THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Associated Press: “U.S. strike killed Tren de Aragua leader, Trump says.” Time and again, I reiterated my stance on drug cartels. They are not “the people,” they are anti-people evil. Not counting those who perish with drug addiction and the families that get ruined by the scourge, drug cartels waste human lives in an execution SOP that is more gruesome than what usually shocks us in slasher cinema.

      Tren de Aragua is a transnational organized crime syndicate that originated as a prison gang in Venezuela. Starting in the notorious Tocorón Penitentiary in the state of Aragua, it grew into one of the most powerful homegrown criminal groups in Venezuela. With the Cartel delos Soles, these monsters were a significant influence in bankrupting Venezuela, pushing the people deep in unbelievable poverty, regardless of the country’s massive oil deposits. 🏛🗽🏛

Time: “U.K. Defense Minister John Healey Resigns Over Military Spending Dispute With Starmer.” Since the resignation of Theresa May in 2019, amidst the Brexit withdrawal issue, the UK hasn't really settled its leadership crisis. The economy is at 0.6 percent, consistent with the EU's 1 percent average. That rate isn't necessarily “that bad,” but compared with Asia's 5 percent and the Middle East's 4.2 percent before the Hormuz drama, that pace is “slow.” (The U.S. growth is very fluid, due to the Iran war.)

      But the UK or EU per se has more problems than the economy, of course. Yet despite all these, their leaders are still hot and high on military brawn, while tossing arms aid to Ukraine nonstop, pumping up NATO, and continually fondling their paranoia that Russia will invade them. The majority people (those who are stereotypically branded, populists) are not diggin' it. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 

New York Sun: “Italy’s Largest Bank Launches $35 Billion Bid for World’s Oldest Bank, Eyeing Eurozone Banking Crown.” For now, the top 4 biggest banking countries in Europe are the UK, France, Spain, and Germany. At #5 is Italy. But since the 21st century marched on, China has ruled the global banking roost. Beijing's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is the largest bank in the world by total assets. Completing the "Big Four” are the Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China. All state-owned, these banks have hugely weakened the universal clout of the IMF and World Bank. (Visual: Finance1950.) 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

New York Times: “China’s Rise in Drug Development Looms Over U.S.” And adds: “Clinical trials in China are getting attention at an international oncology gathering in Chicago. China’s surging biotechnology industry is fueling alarm that U.S. dominance in the field is waning.” 

       Currently, there is no Chinese drug company that is ranked in the Top 20 Global Pharma, that is traditionally dominated by U.S. and European giants, such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche. But it won't be long till Beijing's top drug companies like Jiangsu Hengrui, BeiGene, and WuXi join them. Remember the Chinese have the APIs and the global trade momentum. 🩺💊🇨🇳

The Hill: “Senate GOP support erodes for Trump's Iran war stance.” Hypothetically speaking, or if ever there is a time machine, it would be interesting to see how’d Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George dad and George W., or Joe Biden deal with Iran–after the IRGC massacre of thousands of protesters prior to the U.S. military strike that took out the Supreme Leader in February. Would they do a Donald Trump operation or would they simply shrug off and ignore the horror? 

       I am consistently against all wars. Yet how’d I feel after Iran’s IRGC mowed down thousands of protesters? I survived a wicked dictatorship that took out (official estimate) 3,200 people. But that was spread in 20 years. Tehran’s dreaded military wasted 6,000 to 36,000+ protesters in just a few days! Must a POTUS ignore the carnage because that’s just the way things are? And because Mr Trump, after negotiations (to avoid a U.S. armed response) failed, did what he did, he is evil? Left-wing media now talks more about “Trump’s war” over Iran’s magnificent slaughter of its own people. ☮️☮️☮️

THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

NBC: “Vance refers Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and attorney general to the DOJ for fraud probe.” Only now? But better late than never. I guess, the "Minnesota vs. ICE" street drama is over, for now? Government corruption, such as the state’s billion$ social security scam, is the dirt that needs digging. And the perps hurled to court, and whatever the next punishment would be.

