A History of the Iran-Israel War

 Yes, it's a war.  Israel wants/demands hegemony in the Middle East.

So this excerpt will be of interest to those who insist on Israel's Total Virtue.

... With the demise of the Soviet Union, the perceived geopolitical stakes of Iran’s orientation diminished.  American oil companies hoped for access to Iran, and after the electoral victory of the moderate  Khatami  in 1997 seemed poised to get it.  But AIPAC was by then a powerful barrier to any sort of normalization. Israel had—with the seeming neutralization of Iraq after the first Gulf War—shifted to treating Iran rather than Iraq as its major strategic rival. Massively one-sided congressional resolutions were organized to forbid American commercial relations with Iran, and the White House, uncertain of its goals in any case, did not oppose them. 

 The shock of 9/11 and the need to hit back at least at Afghanistan might have changed that. Large crowds of Iranians held candlelight vigils for the murdered Americans—something that occurred nowhere else in the Muslim world. Thousands observed a moment of silence in an Iranian  soccer game. Tehran offered Washington assistance in toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan, and American and Iranian diplomats engaged productively in the early months of the American war against the Taliban, including in intelligence cooperation. But these nibblings towards some sort of détente came to an abrupt stop after Iran was included in what Bush called the “axis of evil” in his 2002 State of the Union address.  Some administration principals had tried and failed to squelch that phrase. Iran immediately  downgraded its diplomatic teams meeting with Americans over Afghanistan. ...

It's not entirely a one-sided thing:

... What did change in the 2000s was that Iran had mastered the nuclear enrichment cycle and was rapidly becoming a potential nuclear power. The incoming Obama administration was determined to deal with that threat by negotiation; Israel wanted a military solution. President Barack Obama prevailed but in a kind of mixed decision, signing with Iran (and Russia, China and France, Germany, and Britain) an agreement which limited Iranian nuclear enrichment to well below weapon-grade levels and subjected it to close monitoring. But he lacked the votes to pass it as a Senate confirmed treaty and the agreement would have expired in the late 2020s. Israel vociferously opposed the measure and Netanyahu was invited by the Republican House leadership to speak against it. In the end, Obama was able to get the treaty enacted  and Iran’s nuclear march stymied, but the deal was consummated under such partisan duress that it never had a chance to become a springboard for a deepening détente. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump labeled it “the worst deal ever” and jettisoned it in the second year of his first term. ...

Now we are at the "Iran LIED!!!" part of the drama.....

Well, maybe they did, but nobody has produced proof of that, have they? 

Another Look at "Affordability"

 We had thought of the objections to the "affordability" issue pushed by the Left.  This article carries the same sensibilities.

Remember this:  the Left plays to the Cardinal sin (Vice) of ENVY.  That's where their "affordability" line comes from.

 The lifestyle expectations of the typical working- and middle-class American are driven by a one-way ratchet that only goes up. What we treat as the minimum for a “normal,” well-provisioned life looks like what only aristocrats could expect or achieve until very recently. 

From conversations about the “necessity” of daycare to the desire for one car for every driver in a household to the notion of the “starter home,” what ordinary Americans think is the baseline outstrips what even the wealthiest of their ancestors could afford. ...

Yes.

The article covers "Day Care," (necessitated by the luxe-lifestyle/dual-income demands), multiple cars, heavily-optioned "starter homes", and--on the other hand--the  horrific burden of college loans and lack of inexpensive housing driven partially by Government codes.

The conclusion?

 ...our baseline expectations for what constitutes a decent middle-class life are far higher than they’ve ever been. It may be time for a renaissance of the old-fashioned American values of moderate expectations, frugality, and making do. 

Indeed. 

 

Unpacking the "Love Thine Enemies" Perversions

The current Hot Take on the Gospel centers on the famous "But I say to you love thine enemies/Turn the other cheek" verses spoken by Jesus Christ.

The term "category error" should be applied when various "religious" gurus suggest that those verses should be applied to countries, as well as individuals.

Let's start with the micro here.  Christ's commands obviously and easily apply to individuals.  But it is not obvious, nor easy, to apply them to countries.  Think of it this way:  while you may 'turn the other cheek' to someone who assaults you, you are not entitled to walk away from an assault on another person (say, your wife/children/neighbor.)

