Do you realize the severity of what Trump is doing by invading Iran and the effect on us for this miscalculation?
I was paying about $2.29/gallon for gasoline a couple of weeks ago. Today I paid $2.99/gallon at Costco. If that 70-cent difference was a tax to incentivize using less fuel to protect the environment or used to invest in renewable energy, I would be all in. Of course, you all know this increase is caused not solely by supply and demand (OPEC and others create scarcity of an abundant resource), but also by corporate greed among oil companies.
If inflated gasoline prices were the only terrible outcome from this war, notwithstanding the dead, maimed, and mutilated human beings, it is something we could live with. After all, inflated gasoline prices would mean less consumption and cleaner air. But that is the least of our problems.
The Iran war is a perfect example of why we need independent media that can present the proper context and narrative, not colored by corporate coercion or Trump fear. The news we are getting from our cable and broadcast channels, and many of our newspapers are failing to detail the failures of the Iran war.
This week I watched MSNOW, CNN, Fox News, CBSNews, ABCNews, NBCNews, and Al Jazeera. I also continued my search for stories from reputable newspapers around the world. Suffice it to say, Al Jazeera, for the most part, put the war in the proper context. Most importantly, it went to countries that the U.S. mainstream media ignored to inform about the effects the war is having on every corner of the world.
This morning, I met with my radio show engineer, Jack VanBebber, at KPFT 90.1 FM. I confessed that this time around, I am legitimately concerned about our country, specifically, and the world in general. Unfortunately, too many are living as if it is business as usual, just with higher gas prices and inflation in general. This time is different.
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A fairly small country is showing us that our military prowess and affinity for expensive military equipment can be neutered by inexpensive drones with a touch of critical thinking. Our irresponsible overexpanding military and Gestapo spending, as BRICS and other exchanges that decentralized from the U.S. dollar, foretell an economic collapse that could make us a third-world country with nuclear bombs. Our billionaires’ manufacture of a destabilized society based on human ignorance as AI takes over large portions of our workforce, as they build concentration camps with a secret police force ready to populate said human warehouses. The writing is on the wall, and mainstream media coverage fails to inform the masses about these eventualities.
A wealthy friend of mine told me something with a tonality that said it all. “I feel bad, but my portfolio is killing it,” she said. “My oil holdings are going through the roof.” She is playing by the rules and is further enriching herself legally. One of the statements was that I could have done the same, but I chose to do something else. I was offended. My reply was that every wealthy person profiting from the war in the short term should thank all of us. After all, their unearned increase in wealth is money taken directly out of our pockets. They continue to benefit from the game Hegseth and Trump are playing, as they double-talk — the war will end soon, or not — while their billionaires profit from stock price volatility and munitions replenishment.
Imagine if we had a media constantly calling out Trump and his sycophants, not in platitudes but for his policies that pilfer the poor and middle-class. Imagine if we had a media that educated the masses on our fraudulent economic system that, by design, fails and enslaves most. We have been conditioned over the years under the auspices of the Powell Memo to be too ignorant and paranoid to vote in our interests.
Reversing decades of indoctrination will require relentless work from independent media. That work is already happening here, and more people are beginning to see through the narratives that have long gone unchallenged. But independent journalism survives only if readers who value truth choose to sustain it. The networks spreading misinformation are backed by billionaires and corporate power. Independent voices have only one source of strength—the people who read, share, and support this work. If this newsletter has informed you, challenged you, or helped you understand the forces shaping our world, now is the moment to help keep it going. Please become a paid subscriber today. Your support fuels the reporting, commentary, radio programs, and organizing that together flood the zone with facts, context, and action. Independent media changes the conversation—and subscribers like you make that possible.