      Yet Justice these days is fantastically focused on crucifying Donald Trump for the 01/06/2021 Capitol theater, which is defined by Left-wingers as “insurrection.” I covered that story in the 1990s in Asia. Guns blazing, bombs exploding, and body bags. Those were pro soldiers, not street hooligans dressed in Burning Man outfits. The Capitol, with an over $500 million security budget, let these clowns in?!? And the Manhattan civil jury’s $88+ million to writer E. Jean Carroll for The D’s alleged “defamation” case? Defamation? Jimmy Kimmel defames Mr Trump in his show in each episode, and then earns millions$! Meanwhile, Minnesota’s murk needs to come out. That’s the real crime. 🏛🗽🏛

USA Today: “Supreme Court declines to review 3rd grader's 1st Amendment case.” An 8-year old’s Freedom of Speech?!? Why would the Supreme Court even be involved in this no-brainer? The story: A Michigan school banned a third grader from wearing a hat displaying an AR-15 rifle and the phrase "Come and take it.” The lower court ruled that the school's actions did not violate the student's First Amendment rights.

       My take: The parents must be investigated by social services. Especially in these times of random mass shootings, to expose children that early and allow them to display in public what their dad and/or mom may believe per First Amendment–is child abuse or parental recklessness (a.k.a. irresponsibility). Need I go on? ☮️🗽☮️

Politico: “The world leader that took on Trump over Iran sees his strategy paying off big.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took on Donald Trump over his military offensive in Iran and is now seeing his strategy “validated,” uh huh? Where is the validation? The PM previously barred U.S. warplanes from Spanish airspace, and condemned the military actions as "illegitimate.”

       Who is/are talking? Europe? Don’t Spain and the majority of the European Union blatantly toss money for nonstop NATO expansion and in support of Ukraine’s lost war versus Russia? And that’d be regardless of the region’s collective economic murk that hasn’t improved from 1 percent. What is “paying off big,” I ask. With oil shipments barred per Strait of Hormuz and, of course, Russian energy imports remain off-Europe, how’s the EU doing? ¿Cómo es eso. Senor Pedro? ☮️☮️☮️

CNET: “Russia hijacked vulnerable home routers across 23 states. Check if yours is on the list.” I don’t really believe this so-called news. What do I deduce? This is part of an orchestrated media pitch to justify the new (U.S. taxpayers' money) to Ukraine? This: Since 2022, the U.S. has already given Ukraine $127 billion (from the $188 billion appropriated by Congress in Joe Biden's time). Another $9+ billion new aid is set to be handed through the new Ukraine Support Act.

      Mr Trump would thumb this down, sure. But you know the bottomline. The eerie contradiction: Congress limits the President’s war powers in Iran, but hey, go ahead and bomb Russia? Or toss more military juice to Ukraine--to keep the war "alive," uh huh? 🤨😞🤨

USA Today: “U.S. boat strikes killed over 200 people. Service members have questions.” Or do the media have questions? Of course. This: The U.S. has always been at war, for centuries. Pursuing (geopolitical) "enemies," where wasted civilians are simply listed as stats in news reports and history books. Collateral damage in huge numbers. So why don't the media talk about those more? 

       If the U.S. or Donald Trump didn't (militarily) respond to Iran's massacre of thousands of street protesters, we are still counting body bags or corpses tossed in mass graves, right at this minute–because I don’t think Tehran’s public rage will subside as the IRGC wouldn’t cool down. 

       Meanwhile, in my old age, I haven't seen a POTUS pursue humanity's real enemies, such as drug cartels, the way President Trump does. Yes, including the Clinton/Arango Plan Colombia in the late 1990s. But I don't think Bill was demonized then the way Mr Trump is these days. So am I sad that 200 people were wasted in "boat strikes" that targeted narcos? Why were they in those boats, in the first place? Obvious. But I am very sad about civilians killed in Mexico as cartels hit back. Have the media talked about those in length? 🏛🗽🏛

TENNIS is Peace. Sports is Peace. Meanwhile, I do get Marta Kostyuk’s tearful words following her French Open QF victory against fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. Marta noted the match was played the morning after deadly bombings in Kyiv, stating her goal was to use her platform so the world does not "get used to this terrible life.” I do understand. But let me just say...

