The Russians are not coming

 

I have been seeing a lot of videos about the possiblity of a Russian attack on NATO.

That is NOT going to happen.

Anyone can see that it is not going to happen.

If Russia cannot handle Ukraine, how are they going to take on NATO?

Clearly there are warmongers who want a conflict so they can make money off it.  In fact. maybe they don't want a war, just a new Cold War to keep it going for generations....and keep the money rolling in,

Russia MIGHT get a Pyhricc victory out of this war, but it is not something to trumpet to the sky.

Russia's military has some serious problems. This war is providing some serious lessons and a reevaluation of what wars are like now....Especially with drones.  They are a real game changer.

Given how many NATO countries seem to have a pesonal vendetta against free speech (Britian and Germany), I wonder if we should even be part of the alliance.

When Russia arrests less people than Britain for tweets, there is a problem.

One problew we don't have is an immient Russian attack on NATO. 

Not sure what they were thinking,...

 

Wisconsin does have a history of electing socialist candidates, but they did see literate.

Francesca Hong did a great Kamala Harris impression at times, not making any sense and trying to back out of things she had said or tweeted quite forcefully at times.

In the end, she was a terrible candidate.

And for some reason, pollsters kept saying she was going to win the Democratic nomination.

Not that she is a Democrat...she is a Democratic Socialist, which is another way of saying "Communist."

The whole Democratic Socialists of America scam is trying to take over the Democratic Party.  It is a smart strategy given the lack of third party success in this country. The problem is that they seem to put nincompoops up for nomination.

They have gotten a few in, which is terrifying.

If you want evidence that Communism does not work, look at the Berlin Wall.

Capitalism is not perfect.  It has its share of faults. I have pointed them out before, particularly the tendency to destroy competition and create oligarchies. Communism is bascially its own form of oligarchy.  With capitalism, you have a government that (hopefully) breaks up monopolies.  Communism is a monopoly.

Having said that, the wanna-be nobility that wants to arise out of an oligarchy (capitalist or communist) need to be careful.  Under capitalism, market pressures, and some government intervention when necessary keep things under control.  If the oligarchs subvert the government and try to impoverish and oppress everyone, well, let's just say....

FRENCH REVOLUTION!!! 

If you say it can't happen here, you just took the first step to making it happen.

Dictatorships, right or left, always fall.

The best way to avoid it?  As Tom Hanks once said in "A League of Their Own," very simply "Use your head, its that lump three feet over your ass!"

Thus endth the sermon! 

Spain wins the World Cup!

 It might have been the best World Cup ever!

I am just happy France did not win...they were giving me early 21st Century New England Patriot vibes.

I was cheering for Argentina since they wear blue and white, the colors of the flag of Greece, but I was happy, as I said, as long as France did not win!

The Argentine team's conduct after the game was atrocious and I think FIFA needs to suspend the from the net Cup.

Maybe the US does better the next time around or maybe Greece surprises everyone! :-P

I am not that big a soccer fan but it is nice to see the world come together for something like this.  It might not be as commercialized as the Olympics but give it time...LOL

Did I mention we should keep the Summer Olympics in Greece :-P

Congrats again, Spain! 

World Cup in America!

 The last time the World Cup was in America was in 1994.  Brazil won, so no surprise there!

What stands out about this World Cup is the reaction of Europeans to America.

They see how much freer it is here and how our economy (sorta) works as opposed to "socialist" Britain and Germany were people are sent to jail for internet memes or praying in public.  I am sure it is a shock to what they have been told what America is like.

It is not perfect.  Never was, never will be but at least it is not a failing nightmare that Western Europe as turned into.

The Europeans visiting remind me of Soviet citizens who made it out over the Iron Curtain and see how badly Moscow was lying to them about the West.  Now, Russia in 2026 appears freer than Western Europe.  

These Europeans will go home and tell everyone about what they have seen and how dictatorial "democratic" governments are. 

Let's see the change.

I bet London and Berlin try to crack down on dissent even more.

You have seen that story before... 

Britain on the brink

 

I have been looking at Britain a lot lately.  Mainly because it was once the country that everyone tried to imitate. Playing cricket and English suits etc...

Not anymore.

We see what is essentially tribal warfare in the streets and after the killing of Henry Nowak by a Sikh man and the attempted beheading of a man in Northern Ireland by a Sudanese immigrant.  Britain's per capita income has plunged as welfare payments are greater that government revenues and the two-teir policing, aimed at native Britions, give the once proud empire the look of a failed state or East Germany c.1988.

There seems to be some hop as the people of Britain appear to be pushing back.

