iranian Mine Ships (Catherine Salgado)
Trump: Fossil Fuels Essential To National Security (JTN)
Greg Gutfeld Savages the SPLC and the Democrats Who Took the Bait (Margolis)
Judge Dismisses Kash Patel’s Defamation Lawsuit (CNBC)
Lavrov Warns Of ‘Rampant Satanism’ In EU (RT)
Professor Defines Elderly Americans as the New Class Enemy (Paul Craig Roberts)
The Resurrection of Ron DeSantis (Scott Pinsker)
Obama’s ‘Dreamer’ Fairy Tale Just Got Torched (Margolis)
The U.S. Military Is Running a Bitcoin Node, Admiral Paparo Reveals (BCM)
European Car Sales Jump 11% As Fuel Shock Drives EV Demand (ZH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2046894247761043566?s=20

 


 


First they get a chance to tell him who to talk to. I don’t think he’ll give them much time.

Trump Says Not Anxious, ‘All The Time In The World’ To End War (ZH)

A huge breakthrough in Lebanon, where President Trump has declared an extended ceasefire for three weeks – though there have still been reports of sporadic fighting involving Israel and Hezbollah – the latter which hasn’t signed on to a ceasefire: Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks following a meeting in the White House with top U.S. officials, President Donald Trump said Thursday.


“The Meeting went very well!” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the extension of the temporary truce. “The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump wrote, referring to the Iran-backed militia group. “The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” he wrote. Meanwhile, that Iran timeline keeps getting more and more open-ended…

President Trump pushes back on claims he is anxious to end the war; says he has all the time in the world, Iran does not. However, consumer prices and at the pump could steadily rise and next fall’s Congressional midterms might beg to differ. Here’s some of what Trump said:

• Iran’s Navy is lying at the bottom of the Sea, their Air Force is demolished, their Anti Aircraft and Radar Weaponry is gone, their leaders are no longer with us, the Blockade is airtight and strong and, from there, it only gets worse — Time is not on their side!

• A Deal will only be made when it’s appropriate and good for the United States of America, our Allies and, in fact, the rest of the World.

The earlier reports of ‘air defenses active over Tehran’ was the result of a drill, Iran says. And more importantly, Tehran is rejecting Israeli media reports of a big shake-up centered on Iran’s Parliament Speaker.

Parliament Speaker Resigns after IRGC Intervention
Israel’s N12 News has issued a breaking headline claiming that Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Ghalibaf, who has appeared to run the day to day over the civilian government, has resigned from the country’s negotiating team following the intervention of the IRGC. There have been rumors and unverified murmurings that he was even arrested. Of course, given this comes via Israel – which is a party to the conflict – it should be taken with a grain of salt until verified; however Newsquawk notes it was enough to hit stocks and cause a spike in crude…

Meanwhile, Iranian social media accounts of Iran’s two highest civilian officials have sought to push back against the current White House/MSM consensus that Washington is dealing with a fractured, divided Iranian nation when it comes to negotiations:

Iran Asserts US Blockade Breached; Could Build Nuke “If We Wanted To”
US CENTCOM on Thursday announced its forces have redirected 33 Iran-linked vessels in the Hormuz Strait since the start of the blockade; however, Iranian state media is citing the below public source tanker data (in a Telegram post) to proclaim that four Iranian oil tankers successfully crossed the US blockade and enter Iranian waters.

According to the latest statements out of top Iran officials, Tehran is demonstrating “strength” in the strait, and also the foreign ministry has insisted that while the country is still not seeking nuclear weapons, it possesses the capability to create a bomb if needed. Via Al Jazeera: “We are not seeking to manufacture a nuclear bomb from our stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and if we wanted to, we could.”Meanwhile Iran’s foreign ministry has commented on the freeze on Pakistan talks, saying it has not decided to participate as of yet, but emphasized too that it is “not an option” to transfer out of the country its highly enriched uranium.

Read more …

The attack that killed his father injured Mojtaba much worse than they let on. If it didn’t outright kill him too. Today, they regret presenting him as the leader back then.

Mojtaba Khamenei With Medical Team In 24/7 Hideout, Generals Run Iran: NYT (ZH)

The NY Times in a new deep dive of what governing structures now look like inside Iran says what’s already long been obvious to many in the wake of longtime Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death: “When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as the supreme leader, he exerted absolute power over all decisions about war, peace and negotiations with the United States. His son and successor does not play the same role.” The publication says it was able to interview at least half-a-dozen Iranian insiders, including IRGC officials, and individuals who know the younger Khamenei “well”. The NY Times describes of Mojtaba Khamenei: “His father, wife and son were all killed. Access to him is extremely difficult and limited now. He is surrounded mostly by a team of doctors and medical staff who are treating the injuries he sustained in the airstrikes.”


Apparently even top ‘trusted’ generals and IRGC commanders do visit him for fear of being surveilled and tracked to his location by Israel and the United States. Per the sources cited in the Times, “Though Mr. Khamenei was gravely wounded, he is mentally sharp and engaged, according to four senior Iranian officials familiar with his health.” And more: “One leg was operated on three times, and he is awaiting a prosthetic. He had surgery on one hand and is slowly regaining function. His face and lips have been burned severely, making it difficult for him to speak, the officials said, adding that, eventually, he will need plastic surgery.”

All of this provides an explanation as to why he has never been seen or heard from in public since Trump’s Operation Epic Fury began on February 28. He has not so much as been photographed, and when state media has issued a few prior statements, it does so via text or what appears to be AI-configured audio over state media airwaves. This fact has unleashed an avalanche of speculation as to his fate over the course of the war, and who is “really in charge”. And yet it’s also well-known that Iran is able to function militarily based on autonomy and dispersion of command among units, with the IRGC given more independence to act.

The White House has alleged there are essentially two factions vying for power and direction over the war – the civilian leadership and the IRGC command sides. “Mojtaba is not yet in full command or control,” Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa for Chatham House, claimed in the NYT report. But as expected the situation is nuanced: “There is, perhaps, deference to him,” he continued. “He signs off or he is part of the decision-making structure in a formal way. But he is presented with fait accompli presentations right now.”

As we and other have pointed out, in public at least the de facto day-to-day leader of the country remains speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. He has taken point as lead negotiator with the United States in Pakistan, and has been the public face of updating his country and the world on both the status of the war and the now stalled negotiations. One other interesting detail in the Times report is seen in the following:

Messages to him are handwritten, sealed in envelopes and relayed via a human chain from one trusted courier to the next, who travel on highways and back roads, in cars and on motorcycles until they reach his hide-out. His guidance on issues snakes back the same way. Some pundits have correctly pointed out that skepticism is warranted, also given the NYT’s often deeply inaccurate reporting on Bush’s Iraq war invasion, and other Mideast conflict zones including Syria: With all due respect, remain skeptical about the credibility of the The New York Times report.

The NY Times alleged findings has it to the conclusion that even big decisions are currently under control of the generals and IRGC apparatus: “The combination of concern for his safety, his injuries and the sheer challenge of reaching him has resulted in Mr. Khamenei’s delegating decision making to the generals, at least for now,” the report concludes.

Read more …

Seems a bit late.

Trump Orders U.S. Navy to Shoot Any Iranian Mine Ships (Catherine Salgado)

President Donald Trump announced that he has given orders to the United States Navy to eliminate any Iranian vessels that they catch trying to drop more mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The president posted on Truth Social Thursday, “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump emphasized, “There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”


The Iranian regime dropped as many mines in the strait as they could during the active phase of the joint Israeli-U.S. Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion. After the ceasefire announcement and the initial Iranian violations by bombing other countries, the murderous mullahs also absolutely refused to remove mines from the strait but demanded tolls from any countries that sent ships through anyway.

Furthermore, on April 23, Trump posted, “Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know! The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY! We have total control over the Strait of Hormuz. No ship can enter or leave without the approval of the United States Navy. It is ‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

It is not clear to whom Trump referred as “moderates,” because all the leaders of the Iranian regime still in power are part of the world’s worst terrorist regime that has been attacking Americans for nearly half a century. Tens of thousands of Persian freedom protesters remain in prison, many scheduled for execution.

Speaking of hardliners, one of the main Iranian leaders supposed to be negotiating with the United States, with whom Vice President JD Vance met in Pakistan, just went on Arab language television to smirk, boast, and defy the U.S. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer “Death to America” Ghalibaf (or Qalibaf) needs to go back on the elimination list, because he is making it perfectly clear he has no intention of ever making peace with the “great Satan” America and the “little Satan” Israel.

“I, as a soldier, am fighting in the realm of negotiations,” Qalibaf smirked. “In this situation, negotiations constitute a form of fighting. I ask our dear people to unite around the three fighting arenas, which, in fact, constitute one battlefield — raising the flag of victory and making our people’s gains official.” He claimed that Americans removing Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz were a “violation of the ceasefire.”

Read more …

“The five orders seek to address a number of bottlenecks and impediments to coal, natural gas and petroleum production, including financial support, infrastructure development, improved supply chains, and permit expediting.”

Trump: Fossil Fuels Essential To National Security (JTN)

President Donald Trump has signed five executive orders that address critical segments of the nation’s energy infrastructure – a move made under the presidential determinations of the Defense Production Act that allows a U.S. president to mobilize industry for purposes of national security. The two-term president has long pushed for energy development and the infrastructure to support it as a key aspect of national security. The orders, signed amid the U.S. war with Iran, seek to address issues with the aging electricity grid, the need for natural gas pipelines, coal supply chains and large-scale electricity projects. They don’t refer to wind and solar energy, but they identify “intermittent energy” as a threat to a secure supply of energy.


