The Red Horse And The Orange Shitgibbon (American Revelation XVI, Three.)

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? ~Revelation 6 (King James Version.)

At midnight on Saturday, Iran attacked Israel, launching around 170 Drones, 120 Ballistic Missiles and 30 Cruise missiles at various targets. There wasn't a lot of damage, because most of the weapons were intercepted or shot down by the IDF, plus the French Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Jordanian Air Force, US Air Force and US Navy. Also, the Saudis and the UAE apparently provided support.

Which seems weirdly contradictory to the various and assorted End Times narratives I've been hearing most of my life...and actually became a student of while I was in the military.

Arabs and Israelis working together to resist an attack on Israel? Hey, fuck you, Jack Van Impe.

That's pretty impressive, more to the point it ain't exactly caused Revelation, or WWIII, and since Biden has said we're not going to support an Israeli counterattack, maybe we'll get lucky and there won't be one.

In point of fact, there was only one person (a 7-year old Israeli Arab Bedouin girl) seriously injured. That really sucks for her, but as wars go, it could have been way worse. There were a few other minor injuries, and apparently a parked aircraft was also damaged.

My feeling is that the Russians put the Iranians up to this, because they need House Republicans to keep stalling on aid to Ukraine...not that the Russians have accomplished much despite a tenuous Ukrainian supply situation and assorted lags in the delivery of supplies and weapons. 

And I guess my thing about that is, the Russians have to know the Israelis could have gone all out in terms of their own response...they didn't, but they easily could have and I doubt a lot of their population would have minded a mushroom cloud or two over a couple of Iranian Air Force and/or Islamic Revolutionary Guards bases all that much.

Not to sound that way, but I for one would not have blamed them too much for hitting back, they apparently haven't yet...but one has to assume that option remains on the table.

So, the Iranians should know that the Russians consider the US Republican Party to be a more useful, valuable ally than they are...because let's get real, Israel could have responded in kind.

And, shall we say, certain Republicans would have gladly helped, if it'd been up to them. I bet John Bolton was up all night practicing his war-bluster and waxing his mustache.

No Red Horse and Beast with a sword for you, motherfucker!

(Also, since Trump, Republicans are just as willing to be Iran's bitch as they are to be Russia's bitch. That's why Bolton quit.)

So yeah, despite half the world being mad at Israel because of the Gaza war, Israel isn't an isolated pariah now and most of the world is looking at the Iranians like "Dude, what the fuck??" 

And while you could argue that the Iranians have mapped out Israeli air defenses and this and that, it seems like this was an awfully expensive way to go about doing it, if that is so.

In the end, I think it just comes down to one more attempt by the Russians and the rest of Authoritarians Incorporated to use some kind of big apparent action to try and distract and manipulate people so they don't do what it takes to help Ukraine.

And it's funny how money seems to be no object, since Iran and Russia are relatively poor countries, there's money for 120 ballistic missiles coming from somewhere, who's funding this shit??

(I get it, this crap is about Power, not money, and we're dealing with people-from little MAGA idiots to up to Putin himself-who'll piss away everything for some kind of relative status.)

While I'm at it, since Trump's hush money trial in the Stormy Daniels case has started today (and I'm getting ongoing updates on that) and he seems to be a keystone of all these fucking people's schemes, I have to wonder what other crazy shit is going to happen this week to try and distract from that and protect his ass.

I mean, the "Anything But America" crap seems to have taken a break, and they can't have that, can they??

Whether it's the Beast on the Red Horse with the great sword, or the Orange Shitgibbon with the Toad-Stool dick, somebody's going to try something.

The Price Of Liberty Is Eternal Vigilance.

Remember that, because it's going to be on the test, later.

Слава Україна!

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
~Ronald Reagan

Two

There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation. It's a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die. Who knows? If there is in fact, a heaven and a hell, all we know for sure is that hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix — a clean well lighted place full of sunshine and bromides and fast cars where almost everybody seems vaguely happy, except those who know in their hearts what is missing... And being driven slowly and quietly into the kind of terminal craziness that comes with finally understanding that the one thing you want is not there. Missing. Back-ordered. No tengo. Vaya con dios. Grow up! Small is better. Take what you can get. ~Hunter S. Thompson, Generation Of Swine.