The once respectable British constabulary seem to be as oppressive as the KGB ever was and the Labour government seems to hate the people.  The so-called Conservatives were not that great either, leading to the rise of Reform and Restore parties.

I am not sure what the future holds for Britain, but if history is any guide, a rerun of the id-1600s seems to be over the horizon,

I hope not, but corrupt governments, especially those that resemble the Warsaw Pact from the Cold War, need to get  a good slap in the head as a warning.  Hopefully the idiots currently running Parliament figure it out.

The French Revolution was pretty bad.

I don't want to see a British Revolution.

Might not be up to us.  

Failing and still fail some more

 

Keir Starmer, clearly the worst Prime Minister in Britain's history, is on the ropes.  The Labour Party just lost 1500 local seats in British elections and is clearly going to get trounced in the next election.  Starmer's dictorial dislke of free speech, failure to stop immigration, two-tiered policing, and failure to get crime under control led to this.  

Seemed pretty obvious

Even Wales is talking about independence for the first time since the 1300s!

Britain's per capita income is lower than Mississippi's!

Socialism/soft communism is clearly a failure.

The Labour Party is about to get rid of Starmer and the only hope they have of winning an election in two years is to basically jettison their platform.  Not sure how support for grooming gangs could lead to election success...

Labour, once the party of the working-class, needs to retool itself and get away from the far-left crap that does not work on any level.

Britain used to be the envy of the world.

Now, its a broke, crime-ridden, miserable, repressed embarassment.

Like the Soviet Union never really went away....

Calling it like I see it. 

 

Stil looking at Iran

 

The was was a month long. 

 

The cease-fire might be longer. 

Iran is trying to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage and the US is putting a blockade on Iran.  

Iran is trying to use speedboats to shut things down and they can do some damage.  To be honest, they might carry 50 calibier machine guns and RPGs but they can't sink a double hulled oil tanker.  The ballistic missiles inland might do some damage though.

Apache attack choppers and the A-10 Warthog are perfect for shooting up those boats and hunting for ballistic missiles. They have the speed and armament to clear the strait.  Mines could be an issue but the missiles could really wreak some havoc.

A blockade keeps US casualties low  and Iran's collapsing economy could spark an uprising.

The point I am making is that this can go on for a while.

With Iran's navy and air force gone, this blockade's effectiveness is increased.  It will still take some time.  Of course, patience has never been an American strong suit. 

The Union blockade of the Confederacy and British blockade of Germany during the First World War ever effective.  They did take time though.

So sit back and get some popcorn.

This might be a while. 

Happy Orthodox Easter!

 

The Real Easter...Easter candy at half price :-P

Waiting for the storm

 President Trump's deadline is about to expire and the world will wonder what happens next.

Iran has a history of ignoring deadlines and the US has pushed it back a few times, trying to not destroy power plants in the Islamic Republic.  That would be catastrophic for the people of Iran.

Of course, the leadership, whoever is left, will not have to suffer as much.  Give the US and Israeli tendency to decapitate Iran's leadership, they cannot be having a great time.  In fact, getting a promotion in the Iranian government is the last thing anyone wants.

Any peace deal cannot have Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz since it is international waters and it leave the beaten and battered Iran, ironically, in a stronger position, 

It would be great if the people of Iran rose up but it has not happened yet.

In the meantime, the US needs to keep pounding.  We cannot have another Gulf War 1991 all over again since leaving the Islamic Republic will require us to keep doing this every year. 

At the very least, we need to get the Strait of Hormuz open.

Then, we need to have a serious convo about NATO.  

Happy Greek Independence Day!

 

HAPPY GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY!

 Gyros for everyone!

Try not to smash too many plates...or do what I do and drop a plastic one one the floor and use a broom like a hockey stick to shoot it though the door! 

The Iran War contiues

 

The Iran War continues kind of like we thought it would.  US and Israeli bombing and Iran trying to hit back.  Their decapitated leadership does not seem to have an organized response other than trying to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

They have done that, but we are not sure how long they can keep it shut off.  US forces are still hitting Iran and although gas prices are going up, it is also obvious that Iran cannot send out any oil either.  Looks like the collapse is coming anyway you look at it.  The question is "when?"

Still hoping for a popular uprising.  US forces are hitting Iran's military and security pretty had.  The new Ayatollah has yet to be seen and it is believed he is disfigured or even in a coma.  I am thinking the IRGC is really running things.

This is something both the US and Iran have been planning for since 1980. It seems to be a US sledgehammer against Iranian hornet nest. 

Iran has very little military capability left, but one missile or drone strike on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz can cause chaos.