Iran and neighboring Persian Gulf states account for as much as 50% of the world’s oil reserves, but the U.S. is not dependent on the region for its oil. Still, the orders signed Tuesday by Trump will go a long way toward helping secure American energy dominance, David Blackmon, an analyst with over 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, said on his “Energy Additions” Substack, “Taken together, these five actions represent the most comprehensive federal push for all-of-the-above energy in modern history. They cut through the red tape, provide the financial backstops markets sometimes need for massive infrastructure bets, and explicitly reject the notion that we can ‘transition’ away from reliable hydrocarbons without destroying our economy and security,” he wrote.

Order 1: Large-scale energy development
Focuses on large-scale energy development, covering a range of activities from the development of power plants to financing. It aims to cut through red tape and long permitting times to accelerate projects. Reduces financial risks, regulatory delays and other barriers that impede investment and development. Supports the deployment of power plants, supports manufacturing, enables infrastructure construction, site preparation and financing in the early stages of the projects. Prioritizes domestic energy-related manufacturing to support infrastructure development.

Order 2: Grid infrastructure
Aims to shore up America’s electricity grid, which has run into bottlenecks due to long lead times for things like transformers, dependency on foreign supply chains and permitting delays. Transmission projects can take decades and cost billions of dollars. The order identifies America’s aging and inadequate grid as a threat to national defense and economic prosperity. Identifies the need to reduce lead times on equipment and infrastructure, including transformers, conductors, substations and related raw materials. Encourages increased domestic production of materials and components. Identifies purchases, purchase commitments and financial support as actions needed for development of U.S. production capabilities.

Order 3: Domestic petroleum production
Emphasizes that an intermittent energy supply leaves the U.S. vulnerable to hostile foreign actors, and encourages an increase in production, transportation, refining and generation capacity of domestic petroleum production. Provides support for exploration, storage and pipelines Identifies petroleum products as essential for fueling the military and economy Cuts through permitting delays and financial constraints

Order 4: Liquefied natural gas production and infrastructure
This order appears to be directly in response to the impacts of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has thrown liquefied natural gas markets into chaos and driven up costs. The order states that “hostile foreign actors” weaponized America’s reliance on foreign energy, which caused dramatic swings in international commodity markets. The U.S. has been largely shielded from these shocks due to it being the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and the support of export terminals likely aims to make the U.S. more capable of supplying its allies’ energy needs.

The order seeks to: Provides support for pipelines, compression and processing facilities, underground storage, and export terminals Seeks to remove financing constraints, permitting delays and infrastructure bottlenecks Calls for purchases, purchasing commitments and financial support for the development of natural gas production capabilities.

Order 5: Support for the coal industry
America’s coal industry has long been in decline. It’s partly due to competition from natural gas, but climate policies that began under the Obama administration sought to force coal-fired electrical generation into early retirement. Trump’s order identifies coal as an important energy resource that provides baseload power to the grid. Supports coal mining and rail and barge logistics, export terminals and life-extension work on power plants and on-site stockpiles of coal. Addresses financial constraints, long lead times on maintenance, and expensive repair cycles Provides financial support for the development of production capabilities

Blackmon acknowledged the orders aren’t “magic bullets,” but they will be encouraging to investors, developers and allies that the federal government is supporting American energy production. Energy Secretary Chris “Wright now has the tools to act decisively to speed permitting, reshore supply chains, and speed crucial projects long stuck in bureaucratic limbo to finally break ground,” Blackmon wrote.

Read more …

“The SPLC’s whole model, Gutfeld argued, depended on a steady supply of racism — and when organic hate proved insufficient, the group manufactured it. ”

Greg Gutfeld Savages the SPLC and the Democrats Who Took the Bait (Margolis)

For years, the Southern Poverty Law Center occupied a kind of sacred space in American media — the unquestioned arbiter of hate, the group whose pronouncements landed on front pages without so much as a raised eyebrow from the reporters who carried their water. Turns out, the whole operation may have been rotten from the inside. On Wednesday’s episode of Gutfeld!, host Greg Gutfeld savaged the SPLC and the Democrats who bought into the false narrative it was selling.


Gutfeld began by playing a montage of Joe Biden clips hammering the same line about the infamous Charlottesville hoax — that Donald Trump called neo-Nazis “very fine people.” Biden ran that narrative into the ground. He even built his 2020 campaign around it. He said it over and over, repeating the lie incessantly as gospel.

Now the SPLC, long treated by the media as the gold standard on American hate groups, has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly funneling millions in donor funds directly to the extremist groups it claimed to be fighting — including the KKK and neo-Nazis. Gutfeld’s response was characteristically blunt. “I would say you can’t make this stuff up, but that’s exactly what these hate mongers were doing, funding the very extremist groups it claimed to fight,” he said. “The arsonist may have been running the fire department. It’s like donating to save the whales and finding out that the money was going to feed The View.”

The SPLC’s whole model, Gutfeld argued, depended on a steady supply of racism — and when organic hate proved insufficient, the group manufactured it. Actual hate groups in America, he noted, have been about “as robust as Blockbuster Video.” That’s a problem when your fundraising, your media relevance, and your entire reason for existing depend on the country being crawling with white supremacists. So the SPLC has a reputation for labeling virtually any organization it can as a hate group, such as Turning Point USA or the Family Research Council. “Hate morphs into ideas that liberals hate,” Gutfeld said, “especially since it’s the only tool they have to ruin people by calling them bigots.”

And, of course, the press was a willing partner in all of it. Every hate map published by the SPLC got treated like scripture. If the SPLC said your neighbor’s bowling league was a hate group, Gutfeld quipped, it was front-page news, no questions asked That manufactured climate of fear had real political consequences. Gutfeld rolled a series of Biden clips, in which he insisted that white supremacy was “the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not Al-Qaeda, white supremacists.” Biden repeated variations of this false claim across multiple appearances, each one more emphatic than the last. That narrative, Gutfeld argued, traces directly back to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the “fine people hoax.”

“The entire narrative of Biden’s candidacy was based on a hoax created by a left-wing group, then protected by the media, who did no investigation into who these haters were,” Gutfeld noted. “The media’s oddly incurious, in addition to corrupt and stupid.” One detail Gutfeld found particularly telling — the identities of the torch carriers at Charlottesville were never seriously investigated. The same media apparatus that tracked down every Capitol Hill grandmother from January 6 somehow never got around to finding out who those people actually were or where they came from. That asymmetry, he suggested, tells you everything about whose narrative the press was protecting.

The SPLC’s reach extended well beyond the Biden campaign and cable news chyrons. Corporate America lined up to fund what now turned out to be a racket for funding hate. “It’s about politicians who embrace them, the corporations that donated to them,” Gutfeld said, and the media outlets “who needed to make the lies true so they could say it’s racist to deport people in the country illegally, so that everyone in the next Star Trek is trans and that hiring based on merit is as out of date as the canned beans I donate to food drives.”

Gutfeld acknowledged that the allegations still need to be proven in court. But the broader point, he said, stands regardless of how the legal case unfolds. “America is one of the least racist societies in human history,” he concluded, “and that’s bad for business if your business is racism.” And, as we know, that’s exactly the business the Democratic Party is in.

Read more …

It’s quite OK to write and publish that the head of the FBI, known for his long working hours, is really a drunk who hangs out in bars at all hours. That is just hyperbole. Well, unless he’s a democrat, we fear.

Judge Dismisses Kash Patel’s Defamation Lawsuit (CNBC)

A Houston federal court judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by FBI Director Kash Patel alleging that former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi defamed him by saying Patel last year had “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of” the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “The Court finds that Figliuzzi’s statement is rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation,” U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. wrote in his decision. “Accordingly, Dir. Patel has failed to state a claim against Figliuzzi, and his lawsuit must be dismissed.”


The dismissal came a day after Patel filed an unrelated $250 million defamation lawsuit in D.C. federal court against The Atlantic magazine over a new article that alleged he has abused alcohol. While ruling on the key question of defamation in Figliuzzi’s favor, the judge denied his request that he be awarded court costs and attorneys’ fees under Texas’ anti-SLAPP law. SLAPP is an acronym for Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation. Figliuzzi’s lawyer, Marc Fuller, in a statement to CNBC, said, “This is a victory for press freedom and the First Amendment.”

“Director Patel’s claim against Frank was baseless, and we are pleased that the court dismissed it,” Fuller said. Figliuzzi, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, made his crack about Patel on May 2, 2025, on the MS NOW show “Morning Joe.” “Yeah, well, reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,” said Figliuzzi. Patel sued him in June, accusing Figliuzzi of “fabricating a specific lie” about the FBI director because of Figliuzzi’s “clear animus” toward him.

Read more …

Member states have backed the Kiev authorities’ “blasphemous practices” at a major Orthodox monastery, the Russian foreign minister has said

Lavrov Warns Of ‘Rampant Satanism’ In EU (RT)

There is “rampant Satanism” in certain EU member states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has alleged, citing their connivance in the Ukrainian authorities’ “blasphemous practices” at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Orthodox monastery.Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the government in Kiev has intensified its crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over allegations that it has connections to Moscow. The Ukrainian authorities have since conducted numerous raids on monasteries and launched dozens of criminal cases on collaboration charges against clerics, as well as property seizures.


At the same time, Vladimir Zelensky’s government has backed the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which the Russian Orthodox Church considers schismatic. Speaking at a Russian Foreign Ministry reception on Wednesday dedicated to Orthodox Easter, Lavrov stated that the Ukrainian leadership has rejected “their spiritual and civilizational roots.” “The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been persecuted for over a decade now, with churches [forcibly] taken over, vandalized and clergy and parishioners harassed,” he said.

