. . .

K          “Xi was cordial.  Trump was crass.”

J          “I see things a little differently.  Trump was crass.  Xi was cordial.”

K          “The world saw how weak and effete the U.S. has become.”

J          “The U.S. lost.”

. . .

J          “Then ‘Trump Always Chills Out’ it is.  When he has purportedly ‘chickened out’ and reversed course, the world has benefited.   Taunting him with ‘chickening out’ is not prudent.  He is an excitable lad.”

K          “What if a populace chanted that the Emperor has won bigly and should take his victory and go on with life?”

. . .

K          “Robert Kagen recently spewed two very public screeds in the stridently pro-war The Atlantic emphasizing the American loss and subtly trying to intimidate Trump into continuing the ill-fated war.  Everything fits.  He is married to Victoria ‘Fuck the EU’ Nuland, the recipient of the prestigious ‘John McCain – Madeleine Albright Rancid Vermin Award’ on May 1, 2023.”

J          “Those pieces were carefully and strategically calibrated and edited.  Playing to his many insecurities is the way to play Trump.”

. . .

K          “The rising yield for Treasuries is a world plebiscite revealing the fading faith and fizzling confidence in the U.S.”

J          “I thought I saw the 30 year yield at over 5.1 percent.  Such a high rate is an ‘own goal’ economic nuclear weapon.”

K          “I still maintain that the double secret solution by the U.S. government will be to lie and report lower yields.  If they actually must pay 5.4 percent, the government will just report 4.4 percent.  Just wait.”

. . .

K          “The Federal Reserve responds to every economic crisis by shoveling trillions to the billionaires.  Dollars do not grow on dandelions.  The individual citizen ends up paying for the wealth transfer.”

J          “So the U.S. is using its swap lines designed to protect American banks to extend credit to those foreign countries that have extended credit to the U.S. so that the foreign countries that extended credit to the U.S. do not sell their U.S. Treasuries and tank the U.S. economy, all funded with money borrowed by the U.S. from foreign countries that ultimately is billed to the ordinary American taxpayer.  That perfectly reflects the illogical logic of our era.”

K          “World War E is exploding.”

. . .

J          “So the ‘E’ is ‘Energy’ and the ‘Economy’ and the ‘Environment’ rolled into one.”

K          “‘World War EEE / III’ is cumbersome, yet ‘World War E / III’ is cogent and comprehensive.”

J          “So when an oil tanker is sunk, the oil does not mix well with water.  That is World War Environment.”

. . .

 K         “The two sides are not fighting an ‘asymmetric’ war.  They are fighting an ‘asynchronous’ war.  The U.S. is fighting World War II, whereas Iran, China and Russia are fighting World War E / III.”

J          “And in that war, drones and robots are king and will determine who is the next king.”  

. . .

J          “The American Empire contracts as the Trump Empire expands.  The best evidence suggests that the Trump Empire has hustled 6.5 Billion to date.   That may be an economic disincentive to blow up the Middle East.”

K          “The American Empire implodes as the Trump Empire explodes.”

. . .

K          “The ‘LEGO Videos’ are eviscerating and effective.  The Oscar-worthy pieces are influencing the ‘Generation Draft Eligible’ who may be more courageous than the ‘Boomer Generation’ and simply refuse to fight.”

J          “Bernays would blush.  This is foremost and first a psychological war.  The LEGO videos are using rap and, in a few recent ones, country music to convey the message.  They are like a nuclear weapon.”

. . .

J          “Will there be diesel at a price the farmer can pay to harvest the bounty?  Will there be diesel at a price manufacturers are willing to pay to process and unload the harvest?  Will there be plastic packaging at the manufacturer to ship the food?  Will there be diesel to transport it from manufacturers to warehouses?  Will there be propane for the forklifts to load and unload the trucks?  Will there be diesel at a price customers are willing to pay to ship it to stores?  Will the consumers have gas to get to the stores that actually have each food item on their shelves?  Will the consumers be willing to clean and bring their own plastic vessels to Costco to haul away their food.”

K          “And how will any industrial machinery, much less vehicles, operate without lubricants?  To do so without lubricants would damage machinery, so there goes transportation and manufacturing.”

. . .

J          “You said that when an aircraft is experiencing an emergency, it squawks 7700 on the transponder?  And the verb ‘squawk’ is reserved for transmissions from the transponder?  The U.S. is squawking 7700 loudly and clearly.”

K          “The good ship U.S. is in an emergency and should also be squawking 7500 because it has been hijacked.”

J          “And does not know it.”

. . .  

K          “The U.S. has amassed too many killing toys and too many legionnaires to forsake one last great conflagration.”

J          “Israel will demand it.”

. . .

[See New LEGO Video For Americans | Americans Please Wake Up.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Gaza Genocided and Ethnically Cleansed:  Indifference; Gas Prices Rise A Tad:  Outrage

“Iran” is American for Vietnam.

Americans Please Wake Up

Amend, Extend, Pretend