       Nobody gets used to war-pummeled terrible life. The Russian people are easy victims of this 4-year war as well. You see, while Vladimir Putin was cooling out, after a visit to Beijing (on the heels of President Trump’s trip), Volodymyr Zelensky ordered a vicious drone attack in Russia. So Russia responded. 

       Anyhow, this crisis should not translate in the sports arena. I am sorry to say, Ms Kostyuk, that this is NOT the platform. Instead, this venue should quietly inspire or bridge peace. So what do we expect from her semifinals match tomorrow with Russia’s Mirra Andreeva? The tennis equivalent of the Ukraine/Russia war? There is no protagonist or antagonist here. This is sports. You win, you lose–then you shake hands. Peace! (Visual: Basel Peace Office.) 🇷🇺☮️🇺🇦

WHAT is “lost” or has considerably subsided or lessened in just a few years? Human engagement. Or person to person interaction. These days, people are more impatient, unfriendly, distrustful, and worse, (politically) hateful. The internet is a major culprit as we spend more time seated and indoors, alone or with just our family? Which also widens the divide in society, of course.

      Meanwhile, foreigners are more stereotyped, it’d seem. In case you look like you just crossed the border illegally, you could be easily suspected as pushing fentanyl or planning to climb up someone’s window. The “interaction activity” is gone, when peeps like me engage whites, blacks, browns, yellows, reds etcetera in a more open-minded conversation.

      Moreover, most “aliens” act and react based on their cultural conditioning back home. I myself had to (frantically) translate English to Tagalog to English “instantly” while in a face to face conversation. I (quietly) panic. I have certainly “forgotten” how to “communicate” with Americans, though I have immensely improved my relationship with dogs and cats. 🙀😿😾

THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Entertainment Weekly: “'Mandalorian and Grogu' opens to the lowest box office in 'Star Wars' franchise history.” As I noted previously, the only Star Wars movies that I saw are the original trilogy. Done. Anyhow, creator George Lucas has apparently amassed gargantuan wealth from his brainstorm. He made the bulk of his billions by taking a massive pay cut for the original 1977 film in exchange for sequel and merchandising rights. His earnings from the franchise include roughly $4.4 billion from original box office runs, and an estimated $4 billion from the 2012 Lucasfilm sale to Disney.

       Because he sold the entire entity to Disney, Mr Lucas no longer receives royalties or writer/director cuts from newer Star Wars movies, television shows, or modern merchandise. However, as one of Disney's largest individual shareholders, he continues to build his net worth through the growth and dividends of his remaining Disney stock. 🎥💲📽

Associated Press: “South Korean Starbucks boss apologizes for ad campaign evoking massacre.” People don’t delineate anymore what is offensively political from sheer business. The advertisement in question is widely perceived as mocking victims of a bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Gwangju in 1980. The coffee chain attempted to promote a large size of a tumbler it calls a "tank" by declaring May 18 to be "Tank Day." Stupid. Of course, the idea was pitched to the Seattle headquarters. I don’t believe the big bosses of the franchise didn’t know or didn’t approve. 😞🤨👎

ABC: “Iran's supreme leader says the U.S. will no longer have 'safe haven' in the Middle East.” / CNN: “Iran to commute to World Cup games from Mexico after U.S. refusal.” Media rabble-rouse! I hold on to my belief that negotiations have navigated a clearer path to peace, after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin separately visited China and conferred with Xi Jinping. But the media has got to sow more fear and anxiety rather than influence calm and positivity. 

