Born in Deutschland 1965, hometown was Bütthart, parents were not U.S. government employees. However, when father was tricked into joining the U.S. Air Force Civil Service, in 1969, with the promise that we could remain in Germany, we were promptly shipped off to Iran. Due to one of my Iranian educators being disappeared, along with her husband, by the U.S. ally Shah of Iran's Israeli & U.S. created Savak (for the then official terrorist act of promoting the idea that women can vote), and due to my U.S. citizen mother being placed on Savak's Terrorist Arrest List (for supporting the idea that women should vote, at that time the U.S. ally Shah of Iran did not allow women to vote, now they can) we left Iran for the United States in 1973, literally in the middle of the night. At the U.S. Embassy airbase the CIA operated Gooney Bird (C-47) was so packed with other U.S. citizens fleeing our ally Iran (because the Shah gave the OK to arrest any U.S. citizen for such terrorist acts as promoting the concept of voting) that we were turned away by the Loadmaster and had to take a chance on a civilian flight out of Tehran's airport.
My father told me he and my mother had three culture shocks; first when they arrived in Germany as civilians, then after being shipped off to Iran as U.S. government employees, then again returning to the United States as unemployed civilians (because so much had changed in the U.S. while they were gone, their only news source was the U.S. Armed Forces Radio & Television Service which heavily censored information about the home front).
Since I graduated high school in 1982 I've worked for U.S. government contractors and state & local government agencies (in California), convenience store manager in California, retail/property management in Georgia, California and Idaho. Spent the 1990s in the TV news business producing number one rated local news programs in California, Arizona and Idaho. 14+ years with California and Idaho Army National Guard and the U.S. Air Force. Obtained a BA degree in International Studies from Idaho State University at the age of 42.
Unemployed since 2015, so don't tell me the economy has recovered.
Japan is experiencing increased earthquake activity since 08DEC2025. The island nation was even placed under a mega-quake watch for the first time in the history of monitoring Japanese quakes.
On 10DEC2025, the U.S. Air Force told military personnel on Yokota Air Base to prepare what it calls a 72 Hour-Bag:
On 10JAN2026, U.S. Central Command (CentCom) and ‘partner forces’ conducted bombing raids on targets in Syria.
Photo released by CentCom, 10JAN2026.
A-10C Thunderbolt-2 ‘Tiger Sharks’ (home based on Moody Air Force Base, Georgia) take part in ongoing Operation Hawkeye Strike, video via CentCom:
Photo released by CentCom, 10JAN2026.
Idaho based (Mountain Home AFB) ‘Bold Tigers’ F-15E Strike Eagles in action. Interestingly, if you do a search for the 391st Fighter Squadron being deployed to Southwest Asia ‘google-A-I’ will actually tell you they are not deployed, however, these photos and videos don’t lie. I edited together videos released by CentCom:
Impact video:
On 19DEC2025, Operation Hawkeye Strike was ordered after two U.S. personnel and one U.S. interpreter contractor were killed in Syria, on 13DEC2025.
On 03JAN2026, Iranian news sources revealed details of a new naval weapon called the Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis class of catamaran corvette. They claim it is a Fast Attack Vessel (FAV) designed for rapid response and survivability in confined waters, specifically in the Persian Gulf.
Supposedly it is made of hardened aluminum, built in modular fashion, with intentionally redundant sections in the hope of reducing the effects of battle damage:
The Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis class is able to hit 38 knots per hour and is equipped with remote controlled drones, surface-to-surface missiles, several A-I controlled guns for anti-drone/aircraft use and a larger A-I controlled gun for in-close ship-to-ship combat:
The IRGC-Navy boasts that the A-I controlled guns respond to threats much faster than humans. They claim to have 1-hundred of these FAVs, several can be seen with additional missile/gun systems.
On 09JAN2026, personnel from USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) boarded Timor-Leste-flagged Motor/Tanker Olina (formerly Minerva M). According to a U.S. Navy press release, M/T Olina had been on a ‘ghost tanker’ hit list since 2021 when U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior issued an executive order against Olina/Minerva M and several other Timor-Leste-flagged vessels, as part of sanctions against Russia. Operation/Joint Task Force Southern Spear video via U.S. Southern Command, I added the pirate music:
New video and information released of the tracking and capture of oil tanker Marinera (formerly known as Motor/Vessel Bella-1); Marinera was shadowed by U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro (WMSL 755). The U.S. Navy reports that the crew of USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) intercepted the Marinera/Bella. According to Russian news sources, Russian officials thanked U.S. President Donald John Trump for releasing two Russian crewmembers. Videos were recorded on the 6th and 7th of January 2026. I edited together U.S. Coast Guard video and U.S. European Command video (via Honey Nixon), I also added the music:
On 07JAN2026, Russia confirmed the oil tanker Marinera (formerly known as M/V Bella-1) was taken by U.S. forces somewhere in the North Atlantic. The oil tanker had been sailing under a Russia permit since 24DEC2025, Russian officials say it was a temporary permit. U.S. War Department video showing U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro shadowing Marinera (Bella) before its capture:
On 07JAN2026, the M/T Sophia oil tanker was captured somewhere on the Caribbean Sea. The M/T Sophia was reportedly hauling oil to China from Venezuela. Operation Southern Spear video via U.S. Southern Command, I added the pirate music:
Just before sunset on 05JAN2026 (Iran time) the giant Kalleh Dairy operation blew up! Some sources report several explosions were heard. As I write this most of the factory is still on fire and evacuations for everybody within a one kilometer radius are taking place.
This Kalleh Dairy is located in Amol City, Amol County, Mazandaran province. Video via Fars News:
Speculators (which include some Iranian government officials) have suggested a construction/welding accident caused a fire which caused an explosion, or it was sabotage by protestors or even a military strike (it is part of the U.S./Israeli military policy to target such places as they are considered ‘dual use’ facilities).
When the Spanish explorers set foot in a place now called Venezuela they noticed that the natives were using a tarry substance, it seemed to be everywhere. Today, it’s known as heavy crude oil.
By 1928, U.S. oil companies had surpassed the operations of European oil companies in Venezuela. Despite a lot of naysayers claiming that nobody wants to control Venezuela’s expensive to refine heavy crude oil, the oil refineries in the United States were developed specifically to handle that type of oil. The Second World War, followed by the sales boom of personal automobiles in the U.S., drove the U.S. even deeper into developing the world’s largest heavy crude oil reserves, in Venezuela.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) oil map of Venezuela, dated May 1947 (note that this is several months before the official creation of the CIA).
C-SPAN has a promotional film about Creole Petroleum Corporation, showing the history of its development in Venezuela and what it argues are the many benefits to the oil-rich country, such as health care, education, and infrastructure: Click here to view People and Petroleum, the Story of Creole in Venezuela.
Oil & gas operations in Venezuela, as of 1954.
In 1950, Venezuela was the fourth most prosperous country in the world, with an average income of about $7-thousand-5-hundred with only Switzerland, New Zealand, and the U.S. doing better. Owned by Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) at the time, Creole dissolved when Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the 1970s.
The United Kingdom’s Sky News explainer, posted on 11DEC2025, showing that the U.S. is after Venezuela’s heavy crude oil, then at the very end of report hints that Russia is next:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) instituted a national ‘Public Order’ training standard for National Guard and law enforcers across the United States. The news media hasn’t published one word about this, yet you can find information directly from FEMA: Public Order and Public Safety basic course.
On 03AUG2025, Rhode Island Army National Guard’s 115th Military Police Company participated in Public Order training, officially known as Public Order Platoon (POP) training, taught by the Rhode Island State Police. Video report via Terry Rajsombath: