Global turmoil & analysis

 Today in Venezuela the death toll from the earthquakes last week got updated to 1,943. However, the UN said that they think the number of dead could reach 10,000. The glaring question is, why is the regime in Venezuela clearly slow rolling the numbers? As I said in the last post, the regime is incompetent. The reason they (the regime) do not want the public to know the true number of deaths is, the building codes have been lax in Venezuela for decades, meaning the government is at least partially culpable for the current carnage. The other topic that I want to mention in this post is, today Russia announced that starting July 1st, a total of 7 border crossings with Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, will be "temporarily" closed. No official reason for the closings has been given by Russia; however analysts are concerned that the move is a precursor to an act of aggression against NATO.

 As of the most recent update in Venezuela, there are 5,034 injured, and 1,719 dead (with tens of thousands still missing). The window for rescuing people alive is almost over (if not shut already) and there are many examples that show extreme incompetence by the ruling regime in Venezuela. Before I list some of the most egregious examples of incompetence, remember the Maduro Regime is still in place. The only difference is the regime is led by Delcy Rodríguez since Maduro was arrested in January. So, the incompetence is not surprising, but it is still appalling. Since the earthquakes occurred last Wednesday, very little empathy for the country has been expressed by the regime. In addition, there are many accounts of troops in Venezuela's National Guard looking for items among the rubble instead of rescuing people that are known to be trapped in the same heap. Perhaps the most infuriating example of incompetence (among many) for Venezuelans is, they know many more people are dead t...

 In the last 24 hours many significant storylines have occurred. In the next paragraph, I am going to list the main events (in the most chronological way I can) to serve as an "overall "update. Since my last post, Iran fired 9 missiles at a U.S base in Kuwait, Iran attacked another ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S carried out more strikes in Iran, the death toll in Venezuela rose to 1,430, Iran fired more missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain, and as I type this post some sort of arrests operations are ongoing in Iraq. Needless to say, a lot is going on to finish the week (and the previous paragraph is not an exhaustive list).

 The first topic that I am going to mention in this post is the recent back and forth between Iran and the United States. On June 26th, the United States conducted more airstrikes in Iran in response to the attack by Iran on June 25th, that damaged a commercial vessel (which I talked about in the last post). It is currently unknown how many strikes were carried out and what the target/targets were. To be clear, if the United States is engaging in tit for tats with Iran (which appears to be what is happening) that is another disappointing and regrettable sign of weakness by the United States. To finish this post, I want to give another update on Venezuela. As of the most recent update (which was several hours ago) the death toll from the earthquakes is 920. I want to state two observations of mine regarding the handling of the newest crisis in Venezuela. First, at the very least, it is "interesting" how the Venezuelan Government is updating the numbers. My second observation (...

 I will begin this post with an update on the aftermath of the earthquakes in Venezuela. As of the writing of this post (approximately 22 hours after the earthquakes) many areas close to the epicenter have not been reached yet, and the current toll is 1,500 injured, 188 dead, and 50,000 missing (the death toll is expected to rise drastically over the coming hours, days). The other news that I want to bring up in this post is, earlier today a commercial vessel was "struck by a projectile," while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. If it is confirmed that the "projectile" was fired by Iran (it almost certainly was) it would present a blatant violation of the "peace deal" that was signed last week.

 About six hours ago in Venezuela, a rare doublet earthquake occurred (a doublet earthquake is a rare seismic phenomenon). In the case of Venezuela, the doublet was a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, followed by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake 40 seconds later. Very few details are known at this point, except that the damage in the capitol city of Caracas alone (which is 100 miles away from the epicenter of either earthquake) is extremely immense.  It is estimated that several thousand people have died.

 In Peru the Presidential Election that began with 35 candidates is down to just 2 (Keiko Fujimori, and Roberto Sanchez). At some point between now and July 26th the winner of the election is going to be announced (July 26th is when they take office). The reason I said "at some point" instead of a definitive date is, counting of votes from the second election runoff is still ongoing. Which leads me into the reason for this post that I will explain in the rest of the post. Early on after the runoff (which was on June 7th) Sanchez had the lead but, Fujimori gained the lead when overseas ballots began being counted. Today it is currently projected that Fujimori is leading by less than 1 percent at 50.11%-49.89%, with 99.72% of votes having been counted as of this morning. As if the situation described above was not tense enough, today, Sanchez held a press conference during which he said that "fraud is underway" and if he loses, he will not recognize a government led b...

 During the last few months in Iran (including while the war was ongoing) 3,292 people have been arrested.  Most (if not all) of the arrests are under the accusation of conspiring with the enemy (Isreal, and the United States). Hundreds of people who have been arrested have had their property confiscated, and as of June 8th, 40 of those arrested have been hanged. Similar to how we abandoned the people of Afghanistan after 20 years, we are abandoning the oppressed people of Iran. The manner in which the United States left Afghanistan was disgraceful and is a stain on the U.S.. The United States had a good chance (as the leader of the free world) in Iran to set an oppressed people free. Sadly, with the recently signed "deal," I think Iran will come to be viewed as a stain (a job left unfinished) by the United States just like Afghanistan.

 In this week's edition of "Al Naba" (a weekly newspaper associated with ISIS) ISIS called on supporters in the United States to carry out "lone wolf' attacks during the World Cup. In the publication, ISIS referred to the World Cup as a "pagan occasion taking place in the heart of crusader America." The article went on to encourage followers (of ISIS) to exploit the large crowds expected at matches, fan zones, transportation hubs, and public gatherings.

 On the night of June 18th, fighting resumed between the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and Hezbollah. This occurred despite the fighting in Lebanon being a major topic of the "peace deal." The fighting intensified throughout the night, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Hezbollah Fighters, and 4 IDF Soldiers. On the afternoon of June 19 (in the Middle East) the United States, Qatar, and Iran, negotiated a "ceasefire" between Isreal, and Hezbollah. If that does not make sense to you, join the line.

 Today, CENTCOM (who's area of responsibility includes Iran) announced that their blockade of Iranian ports and shipping has been lifted. The move means Iran can freely move oil again for the first time since the war began at the end of February. Aside from my personal opinion, does anybody actually think this is a good thing for the free world? If you think it is a good idea, state why in the comments. I am always genuinely interested in people's opinions.  

 Say you live in a neighborhood, and most people who live there get along well enough. Sure, some residents have differences of opinion from time to time, but overall, your neighborhood is relatively calm.  Within this neighborhood there are some residents who cause trouble (it is what they do) and the residents who cause the trouble get along. In this neighborhood, there are also residents who (over time) have a reputation for being morally upstanding and abide by neighborhood rules. The last two details you need to know about this neighborhood is, one of the residents (from the upstanding, abide by the rules portion is more powerful than everyone else who lives in the neighborhood. They can be trusted, and they have a strong influence over most of the residents of the neighborhood. Lastly, one of the troublemaking residents has a longstanding hatred of everyone who is not part of the troublemaking group (that I described earlier) particularly, they  hate the resident wh...

 In this post, I am going to discuss two attacks that have been conducted by the Russian Military in recent days. The first attack that I will bring up is grievous, and the second attack is absurd. Early Monday morning (Sunday in the United States) Russia carried out another wave of strikes access Ukraine. The strikes killed at least 11 Ukrainians. including 4 killed in Kyiv, and 5 rescue workers who died trying to put out a fire (the fire was the result of a missile strike) in Kharkiv. In addition, the Dormition Cathedral (located in Kyiv) was severely damaged. The Cathedral (which was constructed in the 11th century) is listed as a historical and protected site.  The other attack that I want to mention is, today a Russian warship, after a series of events, fired warning shots at a British Civilian yacht in the English Channel (between the Isle of Wight, and the coast of Normandy, France).

 Yesterday was a sad day for the United States and the free world. In the last post I talked about how I hoped a "deal" with Iran would not be signed, but sadly for the world it happened yesterday. I am not going to talk about the specific details of the "deal" in this post (they are still coming out) but every detail that is known so far is horrible. This post is not expressing a political opinion (I never write about domestic politics on this blog). My reason for writing this post is to mark this bitter occasion.  I believe the world (defiantly the United States) will never be the same after yesterday. The global influence of the United States is crippled, and the forces of evil in the world think they can win.

 On June 14th, it has been said that the United States will sign a memorandum of understanding with Iran (even though Iran has said they will not). Whether you agree with the war, or not, agreeing to anything with Iran is a bad move. In the next paragraph, I will state reasons why I hope this "signing" does not happen. First, the Government has not related any details of the mou to the public before the signing (odd for something so important). The second reason I hope the signing does happen (and by far the biggest reason) is it will severely damage the United States's standing in the world.  In fact, if this "deal" gets signed, I think it will be the move (or first in a series of moves) that will damage the United States's standing in the world so badly it might never recover   I have said in several past posts that there was a risk of decisions with the kind of consequences that I laid out in the last paragraph.  We should all hope this deal does not happ...

 A few hours ago, it was announced that at some point this week, the United States conducted some sort of strike in Venezuela that killed Nino Guerrero. Guerrero was the founder and head of the Venezuelan transnational criminal origination (Tren de Aragua) It was also announced a few hours ago, that early on June 13th (Middle East time) Iran launched "several" drones at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM claims that they shot down all of the drones.

 On the nights of June 9th, and 10th, the U.S. conducted strikes in Iran. There was a lot of talk going on, stating that on June 11th there would be more strikes. I even saw an interview this morning where the use of ground forces was hinted at. On the afternoon of June 11th, a statement came out saying that several countries (but not Iran) had agreed on the points of a "deal" that was going to be signed in an undisclosed location, on an unknown date, sometime in the near future. If you think the last paragraph made no sense, I will respond by saying two things.  First, it did actually happen, and you are right about it not making sense The hard truth is the Iranian regime hates the West (particularly the United States) and as I explained in the post titled "REASON FOR SKEPTICISM", Iran uses diplomacy as a strategy to ultimately defeat their enemies, not make peace.

 In this post, I am going to mention three events. With the mention of each event, I will state an interesting aspect of said event. The first event that I want to mention is the situation in Belfast. Yesterday I talked about how riots were occurring in Northern Ireland (specifically in Belfast). June 10th saw a second night of unrest, though (as far as I know) the disorder was contained to a town just outside of Belfast proper. The moment of night two of the riots that stands out to me is, several times the rioters got so close to the police line that they banged rocks on the police vehicles. Next, the United States has conducted airstrikes in Iran for a second night in a row (the first started a few hours after my last post). In return (again) for the second night in a row, Iran launched drones and missiles at multiple Gulf countries. The last point that I want to bring up, is connected to the last paragraph. On June 11th, the FIFA World Cup begins. Most of the Matches are going ...

 Yesterday, a U.S Apache Helicopter was shot down (by Iran) over the Strait of Hormuz. Both soldiers who were on the helicopter survived and were rescued by a drone boat. The President of the United States has said that the U.S will respond. The other situation that I want to bring up is. as I write this post, riots are breaking out in Northern Ireland (mainly in Belfast). Many houses and buildings are being set on fire by the rioters. The reason for the protests that have turned into riots is yesterday a man in his 30s (who is from Sudan) stabbed a man. According to witnesses, the man was trying to behead the victim (who is in critical condition). The situation in Northern Ireland is potentially a very explosive situation.

 In this post, I am going to give a timeline of events in the Middle East over roughly the last 36 hours.  Early on June 7th, Isreal conducted airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut (which Iran had said is a "red line"). Then Iran fired missiles at Israe hours later, Israel carried out airstrikes in Iran, then Iran fired missiles at Israel (while Israel was still doing airstrikes in Iran) in the midst of all of this even the Houthis fired a few missiles at Isreal, and now it is over? Now I will add two points that I left out of the timeline on purpose, both points are very significant. First, after Iran fired missiles the first time, the United States asked Israel not to respond. The other important point (and the reason hostilities are not currently happening) is, this morning the United States urged Isreal to stop. I am not going to say my opinion, because it leans toward politics. I will just finish this post with two questions. Do you think the fighting is over for ...