That same distinction applies to the leadership of countries.  Those individuals are not at liberty to "turn the other cheek" and allow an assault on 10, 20, 100, or 500 million citizens.  Christ's counsel and commands are not "transitive" to third parties.

Bear that in mind when you are forced to listen to the babble of supposedly "anti-war" people.  They are very happy that you are confused with their perversion of the Gospel.  They are very good at perverting it for their own purposes, but religious observance is not a suicide pact. 

Yes, Those Semi-Trucking Outfits ARE a Problem

You may have noticed an increase in semi-truck crashes and "incidents' over the last several years.

There's a reason for that.

 

...Our reporting focused on Super Ego Holding — a network of commercial trucking and leasing companies based in Serbia and the U.S. It's currently under federal investigation and named in a class action lawsuit. Regulators and former employees call it one of the most notorious chameleon schemes — a ticking time bomb on our nation's roadways.

Rob Carpenter: Chameleon carriers are basically a network of companies and they constantly reincarnate and the idea is we are revenue-focused, we are going to start this trucking company, we are going to run it into the ground to make as much money as we possibly can.

Rob Carpenter has been a trucker for 25 years. 

He now is a trucking safety consultant and has been tracking chameleon companies which have surged since the pandemic.

Chameleon carriers, as their name suggests, are commercial trucking operations that skirt federal regulations and escape bad safety records by changing company names to evade detection.

Rob Carpenter: And when you move on to the next, you're really doing that to try to abandon the history that you've created with that other trucking company because you've run so poorly in the past year, right? So then you just adopt a new identity and you move on to a new carrier.

Bill Whitaker: Just dissolve that company and--

Rob Carpenter: Just completely dissolve it--

Bill Whitaker: --slap a new name on the truck and move on--

Rob Carpenter: That's right.

You can see how easy it is in this undercover video, shot by another trucker: 

Same drivers, same trucks, same bad records —in this case hundreds of violations erased with the switch of a carrier name and Department of Transportation number – the federal ID used to track a carrier's safety history.

Rob Carpenter: You've got no violations. You've got no crashes. Things that people are gonna look at and scrutinize on whether they're gonna let you haul their freight or not don't exist. You're just a clean carrier to them. 

Networks often owned and operated from eastern Europe, India and central Asia, set up chameleon carriers in the U.S. with different names and owners, who then register with the Department of Transportation, secure minimal insurance....

Rob Carpenter: And within 21 days, you have a trucking company. ...

Bill Whitaker: That's all it takes.

Rob Carpenter: That's all it takes. There's no requirement to own a trucking company that you be an American. You can start it from anywhere in the world. $1,000, pay online, say you are who you say you are, and you've got a trucking company. 

Trump's DOT is working hard on this, unlike the DOTs of Obama and Biden.  Meantime, if you see a SuperEGO trailer, (they are all around Chicago and the I-80/90/94 corridors) maintain at least 10 car lengths' distance.  At least. 

The "Safe, Effective" Vaxx? A Baby-Killer

What Planned Parenthood couldn't accomplish, Fraudci & Birx--plus their co-conspirators like Pfizer--did.

More Dead Babies.

This is a chart of miscarriages and stillbirths derived from VAERS reports.

 

TMJ4's Not-Quite-Complete "News"

 We all know the old saw about "news":  it's not what they DO tell you that counts.  It's what they do NOT tell you that counts.

Channel 4 does not like the President; they do not like his policies; and they show it.  

In this story, the reporter-ette faithfully records the very incomplete yammering of an unhappy supporter of a recently-captured fugitive from justice.  The supporter repeats all the lines about 'long-term resident' and 'pillar of the community.'  OK, we expect that.

The reporter-ette fails to note that the 'long-term/pillar of....' LIED on the form asking for admission to the US.

That is a significant material omission and it falls right in line with the TMJ4 party line. 

It is what they do NOT tell you........ 

The Government's allegations that Mansour was financing terrorists through his furniture store operation was also not mentioned.

It is what they do NOT tell you...... 

Do Not Pass "GO." Do Not Collect Victory

JD Vance did what he could, given the rumored limitations imposed by Jared & Co.

Iran, which occupies the catbird seat, said "Nope!"

Now what?  The end of a civilization? 

The Curious Flight of Epstein "Survivors"

If you notice the whiff of "LYING" in the air, it's probably the Democrats.

Melania Trump's statement demanding light has caused the termites to head for the dark.

