World Cup: What

   FIFA is concerned-all the tickets have not been sold. What is going on? Hmmm. MAybe not enough folks want to pay for high air faes. Gasoline prices are through the roof. Bad timing FIFA.  Ha,ha, ha, haaaaaaaa.

    Take your World Cup to Russya. 

NBA Playoffs:

     Some surprises in the first week: more than a few blowout games among the teams vying for status.

   It's always interesting to watch the NBA plyoffs because it appears that the teams/refs are operating at a different lecel of play. There's DEFENCE . Ok, that's good. Oh, and they are aggressive in the 'paint'. Oh, the refs missed an obvious foul, oh, now they see it on replay. FLAGRANT, 2 shots. It's different now. Some fouls are overlooked and the teams/coaches/refs are in on the fix.

      The fans are sort of on board.  

Lula Meets the Oval

    So, Brazil's president wants to patch things up with the Oval.  He visits Washngton,DC to try a "face-toFace w/ the Oval. Now they can speak in 'body language'-the language of political leaders around the world. We've all become used to its gestures, postures, subtle movements, eye rolls, head tilts, smiles and grimaces, all of which speak to crowds and audiences, and ubiquitous cameras(we are all camera toters).

      What does Lula want from Big Brother? He must need some boosting at home , so he heads 'norte' to get some press and maybe a loan or two. Perhaps it's about tariffs, perhaps not. What tariffs affect Brazil? Beef tariff? No, no beef gfrom Brazil: hoof & mouth disease is still there. Hmmm. Immigrants from Brazil? no, too far, too much water to cross.

    Amazon rain forest destruction? Climate change? Illegal gold mining: that's it. Lula is worried about gold being shipped w/o export duties. Wait. Is there sufficient gold in Brazil? NObody knows because most of it is mined illegally under the rain forest umbrella. Or something else. The press is somewhere in the Oval so t will bereported across all media platforms today. 

  Watch it. 

Kremlin Conducts Shadow War Against Ukraine

         The Kremlin likes to deny involvement in the "Special Operation" down south. Since 2014 when the Special Operation" began in Crimea, the GRU has conducted  surveillance ops against Ukraine and her supporters wherever they are.  The evidence continues to mount as the clandestine operations move ever onward not only against Ukraine support, but also opposition voices against Putin and his Kremlin lackies.

     This past week, authorities in Lithuania arrested 9 suspects who where involved in acts conducted at the behest of the Kremlin. They included setting remote operated bombs, murder plots against ndividuals in various locations, and continued efforts to thwart assistance to Ukraine against the invading forces of the Rus.

     Among the acts were various plots to sabotage railroad terminals, warehouses, cargo planes, shipping facilities, and transport hubs. Many of those recently arrested were recruited online by the GRU. Or by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the official name of it.  Since Viktor Orban of Hungary was given the heave ho by voters, the Kremlin has had to regroup in Eastern Europe as the Kremln continues efforts to undermine the E.U. and NATO specifically. Additionally, Bulgaria now becomes the focus of efforts to infiltrate that state on its border.

      Some Rus dissidents from Bashkortostan, a mostly muslim region in central Russya, have been targeted by the Kremlin. Those opponents of Moskva from the region have had to flee for their lives to escape the reach of GRU assassins/murderers who have pursued them. 

     Meanwhile, the Kremlin has limited locals' access to the internet as they attempt to control all media and media reports on the ongoing war in Ukraine.  

Shooter's Dinner in Washington, DC

    Hmmm. How's the Secret Service doing today?  Not good is the opinion among insiders and outsiders. Obviously, when an "active" shooter shows up at an event and gets a few shots off near the Chief Executive, something failed; in this case the security detail. 

      Old sTump wasn't the victim this time, but he could have been. The shooter was captured soon after he arrived in the hotel and fired his weapon. The hotel security was not up to meeting the needs of a chief executive visit. Recall that Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in a hotel in 1968. The assassin was waiting in an unsecure area-the kitchen, when he fired the fatal shots. Sirhan Sirhan rests in jail to this day, where he will die, eventually.

      The would be assassin of the Oval will spend most of the rest of his life in prison. He had traveled across the country in an attempt to be another assassin. He had lived in Torrance, California, on the West Coast, a famously "Blue" state area. He was a graduate of Cal Tech, the world renowned university. He must have given his actions considerable thought, as did Ted Kozinsky of Uni-bomber fame. This failed assassin will get a bit of publicity but will soon be forgotten like all the rest.

     Homeland Security chief: clean out your desk. F.B.I. Chief Patel: clean out your desk. Head of Secret Service: clean out your desk. AG's office: find a new job. (Todd Blanche go home).  National Security Advisor; go back to Foggy Bottom. Pete Hegseth- clean out your desk.  SecNav-just wait.

     Just what the Oval needs today. He'll greet the King of England today, and the Queen, too. King Charles the II will land in D.C. today for a formal visit. His welcome dinner will be very secure, obviously, no assassins will be allowed to enter. These are difficult times in the Oval for the Oval himself. His Iranian friends are not being cooperative. BiBi has revealed an illness, and he has not developed any signs of backing down from his campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon or anywhere else(go get 'em, BiBi). So the King's visit will offer some respite from current concerns. 

