Hegseth says America is stronger than on day one. The strait is mined-or-maybe-not, the ships are being shot, the bill is already at the pump, and a NATO chancellor is opting for the word Afghanistan.
I've been reading Paul Krugman's substack and I think the talk of $125 Brent crude is very optimistic. The countries with stocks of crude have been bleeding them down to reduce the impact of Hormuz, but those stocks will be depleted perhaps as soon as two to three weeks. When that happens, oil will be priced to make a significant reduction in demand. Brent crude at $160? $200? Gasoline demand is not very elastic, diesel demand even less so, so the price impact will be steep.
I donated to James Talarico's campaign among some other young progressives. Recently I got a text from "James" asking if I would answer some questions about my stance on Israel. I said I want the US to quit funding Israel with money or weapons, etc and get peace talks with Palistine and Lebanon and formally recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation etc...
The texter "James" responded by adamantly exclaiming the merits of US weapons support for Israel using macho language, blahblah...
I asked a few more questions until I realized I was being trolled by a James Talarico imposter bot trying to dissuade me from supporting him! Then I asked; who's number is this?
And the text responded, "I am not programed to to provide that information."
So "Beware out there amongst the English." A line my husband and I like to joke about from the film Witness starring Harrison Ford as a detective assigned to protect a young Amish boy who witnessed a murder. It's an oldie from the 80's. Takes place on an Amish farm. Whenever one of German Amish venture beyond the safety of the homeland they caution their relatives to ..."beware amongst the English."..
I guess it's an inside joke...But the point I'm making is that the AI bot billionaire regime is on a quest to invade our devices, our thought bubbles and whatever else they can manipulate to conquer whoever stands in the way of their insatiable quest for control. It's a sickness of the spirit. Great read as always, Mary.
I keep circling back to the MAGAt* base that put this numbskull in office.
*That's not really meant as an insult. It's just a shortening if MAGA(red ha)t. 😏
They've become experts in Doublethink, as trained as Pavlov's dogs. "Trump's got a peace deal!" "YAY!" "Trump's obliterating Iran!" "YAY!"
The only impact with a chance of getting through is the hits their wallet is taking.
Many of them said they were voting for Trump because he wasn't a politician trotting out the same old failing approaches.
Instead it would be a good thing to have a businessman as president, running the country like a mega-corporation.
So, MAGAts, how's that working out for you? You excused his poor performance in his first term by blaming COVID. Fair enough. A pandemic would wreak havoc no matter who was president.
But this war with Iran was (is) the result of a deliberate choice on Trump's part. He decided to do this - it was not by chance, it was by choice.
Trump is forcing the changes he despises. Renewable energy, electric cars and a very real need to reenter the world connections he has severed. He can only hope the former allies will save us from becoming an outcast in the world of cooperative nations.
Gaslighting works to a point, especially among those who don’t want to deal with conflict or conflicting information.
It’s nicer to believe all is going well than that the war is a U.S. treasury-and-munitions-depleting shit show brought on by an ignorant conman whom others manipulated into believing Iran would quickly cave to threats of annihilation and a few bombs.
Reality bats last. Unfortunately, those who invest time and effort in finding what’s true and real (so read the heroic work of the Geddry family journalists) suffer the same consequences as those who choose to believe deceitful propaganda.
The one positive of all this is that interest in renewables is increasing greatly.
I've been reading Paul Krugman's substack and I think the talk of $125 Brent crude is very optimistic. The countries with stocks of crude have been bleeding them down to reduce the impact of Hormuz, but those stocks will be depleted perhaps as soon as two to three weeks. When that happens, oil will be priced to make a significant reduction in demand. Brent crude at $160? $200? Gasoline demand is not very elastic, diesel demand even less so, so the price impact will be steep.
The price of Brent crude will seem unimportant when there is no oil to buy and food cannot be moved and people in many parts of the world starve.
I donated to James Talarico's campaign among some other young progressives. Recently I got a text from "James" asking if I would answer some questions about my stance on Israel. I said I want the US to quit funding Israel with money or weapons, etc and get peace talks with Palistine and Lebanon and formally recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation etc...
The texter "James" responded by adamantly exclaiming the merits of US weapons support for Israel using macho language, blahblah...
I asked a few more questions until I realized I was being trolled by a James Talarico imposter bot trying to dissuade me from supporting him! Then I asked; who's number is this?
And the text responded, "I am not programed to to provide that information."
So "Beware out there amongst the English." A line my husband and I like to joke about from the film Witness starring Harrison Ford as a detective assigned to protect a young Amish boy who witnessed a murder. It's an oldie from the 80's. Takes place on an Amish farm. Whenever one of German Amish venture beyond the safety of the homeland they caution their relatives to ..."beware amongst the English."..
I guess it's an inside joke...But the point I'm making is that the AI bot billionaire regime is on a quest to invade our devices, our thought bubbles and whatever else they can manipulate to conquer whoever stands in the way of their insatiable quest for control. It's a sickness of the spirit. Great read as always, Mary.
A truly excellent, chilling summary. Thank you, Mary.
I keep circling back to the MAGAt* base that put this numbskull in office.
*That's not really meant as an insult. It's just a shortening if MAGA(red ha)t. 😏
They've become experts in Doublethink, as trained as Pavlov's dogs. "Trump's got a peace deal!" "YAY!" "Trump's obliterating Iran!" "YAY!"
The only impact with a chance of getting through is the hits their wallet is taking.
Many of them said they were voting for Trump because he wasn't a politician trotting out the same old failing approaches.
Instead it would be a good thing to have a businessman as president, running the country like a mega-corporation.
So, MAGAts, how's that working out for you? You excused his poor performance in his first term by blaming COVID. Fair enough. A pandemic would wreak havoc no matter who was president.
But this war with Iran was (is) the result of a deliberate choice on Trump's part. He decided to do this - it was not by chance, it was by choice.
How's that golden boy looking now?
Trump is forcing the changes he despises. Renewable energy, electric cars and a very real need to reenter the world connections he has severed. He can only hope the former allies will save us from becoming an outcast in the world of cooperative nations.
Gaslighting works to a point, especially among those who don’t want to deal with conflict or conflicting information.
It’s nicer to believe all is going well than that the war is a U.S. treasury-and-munitions-depleting shit show brought on by an ignorant conman whom others manipulated into believing Iran would quickly cave to threats of annihilation and a few bombs.
Reality bats last. Unfortunately, those who invest time and effort in finding what’s true and real (so read the heroic work of the Geddry family journalists) suffer the same consequences as those who choose to believe deceitful propaganda.