...“Epstein was not alone,” Melania said. “Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. We must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth. I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes. Then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional record.”

It was exactly what the “survivor groups” have been demanding. Time on the record before Congress. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) has long demanded Congressional hearings with survivors. She’s been pushing the House Oversight Committee to hold exactly the kind of hearing Melania just called for. But after Melania’s statement, an anonymous group of “survivors” immediately pivoted to saying they don’t want to testify.

 Now they say they’ve already done their part, even though the anonymous survivors never complained when Representative Pressley demanded survivor hearings. Meanwhile, named survivors, like Lisa Phillips, went on CNN last night praising Melania’s statement as “huge” and noting that “nobody’s ever said that.”...

Well.  Isn't THAT interesting. 

 

Pp. Leo, We Await......

Pp. Leo sent a message to the Chaldean (uniate) Church.

 As they visit Rome for the election of their new Patriarch, members of the Chaldean Church of Baghdad met with Pope Leo XIV in the Apostolic Palace on Friday morning....

 ...Closing his message, Pope Leo reminded members of the Chaldean Catholic Church they “are signs of hope in a world marked by absurd and inhumane violence, which in these times, driven by greed and hatred, spreads ferociously in the very lands that saw the rise of salvation."

However, he warned, nothing is more important than the lives of the weakest, children, and families—“no cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.”

Be “tireless workers for peace” in Jesus’ name. You are called, the Pope stressed, to be “never on the side of those who yesterday wielded the sword and today launch bombs.”

OK, then, Pp. Leo.

We await your condemnation of all the Crusades, the sailors at Lepanto, and Sobieski of Poland.

We could name others who "wielded the sword," but let's start there.

OK?? 

Trump's "Whole Civilization Will Die"....Meaning????

 The Levin/Benji crowd of Israeli cheerleaders goes hair-on-fire accusing Tucker of saying sumpin'sumpin' about nuclear bombs in Iran war.

Actually, that was President Trump, who said:

... a "whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran fails to meet his latest deadline to strike a deal...

Although few in the US read that unfortunately stupid remark as a threat of nuclear bombing, lots of others, in other countries, could easily make that inference.

Tucker just happened to be one observer who read that as a possibility.

  

Bibi Snookered Trump. Iran Wins, Mostly, Maybe Not

 From the flapjaw on the 'net today, it appears that Israel lied effectively, and dragged the US into another bomb-dropping exercise in Iran.

Iran--no matter Trump's spin--set the terms for an armistice, and those terms favor Iran, not Israel.

Further, the 'net expects Hegseth to be fired. 

Politico makes a fool of itself by its claim that the SCOWI race had to do with Iran/Trump. 

ADDED:  See this video, wherein Vance states flatly that Lebanon was NOT part of the cease-fire deal, and that there are THREE "10-point plans" circulating, at least 2 of which are not genuine or realistic.

Give up yet? 

HHS Moving to Pro-Life

 Reported today by Daily Signal:

 The [HHS] agency issued a notice of funding opportunity Friday with new guidelines for grant recipients under the Title X family planning program. The notice prohibits awardees from spending the grants on abortion and abortion-related services.

The guidelines instead incentivize applicants to address root causes of infertility, such as chronic diseases, reduce “overmedicalization” in fertility treatments, promote body literacy, and support family formation....

 This is the first step toward reissuing the Protect Life Rule in President Donald Trump’s second term, prohibiting Title X funds from going to organizations that perform abortions. It was implemented in the first Trump administration but rescinded by former President Joe Biden....

So.........that means that Reid Hoffman, Soros, and the Pritzkers will have to spend their money on killing babies rather than electing baby-killers?

Huh. 

Clickbait Congress, Wasting Time (and Money)

Yes, it's true.  Many elected people use clickbait as re-election tools instead of doing the work that citizens demand.

 Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, is once more calling on Congress to pass his bill to enshrine Easter Monday as a federal holiday....

... The post comes a year after Moore, alongside Sen. Eric Schmitt, introduced legislation that would make the day after Easter Sunday a federal holiday....

That means ANOTHER get-paid-for-no-work day for Federal employees.

Meantime, those two clickbaiters sit on their fat tushes about getting rid of Daylight Savings.

That would be work, and does not fire up the Evangelicals. 

JPII vs. Truth Regarding the Old Covenant

Yes, well, Popes make mistakes, and St John Paul II made a big one.  Morrison of The Remnant did the homework.

