Bibi Let's It Rip (9/29/26)
Top 3 Tags
Netanyahu at UN
Trump-Xi Summit - Ho Hum
Iran: Oil's Back Flowing, just not Iran's
Read time - 10 minutes
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#1 - When Haters Walk Out before You Start
...you know it's gonna be a cracker of a speech. Bibi Netanyahu, one of the very rare Good Guy leaders with stones (N.B., plenty of Bad Guy leaders have stones), let 'em have it at the UN General Assembly last Thursday.
A mass walkout of delegates occurred before the Israeli Prime Minister’s address even started. It prompted a fiery response from Bibi.
Upon taking the stage, Netanyahu said, "Before I begin, just a quick announcement, if there are any other moral cowards who haven't yet left this hall, please do so now." Cheers erupted from the remaining delegates in the chamber.
The Israeli leader did not let up for the rest of his address. He laid out the stakes of the conflict in Iran. He proclaimed that "devastating Iran's nuclear facilities was hard, it was very hard to do, but for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I've ever had to make as prime minister. Because if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead."
"Now, you want to hear the ultimate irony?" he continued. "In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall. In fact, I want you to know that many of the leaders even thanked us privately for taking out Iran's nukes. It's hard to imagine more mind blowing hypocrisy, but that's exactly what it is."
Mind-blowing hypocrisy? Ya think? Here in the US, we get several doses every news cycle.
#2 - Mr. Xi Comes to Washington
Lots of pomp and circumstance as Trump once again tried to be buddy-buddy with President Xi Zinping. In this latest go-round, they agreed to a temporary detente on a portion of tariffs and several other symbolic pinky swears. Such as "to keep working on"...a trade truce, better channels for military communication, more crackdowns on China's fentanyl precursers, China to buy more U.S. coal, etc.
In the end, however, no progress is being reported on...Taiwan, AI, rare earth minerals, pharmaceutical ingredients or Iran-cooperation.
To all of which I say - yaddy, yaddy, yaddy. It's clear both sides are trying to buy time before the inevitable. Trump needs time to wind down Iran, resupply missiles, build a Golden Dome and start building a rare earth mineral supply of our own. Xi needs time to fix his domestic economy where unemployment is horrendous and rumblings from the masses are increasing.
In the end, it still seems inevitable both sides will exhaust such deflective procrastinations and the head-to head conflict will turn military.
#3 - Iran: Final Stages?
Apparently the new "oil" work-around is paying off. Oil out of the Gulf is increasing rapidly.
The United Arab Emirates and its neighbors have developed an enormous system to shuttle oil out of the Gulf via a new shipping channel that hugs the Omani coast and is patrolled and protected by the United States military. The new tactics are effective as the September decline in the price of oil demonstrated and October’s anticipated decline will as well.
Called "The Hormuz Shuttle", the new strategy employs 116 VLCCs [very large crude carriers] to shuttle crude out of the Persian trap via the Oman Lane into the Gulf of Oman, unloading it via Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer and then re-entering the Persian trap to repeat the trade. Except for Iran, Middle East countries are seeing their oil flow back up to 80-90% of January levels. Meantime, Iran's oil exports have dropped from 2 million barrels a day to...er, ZERO.
Maybe, just maybe...when combined with intensified economic strangulation this thing may be entering its final stages. Especially if China doesn't come to the rescue. 6,000 more Iranian protestors, mostly all young, were arrested this week. Only when hardship hits middle age bureaucrats and IRGC colonels can this thing really crumble.
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Other News...
June 1 2025
Remember that day. It may be argued it was an inflection point in modern warfare.
On that day, Ukraine deployed less than a million dollars’ worth of hobby-shop technology to destroy Russian strategic bombers worth billions. Russia’s exquisite air defenses made no difference. Images of burning Russian bombers finally settled the debate as to whether drones are a tactical aberration or a tectonic shift in geopolitical power.
Operation Spider’s Web, as the Ukrainian operation was named, codified the rules of the new era: traditional platforms are luxury items and “mass”—the ability to employ more weapons faster, cheaper and for a longer period—is the new frontier.
Another "Musk Miracle"
The Boring Company. What does it do? Simple...bores tunnels that enable underground transportation systems. The largest so far is in Las Vegas. Thirteen active stations. Fourteen more coming. 123 planned.
Traditionally, boring tunnels cost hundreds of $ millions a mile to over a billion. Typically, they can bore 10-30 meters a day. The Boring Company can bore 230 meters a day and costs $5-10 million a mile. Just like Space, Elon gets done what no one else can...at a fraction of the cost.
