Truth Counts

Cause for Concern Iran continues to move missiles and munitions into dense centers of population. Yesterday, Tehran showed off the Shahed-136 Drone in Enqelab Square. Or course, I am seeing other things of concern.  I am not sure how we can turn this around to declare a legitimate "win".  The cost is already unreasonable for our Treasury,  we are not achieving our objectives, and there will be no lasting peace. Iran will not give up their nuclear program and time is on their side.   One of the worst videos tonight was of a man who had turned a shopping cart into a Technical Vehicle to support his .50 heavy caliber machine gun as he fired it.  In the top right corner of the image was the Al Qaeda black flag.  Unsure where the video was taken.

The King's Speech King Charles III speech to Congress was eloquent and balanced with humor.  It was delivered in gracious manner using the distinct linguistic tools attached to diplomacy.  And yet - a need to examine a few of his thoughts.  History counts.  And history stands as witness.  Let me balance the scale of the remarks a bit. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-city/king-charles-speech-congress-transcript/6496010/ The script writer flunked anatomy and physiology.   Bipedal man has two shoulders. "Standing here today, it is hard not to feel the weight of history on my shoulder...." The Creator made us with two shoulders for more equal distribution of weight across our back.  smile "They carried with them, and carried forward, the great inheritance of the British Enlightenment - as well as the ideals which had an even deeper history in English Common law and Magna Carta.  These roots run deep, and they are still vital.  Our Declar...

What I am Reading Tonight From the Iranian side of the house. Why did Brent crude oil futures suddenly drop from $126, its highest price in the past four years (during the Corona period), to around $114? The recent drop in oil prices had two main and behind-the-scenes reasons: 1. End-of-Month Rollovers: At the end of each month, major oil traders must settle their futures contracts or roll them over to the next month. This capital movement causes severe fluctuations, traders take profits, and as a result, a temporary drop in prices. 2. Japan’s clever intervention and manipulation: The second reason, which is much more interesting, was the direct entry of the Japanese government into the market to save its national currency (the yen). Since Japan is a net importer of energy, expensive oil causes a lot of dollars to leave the country and the value of the yen to fall sharply (which recently reached 160 yen against the dollar). Japan made an unprecedented intervention to prevent this disas...

Pedophilia as a "Cultural Misunderstanding" What a moment of Enlightenment!  Pedophilia as a "cultural misunderstanding". https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15778967/Camaro-child-abduction-Ontario-Canada-Manoj-Govindbalunikam.html Pedophiles generally target the trust of the adult guardian or that of the minor child.  In the case of my husband and myself, our trust was assaulted first - but we recognized the dynamic prior to our child being harmed.   Our church was exploding with growth, and one of the first mega-churches in the nation.  Hence, the need to begin an earlier worship service but with a less desirable time for families. We had spilled over from Sunday at 10 a.m. to a second service on Saturday night.  Now, we were ready to launch another option. Since I was a pivotal leader in women's ministry, our family was asked to join a group for prayer thirty minutes prior to the beginning of the eight o'clock service. This was not a one time commitme...

And the Operative Phrase is, "History of Mental Ilness" It is pathetically predictable now.  If there is a stabbing attack against Jews, a priest with his throat slit, a teacher beheaded on the streets of Paris, or little girls stabbed to death during their dance class we will learn the suspect had a "history of mental illness" long before we learn it is a Muslim terrorist.  The news below barely made a blip in the news cycle.  And why was it such a quick dash across the internet?  Why have I not seen several articles which address what happened in logical and cogent terms? You know why.  I do not need to lead you about by the nose.  It is vitally important that individuals raised with a tradition of Enlightenment not be stirred to action and make reasonable demands of their cowardly Parliamentarians. It is vitally important that the rational man never consider what Prophet Muhammad spouted off about the Jews which made it into the Qur'an (after being downl...

Strategic Commercial Bypass Routes What is posted below was cross-pollinated from Arabic to land on another micro-bloggers page whose location is shown below.  I am not attaching any particular narrative - rather merely noting that it is a brave new world. الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية https://services.laits.utexas.edu/ "Pakistan has officially announced the activation of six land crossing passages with Iran, through which more than 3000 containers are currently being transported, in a step that constitutes a structural breach in the American sanctions system. The six official passages: Gwadar ← GPB Karachi/Port Qasim ← Lyari ← Ormara ← Pasni ← GPB Karachi/Port Qasim ← Khuzdar ← Dalbandin ← Taftan Gwadar ← Turbat ← Hoshap ← Panjgur ← Nokkundi ← Besima ← Khuzdar ← Quetta ← Dalbandin ← Nokkundi ← Taftan Gwadar ← Lyari ← Khuzdar ← Quetta ← Dalbandin ← Nokkundi ← Taftan Karachi/Port Qasim ← Gwadar ← GPB The strategic importance transcends the economy: These passages grant Iran...