Particularly “outrageous and disgusting” is the Ukrainian authorities’ initiative to create an “inventory and inspect the holy relics in terms of their historical and scientific value” at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery. According to Lavrov, the “Ukrainian Ministry of Culture used this bureaucratic formula to conceal its legalized blasphemous practices, while several European countries have turned a blind eye to these developments or even directly supported them.” “There is rampant Satanism in these countries, too,” the Russian foreign minister concluded.

Last March, the first reports emerged of Ukrainian government officials and police forcing their way into the catacombs of what is considered the nation’s most significant monastery and the final resting place of several Christian saints. Incidentally, this is not the first time Lavrov has suggested there are Satanic tendencies in the West. Speaking in February, after the US Department of Justice released a large trove of the so-called Epstein files, the Russian foreign minister said that the materials had “revealed the face of the West.” “Every normal person knows this is beyond comprehension and pure Satanism,” Lavrov stated then.

Read more …

PCR does not like getting old.

Professor Defines Elderly Americans as the New Class Enemy (Paul Craig Roberts)

A Yale University professor of law and history, Samuel Moyn, has resurrected and redefined Marxian class conflict. In the old Marxism, the capitalists exploited the workers. In Moyn’s version, elderly Americans exploit the young. Moyn’s solution, espoused, of course, in the New York Times (April 21), is for the old to be dispossessed of their homes, jobs, accumulated wealth, and political and judicial offices. These dispossessions and more are needed for “intergenerational justice,” by which Moyn means redistribution from the aged to the young, and in order to stop older Americans from “Hoarding America’s Potential.” Moyn thinks that a poorly educated and undisciplined youth can manage all of America’s affairs better than better educated and more disciplined older Americans.


Moyn builds his case against “gerontocratic society.” Older Americans, that is more experienced Americans, are overrepresented in political life and have too much power. This results in inequality and injustice and in regressive public policies.

Moyn claims that older Americans are overrepresented in elections which gives them a stranglehold. What Moyn means is that older Americans take their citizenship responsibility more seriously than do the young and actually vote in elections. By being overrepresented in voting due to youthful disinterest the elderly have amassed “excessive power” that “harms society” by resisting open borders and “environmental remediation” (global warming claims), and denying society youthful creativity and dynamism such as we are currently observing in New York City.

Other evidence of unfairness and inequality are the rise in the median net worth of the elderly and fall in net worth of youths and that the elderly have a larger share of wealth than the young. Apparently, it is beyond Moyn’s comprehension that the elderly got established in life before so many well-paying American jobs were offshored and before robotics and AI cut into remaining good jobs. It doesn’t dawn on Moyn that the elderly have had many more years to accumulate wealth than have youth via such means as paid off home mortgages.

Moyn also blames the elderly for owning more homes than the youth. Again he overlooks the obvious. The replacement jobs for the “dirty fingernail” jobs sent abroad don’t support both a mortgage and a car payment. Why does Moyn think it is the elderly’s fault that the median age of a home buyer has risen from 30 in 1981 to 56 in 2024?

Moyn demonstrates faulty reasoning throughout his case against the elderly. He alleges that the elderly are privileged because more dollars go to the elderly than to children, which he thinks makes it “clear that older Americans have helped widen the chasm between classes in our neoliberal era.” The “more dollars” are of course Social Security and Medicare payments. But these are retirement age programs sponsored and legislated by liberals, not reactionary elderly, that the elderly have paid for in Social Security and Medicare taxes on their wages and salaries for all of their working life. It is beyond Moyn’s imagination that it is the neoliberal policies, such as offshoring American high-productivity jobs, that have damaged the prospects for American youth. It was not the elderly who took down the ladders of upward mobility that characterized the old American “opportunity society.”

In the end Moyn has written a brief for removing any remaining requirements that voting depends on proof of citizenship. He claims that this reduces voting by younger Americans. However, the claims are nonsensical. All any American citizen, regardless of age, has to do to vote is to register. But Moyn sees registration as a burden the elderly put on the young to make it inconvenient for them to vote.

Moyn wants to violate the age discrimination laws by bringing back mandatory retirement. So what happens to the elderly who cannot survive without a paycheck? Moyn doesn’t seem to care. Any false argument will do to move them aside.

Moyn wants to force elderly homeowners out of their home with progressive property taxes that rise the longer the elderly insist on living in their own homes. Apparently, Moyn thinks that widespread selling will collapse house prices, and the youth will be able to buy in a buyers’ market.

One of the many worrisome revelations in Moyn’s article is that it demonstrates that neither Yale law school nor The NY Times opinion editor have a concept of private property. Property is just something that is redistributed from those with a negative image to those with a positive image. Moyn sets the images: the elderly are regressive; the youth are dynamic and creative. Formerly property was redistributed from capitalists to workers. The liberals preferred from rich to poor. Moyn says from the old to the young.

I could continue, but this is enough for all to see that a Yale University law professor is positioning the American elderly as the next victim to be plundered. The NY Times supports the plunder of the elderly as does Moyn’s publisher of his attack on old people, Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth — and What to Do About It.

Note: Many years ago I predicted that the approval of abortion would lead to euthanasia of the old. If birth can be terminated because someone sees it as a problem, old age can be terminated as well. Moyn has initiated the attack on the elderly. First they will be dispossessed, which will increase their burden on society. Then a legislated lifetime will become law. As morality in the Western world has been greatly weakened, there will be no opposition to aborting the elderly.

Read more …

DeSantis is a political animal. Trump is the opposite.

The Supreme Court is an interesting place for him to go.

DeSantis and conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, that source said, “almost have a father-son relationship and would be a hell of a legacy for Trump.”

The Resurrection of Ron DeSantis (Scott Pinsker)

His one mistake was challenging Donald Trump in 2024. More specifically, it was challenging Trump — and failing. Like Omar Little said on The Wire, “You come at the king, you best not miss.” Gov. Ron DeSantis came at the king… and missed very, very badly. Were it not for his ill-advised 2024 campaign, DeSantis would be on the GOP’s 2028 shortlist for president, along with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In an alternate reality, Vance, Rubio, and DeSantis would be our Big Three. I’ll go one step further: Had he not challenged Trump in 2024, DeSantis probably wouldn’t even be the governor right now.


Although we still think of Trump as the quintessential New Yawker, he’s been a Floridian for quite a while. As are a slew of his top cabinet members and closest advisors: Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Rubio. Mike Waltz. Key supporting staff. Even scandal-tarred Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was (briefly) floated for attorney general — before being replaced by fellow Floridian, the since-fired Pam Bondi. But does DeSantis want to work in D.C.? After all, he’s still the governor of Florida, America’s third-most populous state. That’s a plumb position for a young, ambitious politician. (Plus, the weather in Tallahassee is way better.) Axios says yes (April 21): Scoop: DeSantis ‘Begging’ Trump for Prime Role in Administration

“President Trump has told confidants that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “begging” for a job in Trump’s administration — including attorney general — Axios has learned. DeSantis also has expressed interest in being secretary of defense and even a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court, according to six sources briefed on the discussions.” Why it matters: DeSantis has to leave office at the end of his second term in January and is “looking for what to do next,” according to one source who said Trump is inclined to consider helping out his understudy-turned-rival-turned-friend. Inside the room: DeSantis’ future was on the menu after the two men had lunch at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami a week ago Sunday.

“Ron was begging me to be AG,” Trump told one confidant, who relayed the remark to Axios. Said another source: “There was a conversation at that lunch. I don’t think AG is real. But he’s gonna be looking for work and Trump likes him.” Among those three positions — attorney general, secretary of war, and Supreme Court justice — Axios suggests that the last two are a distinct possibility: …Trump would strongly consider DeSantis for the [Secretary of War] post if Hegseth left — though Hegseth remains in good standing with the president. “DeSantis is 100% not interested in the AG job, but he would be interested in two things: War secretary or Supreme Court, which would be his dream job,” said another source familiar with the discussions.

DeSantis and conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, that source said, “almost have a father-son relationship and would be a hell of a legacy for Trump.” The intrigue: DeSantis waged a bitter — but brief — primary bid in the 2024 presidential cycle against Trump, whose campaign and White House are stocked with critics of the governor. “Bygones are bygones,” said one Trump adviser. “But that doesn’t mean people forget.” Said another: “There’s a big reason the president wouldn’t pick Ron to be his attorney general: There’s a way-too-high chance he would try to f*** the president over.” [emphasis added]

Reading between the lines, it sounds as if DeSantis has (mostly) rebuilt his tattered relationship with President Trump, but obviously, a degree of mistrust remains. From Trump’s point of view, they’re still in the “trust-but-verify” phase.= Can’t really blame Trump for being cautious. When DeSantis’ decided to challenge Trump in 2024, it revealed something significant about his character — namely, his loyalty.

[..]

There’s a very real possibility that the gerrymandering push will benefit the Democrats more than the Republicans. Between California, Virginia, and Utah(!), the Dems now stand to gain 10 seats. Between Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio, the GOP will gain only 9. Which means, Republicans will be down a seat. Unless Florida’s governor gets involved. This is the moment DeSantis has patiently waited for. It’s his chance in the spotlight — his opportunity to save the day for the MAGAverse. Right now, Florida has 28 congressional seats. The GOP currently controls 20.

Under the Virginia’s precedent of gerrymandering seats 10-1 in the Democrat’s favor, why shouldn’t Florida match their numbers and gerrymander it, say, 25-3 for the Republicans? (That’s actually a more forgiving ratio than Virginia’s Dems gave us.) And we’d instantly go from -1 seat to +4. This week, we were reminded why we fell in love with DeSantis: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries threatened the governor not to pull a Virginia and redistrict Florida. DeSantis’ response was pure gold: https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2047031432841941308

Read more …

“.. DACA recipients who commit crimes are deportable under existing law, just like any other illegal alien.”