     Perhaps the Oval will squeeze Charles for some support in the Strait of Hormuz-maybe a mine sweeper or two. Maybe a frigate or two or three. Any help would be appreciated, Chas. The Old King hasn't done much on the international scene as his country comes to grips with Brexit and the immigrants reaching his shores. Maybe the Oval will tell him how he does it at home. (Fences, walls, ICE agents, foreign jails, threats, etc).  Charles has been around awhile and knows a thing or two about politics, etc. But he knows the Oval doesn't listen to anybody especially when the mantra around the US is "NO KINGS".  Charles won't take offense at this motto, but he is confident in his own role as King.

    But, be careful Charles; make sure your security is in place today and everyday while near the Oval. 

Muskrat v. Altcat: Trial Begins

       Well, Sports fans, get your popcorn and drinks and lets watch the game as it begins today in Oakland, California. Wait aaaaaaaaa minute. Games? Oakland? Hold on now. Something is wrong, very wrong, crazy wrong. Games?  Hmmmm.

       So, folks the Raiders left town a few years ago; you know the OAKLAND Raiders. Then, the OAKLAND A's-they, too, hit the road for Las Vegas(?) via Sacramento, CA. Oh, the Golden State Warriors had their start in OAKLAND, too, in a place called the Colosseum off I-80 near the OAkland Airport(that sorry excuse for an airport). The whole place is a sorry town beset by unsolvable social problems despite being on the fringe of Silicon Valley just south. A new Mayor, Barbara Lee has taken over City Hall and apparently, with her well -honed skills, she's managed to restore some civic pride. However, it will be a long, uphill road to change things there.

     When Arnold S. was the Republican hope in Sacramento, he had inherited a bridge project: the removal of the eastern half(earthquake damaged half) and the installation of the new replacement. People wanted to know: How Much, Arnold?  Hmmm. Seems like a reasonable question. The problem was - nobody in the Legislature where the money was to come from could offer a definite number: costs kept rising by the day. But, the question(s) wouldn't die. How Much? How much, Arnie. You were Terminator, tell us a terminal answer: How Much? Finally, $8 billions came out, a lot higher than projected and a lot higher than people wanted to pay, but it was too late; sunk costs dictated that the project would be finished. One can drive over this bridge today. Its nice.

     But, I digress. We're back in Oakland where the MAyor began his maritime career many moons ago, at the O.A. T.-the vast Oakland Army Terminal. Yes, the US Army used the area as a logistics center for the Pacific region. The SP trains stopped here, not across the Bay in SF. The container ships now stopped here, not across the Bay. The Key System of trains had a depot here(now gone and forgotten). SF knew it could not compete against all those logistic situations that favored Oakland. All those jobs: gone from SF.

     Then something happened in SF.  Bank of America went bankrupt(almost) and was taken over by some carpet baggers from the Deep South. Good bye finance/banking. Pacific Stock Exchange- adios, Amigo. BART came, here and Oakland, too.  Biotech came, but not here, not there. And then: technology arrived in full bloom. By the late 90's, the Dot Com business arrived in SF, not Oakland. It bombed everywhere, but the dot-commers liked what they saw in SF, not Oakland. A new player arrived and covered the western segment of the Bay Area. Oakland's well known problems precluded any chance of competing with SF for location of the 'new' tech industry.

     But now, we have sparks flying between two giants of tech; Sam Altman of AI fame and his nemesis,  the Musk Rat hisself: Elon Musk. They will face off in a much-watched trial in Oakland. The old city across the BAy will finally get some attention. Media types will trip over themselves has they converge on the old courthouse. Some will get a seat, others, no. Some will get mugged, some will lose their cars, some will leave in disgust as the trial unfolds. Watch it. 

E.U. Extends Financial Lifeline to Ukraine

        Well, now we can all breathe a sigh of relief as money will begin to flow to the valiant Ukrainian people who have been attacked by scum from the Kremlin. Putin's "Special Operation" has gone awry and the Rus peoples have suffered at least 1 million casuakties sine the invasion into Ukraine over 4 years ago.

    What a boondoggle Mad Vlad has led his peoples into. For what? Only Putin knows the aswer to this question, based on flimsy evidence and ever fewer facts. So, off they go: Little Green Men; and now these same Little Green Men are being routinely massacred on the front lines in the Donbass Region of eastern Ukraine.  Mini drones seek them out and kill them instantly(but not painlessly.) There is little defense against these munitions and Ukrainians are making them as fast as possible, by the tens of thousands. They are even exporting those beyond their needs to help other countries deter efforts by Crazy Iranians who still think they are the best Arab country in the Middle East(not!).

   The E.U. has freed up billions for the country after being held up by Viktor Orban in Hungary. he's been voted out for a week and that's no great loss for the West. The Old Fart had been around for 16 years or about 15 years too long.  The money is in the form of a loan for $106 billion, a meaningful amount when one is talking ammunition, supplies, transport, and new technology.  Volodimyr Zelenski will put it all to good use to make the Mad Russyan pay in piled up Rus bodies on the front lines of the war.

Kudos to the E.U. and the Central Bank.