       Anyhow, regardless of war or peace, I don’t think the Supreme Leader would say otherwise how the hardline Shia Iran views the U.S. or the West. It’s a leader’s words, you know. And this CNN World Cup bit? That Iran’s national soccer team will sleep in Mexico and travel to the United States on the days of its three World Cup matches after Washington declined to host the squad for the tournament? What is so big a deal about that? The fact is, the Iranians are now allowed to join the games. So let’s go and play for Peace! ☮️⚽️☮️

Washington Post: “Suspected gunman dead after exchanging fire with Secret Service near White House.” Again! And as ever, when this side of the divide figures things out in front of the mirror, they see Donald Trump, and not our collective murk that breeds gung-ho hate as exacerbated by mental health ruin. The whacked-ness of America’s societal crack is–these suicidal lone wolves are “glorified” by those whose obsessive abhorrence of Mr Trump continually clouds their own sense of sanity. ☮️🗽☮️

NEWS STUFF. Political whiplash. China/U.S./Iran. China and U.S. wars. Migrants and stuff. E. Jean Carroll's $83 million. Wisconsin beagles. RFK Jr.

CNN: “America's political whiplash keeps getting worse. Neither party can stop it.” Political whiplash refers to the rapid, jarring, and often chaotic reversal of policies, political power, or public sentiment, causing disorientation similar to a physical injury. America's convenient alibi is Donald Trump. Just say, “Trump!” and that’d be it. No discussion. Done.

      While Mr Trump’s playbook is unprecedentedly unorthodox and high on flexibility, his Washington leadership adapts to global changes as the 21st century strode in. China’s trade expansionism, birth of the BRICS trade bloc, economic progress of Asia and the Middle East etc etcetera. All these as America’s foundations are continually wobbled by the ever widening divide. An inevitability that the revered historian Howard Zinn predicted before he died in 2010. Repeat: 2010. 🏛🗽🏛

CNN: “What China is learning from the U.S. war with Iran.” If there’s something that the CCP is “learning” from this current U.S. war, it is how to source oil as shipments from Iran have been “delayed,” obviously. But as the world’s #1 oil importer and #6 in oil production (but not selling at all), the Chinese are a resilient lot. Meanwhile, China has been watching the U.S. foreign policy since (maybe) the Tripolitan War (1801-1805), America’s first war overseas. Then after Western intrusions in the Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) and Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), what has China had to “learn” from U.S. wars? 🇨🇳🇺🇸🇮🇷

USA Today: “Padres prospect admits driving undocumented immigrants into U.S. and self-deports.” / CNN: “6 people found dead in Union Pacific cargo train in Texas at southern border.” These have been happening from the late-19th century. Border restrictions, following the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, etc etcetera. Until border crossings spiked to a record 1 million average from 2021 to 2024, around 100,000 cross the U.S. southern border illegally, annually. So compatriots helping each other? Of course. Also, many border patrols are naturalized citizens from Central America. Do they “assist” coyotes to facilitate transport of migrants to wherever in America? Figure it out. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

NBC: “DOJ backs Trump bid to halt E. Jean Carroll's $83 million defamation award.” Sure, defamation per se isn’t a good thing. But this gargantuan story is all-political bluster or hate-Trump murk-pinata to me. $83 million?!? These: <>In 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles paid 508 victims of clergy sexual abuse, $660 million, which amounts to (only) $1.2 million for each rape victim. <>In 2018, Michigan State University paid the over 300 victims of sex-abuser Larry Nassar, $500 million, which is (only) $1.6 million, individually. <>Meanwhile, late-night TV talk show hosts "defame" and insult political personalities as their program moneymaker, and get paid in millions$. 🤨😞🤨

Associated Press: “Wisconsin beagles: 1,500 dogs will get new lives after release from research facility.” So many dogs! Some couldn't even walk on a leash or respond to situations that they weren't exposed to since birth. They were rescued in a farm that is used as a “breeding facility for laboratory research.” Because I have grown deeply attached, sentimentally attached, to dogs, I can't help but feel for these adorable animals. (Photo: The Guardian.) 🐕💝🐕‍🦺

New York Times: “Kennedy Starts a Push to Help Americans Quit Antidepressants.” And adds: “The health secretary has long complained that Americans overuse psychiatric medications. New policies he is introducing aim to change that.” RFK Jr.’s sublime cause (albeit quixotic) makes perfect sense to me. But in the context of American facts, it is a complex matter. I am not a consumer of mental health medications but it doesn’t mean I’d tell those who take them to quit. 