 You might be tracking events is the Middle East both the last few years and currently and often feel weird about the "negotiations" going on under the guise of diplomacy. You might also ask the same question I ask sometimes, why are we negotiating with terrorists? It turns out that there is one word that answers both questions, and I will discuss said word in the next paragraph. The term is Taqiyya. Taqiyya is a doctrine within Islam that permits lying to non-Muslims, for different reasons. The purpose for Taqiyya that stood out most to me is, " To gain the trust of non-believers (non-Muslims) to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them." Whether you are talking about dealings with Syria, Iran, or their proxies, Taqiyya is the answer to why nothing good ever comes out of these situations. Taqiyya is also why you never negotiate with terrorists.

 On June 6th, 1944, thousands upon thousands of American, and Allied troops took part in Operation Overlord. The operation was one of the boldest military operations in the history of the world. Before the landings even began on the beaches of Normandy, thousands of paratroopers had been landing behind enemy lines throughout the night.   When the paratroopers jumped out of their planes, they faced anti-aircraft fire that was so intense that one of the paratroopers said, "it looked like you could dance on it". Many of the men were killed before they landed. Many of the planes got hit before they even got to jump.  The purpose of Operation Overlord was to begin liberating Nazi occupied Western Europe. 4,414 allied troops were killed on D-day, but largely due to the actions of that "DAY OF DAYS" freedom was restored to the oppressed peoples of Europe, and they preserved the free world after them.

In the country of Oman, the Mina Al Fahal terminal serves as the main export terminal in the country. The terminal is located roughly 3.4 miles from the Omani capital city of Muscal, and exports one million barrels of crude oil per day. Within the last few hours Oman has suspended the loading of oil at the terminal. The reason for the suspension is a drone (presumably Iranian) struck between two of the terminals mooring berths.  It is currently unknown when the strike occurred, and how long the suspension will last.  Either way a suspension (regardless of how long it last) will have a direct negative effect on the oil market. 

 Early in the morning on June 3rd, Iran launched strikes (consisting of drones, and missiles) against Kuwait, and Bahrain. In this post, I am going to focus on the strikes against Kuwait. To date during the war, Iran has launched numerous strikes against Kuwait. To the best of my knowledge, the strikes on Wednesday were the most severe (based on the amount of reported damage that occurred). with the exception of one attack a few weeks ago (where a missile hit a U.S. Base). Kuwaiti Air Defenses usually shoot down the incoming threats. However, early on Wednesday several projectiles made it past the air defense. According to reporting on the attack, most of the drones/missiles struck the International Airport in Kuwait, resulting in "significant" damage to the airport. In addition, the strikes killed 1 person, and 63 people were injured.

 Yesterday into today Eastern time (early morning Ukraine time) Russia carried out one of their largest missile/drone attacks since the beginning of the war. The current numbers are at least 25 civilians killed (including 7 in Kyiv) and over 100 injured. The numbers continue to grow as many people were trapped under rubble. The other topic that I want to mention in this post is, nationwide protests are expected to take place tomorrow in Venezuela. The purpose of the protests is to call for "free, and fair elections". I would not be surprised if the protests are large, and possibly violent specifically in Caracas. Large, because the protests have been planned for a while (I mentioned them in a post on May 22nd) and possibly violent, because traditionally the "Regime" in Venezuela really hates when elections are mentioned... Especially by the civilians.

 As a citizen of the United States, it is not with joy that I write this post. However, honesty is the standard on this blog (with no politics). With that in mind I have to say that in my opinion everything currently going on in the world makes the U.S. look very weak.  Whether we are talking about the current situation in Venezuela, relations with Syria, Ukraine, or the war in the Middle East among other examples, the way each is being handled makes the United States look weak. As I have discussed in previous posts, the U.S "should" be over everything that takes place in the world. When I say, "over everything" I do not mean directly involved, what I mean is as the most powerful country on earth, we should have significant sway over all global affairs. With the prior paragraph in mind, let me say what the reason for this post is. The War in the Middle East started on the last day of February. Iran is in every way inferior to the United States. Why on the first day ...