Of course, the oil companies would probably love that...

In the meantime, more airstrikes.

It took 40 days to knock Iraq down from the air in 1991, so we might be looking at more of the same.

US Marines are on the way fro the 31st Marine Expeditionary Force.  No one is sure what they will be used for but I hope it is not a "boots on the ground" situation.  Are they after the Iranian side of the Striat of Hormuz or Kharg Island (90% of Iran's oil gets pumped through there.) 

Wars take a course of their own.  Looks like it is happening again.  No surprise.

Iran is not every going to be the same. 

 

 

US goes for the knockout!

 

Remember how I said the US and Iran were heading for a collision a month ago?

 Looks like the US unloaded a haymaker on Tehran.

The US and Israel began pounding Iran from the air, not to destroy the nuclear sites, but to destroy the Islamic Republic.

 Trump has called on the Iranian people to rise up. The airstrikes are continuing but many many people are in the streets ripping down statues and cheering the death of the Ayatollah.  

Yes, the US and Israelis successfully launched a decapitation strike. 

The Iranians have launched missiles and hit a lot of Gulf states along with Israel and even Cyprus! They are screaming about vengeance though the surviving leadership has made contact with Trump about immunity.  If I was an Iranian soldier, I would abandon my post.

The attack will go on for at least a couple of more days.  Will the Islamic Republic survive or will something else take its place?  I can't see them going back to a Shah-led monarchy.  I am hoping for something resembling a democracy.  It's the Middle East, so......well, gotta give it a roll of the dice!

Unlike Afghanistan or Iraq,  Iran is a country that has existed for 5000 years.  Usually as Persia, but it is the same place. That sort of continuous history, and lack of foreign occupation since the 1300s, give Iran a chance whereas other Middle Eastern countries never had.  It was not "created."  It is real, natural, and organic.

We gotta wait for the war, operation, clash, whatever it is, to finish and see what happens.  A weakened Islamic Republic will still be dangerous and given the appeals for immunity, I don't think it is going to be around for much longer.

Its the Middle East.  The war is the easy part.  What happens next is always the interesting part o the story.

Nothing but love for the Iranian people!  

 

Not dull!

 The year 2026 has not been dull!

It started off with the US basically taking over Venezuela in two hours, then Trump threatened to take over Greenland, and we have seen riots in Minneapolis over ICE-deportations (at the same time many Minnesota politicians have been caught in scandals...hmmmmm...).

Oh yeah, the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl.

It's gonna be a fun ride!  History in the making right in front of us.

Now, it looks as through Iran and the US are on another collision course.  Saudi Arabia won't allow offensive strikes from it soil, but at least two US carrier strike groups are in the area.  I am not sure why the US and Iran might come to blows.

It might be Iran's brutal treatment of protesters killing thousands, maybe even 30k!  I am not sure if the Islamic Republic is on the ropes, but there seem to have been a lot of mass protests over the last few years.  Given Iran's terrible performance against Israel last year and impotence against the US B2 strikes last year, I don't think it is a good idea for Tehran to go looking for trouble, especially with the unsteady domestic situation.

It might be a good idea for the Iranian leadership to talk with protesters and maybe give a few concessions.  The alternative is decapitation of the leadership from a deity-like B2 strike and who knows what happens after that!  

What an interesting start to 2026!

 

What an interesting start to 2026!

US forces abduct/arrest (depends who you are talking to) the President of Venezuela in a 2 and half hour operation and seize two oil tankers.

Then we see Anti-ICE "protesters" try to interfere with ICE operations and pay a heavy for people who don't care about them.

Then the US desire for Greenland pops up again.

Not dull!

Maduro had it coming and quite frankly, I am surprised he was not taken out in a coup.  There are those who maintain the whole thing was "negotiated" and the strikes were just a way for him to "save face."  If so, he is worse than we thought since nearly 100 people lost their lives. So no idea why anyone would show any sympathy for him.  And that is after the dictatorial rule that led to Venezuela's economic collapse!  

Boarding Venezuelan-flagged tankers is just an enforcement of sanctions that have not been enforced.

Bit of advice: Trying to run over armed federal agents is not a good idea!

The Governor of Minnesota and  Mayor of Minneapolis, encouraging interference of ICE operations, have blood on their hands.  Add the massive Somali welfare fraud, and everyone asks what will it take to slap some handcuffs on these idiots? 

They even wanted to call the Minnesota National Guard out against ICE! 

Fraud and calls for insurrection are both felonies, so get the cuffs! 

Interesting year so far.  Gonna be a wild ride! 

 

Happy 2026!