       America’s well-being has been deeply and massively dependent on antidepressants as a cultural conditioning driver, more than a temporary medical/health fix, so quitting them now could be disastrous. Even fatal. But pre-meds, I believe the only remedy to mental health issues is a better human interaction. 🏛🗽🏛

About Dogs and Cats and their Buddies. And other quick jokes.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

THINGS we do that confuse dogs and cats. <>We leave them alone. Arrow knows when I am going out without her. So I tell her, “I will bring you some toys to destroy.” Then she quiets down. <>We don’t like to be bitten. They do. Play-fighting is fun for puppies and kitties. Fizz: “Dude, chill. We are just goofing around. Mind your FB!” <>We use our hands a lot. With the cellphone and TV remote. Arrow, Fizz and Ching find that weird. Arrow always gives me the side-eye. 🐈🤨🐕

DO dogs believe in aliens? Or are dogs aliens? Nope! Misconception 1: Aliens created dogs. Misconception 2: Dogs were genetically engineered by extraterrestrials. To settle this puzzle, I asked Fizz The Wiz. Fizz’s genius take: “Ha ha! Dogs are not created by aliens. And dogs don’t believe in that sorta ET stuff. This fake news is spread by hoomans who are A.I.s. Aliens don’t bother with earth stuff, nope. Unless it’s about Taylor Swift. You dig?” 🐕👽🐕

WATER cooler conversation topics: Ideas about what could make work better. Or simply decompress and get to know one another. Water cooler topics could range from the personal to the professional and everything in between. But times have changed. Water cooler time is now on political/partisanship intervals. On Left/Democrat time, they share nasty memes on FB about Trump. On Right/Republican time, they share nasty memes on FB about Biden. Admit it. 🗣👤🥛

WHY do dogs chase squirrels? Dogs just want to play. But others see a critter as their prey. Predatory drive kicks in. They wanna catch them and destroy them! But that was before. Cats have taught dogs the basics of civility, benefits of coexistence, chic and sophistication, ahimsa coolness. When your dog seems interested in chasing a squirrel, that’s not because she/he wants to kill the critter. Your dog could be thinking: “Did I already send a friend an invite to that squirrel? Hmm.” 🐕🦨🐕

QUESTION to Fizz The Wiz: What is the distance from North Carolina to Liechtenstein? Fizz: “4,401 miles.” (Fizz googles a lot of info.) 🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮

THINK your friends know you well? Researchers have developed a computer model that can judge someone's personality more accurately than their friends and family — using nothing but the subject's Facebook activity. Yup. So when you see your friend in person, don’t believe what he/she says. That’s their fake A.I. talking. Go to their Facebook page, uh huh. 🙃📱📲

THE most cat-friendly dog breeds: basset hound, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, pug, Labrador, bichon frise, shihtzu, papillon, humble mongrel etcetera. Fizz The Wiz: “Thing is, it doesn’t really matter. We cats are cool with any breed of dog–as long as they don’t piss us off with some political, religious, barbie, or tay-tay talk.” 🐕🤝🐈

WHAT dogs does Cardi B have? Looks like Walk is the third addition to Cardi's brood of dogs — she has two golden retrievers named Bentley and Boujee, who gave birth to five pups a month before she and Offset welcomed their daughter, Kulture. Meet Cardi's new puppy, Walk ahead! Uhh I am a little confused now. Who walked ahead? Offset da wat? 🐩👩‍🎤🤨

TODAY, up-to-date information flows freely via the Internet. A Google search away. People rely on Wikipedia for reference purposes. Despite that, some people still buy old paper encyclopedias. But those are not for today’s kids or clueless adults. Those are for cats and dogs. Pets love to read and know stuff via Encyclopædia Britannica, Collier’s, and these that cats enjoy reading: Encyclopaedia Londinensis, Kendal's Pocket Encyclopedia, and Encyclopædia Perthensis. 🐈📚🐈

BIRDS like worms for their protein and easy availability. Ground feeders find that birds are particularly favorable to their feeding habits, as all they need to do is poke their bills into the earth to dig them out. Fizz The Wiz also told me that’s a reason why snakes hunt birds, or baby birds. As a form of revenge. Snakes treat worms as their babies of some sort. Makes sense, I reckon. Fizz is so smart. 🐦🪱🐦

More More on Iran and/or U.S./Iran War.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page or response (in a Friend’s Page) to the same issue.