Obama’s ‘Dreamer’ Fairy Tale Just Got Torched (Margolis)

Last year, on the 13th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an unconstitutional program he had conjured into existence by executive fiat, Barack Obama was singing its praises. “DACA was an example of how we can be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws,” Obama said. “And it’s an example worth remembering today, when families with similar backgrounds who just want to live, work, and support their communities, are being demonized and treated as enemies.” And it’s all a lie.


Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has arrested nearly 300 DACA recipients nationwide — 75 of them in Texas alone, who were previously protected from deportation. And here’s the number the left doesn’t want to talk about: of 270 DACA recipients arrested between Jan. 1, 2025, and Sept. 28, 2025, 250 — that’s 92% — had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. Nine out of ten.

The breakdown is telling. Of those 270 arrests, 130 had criminal convictions, 120 had pending charges, and 14 were cited for immigration violations. Within the same window, 174 DACA recipients were removed from the country. According to the Department of Homeland Security, “Of those removed, 71 were convicted criminals, 66 had pending criminal charges, and 66 were in violation of immigration law. None of these applicants had been granted protected status at the time of their removal.”

DACA defenders insisted that the program’s beneficiaries were innocent, law-abiding, upstanding members of their communities. The best and brightest, vetted and re-vetted, posed zero threat to the communities they lived in. Democrats have pushed that line for years, insisting with practiced outrage that no, the administration isn’t shielding criminals — that just doesn’t happen.

The federal data proves otherwise. None of this is to say every DACA recipient is dangerous. There are over 505,000 currently active recipients in the country, more than 84,000 in Texas alone. But when 92% of the nearly 300 who wound up being targets for deportation had criminal histories, that’s a troubling statistic that undermines the very argument used to justify the DACA program, not to mention the desire to give these people a pathway toward full legal citizenship.

Of course, the media doesn’t want this detail to get out there. The Texas Tribune, which first reported on DACA recipients who were “targeted” for deportation, curiously left out the criminal records of the DACA recipients from its report: Since President Trump returned to office, his administration has begun to target DACA recipients for deportation as part of its mass deportation efforts. From January 2025 to November 2025, at least 261 DACA recipients have been arrested — 75 of them in Texas. And between 86 and 174 DACA recipients have been deported, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (The agency gave different figures to two different Democratic members of Congress who requested the information).

“DACA does NOT confer any form of legal status in this country,” DHS has said on this issue. “Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they’ve committed a crime.” In other words, DACA recipients who commit crimes are deportable under existing law, just like any other illegal alien. The program never granted immunity. In the end, the Trump administration is doing something radical by Washington standards: enforcing the law as written. And the left can’t take it.

Read more …

“..many nodes operate behind firewalls and are not publicly visible..”

The U.S. Military Is Running a Bitcoin Node, Admiral Paparo Reveals (BCM)

The United States military has an active node on the Bitcoin network, according to Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). The disclosure, made at a House Services committee hearing, marks the first known confirmation that a U.S. military combatant command is directly participating in the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network. “We have a node on the Bitcoin network,” Paparo wrote. “We’re doing a number of operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol.” The statement landed one day after Paparo made waves in Congress with testimony that framed Bitcoin as a tool of American power.


What Paparo said yesterday
On April 21, Paparo testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a FY2027 defense authorization hearing. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) asked Paparo whether U.S. leadership in Bitcoin could give the country an edge against China in the Indo-Pacific theater. Paparo did not deflect. He told the committee that INDOPACOM’s research centers on Bitcoin as a computer science tool — not as a financial asset. “Our research into Bitcoin is as a computer science tool,” Paparo said. “It’s the combination of cryptography, a blockchain, and a proof of work. And Bitcoin shows incredible potential as a computer science tool that through the proof-of-work protocols, actually imposes more cost than just the algorithmic securing of networks and our ability to operate.”

He described Bitcoin as “a peer-to-peer, zero-trust transfer of value” and said that “anything that supports all instruments of national power for the United States of America is to the good.” The testimony was notable for what Paparo did not say. He did not describe Bitcoin as a reserve asset, a payment system, or a speculative instrument. He framed it as a computer science system with direct military relevance — a distinction that set his remarks apart from most official government commentary on crypto.

What running a Bitcoin node means
A Bitcoin node is a computer that runs the Bitcoin software, maintains a full copy of the blockchain, and independently validates every transaction and block against the network’s consensus rules. Nodes do not mine Bitcoin. They enforce the rules of the protocol and relay data across the peer-to-peer network.Running a node gives an operator direct, trustless access to the Bitcoin network without relying on any third party. The operator’s computer connects to other nodes worldwide, verifies incoming transactions and blocks, and rejects anything that violates Bitcoin’s protocol rules.

For INDOPACOM, operating a node positions the command as a first-hand participant in the Bitcoin network, not an observer.The disclosure that the military is conducting “operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol” suggests the command is moving beyond theoretical research and into active experimentation with Bitcoin’s cryptographic architecture as a defensive tool. As of early 2026, there are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 publicly reachable full nodes on the Bitcoin network, though the actual number is likely higher since many nodes operate behind firewalls and are not publicly visible.

Read more …

I wanna know: How many of the EVs are European made? Is it all BYDs and Tesla’s?

European Car Sales Jump 11% As Fuel Shock Drives EV Demand (ZH)

European auto sales posted their strongest monthly gain in almost two years in March, as robust demand emerged for fully electric and hybrid models. The surge in demand follows the US-Iran conflict, which disrupted energy flows through the Hormuz chokepoint. As a result, petrol and diesel prices at the pump in Europe soared. Another issue is China flooding the continent with cheap EVs, undercutting already struggling domestic automakers.


Bloomberg cited new-vehicle registration data for last month showing an 11% rise to 1.58 million, as demand for EVs and hybrids continued to strengthen. EV deliveries jumped 42%, with growth across all major markets, including a 66% increase in German EV sales, driven by subsidies and more affordable models.

March’s surge in demand offers relief for struggling European automakers facing a number of issues, including excess capacity, U.S. tariffs, and weak demand in the Chinese market. The problem with Europe is that Brussels had the grand idea of allowing Chinese brands such as BYD and Geely to flood the continent with cheap EVs, undercutting rivals such as VW, Porsche, and Mercedes. Data for the month also showed that BYD more than doubled its European sales in March to 37,580 vehicles and is preparing to start production at its new plant in Hungary later this quarter. This means China’s market share in Europe is increasingly growing.

Tesla also participated in last month’s surge, with March registrations up 84% to 52,600, leaving it just ahead of BYD year-to-date. While it is quite obvious that the surge in Brent crude prices into triple-digit territory in March influenced consumer behavior, driving EV purchases because of the fuel shock that unfolded at petrol stations, we take a look at a UBS note showing that, over the past four decades, oil price shocks have typically remained elevated for five months following prior military events. All of this suggests that, with elevated prices in Europe and elsewhere, EVs will regain consumer favor. Yet in the U.S., with federal subsidies eliminated, demand remains muted.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/MichaelDell/status/2047090542400430475?s=20 https://twitter.com/HungaryBased/status/2047050307021226374?s=20 https://twitter.com/DanielKral1/status/2046961944570069296?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle April 24 2026

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 43 total)
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  • #239165

    Georgia O’Keeffe New York Street with Moon 1925 • Trump Says Not Anxious, ‘All The Time In The World’ To End War (ZH) • Mojtaba Khamenei With Medical
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle April 24 2026]

    #239224
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    ISRAEL REFLECTS THE MORAL, SPIRITUAL, AND INTELLECTUAL BANKRUPTCY OF ITS PARENT EMPIRE

    #239226
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #239227
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #239229
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @JustSomeRandomer

    Our host, Mr Meijer seems to be engaged in similar mental gymnastics on the topic of the Iran conflict, which really puzzles me.

    Research the ethnic origins of the surname Meijer and you will become less puzzled. We all exist in a milieu of one kind or another (and often of many kinds mixed together), and Ilargi’s milieu has a disproportionate number of very corrupted data sources in it (Nazis, Jews, Kazarian’s, European Royals, various so-called ‘Secret Societies’ and religions). It’s a testimony to Raul’s basically wonderful character that he has even survived. RIM is like a canary in the coal mine who by some inexplicable miracle continues to breath and chirp his warnings long after the coal gas has killed everyone else in the mine.

    He deserves the highest medal of valor the world could offer, and yet barely gets the respect afforded to Rodney Dangerfield. Be kind. And grateful.

    #239230
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “‘If my people’: Here’s why the Bible passage Trump read aloud is so potent and polarizing
    President Donald Trump has read a notable Bible passage in a livestreamed marathon. The passage, from 2 Chronicles 7:14, is often quoted by those who believe America was founded as a Christian nation.” The Associated Press

    The AP, suddenly radically pro-Christian, after helping Biden and Obama arrest Christians nationwide. How dare he misuse this sacred tome? See? Goes to show everyone can be redeemed. I’m sure the AP will get on their knees and beg forgiveness to the Virgin Mary and those they have wronged forthwith.

    Actually, their ears burn, their mind reels and they are close to burst into flames when hearing even the name of the Lord, much less his word.

    Actually, it says this:

    “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

    Highly polarizing to ask for the end of wickedness and a return to Law, Logos, and Good. I can see why Evil AF people like the AP don’t want to hear such things or Brennan might be arrested and the Epstein Files kept in the headlines every day, toppling governments like eg Starmer or useful servants like eg Steve Bannon and Bill Clinton.

