March 4, 5

Cloudy this morning with possible rain later. The temperature should reach 50. I didn't see anything sprouting in the containers on the patio. We still have a while to go to before we see the green signs of spring. The trees haven't even started budding out yet. But if it stays fairly warm and dry enough I can begin sweeping up and cleaning.

I don't know what I will see in the e-mail and on the news outlets to either read or comment on. So much now focuses on the war with Iran. And I choose to call it what it is--a war. A war a madman chose for us on a whim. Everything else that bothers us has been overshadowed by that. I did start keeping tabs on the local gas prices Saturday. Yesterday only two gas stations had prices over $3/gal. Today the number is seven. Last week all our stations had gas for less than $3. I am not worried about the car because the tank is above 3/4 full.

05************************************************

We had very foggy conditions this morning and temperatures starting around 50F. The fog is finally lifting. We got rain late yesterday but not heavy and it may have continued overnight because the sidewalks are starting to dry out.

As you can see I didn't see much worth taking time to either skim or comment on. I am pretty much ignoring all of the 'in the moment' news about our bombing of Iran and Iran's bombing of our installations and our allies. The most interesting discussions I have seen has concerned 'battlefield math.' The missile and drone stocks of both sides are depleting and both sides will have to find new supplies somewhere. Through out the Ukraine-Russia conflict reports indicated supply chain bottlenecks both in the US and Europe. Now we have another conflict drawing heavily on existing stockpiles. Which side will run out first? But also, our military is using missiles and drones that cost many times the cost of the Iran's weapons. I remember a scene in an interesting novel between an envoy from a technologically sophisticated country and a senior military man from a less sophisticated country which focused on defense. The military representative told the foreign observer that his country didn't have to defeat any possible invaders. They simply had to bankrupt the enemy.

I noted yesterday a report that a couple of US embassies in in the Middle East reported that they 'couldn't help' American citizens get out of the area. In my mind I asked"COULDN'T or WOULDN'T." Then I saw this on POPULAR INFORMATION. It shows several things clearly. First, this administration doesn't give a damn about its supposed citizens. Second, the description I heard on one of the News/Talk shows of the operation as "shambolic" was actually kind to the administration. The whole operation was a seat of the (shitty) pants operation with no coordination with anyone, with no thought given to Americans in the combat zone, no plans beyond the initial moves, and no coherent plan to either explain the administration's motives. It is almost like they thought the Iranians would either rise up and throw what was left out or that what ever remained after the decapitation of the government would roll over and cry "uncle." Neither has happened. It also shows a total lack of understanding of their opponents. Our showboat of a Secretary of Defense War claimed in a press conference this morning that "we" had control of Iran's skies and control of their destiny. What a joke!