THE United States contributes $570 million to $750 million of taxpayer money to NATO, annually. President Trump lowered it from 22 percent to 16 percent in 2019 but still the top money. For 2025, however, the U.S. gave more (google stuff because numbers vary but in billions$). Meanwhile, Europe or NATO countries' economic woes suffer more due to delays or stoppage of oil shipments via Strait of Hormuz because they are already reeling from the Ukraine war since Russia was their top energy importer for years until 2022. 

       Pre-U.S. operation in Iran, the IRGC massacred thousands of its people in a matter of days or weeks. Question: Would it be "better" that the U.S. didn't make a move? Protests in Iran have been happening due to economic murk for years now. Mr Trump took out the IRGC's brain or the hardcore Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a.k.a. the Supreme Leader after talks failed. Iran's best move is to return to the table and talk. The world suffers from the looming oil crisis but what about the Iranian people? 

       Before this tempest, Iran joined the BRICS trade bloc and shook hands with Saudi Arabia. Those were moves to fix the economy as China increased oil purchase. But the people wanted faster changes and reforms. So the protests. Until the massacre happened. 

       I don't know why some even say the U.S. "masterminded" the killings... I was anti-U.S. (hawkish) foreign policy for most of my old life until Washington prioritized trade deals over military aggro in Donald Trump time but how would a POTUS react to a massacre such as that horror in Iran? Ignore it because it's them, not us? Then we need to go back to Bretton Woods 1944 etcetera and why America is the de facto cop of the world. I may disagree but… ☮️☮️☮️

Associated Press: “Counterterror chief Joe Kent resigns and breaks with Trump on Iran.” / Reuters: “Trump was warned that strikes on Iran would embolden the regime, say sources.” I am both baffled and annoyed by reactions to President Trump’s response to Iran’s massacre of thousands of its people, after negotiations to avoid a U.S. military operation, didn’t work. So it’d be better to just ignore the horror because it’s them, anyways–not us? In my personal experience in the Philippines, would it be “better” if the U.S. didn’t aid the coup that took out the 20-year Marcos dictatorship in 1986? The regime wasted over 3,000 (official count) in two decades. Iran’s vicious IRGC shot dead over 30,000 in a matter of days! 

      Yet POTUS tried to avoid this war or its escalation. Must I rant why per The D’s foreign policy playbook? Tell me, if this is Barack Obama or George W. time, what’d they do? Sit back and just watch as Iranian families bury their dead in mass graves? More deaths to come? Yet after the Supreme Leader was erased, Iran’s leadership should have opted to go back to the table and talk about an end to hostilities, for the sake of their own people. Still, they don’t. Yet I concur with Washington’s response to Iran’s “easy” wastage of humanity: “You can’t do that!” 🇺🇸☮️🇮🇷

THE relatively higher cost of gasoline (per gallon), as usual, is pitched as a political caterwaul feed than a living imperative issue. Yet aren’t we in America used to this fluctuating trend? The current price at the pump aligns with how it was just a few years ago, in 2022: $4 to $5. Adjusted per inflation, that was the average in the 1970s during the global oil crisis. America’s average since 2000 is $1.50. Yet look at Europe: Today? $9 per gallon. The global average is $4. Yet “ordinary” costs in some in Asia (Hongkong) and Europe (Norway) are already around $8 to $10. My point? Chill. This is not World War 3. ⛽️🗽⛽️

All About Iran.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

A smart individual chastised me for issuing my “conclusion” about Left-wing dissent’s “selectivity” as blurred by their gargantuan hate for Donald Trump. I based my insight/opinion on available fatalities data in Iran (before the U.S. hit days ago). He reckoned my data is not a “universally-accepted” fact or news report. Universally-accepted. Uh huh? Meaning, both Left and Right must accept the info to warrant veracity? In these divided times?