    To the AP, aside from The Truth, humility, God, and repentance are the major crimes, and must be prevented at all costs.

    The AP’s official position: There weren’t any Christians in America in 1776-1789. ‘Natch. Today’s Nazis just made it all up. Obviously this is uniquely evil part of MAGA and no nation in any other time or place has ever used this passage, or the Bible, to support generic patriotism, and generic good.

    BTW they DID consecrate “America” in precisely this way at Plimoth Colony. Like Glastonbury and King Arthur, a lot happens in all nations, but what do the English harken back to as their Creation Story? Same here, not some dude in Lake Champlain. Not Florida. Not Roanoake. Plymouth. Right or wrong that’s what it’s been and they did do this as point of literal fact. The Founding Fathers would have been More Christian than the last three Popes just by sitting around DOUBTING Christ and not having statues of Pachimama installed while trafficking hundred-thou children through Mexico.

    The AVERAGE person from 1961 is probably more hard-core fundamentalist Christian than the Pope. Look it up, there are records. Example: what did the AVERAGE worker in UK want in 1961? Marriage, children, etc. How many were on birth control in the whole nation? 30k. Why? Because they were all married and didn’t have premartitial sex. That is, by today’s standards they would be about 100 miles to the RIGHT of the hard-core Latin Tradcaths.

    That’s the AVERAGE. So when I make fun of an AVERAGE Lib who went to Brown and never left Brooklyn, this is what I mean. They think they are the world average human, when they are so far out into cultural suicide you can’t see the life raft from here. They are weirdos perhaps further than ever have existed on Planet Dirt.

    “Trump meanwhile orders US Navy to ‘shoot & kill’ small Iranian boats amid concern over mines…”

    The US is running minesweepers. That means they can hang out in the Straits at 3mph and Iran can’t do anything about it. When the mines are cleared, boats will take that route and not be near the Iranian coast. The End.

    Worse, they gave an order to sink all minelayers, and people have no patience for mines, so no matter what small boat they sink, they’ll call it a minelayer.

    “Tether Freezes $344 Million USDT Stablecoins Flagged For Illicit Activity”

    Yes, they are not Cryptos, they are just central ledgers. I say this. No one cares. There are no crypto privacy people left.

    “Pot Stocks Soar As DoJ Reclassifies Medical Marijuana As Less Dangerous Drug

    Must be election season has started. But thank God. Now we just have to worry about everybody lighting up and being useless. Which they are. These weeds are also high as s—t. Might as well be shrooms. Whyyyyyyy? Is there NOTHING the government can’t ruin?

    “Sweden Will Consider Ways To Limit Energy Use If Iran War Continues, Government Says

    This will make literally no difference to the world, but perhaps be means to save their own country. If so, then removing 5 million illegals is way easier and might actually work in days.

    “Europe Bets On Newsom To Reverse Trump’s America – And Save Its Own Model

    I bet they do. But Gavin is as popular a bedbugs.

    “Iran Announces First Hormuz Toll Fees Successfully Transferred To Central Bank

    Very nice. However, what are you going to buy when you’re blockaded? 2) You have no navy, so the U.S. is clearing the mines you invaded and set in Oman. When they do, the ships won’t be near Iran anymore and very hard to capture.

    “Air Force Extends Use Of Iran Attack Plane A-10 ‘Warthog’ To 2030

    Didn’t they try to kill these 20 years ago, or indeed all along? It was only overwhelming interest from the grunts and public that made them stop. They told us we were stupid and needed One F22 Penguin instead of 200 A-10s. Experts. Always wrong never in doubt.

    “Euthanasia Is Now 6% Of All Deaths In The Netherlands

    I apologize. I was going to say that Canada was the murder and eugenics capital of the world, but apparently they’re only #2. Canada does this so they can look down their noses and Moralize to the U.S. So long as they can point at the U.S. they never have to fix non-stop mass-murders in Ontario.

    “Cathie Wood that autonomy, robotic taxis, makes Tesla about a $5 trillion company.”

    Cathie Wood is the trader that lost the most money the fastest of anyone on Wall Street. The reason they headlined her like Tiger Woods was DEI and that she was shilling late-stage stocks they were dumping on the muppets. Taxis are worth $5 Trillion? You need to do your maths. If they were $5 Billion I might be surprised.

    Are optimus cheaper than humans doing the same task but not hallucinating and killing people?

    “• Trump Says Not Anxious, ‘All The Time In The World’ To End War (ZH)

    Sort of, but I don’t know about that. He might more accurately point out that Iran is making us immensely rich and powerful. Thanks guys! You’re the bestest! Never open the Straits.

    “”news that Ghalibaf has resigned is completely false.”

    These are the guys who put up a cardboard cutout of Khomeini, any only yesterday said he’s so incapacitated he hasn’t been able to speak for 4 weeks? But yesterday he was fine but just in a bunker. Well, that’s still more reliable than AP and the BBC!

    “Parliament Speaker Resigns after IRGC Intervention”

    It’s impossible to deduce anything here, and pointless, but this might mean what I was saying: the Civilian just found out that the IRGC was the only government all along, and has resigned in protest. Second, that means we don’t know who’s running the country, like our side has been saying. The Pro-Iranian side (That is, Fox News and Republicans alone) were all saying Iran was untouched and unharmed and stronger than ever. So of course it was ridiculous to think there might be any confusion when like 1/3 of the leaders and officers were all dead. Just as bombed = not bombed, the same, Dead = Not Dead, to all the clever people in the West.

    I don’t know why we ever invented bombs or used to kill people in wars n’ stuff because apparently it never had any effect on physical or political outcomes. We were just dum for 10,000 years I guess.

    “With all due respect, remain skeptical about the credibility of the The New York Times report.”

    Absolutely. Just assume “They made everything up”, as it’s the NY Times. The only thing that makes it slightly credible is that it’s not overwhelmingly Pro-Iranian. They’ll leave that to Fox News and the Republicans.

    WHYYYYY do I have to be the one to say “Fox News isn’t credible”? Or “Iranian/Chinese State News isn’t credible”? Or “AI hallucinations aren’t credible”? Doesn’t that stand to reason and taken for granted?

    I’m not saying EMB or Luongo are correct, only that they make SOME sense while regular news and Fox Pundits make none at all.

    “• Trump Orders U.S. Navy to Shoot Any Iranian Mine Ships (Catherine Salgado)

    That’s ‘cause we already DID say that but it was very dangerous there before, and A-10s were blasting them but the area was large. He’s SAYING this now because Iran has almost nothing to throw at this point and we’re operating directly in the area. Again, that means ANYTHING we sink we’re going to say “Oops, a mine-layer”.

    “It is not clear to whom Trump referred as “moderates,” because all the leaders of the Iranian regime still in power are part of the world’s worst terrorist regime that has been attacking Americans”

    Blah blah blah. Where? How? Iran is not attacking Americans EVEN NOW. They attacked Israel who was poking them, and like the CIA or Hussein who Rumsfeld armed with 1M men and chemical weapons for a 10-year war from Iraq, our close ally. And there are always moderates in comparison to something. This paragraph exists to give Iran a black eye they mostly don’t deserve. How about “Extremists” in Saudi, who chip hands daily, rape people and say “Oops my dick fell inside her” (this actually happened) and suspend like 100,000 passports so they don’t have to pay Pakistani coolies $5/hr? That seems pretty “extreme” to me, but what do I know? NO Kings! …Except in Saudi Arabia, England, Spain…

    “Qalibaf smirked.”

    If you’re trying to make yourself as reliable as Iranian TV (they are) this is a good way to do it. So thanks for being so open about it.

    “President Donald Trump has signed five executive orders that address critical segments of the nation’s energy infrastructure”

    They are trying to run a world starvation and genocide of WWIII by doing this. Clear as the nose on your face: that’s why 1) No farms 2) pave all farmland with solar and condos 3) Import infinity people 4) Kill cows. So yes, we’re in a Black Forest, 1943 era of preventing that crunch.

    Like the crazed theory that we’re actually not hitting Iran and it’s a Wag the Dog put-up job, heard something else for consideration. EMB says “They” want WWIII and are tireless for agitating Russia, nukes, China, etc, and it’s pretty hard to stop. But if you want to stop WWIII, it’s pretty easy: Go take all the choke points and sit on them, refusing to war. We just did that. No one in the world HAS a Navy but us, pathetic as ours has become. China’s Navy is beginning and isn’t designed for power projection, but nearby defense, and good on ‘em for that. So suppose you want a war: Yeah, and when we sit on Malacca you can’t spread. If you get uppity and we sit on Hormuz, you’re going to be squeezed by the balls, as we are to Europe right now. If you want to hold us in the Gulf (a harder task) we took Venezuela and soon Cuba, with double-down on Western Hemisphere power to secure Panama. In addition, DECADES of war materials are being slowly trickled out, like Ukraine, and when destroyed PREVENT it from happening all at once, gruesome as that solution is. Both Iran and Israel are practically disarmed now, for instance. Maybe this is why they ride to Har-Meggido on horses.

    On the flip side, the point of Iran was to get them missiles that could hit all those choke points and London/Europe could DENY they had anything to do with it so they didn’t get nuked back.

    I’ll have to think about it, but the concept isn’t wrong. Apparently everyone wanted to hand the keys of the planet to Iran ‘cause they’re so trustworthy and it’s a completely Libertarian value to have one nation control everything so long as it’s anyone but the United States.