A boring project called the Las Olas Loop was proposed for Fort Lauderdale but is dormant at the moment. A high speed link between San Antonio and Austin (84 miles) might be next.
I say forget about Vance. Let's elect Elon.
Way Behind
China has over 2,000,000 industrial robots deployed. The US has under 400,000. In 2025, China installed more than we have operational IN TOTAL.
Ain't only ships, rare earth minerals and drugs where we've fallen behind.
I Don't Know What This Means But It Sounds Important
A commercially accessible quantum computer has just accomplished a feat that suggests this newer technology could one day leave supercomputers in the dust. In just 19 seconds, IBM’s Nighthawk r2 processor generated a million scenarios – a task estimated to take a supercomputer around 110 years.
When it comes to solving uber complex problems like designing new cures this is, so they tell me, "quantum" important. All I know is everything's getting faster...except my golf swing that is.
"We Don't Win without the U.S."
That's the warning former UK PM, Tony Blair, gave his NATO Colleagues. Said, "Without American support, we don't win in a conflict with Putin."
'Bout time Euro leaders get off their high horse, stop letting their countries be overtaken with illegals and hitch up their britches.
Not a good strategy, when an ally is indispensable to your national sovereignty, to ignore its requests for a helping hand.
Is This Out of Hand or Is This Out of Hand?
If you haven't been sued for something in the past year, you probably live somewhere else.
U.S. tort costs are headed to $1 trillion by 2030. Two percent of GDP. These include innumerable lawsuits against corporations for everything from greenhouse gases to a broken wheel on your kid's tricycle. Then you have all the Red State AGs suing the President. And Trump firing back. Etc.Etc. Lawyers take lots of these on contingency so anybody can sue anybody on the "if come".
All this does is raise prices as companies keep increasing legal continguencies and jack up consumer prices to cover. We are being overrun.
The only way to stop is to sock it to those filing frivoulous suits. Like that's ever gonna happen. Never ever gonna happen because that would put a dent in lawyer's pay and guess what? Judges are lawyers too.
Gotta a better chance of Congress imposing term limits on itself. Fox watchin' the hen house if ever.
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Ruminations
Not Invited
The number of adults who invite friends over for dinner has declined by 70% in the last 20 years. Entertaining at home, playing cards with friends, going out together...all down precipitously. (DDB Needham Lifestyle Survey, 2026)
Discourse is Dying. Maybe Dead Already. My guess? Antagonistic politics and biased media are big factors in avoiding face-to-face, voice-to-voice social interaction. That and the reclusivity promoted by nonstop social media preoccupation. Ever sit in awaiting room? It's heads down. No smiles, no hellos or, heavren forbid, no civilized banter.
Small wonder why we're divided.
Loss of Will...Loss of Country
The UK is overrun with illegal immigrants. You saw what happed in Spain. In fact, most of Western Europe no longer looks like Europe.
A major propellant of Trump to victory in 2024 was illegal immigration. Voters wanted the border secured and the illegals (11 million under Biden/Harris) returned.
Looks like we really didn't have the stomach for it. Left wing media and politicians turned deportation into the single biggest damnation of Trump 2.0. Every evening, multiple stories appeared where ICE was accused of deporting a five-year old without the mother or disarming a protestor trying to run them down with her car.
So, naturally, Trump pulled back. DHS became softer, nicer. ICE was thawed and so now deportations are down to about 1,200 a day. Far less than the 1 million a year Trump wanted. Takes a long time and several administrations to remove 11 million at 400,000 a year. Especially when the Democrats, who WILL rule again some day, are certain to undo it all.
All I can say is this piecemeal effort is not what we voted for. Tough to keep "promises made" if your supporters jump ship. If you want to see where this is headed - just look across the pond.
Grow a Pair!
The Green Bay Packers are pathetic. They lost their home opener to the...Atlantic Falcons as 5 point favorites. They hadn't lost a home opener in 12 years. They gave up 35 while managing only 14. Not to mention a zillion yards. They're 1-2 after beating the lowly Jets and requiring overtime to do it.
Their star tight end, Tucker Kraft, dropped several passes and then had the temerity to moan about being booed. "So hurtful."
So, how about this? Don't cash your paycheck. These people have two things. Cheddar cheese and the Packers. Okay, maybe ice fishing. You start the season by blowing a 14 point lead in Q4, scrape by the Jets and toss this stinker at home, what do you expect? A round of applause? Talk about tone deaf.
