@11 You forgot AIPAC, LegallyYourDead, the massive billion-dollar political and economic machinery that supports both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

AIPAC bets on every horse in the race, so they come up on top while the peace-loving, hardworking, and non-Islamophobic American taxpayer ends up on the bottom, like on Tuesday 5 Nov 2024.

Thanks again, Marine, I don't have that book.

I have Stranger in a Strange Land awaiting me, where Robert Heinlein introduced us to the concept of "grok."

Off to dinner, wine, and cards during these awful times that trouble men's souls.

Sigh.

And the unworthy guttersnipe Bill Maher should be thrown down a well along with his fellow oligarch Joe Rogaine.

A deep well.

Hi Doc Sarvis:

Great vignette about "petro-chemicals" from the era of Western Union telegrams and urban messengers.

During the 1967 Six Day War, the USS Liberty spy ship intercepted communications about IDF troops committing war crimes (shooting captured Egyptians), so Tel Aviv ordered the IDF to disable its antennae, killing and wounding scores of Sailors, as you are aware.

In 1933, the Jewish population in Germany was approximately 500,000 people (0.75% of the total German population at the time).

That's not a lot of Jews.

In 1933, 96,000 of those half million Jews were veterans of World War I and many received the Iron Cross for valor or bravery in combat.

The Republicans, like the Nazis before them, also generate irrational hatred for tiny minorities: Somalis (221,043 in the US) and 4.5m Muslims (1.5% of the total US population).

The rightwing in Israel generates hatred against the Palestinians, but these 2.1m Arabs are approximately 21% of the Israeli population.

So why so much demonization here in the US?

Since 1948 under both Democratic and Republican Party administrations, the peace-loving, hardworking American taxpayer has sent the Labor and Likud governments of Israel, a prosperous and nuclear-armed country, $317.9bn, the most US economic aid given to any nation in the world while they ethnically cleanse and oppress the Palestinian people.

Good-for-nothing bloodthirsty drunkard Pete Hegseth called a meeting of junta officials to request a rare exemption to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The fossil fuel industry and fat cat oligarchs haven't made enough for themselves over the century while destroying our planet

Only given two exemptions to the ESA have been given since 1978. One was for the whooping crane threatened by the creation of a dam, and another was for the spotted owl at risk from a logging project.

*** Insidious Trumpf Junta Continues Killing Defenseless People Alleged to be Smugglers in Caribbean Sea ***

"Four male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed."

The video is difficult to stomach.

American taxpayer dollars are being used to remorselessly kill human beings in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America without a second thought, but there is no funding for universal healthcare in the US, as enjoyed by the residents of Germany, Israel, Canada, Denmark, and tiny Albania.

*** IRGC Naval Commander Killed During Operation Epstein Fury ***

Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth bleated the announcement.

Meanwhile there is no Exit Strategy in this illegal war against the people of Iran which is destroying the environment and creating potential radiation leaks with all of the barbaric US and Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear sites.

And the US-Israeli surprise attack on the people of Iran is costing the peace-loving, hardworking American taxpayer billions and billions of dollars.

Thanks Bibi and AIPAC!

Years ago, Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) drove the Yemeni Houthis right into Iran's camp when he supported the Sunni Yemenis in their civil war. After the Saudi army lost against the Houthis, MBS ordered a naval blockade of Yemen which caused a man-made famine.

Iran stepped in with food and military supplies and the Houthis have been loyal to Tehran since. That's why we see Houthi counterattacks against Israeli targets when the IDF slaughters defenseless Palestinians or when the IDF attacks Lebanon, Syria, or Iran.

The Arab Houthis and Iranians are co-religionists and the poorer minority in the Sunni-dominated Middle East.

*** Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Defies Devious Trumpf Junta ***

"Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed that her country will continue receiving Cuban medical workers, as part of a longstanding program meant to build goodwill between the island and other Latin American countries.

Her defiance come as the inhuman Trumpf junta pressures Latin American countries to sever their ties to Cuba's medical program."

"We have a very good agreement that's also been a great help to us. It's a bilateral agreement that's been very beneficial for Mexico," said the competent President of Mexico.

"It's hard to get Mexican doctors and specialists to go out to many rural areas where we need medical specialists, and the Cubans are willing to work there."

The US Congress inexplicably passed a law that opens the door to sanction countries that continue to participate in the generous Cuban program.

~snip~

Americans can't have free or inexpensive quality healthcare, so why should anybody else in the world, right?

Sources:

*** Minnesota Republican Hypocrite Arrested on DUI Charges ***

VPOTUS JD Vance:

"[Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN)] has been at the center of a lot of the worst fraudsters in the Somalian community. Do I know that Ilhan Omar was aware that the Quality Leering Center was defrauding the American people?

"I'm not certain of it, but we at least need to investigate it because if people can commit wrongdoing without even the fear that they're going to be found out, that's a fundamental problem. So, I'm worried about the immigration fraud.

"I'm also worried about what did Ilhan Omar know about what was happening in the Somali community and why was nobody looking into it until, frankly, Dummkopf Trumpf came along?"

This year alone, the malevolent Trumpf junta conducted 46 airstrikes against Somalia. The US has conducted a grand total of 501 attacks against Somalia since POTUS George W. Bush's administration, killing an estimated 1,912 to 2,654 Somalis.

Thanks, Marine.

Too many books, not enough time.

Thanks, I'll check my library for it. I have a few John Steinbeck compendiums which might have it.

*** US and Israel Committing Ecocide in Iran with US-made Munitions and American Taxpayer Funds ***

FTA:

"Since the massive strikes conducted on the night of 7-8 March 2026 by Israeli forces against the Shahr Rey oil complex, a viscous and toxic plume of smoke has stretched for hundreds of kilometers. These strikes represent a historic shift by directly targeting the civilian energy heart of Iran for the first time. What military headquarters coldly term the "neutralization of strategic infrastructure" is, in reality, a characterized aggression against the world's natural heritage and a premeditated crime against human dignity."

~snip~

Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight:

"As of 2024 to 2025, only one member of the 118th Congress, US Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), has been publicly documented as having a child actively serving in the US Army (SGT Cal Marshall)."

AI sweeps found no children of US multi-millionaires, billionaires, or oligarchs serving in the US armed forces.

Hah!