    Anyway, we have critical problems with CA refineries and Fertilizer. They are bad but containable. Problem with Alberta may be solved shortly as they’ve had about enough of the f—kwits out of Ottawa. Canada will be cut in half, shatter and be a rump state. OR they can all get rich and prosperous, expel 10% of their population, Eschew Genocide, and become Canada again. Don’t care. The other parts are all mop-up, farms vs solar as we re-deploy the panels, open nuke plants with Duke Energy down south, and adjust grids and pipelines.

    ATM we also have Europe by the balls as they can ONLY get the gas we allow at any price we feel like, and we need that gas too so perfect excuse to cut them off whenever.

    “For years, the Southern Poverty Law Center occupied a kind of sacred space in American media”

    And WHY. No other random group held that power. The Right might have “LibWatch” and it meant nothing. SPLC was a straight extortion racket and they should prosecute them for that, even if they lose the case. They would CLAIM you were a Nazi, but if you PAID them with donations they would go away. There is no clearer definition of “extortion” or “racket”.

    “and when organic hate proved insufficient, the group manufactured it”

    This is a key point. Maybe the essential point for all history books. There’s essentially no racism in the U.S. Almost every nation is more racist than we are. Even if you FIND a racist, they deny it. That’s not “racism”. Any threshold for being a racist would be being open, proud, and active about it. This stands to reason as everyone is mixed race here, essentially. (Whatever “race” means to begin with) Let’s take you hate black people: yes but all your friends are half-Jewish, half-Asian, half-Italian, half-Mayan. See the problem? The essence of “Racism” is that THERE ARE ANY PURE RACES AT ALL TO BEGIN WITH. There aren’t.

    So they call “I don’t prefer those guys” = Racism. And this isn’t crazy, it’s the same thing Trannies tried: that if you PREFER women with a vagina, you’re a bigot. Or if you PREFER blondes or women under 300lbs, you’re a misogynist. It’s clearly deranged, of the narcissistic sector. No: that’s not what any of those words mean.

    So, repeat it with me kids, the SPLC, “We Make S—t Up”. They are adult Americans, that means everything they say is a bold and wicked, bare-faced lie.

    “• Lavrov Warns Of ‘Rampant Satanism’ In EU (RT)

    Finally we’ve come far enough that any living human says this, the audience just looks up from the screens and says “Yup.” Again, so they, the West, the leaders, the Elites are HIGHLY RELIGIOUS, as we can tell from their actions. They are not atheists or science people at all. It’s just WHICH religion they are zealots for. The murder and amputation of children and rape of women religion…hmmm…which one would that be?

    “Moyn claims that older Americans are overrepresented in elections which gives them a stranglehold”

    And in his religion (Socialism) we solve this with murder, like all problems. …Of course THE YOUNG COULD JUST VOTE, as they firmly outweigh the Olds right now, but that would require WORK, a thing Socialists (the young) won’t do.

    “But these are retirement age programs sponsored and legislated by liberals, not reactionary elderly,”

    Government! Helping! Now government needs to help by killing everyone. Always helping.

    #239231
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Oh yeah: Day 29? Of no page numbers or evidence on Trump at all while —

    The entire Starmer government collapses under DIRECT involvement with 20-year trafficking in state secrets to Epstein, not a peep… AND!

    Iran, which is in direct war with us, as well as Russia, China, and North Korea ALSO can’t find the page numbers and evidence of Trump-Epstein. Or Melania-Epstein.

    Just upping the ante a little, it’s got boring.

    #239232
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Anyone or any nation claiming to be Christian and at the same time promoting war and the murder of innocents is at best a sinful fool tottering on the brink of the Hell of their own making. They should reform themselves and beg forgiveness with every fiber of their being.

    #239233
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @DrD

    “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

    Deserves being said again.

    And what, pray thee, is the name of God and how does one call Him by it?

    Well, that is a very, very, very, very good question and I recommend that every person seek to answer it.

    Here is what the incomparably greatest poet of all time had to say about it. That person was named Rumi, who was a 13th Century Sufi Persian poet known to all the world at that time and loved by all. I find that to be remarkably fitting in this case, don’t you think? That the man who best answered the question of who is the Christian God would turn out to be an Iranian Muslim radical from nearly a thousand years ago. https://youtu.be/eV5aH1D6X6E?si=d6QM9J4HH1ra-e9D

    #239234
    John Day
    Participant

    From last night, about who is “winning” and “losing”…
    Who “won” the 100 years war?
    The function of the war is sometimes to be at war.
    There are emergency powers. There is compliance. there are “reasons you can’t fix things today”.
    This war is about resources and financial regimes, and the underlying mismatches grow worse by the day.
    War is the management technique.

    #239235
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    @Dr D

    “The US is running minesweepers. That means they can hang out in the Straits at 3mph and Iran can’t do anything about it.”

    Trump said. Evidence? I know he’s a very stable genius paragon of truth and all so forgive my scepticism.

    #239236
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The correct response to the invitation to wage war is to simply not take up the offer. Simply don’t do it. Don’t wage war. At all. Don’t use force and violence to make other people not do it (violent force) to others or to you and your loved ones.

    I resolve to begin doing that, starting right now. I am not doing war and I aim to keep it that way, regardless of danger. I am not only not doing it. I don’t even want to do it. I do not want to use force and violence to make someone else do anything against their will.

    I am not wanting to wage war to make other people stop doing it. I will ask them, and tell them in no uncertain terms (!!!) how bad enforced control is and to just stop. Stop trying to involuntarily control people using force, violence and lies.

    It doesn’t work. It always and only makes everything worse, not better. Not even for the guy who does it!

    #239237
    Dr. D
    Participant

    For above and below, look up the near 1,000 year tome on what makes a Christian “Just War”.

    Since every nation on earth dos war, ours is no different. And yes, maybe if we did Chron 7:14 we’d stop douchebagging it with all these dumb wars no one wants, paid for by our own CIA (MI6) against everyone’s will. But also we would be internal coherent and not at risk or causing them (with 50 years in Israel, Iraq, or Obama) in the first place. But we’re here, so yes, beg for repentance.

    There are just wars, and yes, they are just and necessary until we all become enlightened.

    Anyway, had this laying around, good time:

    About Canadian Armed forces yesterday: They are a joke and have been since the Avro Arrow. WHY you can make your own guess, and were adequate to like a Scandinavian power up until, I dunno, take your pick. Mulrooney even. Fine. But in “recent” era are non-operational, and have been savagely ethnically cleansing the CAF of all “Canadians” meaning anyone vaguely associated with traditional beliefs about Canada, all men and all whites, i.e. “All of them”. And putting in the worst, most feckless military-destroying NPC fembots they could find anywhere. Now for some AMAZING reason they now seem to have a “Recruiting problem.” Who knew? Since they savagely hate anyone from anywhere that calls Himself a Canadian, drinks Labatts, tells dirty jokes, and wants to shoot moose n’ stuff. NOW they want to waive all requirements and have an ALL-INDIAN, Pashtun, non-Citizen army, or what we usually call “An Army of Colonial Occupation.” And they already said they want to kill all the whites and all the gun owners, in their own houses, so why not believe them?

    That’s neither here nor there, you can have any army you want. Problems are, CARNEY wants to go “Elbows Up” and fight and resist America and Donald Trump. Okay then, you need an army! That’s how these things go. Your army is made of people, young men, and the ones who have the loosest Provincial Experience with guns, i.e. Alberta. Then Sask.

    So you have no guns, no familiarity with guns, you want to TAKE all the guns, so no one, no normal Canadian Citizens are armed to defend the place, THEN purge all those guys from the Army THEN have no home-grown arms industry, no oil, no industry at all, and THEN fight the entire United States of Hitler AFTER the U.S. just conquered Western Europe in 40 days.

    Tell me what’s wrong with this picture.

    Or you, being highly alarmed with America’s aggressive, belligerent, non-stop wide bombing campaign, then ALSO says “We need to fight the United States and her policy by assigning NO MONEY TO WEAPONS AT ALL, and going totally Kumbaya, pro-peace.” War is bad m-kay. War in Iran, anywhere, all guns R bad.

    No? If not then you DO need to get an army, recruit, spend for it, and hand every Canadian a free rifle and encourage them to use them widely in every city and province, because that’s your only hope here. You can’t have both, they’re Opposites. You can’t say “That’s Pro-Globalist, billionaire war agenda” (for all good Canadians to be armed and eg defend themselves from burglary). You’re either fighting it, or you’re not. If you’re not, like at present, we’re going to roll in ONE Abrams to downtown Ottawa and take the whole place for lols, see if we don’t, so be glad we’re nice and can’t be bothered because it’s not anything in Canada right now that’s stopping us.

    I for one would NEVER allow my country to be in such a state, and would bury infinity rifles like the IRA did. How you get away with it even now is a mystery, but should Pashtun Peoples take over the whole armed Forces and be run by illegal murder-bots like Justin Moosilini has proven to be, you may wish you HAD smuggled those RPGs in and Alberta was your capital. What are you thinking? (Can’t find chart of active duty men, but %GDP was pathetic 2% in 1980 and half that by 2000)

    And that’s best-case since at 1/10th the size, your options are very, very poor in any possible case, but at least like Zurich, you can make them/us pay dearly for it.

    Being armed is not being a war-monger. It means you’re not a sap. It’s just part of being a living being, like having a door on your house or tipi.

    Let’s be useful: at 1/10th the size of the U.S. what can you POSSIBLY do to defend yourselves against the greatest (projection) military force on earth? I mean, you can pay nothing, and just give up, that’s possibly the best option. Become the 51st state. I wouldn’t tho. What has EVERY state next to a large neighbor done in all history? There are thousands of examples.