$100,000 a year to attend Syracuse University
First of all, the winter really sucks up there. I know I went 30 miles south.
Second, the FB team is irrelevant. Basketball too, since Coach Boeheim retired at 106 years old.
Other than broadcasting, what kind of degree pays back $400,000?
Man oh man...is the door ever open for quality trade schools!
DEI in the NHL?
Are you kidding? A player for the Philadelphia Flyer was sent to the penalty box for having his shirt untucked.
Pays to Listen When It Comes from a Saint (almost)
Recently beatified American Bishop Fulton J. Sheen would, no doubt, be labeled a "far right extremist" today. One of his most famous lines was, "I hate Communism, but I love Communists." Sheen rejected Communism for four reasons:
Atheism and rejection of God
The individual was subordinate to the state
Loss of freedom
Communism offered a false solution to real social problems
2028: Senator or President?
AOC is still deciding. The same AOC who said...
There are three chambers of US government. "The Presidency, the Senate and the House." What no courts? Still, she is right. There are three: Executive, Legislative and Judicial.
"Farting cows and airplanes" are what make it difficult to reduce greenhouse gases. Maybe we should stop eating hamburgers for "breakfast, lunch and dinner."
"Unemployment is so low because everyone is working two jobs."
"The US is running concentration camps on this side of the border."
The "world will end in 12 years due to climate change". The great reveal occurred in 2019, so only 5 years left.
Hard to juggle all those facts and still make a good Old Fashion. Heck with Senate. Run for the big job. We deserve it.
More Essential than Ever
It's ironic but is it not possible, even likely, that America becomes more necessary on the international stage rather than less after Iran. Obviously one of the Iranian's goals was to prove America's lack of will, resolution and reliability. Not only to historical allies but to others. Basically saying...See, they start something but you can't count on them to finish.
If, when this conflict ends as it must, with the Iranian regime reduced to economic and militaristic rubble, will that not motivate NATO and Middle Eastern nations to strengthen reliance on the American umbrella?
And, let's not forget Israel. As Bibi said, more and more Arab nations are quietly asking, no imploring the job to be finished.
BTW - when Iran is in the rear view mirror, keep an eye on Turkey. Big Army, religious fervor, leader in Erdogan who's employing more and more dictatorial methods.
Brilliant!
Perhaps you heard about the lady coming home on Sunday at 1:30 am from a night on the town when she and her husband saw three white vans blocking a quiet country road near the RAF Fairford air base in Gloucestershire, 80 miles west of London. Fairford is essentially a US staging operation. The lady, a farmer, then spotted three masked men in balaclavas scurrying into the woods. She called the cops and WhatsApp'd her neighbors. Shortly after, the men were arrested.
New Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who apparently is just like the old PM, Starmer, cautioned British citizens not to jump to conclusions although the PM did congratulate local authorities for doing an excellent job of responding while ignoring the fact that it was a 50 plus year old lady who accidently discovered the danger.
So what's "brilliant" about all that. The comments of UK talk host Alexandra Philip. The following was delivered in a shrill British accent with dripping sarcasm.
"Why is that all of you, Andy Burnham, every single muppet in the unions, every single Prime Minister for the past 10 years, all failed to notice that, if you are a hostile state or terrorist organisation wanting to get weapons into the country as well as people who can use those weapons, it would be a smashing idea to bus them in illegally or by boat or even private jets?
Then give them baccalaureates, smartphones, teach them how to make little balloon animals and hand out rape pamphlets. And then you buffoons wonder if some of these people might be terrorists. Perhaps you might consider declaring publicly that there is a genuine security risk from people breaking into our nation...and get real."
Okay...I know without the British accent it's not the same.
Genocide? Really?
Remember all the protestors on all the college campuses chanting, "Free the Palestinians. Israel is Committing Genocide" Supporters referred to a letter which 500 people signed saying...Yup. Genocide.
Well, I'm not sure what genocide looks like in person, but I doubt the perpetrators send 2 million tons of food, vaccinate tens of thousands and assiduously avoid attacks on women and children. So much so that jihadists making a habit of walking next to their 6-year olds, who carry their weapons.
Not sure but doesn't sound like genocide to me. Oh yeah, and there is now a letter signed by 6000 including multiple historian luminaries that says claims of Israeli genocide are bollocks.
Don't Tell Anybody but...
Feeling a tad better about the Midterms. America can't be this stupid. Will we really let TDS overrule common sense?
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