      Anyhow, here: Iranian government data: 3,117 deaths. Human Rights Activists News Agency: 7,007. Independent/Media Estimates: Exceeds 30,000–36,500, which the media, such as The Guardian, picked up. Certainly those numbers are higher than “2 dead in Minnesota.” 

       Yahoo: “Trump says 'the big wave' of military action in Iran is 'coming soon'.” A current events/POTUS fact: Donald Trump is hot and high on “big talk.” Still surprised, eh? But since his MOAB hits in Afghanistan and Syria in April 2017, his “big talk,” to me, is more a chess move tactic than a hint of Rambo mayhem. Examples. His erasures: 2019, ISIS’ Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; 2020, IRGC/Quds’ Qasem Soleimani; 2026, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Add, power-removal of dictator Nicolas Maduro. Technically, those are not wars. War is the Ukraine War (since 2014 or 2022) or Iran vs Iraq of the 1980s. So easy with dramatics, people! 

       Yahoo: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leaves door open for boots on the ground in Iran.” War engagements have immensely evolved since the 20-year Afghanistan War, at least for the U.S. Less “boots on the ground” or non-escalation of hostilities in favor of political/economic pressures ensue. Only the Arab League, not Israel, could heighten this shudder into a full-blown conflagration. And The League, starring Saudi Arabia, doesn’t favor a prolonged mess. So is China, the top buyer of Middle East oil (including Riyadh and Tehran’s shipments). Until his hands were forced, Mr Trump favored trade on the table, not wars on the front. 

       Yahoo: “Defense secretary says 'regime change' was not the goal of strikes, but urges Iranians to 'take advantage'.” / Reuters: “U.S. officials skeptical of Iran regime change after killing of supreme leader.” Regime change, of course, is powered or executed by the U.S. But the change in leadership, following an election, is the people’s decision. If you are an older Filipino (who was an adult in 1986) and has gotten old watching geopolitics unfold, you know what that is. Iran: The Supreme Leader is out so Iranians have got to recover from the rubble of civil unrest and economic murk. 🇺🇸☮️🇮🇷

AND More Rant. 

WHEN I read about Americans “comparing” actual dictatorship deaths or evil regime deaths elsewhere, I feel the horror of those carnage is diminished or “mellowed down.” Sometimes I feel offended. Are we downplaying actual deaths elsewhere by comparing all these with internal America? Like, 2 dead in Minnesota were mourned over the 6,216 dead in Iran in the same week or month. But let’s see. 

       The deadliest riot in the U.S. happened in 1863, the New York Draft Riots, 120 people killed. Others: Tulsa Race Massacre (1921): 50 to 300 deaths. East St. Louis Riot (1917): Estimates suggest 40 to 200 deaths. LA Riots (1992): 63 people were killed. Red Summer (1919): Racial tensions across 38-40 cities led to hundreds of deaths.

Yet I couldn’t compare those days alongside years of extra-judicial killings, in the Philippines, for example. Maybe America imprisoned many, silenced or killed, but still I couldn’t compare. I am sorry. In the case of current-day Iran, I don’t really give a hoot that the U.S. launched this attack as long as the “leader” who ordered the killing of thousands in a few days–is taken out. If the U.S. didn’t do anything, then I will complain. 

       As of 25 January 2026, the total death toll estimates ranged from 3,117 people (per the Iranian government) to upwards of 36,500 people. Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA): 7,007 verified deaths. Independent/Media Estimates (High-End): Reports citing medical sources, morgue staff, and leaked intelligence documents have suggested the death toll could be significantly higher, with some estimates exceeding 30,000–36,500 (which the media, such as The Guardian, picked up). 

       In 20 years of Marcos dictatorship (which ended in 1986). Estimates of EJK deaths: 1,500 to over 3,000 victims. By Historian Alfred McCoy: 3,257. I am talking about 20 years. 🇺🇸☮️🇮🇷