If oil stays above $100 throughout Q2 and into Q3, stagflation becomes a problem. In the 1970s, the S&P 500 went nowhere for an entire decade when stagflation took hold.  Stagflation is like long Covid, it just does not go away.

Trump does not understand economics.  If he did we would not be in this mess.  If the cost of a commute and a meal exceeds daily take-home pay, the labor force demands an immediate raise or quits.  It is a mathematical thing, not a choice.

Household debt was 40% of income in the 70's.    Now household debt is 80-90% for the middle class.  There is no wiggle room like there used to be.  Today the employment situation in America is dismal for many.  And filling my gas tank today cost an extra $17.

Isfahan, Iran, dated March 24, 2026

Something you sure the fuck will not see on any American news.  While the Epstein criminal cadre makes bank, people die.

The strike killed a colonel in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mechi Nasra Azadoni, who had just returned home on leave. Also killed were his mother, his wife, and two of his children.  The Governor of Isfahan province, Mia Jamali, stated that the murderous Israeli / U.S. war crimes have resulted in the deaths of 168 children in the region.

Is America Fascist?  That debate is OVAH !




















Iran's 5-Point Plan

Tehran's response via state media (and delivered back through Pakistan) makes it clear Iran want a reckoning:

1) War Reparations: They are demanding full financial compensation for the destruction of their infrastructure and the 20,000+ residential units already hit.
2) Sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz: They are claiming total "natural and legal" control over the waterway, a move that would permanently hold 20% of the world's energy supply hostage.
3) Halt to "Assassinations": A demand for a complete end to the targeted killings of Iranian officials and scientists.
4) Guarantees that the U.S. and Israel can never restart the war.
5) Regional Ceasefire: Insisting the deal include all their allies, effectively demanding that Israel stop its invasion of Lebanon.

The American plan is insulting, so insulting it can't be serious.  I conclude Trump buys time.  Trump wants more dead Americans.  There is too much in it for him to TACO out on this mess so soon. 

Trump wants to make a big splash in history.  A blood splash.  It is a psychological thing for him.  Daddy was sparing in his love of baby Trump and baby Trump was broken.  Now baby Trump breaks other people and as baby Trump nears the end of his life he wants Great Man status.  A war with Iran, which has already displaced millions and hit nearly 20,000 Iranian residential units, is an event that guarantees a spot in the history books.  The human cost is high, but Trump don't care about that shit.  Daddy made sure of that, and Trump is an evil fuck.  Making other people be unalive makes Trump feel real big.   

Is he in to deep?  A stupid question considering Trump has dementia, but Trump has never been in this situation before.  No muscle to call to do a job for him, and fix things in a way nobody talks about.  A high priced lawyer can't do dick here.  This swamp is bigger than any swamp Trump has ever played in before.  Trump thinks of himself as the king of the swamp, and this time the universe might tell him that he is not Swamp King.

So how much do you want to share his pain ?

Once Trump said:

QuoteI could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters

Now Trump doesn't need voters.  Trump has the military doing his bidding now.

There are fresh warnings that Australia's food production could be halved in months as the war in Iran disrupts supply chains.  Australian farmers are facing a severe shortage of the fuel needed to run machinery and the fertilizer required to grow crops.

Perfect timing!  Will this one get to thee threshhold number of 11M that signals a popular revolt?  How will the Trumpolini Gestapo react?

RE

Quote from: TDoS on Mar 24, 2026, 05:07 PMAI SAY:A fact is something that is known to be true—an event, condition, or piece of information that can be proven through evidence, observation, or reliable verification.

Tell that to Faux Newz,  MAGA, Climate Change Deniers, Trumpsky and everyone else who claims they have the facts.  With AI and Deep Fakes facts can be quite hard to ascertain.   Seeing is not always believing.

RE

Quote from: TDoS on Mar 24, 2026, 05:01 PMI doubt they will feed him smaller portions of peas and carrots because fuel costs are going up.

WRONG!  Our portion sizes have shrunk by about 25% and we are getting lower quality meats and more meals with no meat at all.  Food inflation has been hitting tthe food budget heere quite hard.

RE

QuoteHigher costs aren't an ongoing energy crisis, certainly not for you, me or RE. For poor people, every change in prices is a crisis,

I am not exactly what your point is.  Fact is Americans do not have enough on average to provide long term security for themselves.  Living in a tent at 80 is not where I want to be.  How much does the average American need to make sure that does not happen.  Whatever the number is most Americans don't have it.  Working part time makes that less likely.  It significantly plugs up the drain and tops off the tank.

The average retirement balance for a 65-year-old is roughly $609,000 in America, but the median is only $200,000.  A small percentage of Americans have millions, but the majority of Americans are far from having it made in the shade.  And health care can break an average American at any time.

Quote from: author=RE on Mar 23, 2026, 06:31 PMNor are facts always factual.

ha-ha <yawn>

AI SAY:A fact is something that is known to be true—an event, condition, or piece of information that can be proven through evidence, observation, or reliable verification.

I'll stick with the FACTS of a "fact" in this matter.

Your word games aren't near as clever as they used to be. You doing all right? I would love to come visit, but the wife is getting a little antsy about me wandering too far, I got sick twice last year that stuck around and were new experiences. Another trip to Prudhoe with a stop off in Anchorage would be great but I don't think she'd let me.

Quote from: K-Dog on Mar 23, 2026, 06:01 PMTDoS - You have one warning.  I don't want to hear another peep out of you about peak oil for 1 week.

A challenge!!!

Quote from: K-DogThis thread is about an actual ongoing energy crisis, and is not about your whining never ending rant about peak oil definitions.  Which is really just a veiled way of pissing on the Diner.  You could at least find an appropriate topic to post in instead of venting your sociopathic affinity for the dark side here.

I accept the challenge!!

Higher costs aren't an ongoing energy crisis, certainly not for you, me or RE. For poor people, every change in prices is a crisis, inflation causing them to suffer "always" crisis. You and I, spending 20K on heat pumps, us having some nice 4 wheeled hardware (mine doesn't even run on liquid fuels) are doing fine. And our taxes pay for RE to do what he does, I doubt they will feed him smaller portions of peas and carrots because fuel costs are going up.

Approproate topic to post on...okay...how about the varied types of Apocalyptians, those who suffer from a near religious belief in it regardless of facts, logic, science etc etc, and the reasons why?