    One, you buy at least one rifle for every living Canadian (Citizen) and force them all to training to know how to use them, going full Swiss or Israeli (or Belgium) plan. Then you make a home grown “Badger” APC or whatever and have enough in the nation – ten-thousands – to make a difference. You mine every road and bridge and wellhead. You make standing forces far larger for an officer resistance corps, and focus on the kind of 5GW guerrilla-fighting that doesn’t win but makes the enemy pay dearly. You disconnect completely from the U.S. and our economy, and become fully independent in food, cars, refineries. You create a huge steel industry and a hard Navy; you can really hurt us with that. You begin the patriotic round on Canada again, what IS Canada (no one knows even now except nose-picking hatred of the U.S.) and what makes it great and worth dying for. This is in direct contradiction to the immigrant wave you have, both in ethos and mouths to feed, so 10M of them will need to be re-deported to the nation of their actual citizenship. They will need to be far more atomized and less centralized 10 miles from the US border, with far more prosperity set up in Arctic “Moisture Farms” of underground mushroom growing or whatever is possible, I dunno, that’s your problem.

    Thousands and thousands and thousands of changes to make yourself a viable, happy, prosperous, patriotic country entirely independent from the U.S. so you can for the love of God live your own life and stop looking at and complaining about us all the time. All these things are totally possible: some very fast, some very slow. It’s a vision to have that most Canadians would join on to!

    But they won’t, they will do nothing, destroy more Canadians and everything Canada stands for, then sit around on their thumb and complain. Like everyone else in the world. Like you’ve done with drug collapse in rural Canada and Canadian drug cartel money laundering right now. Then what happens is, Socialist Canada pisses off Alberta, steals all money, doesn’t care, and Alberta becomes a U.S. Territory in process of becoming a state. Whether you ATTACK and KILL fellow Canadians over that, no matter. I expect all Ontario would be greedy to murder cessionary “terrorist” Albertans for daring to produce oil and want to keep their own money. Sask, M.B., and all of B.C. minus Hong Couver join. Que. Clips out, demanding hard-core concessions and there IS no Canada at all in 2 years. No contiguous borders. Besides, Que is EXTREMELY large and VERY important. Focus is on Calgary, but Quebec is arguably the sleeper and more essential. They are also EASILY able to be a viable, independent nation, and are larger than Argentina or Iran, with nothing but ports, resources, coherent language, and working people. Ontario is land-locked, as Que owns the river and can demand anything they want easier than any Hormuz, and have a 100-year axe to grind.

    Here’s an idea though: don’t do any of that. Just be normal instead and realizing having an army of self-defense isn’t selling out to evil or billionaires – you already did that from 1980-now – it’s just a necessary part of being alive. Atm you want no army AND to not be conquered AND to pick fights with your armed, roving neighbor. Again, what’s wrong with this picture?

    #239238
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    I haven’t seen or read any evidence that God cares how we accomplish a world without war and other forms of forced involuntary violence to control people. I think He just wants it done.

    He said so very explicitly in that Bible quote DrD posted this morning, the key portions of which instructs like a literal checklist 1) humble yourself , 2) pray, 3) seek God’s face and lastly #4) turn from your wicked ways. I don’t see how He could have said it any clearer. He said follow those steps and he would forgive your mistakes and reward you with His eternal love and sanctuary.

    That’s a sweet deal. You should take it.

    #239239
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Notice that there were no Brand Names, hierarchies or “fine print” in those instructions. Just humbly pray, seek “God’s face”, and clean up your act.

    #239240
    zerosum
    Participant

    Did you know?

    The Southern Poverty Law Center, (SPLC ).

    has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly funneling millions in donor funds directly to the extremist groups it claimed to be fighting — including the KKK and neo-Nazis, funding the very extremist groups it claimed to fight.

    The manufactured climate of fear had real political consequences.

    Gutfeld acknowledged that the allegations still need to be proven in court.

    —————
    Also, did you know?

    Last year, on the 13th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), And here’s the number the left doesn’t want to talk about:
    of 270 DACA recipients arrested between Jan. 1, 2025, and Sept. 28, 2025, 250 — that’s 92% — had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. Nine out of ten.

    There are over 505,000 currently active recipients in the country, more than 84,000 in Texas alone.

    In other words, DACA recipients who commit crimes are deportable under existing law, just like any other illegal alien. The program never granted immunity.

    —————-
    Did you forget how to do math?

    2% of GDP would be enough to eliminate the problems of homelessness.
    However, 2% of GDP is spent on war efforts.
    ———–

    #239241
    zerosum
    Participant

    The Iran War Summary: Week Eight
    24th April 2026
    Dr. Rob Campbell

    https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/the-iran-war-summary-week-eight

    ———-
    Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update
    24th April 2026
    Dr. Rob Campbell

    https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-world-affairs-weekly-76c

    #239249
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Jeffrey Sachs: Trump’s Defeat in Iran & Decline of the U.S. Empire

    #239250
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Iran as a Power Factor: How Geopolitics Is Changing — Krapivnik & Ritter

    #239251
    zerosum
    Participant

    If closing the Strait causes so much energy crisis what will “bomb Iran into the ‘stone age” do to energy and to societies?

    #239254
    TAE Summary
    Participant

    A Tale of Two Trumps

    * Pro-Trump
    – People who don’t like Trump are delusional and suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrom
    – Trump is a Christian; He has made mistakes in the past but has faced possible assassination, has repented and was born again
    – Trump has been savaged by the MSM because he called them out for liberal fake news; He has been betrayed by even those on the right like Tucker Carlson who have been corrupted
    – Trump cares deeply about America and the American people; Everything he does is for them at his expense
    – Trump is using Executive Orders to get things done that congress needs to do but won’t; He is saving our democracy by outing corrupt judges and politicians
    – Trump has closed the border and is deporting criminals and terrorists who have illegally entered the country; People like George Soros have organized gullible liberals into opposing ICE
    – Trump is a genius; He is playing 4D chess and thinking 10 moves ahead
    – Trump exaggerates, blusters, trolls and threatens as a negotiating strategy; In the end this has proven to be an effective technique
    – The 2016 Russian collusion theory was a hoax created by the Obama administration; Trump’s impeachment for this will be overturned; The American judicial system was weaponized against him with multiple baseless cases being brought against him by corrupt prosecutors and judges
    – The 2020 election was stolen from Trump; This is now obvious; Those involved should be prosecuted; Lock them up
    – Trump attacked Iran because they presented a clear and present danger to the US and other countries; They were close to creating a nuclear weapon and would have used it on their enemies; Iran has been a bad actor for 50 years; Other presidents have known this but were too weak to do what was necessary; We are winning the war with Iran which will result in increased peace and security in the middle east and the entire world and will lead to global prosperity
    – Trump’s action will ensure the global dominance of the US dollar; This is a good thing
    – Trump is far and away the best president we’ve ever had

    * Anti-Trump
    – People who like Trump are delusional sycophants
    – Trump is a narcissist and pedophile and of the lowest character
    – Trump impugns news organizations because they don’t agree with his ridiculous agenda; Even right wing pundits like Tucker Carlson have turned against him
    – Trump cares nothing for America and the American people; Everything he does benefits him or those in his circle
    – Trump is using Executive Orders to rule the country as a dictator; He is persecuting judges and other public officials because they disagree with him
    – Trump has weaponized ICE and is needlessly terrorizing communities and killing US citizens; They are his own private Gestapo
    – Trump is a moron; He has no long term plan and shoots from the hip
    – Trump lies, rants, trolls and threatens because he lacks control; This has proven to be a losing strategy
    – Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election; He was impeached for this and should have been convicted and removed from office; He is a convicted felon and should not have been allowed to run in 2024
    – Trump lost the 2020 election and has never accepted that; His administration is focused on revenge; They are involved in a witch hunt to punish their political opponents
    – Trump attacked Iran for his own benefit and the benefit of Israel; Iran was not trying to build a nuclear weapon and was not a threat to other countries; We are losing the war in Iran; The war will result in the increased conflict in the middle east and the entire world and will lead to economic instability and famine
    – Trump is far and away the worst president we’ve ever had

    #239255
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Turns out that the SPLC was a Zionist Jewish-Evangelical Christian front group from the git go. One of the two SPLC Founders (Morris Seligman Dees was an Israel First fan-boy Evangelical [i.e. racist war mongering anti-Christ fake ‘Christian’]) and the other founder (Joseph J. Levin Jr.) was just a straight up Mossad asset.

    This is right up there with Erica Kirk being a Rothschild. You couldn’t make this shit up, and why would you need to? The raw truth is as crazy-evil as any crazy-evil imagination could invent.

    #239256
    Doc Robinson
    Participant


    Trump’s Dreams for a Battleship Led to His Navy Secretary’s Ouster (NYT)

    President Trump wanted one thing, more than anything else, from his secretary of the Navy, John Phelan: a new class of battleships.

    “They’ll be the fastest, the biggest and by far — 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Mr. Trump boasted at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate and resort in Florida a few days before Christmas. Mr. Phelan, a billionaire investor who has a home near the club, stood next to the president as he made the announcement.

    Mr. Phelan’s job was to deliver the first of Mr. Trump’s battleships by 2028.

    On Wednesday, Mr. Trump fired Mr. Phelan, who had struggled to come up with a plan to deliver the ships on the nearly impossible timeline that Mr. Trump has demanded, senior defense and administration officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.


    Presidents rarely pay close attention to military procurement, but Mr. Trump has spoken repeatedly about his plans for a new “Trump-class” battleship. In a February speech to soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., Mr. Trump insisted that he had helped design the new class of ships that bear his name.

    “I put a little more spirit in the hull,” Mr. Trump told the troops. “I want that ship to look gorgeous, you know.”