 ...We can begin with the words of John Paul II about the Old Covenant, which many Catholics naturally believe to be representative of the Catholic position:

November 17, 1980: “The first dimension of this dialogue, that is, the encounter between the people of God of the Old Covenant, never denounced by God (cf. Rom 11:29), and that of the New Covenant, is at the same time a dialogue within our Church, so to speak between the first and second parts of her Bible.”

September 11, 1987: “It is fitting at the beginning of our meeting to emphasize our faith in the One God, who chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and made with them a Covenant of eternal love, which was never revoked (Cfr. Gen. 27, 12; Rom. 11, 29).”

April 28, 1999: “A few great feasts like Easter and Pentecost recall the Jewish liturgical year and are excellent occasions for remembering in prayer the people God chose and loves (cf. Rom 11:2). Today dialogue means that Christians should be more aware of these elements which bring us closer together. Just as we take note of the ‘covenant never revoked by God’ (cf. Insegnamenti, 1980, [III/2], pp. 1272-1276), so we should consider the intrinsic value of the Old Testament (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 3), even if this only acquires its full meaning in the light of the New Testament and contains promises that are fulfilled in Jesus.”...

The problem?  That's not the teaching of the Church.

The architect of Nostra Aetate--the Vat II document on the Jews--was Cdl. Bea.  While +Bea has some problems in other areas, we can take his word on N.A. as the best interpretation.  He wrote:

"... it is true that the Jewish people is no longer the people of God in the sense of an institution for the salvation of mankind. The reason for this, however, is not that it has been rejected, but simply that its function in preparing the kingdom of God finished with the advent of Christ and the founding of the Church. From then on, the nature of the people of God and the way of becoming incorporated into it changed completely: the ‘people of God’ of the New Testament is no longer confined to a single nation and is no longer propagated by descent according to the flesh but by faith.”...

Morrison reaches the logical conclusion:

... Cardinal Bea’s message was clear: the Old Covenant is no longer in effect, but Jews can be saved if they follow the religion of the New Covenant. If it had been possible for Nostra Aetate to have been more favorable to the Jewish religion, it would have been. But we can conclude from Cardinal Bea’s words that there was no way the Catholic religion could accommodate the position that the Old Covenant remains in effect. As such, John Paul II’s position was clearly opposed to Catholicism and Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate....

The term used by Churchmen is "fulfilled."  The Old Covenant was FULFILLED by Christ and His New and eternal covenant.  He said "No one can come to the Father except through Me," and that is precisely why he 'harrowed Hell' on Holy Saturday, bringing Abraham, Moses, and certain other O.T. figures to heaven with Him.  That is to say, unless Christ had done that, those men and women would NOT be enjoying the Beatific Vision.

You're either with Christ or against him (with the usual caveats.)

That's the hard truth which some are afraid to say--even Saints.

What IS a "Criminal Alien"?

 If you don't like the numbers, change the calculation method!  

Also works if you don't approve of Trump.

 ...TRAC, a project started in 1989 at Syracuse University, is known as a gold standard source for reporting on federal government data and is known for compiling federal crime and immigration enforcement statistics. News outlets frequently cite its data to report on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. ..

OK.  And....?

... “[They] changed their own methodology, TRAC did at Syracuse, which is, they used to say anyone with a criminal record or criminal arrest was in the criminal category, and then they would break it down and say, he's [got] a criminal conviction, he's under pending charges, or whatever,” Sean Kennedy, Policy Director of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, told the Just the News, No Noise TV show.  

“They just took the pending charges number out. So when CNN goes and reports it out, they say, oh, only 30% have convictions....

So then you can have this:

 ...FactCheck.org, a major fact-checking platform, published an article in January that said “[while] the Trump administration insists that it is targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ in its immigration enforcement, it has not provided information to substantiate that, and the data that is available suggests the claim has become less accurate over time.”  

The website specifically cites the declining proportion of detainees that have criminal convictions as evidence of a “transition toward arresting a higher percentage of immigrants with no criminal record.”...

 This is your regular reminder:  when the Left talks, they're lying.

Sen. RoJo is Correct

 A good call from the Senator.

 

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said Monday that he does not support the United States attacking Iranian civilian infrastructure amid conflict in the Middle East, signaling a rare break from President Donald Trump's recent actions toward Iran.