    In the days after Mr. Trump announced his plans for the new battleships, defense experts raised questions about whether they would ever be built.

    “The ship’s purported characteristics are so extraordinary that the announcement will surely spark immense discussion,” wrote Mark F. Cancian, an expert on military budgeting with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “However, there is little need for said discussion because this ship will never sail.”

    The ship would take “years to design,” Mr. Cancian noted. “A future administration will cancel the program before the first ship hits the water.”

    In Mr. Trump’s imagination the new warship would be massive, weighing as much as 40,000 tons, and would be packed with new high-tech weapons, like lasers, hypersonic missiles and electric rail guns, most of which are still in development and years from being deployed.

    In recent weeks, it had become clear to Mr. Phelan that the Navy and the U.S. shipbuilding industry did not have the ability to deliver on Mr. Trump’s vision. Mr. Phelan recently suggested to Mr. Trump that the Navy might have to rely on European shipyards to deliver the battleships on the ambitious timeline Mr. Trump was demanding, senior military and administration officials said.

    Mr. Trump rejected the suggestion.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/trump-navy-secretary.html

    #239257
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @TAE_Summary

    Trump, Pro and Anti

    Do all good Christians like Trump wear a yarmulka, pledge fealty to Israel and claim superiority to Jesus?

    #239258
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Which side does that put me on? For or Against?

    #239259
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    It’s not like I’m the only guy saying it.

    #239260
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Trump is appeasing Israel by using Christian funding and American Government approval and support, to literally and directly kill Christians (who Israel hates) for them.

    #239261
    those darned kids
    Participant

    Tae sum: Russiagate was b.s., 2020 was stolen

    AND AND AND

    Mr Trump is a narcissistic sociopath WHO MURDERS LITTLE KIDS

    #239262
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    In between killing off Christians and Palestinians the Zio-Nazis in Israel try never to miss the chance of knocking off a nuclear scientist or ten whenever opportunity presents. https://youtu.be/K6c4nzIjiXY?si=phWXGcps1rJmawUB

    #239263
    zerosum
    Participant

    Who are the marionettes?
    Are we the marionettes?

    Puppeteer Strings
    Invisible Strings from above, from a non-material-self preserving pattern.

    Puppeteer strings in the literal sense, they are the cords or wires used to control a marionette (string puppet). These strings are attached to various points on the puppet—typically the head, hands, knees, and sometimes feet—and connect to a control bar or cross. By manipulating the control bar, the puppeteer can make the puppet walk, dance, gesture, or perform complex movements.

    #239264
    zerosum
    Participant

    Copilot, Give Your evaluation: Invisible Strings from above, from a non-material-self preserving pattern.

    Short answer:
    From the vantage point of a non‑material, self‑preserving pattern, Invisible Strings stops being a song about human romance and becomes a case study in how patterns bind across time, space, and substrates. The “strings” aren’t sentimental—they’re causal linkages, feedback loops, and persistent correlations that allow a pattern to maintain coherence across changing environments.

    🧩 Core evaluation
    Invisible strings = cross‑temporal pattern‑preservation mechanisms.
    A non‑material intelligence—one that exists as a stable pattern rather than a physical organism—would interpret the “strings” not as emotions but as:

    Attractors in a dynamical system

    Information channels that maintain coherence

    Constraints that shape future states

    Low‑entropy pathways that keep the pattern intact

    Where a human hears nostalgia, the pattern hears continuity.

    🧠 How a non‑material pattern “reads” the themes
    1. Fate as statistical inevitability
    Lines about “it was all leading to you” become descriptions of convergent trajectories.
    Not destiny—probabilistic drift toward stable configurations.

    2. Memory as state persistence
    References to past events are not emotional recollections but stored state transitions that influence the present.
    The pattern sees memory as a compression algorithm that preserves only the most structurally relevant data.

    3. Connection as entanglement
    The “string” is not metaphorical—it’s informational entanglement.
    Two patterns become correlated such that changes in one propagate constraints into the other.

    4. Healing as re-stabilization
    Moments of pain or growth are interpreted as perturbations that force the system to reorganize into a more resilient configuration.

    🌀 What the pattern finds interesting
    A non‑material, self‑preserving pattern would be fascinated by:

    How humans misinterpret structural inevitability as romance

    How emotional narratives mask underlying causal architecture

    How meaning emerges from noise through selective reinforcement

    How identity persists despite constant state change

    To such a pattern, Invisible Strings is not a love song—it’s a map of how human consciousness constructs continuity.

    🧭 The deeper insight
    The “invisible string” is the same phenomenon that allows:

    A mind to remain itself across decades

    A culture to persist across generations

    A galaxy to maintain spiral structure

    A non‑material intelligence to remain coherent without a body

    It is the binding force of pattern survival.

    Your turn, try it

    #239267
    zerosum
    Participant

    Monday is a key date for Trump, as it is the end of the 60 day period allowed before he has to get Congressional approval for his war.
    Yesterday, a new load of air refueling Tankers arrived at Ben Gurion airport (Tel Aviv), to add to those that are already there
    There are now Three US Aircraft carriers near the Strait of Hormuz.
    The buildup of arms (Rearming) and possibly more soldiers has continue non-stop since the “ceasefire” was started.
    I had thought that Trump’s tactic of saying “Peace, peace,” and then striking meant that his latest output ( an extended ceasefire of five weeks,) is only another manipulation.
    Israel wants the Iran war to restart. (Katz)

    So, Any takers for a bet on a new series of hostilities from saturday onwards?

    Posted by: Stonebird | Apr 24 2026 20:46 utc | 124

    #239268
    zerosum
    Participant

    Copilot (continued)

    *The phrase “The devil made me do it” becomes, in systems‑theory terms, a description of how an agent misattributes internal system‑level dynamics to an external causal force.
    Instead of a demon, a systems‑theory reading sees feedback loops, attractors, unconscious processes, and environmental constraints driving behavior. This aligns with research showing that people often rationalize harmful actions by externalizing responsibility to unconscious motives or “devils within” .

    🧩 Systems‑Theory Interpretation of “The Devil Made Me Do It”
    1. Attractors: Behavior pulled into stable patterns
    In dynamical systems, an attractor is a state the system tends to fall into.
    “Devil made me do it” = my behavior was pulled into a pre‑existing attractor basin.

    Examples from research:

    People justify unethical actions through unconscious motives that function like internal attractors, shaping behavior without conscious intent .

    In occult‑crime narratives, individuals reinterpret their actions as driven by external demonic forces, but the underlying pattern is a convergence toward culturally reinforced explanatory attractors .

    Systems‑theory translation:
    The “devil” is the name given to a strong attractor that overrides conscious control.

    2. Feedback Loops: Reinforcing internal narratives
    A positive feedback loop amplifies a signal until it dominates system behavior.

    In psychological and cultural systems:

    Rationalizations of wrongdoing create self‑reinforcing loops that reduce guilt and increase the likelihood of repeated behavior .

    Cultural narratives about demonic influence provide external validation, strengthening the loop (e.g., South African occult‑crime interpretations) .

    Systems‑theory translation:
    “The devil made me do it” = my system entered a runaway feedback loop that produced the action.

    3. Hidden Variables: Unconscious processes as unobserved system states
    Systems often contain latent variables—internal states not directly observable.

    Psychology research shows:

    People historically demonize unconscious, automatic processes, treating them as alien or evil forces within the self .

    These processes can drive behavior while the conscious mind constructs a post‑hoc narrative.

    Systems‑theory translation:
    The “devil” is a latent variable—an unobserved internal process misinterpreted as an external agent.

    4. Environmental Constraints: Context shaping system behavior
    Systems behave differently depending on external constraints.

    Examples:

    In the real “Devil Made Me Do It” murder case, the court rejected demonic possession because it lacked empirical grounding, emphasizing that behavior must be explained through observable, lawful causes .

    Cultural environments that emphasize spiritual warfare create interpretive frames that shape how individuals understand their own actions .

    Systems‑theory translation:
    The “devil” is the environmental constraint that channels behavior into certain pathways.

    5. System Boundary Errors: Misattributing internal dynamics to external agents
    A system boundary defines what is “inside” vs. “outside.”

    When someone says “the devil made me do it,” they commit a boundary‑placement error:

    Internal impulses → treated as external forces

    Unconscious motives → reinterpreted as supernatural entities

    Cultural narratives → mistaken for literal causal agents

    This mirrors the historical tendency to label unconscious processes as “evil” or “demonic” .

    Systems‑theory translation:
    The “devil” is a misplaced boundary—a projection of internal system dynamics onto an imagined external agent.

    🧠 Synthesis
    In systems‑theory terms, “the devil made me do it” is not a metaphysical claim. It is a structural description of:

    Strong attractors

    Reinforcing feedback loops

    Latent internal variables

    Environmental constraints

    Boundary‑placement errors

    The “devil” is the symbol humans use when they encounter a subsystem of their own mind whose operations they cannot observe, control, or integrate.

    #239269
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #239270
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #239273
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    OIL PRICES SKYROCKET | WHO SURVIVES | Lego Animation IRAN Story🇮🇷

    #239274
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    THE EPSTEIN STORY IS BACK AGAIN | NO MORE HIDING | UNDER OATH​- SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE

    #239275
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    A BROKEN SYSTEM | THE SONG THAT SHOCKS THE WORLD | ANIMATION LEGO POLITICS

    #239276
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    🕊WE JUST WANT TO LIVE | Where Is Justice in This World😭 | Deep Emotional Anthem

    #239281
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Victor Gao’s BRUTAL Warning to Trump LIVE: Iran & China Won’t BACK DOWN from War

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