Trump has threatened to destroy Iran's civilian power grid and domestic infrastructure if the country fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf by Tuesday evening.

Johnson said he supports the president's decision to begin the conflict against Iran before it got too powerful, but does not support actions that could harm the Iranian people that the U.S. is attempting to "liberate." ...

... I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure ... We are not at war with the Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them....

Not the first correct call for RoJo, either.

 ..."We're at war with about a million of the elites, the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps], the other security forces and the people who are brutally ruling that country," he continued. "They're not going to give it up easy. I warned [when] the first bombs were flying that this is not going to be an easy task." ...

Iran is not Venezuela. 

 

Remember Schlitz Brewing?

 Yah, well, this is Schlitz Brewing redux.

 ...On Monday, the [Milwaukee Common Council's] Steering and Rules Committee advanced two resolutions in response to multiple grocery stores, as well as pharmacies that have closed in the city – including in low-income neighborhoods. ...

One resolution declares what they are calling food apartheid, a deliberate and racialized system denying people of color access to fresh foods – a public health emergency. As part of that, the committee also advanced a change to city ordinance, requiring grocers and pharmacies to give a 60-day written notice of intent to close the city, detailing the date of closure, reason for closure, and plans for employees. ...

 Stamping their Widdle Feets and yelling "RAAAAACISSSSSS!!!!" at the sky.....

But we digress.

Many years ago, a Milwaukee alderman, drunk with power, commanded Schlitz Brewing NOT to close its operations in Milwaukee.  Our foggy memory tells us that he was the president of the Common Council.

Not long afterwards, Schlitz locked its doors for the last time.

History is not the strong suit of Milwaukee aldermen.  

However, screeching "RAAAAAACISSSS!!" is.  

Residents should be proud!

Iran Is Not the Lone Ranger

 Amusing story here.

 

President Donald Trump said Monday that “bullshit artists” in the Iranian regime have been “bullshitting” other American presidents for nearly five decades....

As if Iran is the ONLY Middle Eastern country that bullshits America. 

Adelman: Dugan GUILTY, No New Trial (!!!)

A lot of money changed hands today.  

Betting that Adelman would 'rescue' ex-judge Dugan with a new trial or a set-aside of the guilty verdict?

Nope.

  Federal Judge Lynn Adelman has rejected former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan's request for a new trial or a judgment of acquittal after her felony conviction in December...

Wow. 

The Position of the Church on "Judaism"

Useful essay on the relationship of the Church to Judaism.  Here's an excerpt which is the core of it.

 ...You will search the magisterium, including the JPII speech he is commenting on, in vain to find any teaching that "Judaism" is the object of God's irrevocable covenant. Rather, the covenant is with the Jewish people. 

After the completion of the revelation of the New Covenant, the way for the Jews to be faithful to their covenant is to believe in Christ as members of the Catholic Church. The idea that the covenant is attached to the practice of a religious system that by Keating's own admission arose AFTER Christ is absurd on its face. By contrast, the Church has always taught that the continued practice of "Judaism" is not only spiritually unprofitable but an offense against God. 

Keating misquotes a speech by St. John Paul II, saying "he referred to Judaism as 'a living heritage which we, as Catholic Christians, must understand and cherish in all its depth and richness.'" Note that by "Judaism" Keating has already established that he means modern rabbinic Judaism. 

By contrast, here is JPII's full statement: "In their 'Declaration on the Church's Relationship with Judaism' of April this year, the Bishops of the Federal Republic of Germany began with this statement: 'Whoever encounters Jesus Christ, encounters Judaism.' I would also like to make this statement my own. The Church's faith in Jesus Christ, son of David and son of Abraham, in fact contains what the Bishops in that declaration call 'the spiritual heritage of Israel for the Church', a living heritage that we Catholic Christians must understand and preserve in its depth and richness." 

The living heritage of Israel for the Church is, then, not modern rabbinic Judaism, but the religion of the Old Testament which is contained spiritually in our faith in Christ. JPII wishes to instill respect toward the Jewish people because of their connection to that revelation. But in fact, it is the Catholic faith, not rabbinic tradition practiced by unbelieving Jews, which "understands and preserves" "the spiritual heritage of Israel for the Church"....

To re-state the truth of the matter:  the New Covenant is the FULFILLMENT of the Old.  That is why the Temple was destroyed and remains destroyed to this very day.