Quote from: TDoS on Jul 06, 2026, 05:25 PMWell, once this site had all sorts of folks stopping in, discussing most anything, it was great entertainment. RE's early sites had even more followers. That might have been guru level leader status I suppose..

The reason I had a following was because I Blogged.  I no longer do that, so the people who liked reading my take on history, economics, anthropology, politics, energy, futurism and my autobiographical material have drifted away.  I no longer have sufficient energy to sit at the keyboard to write at the length I used to.  I also no longer can keyboard anywhere near my old speed.  I'm down to one hand hunt and peck typing.   My old blogs would usually range from 5-10K words and I could crank them out in a day.  Today, one of those blogs would take a month.

I wish I still could blog.  There are some ideas and topics I either never thought had relevance to collapse or are so controversial I didn't think it wise to publish while still alive so I didn't write about them.   I have no desire to be martyred for having wildly unpopular opinions and end up in prison. lol.  At this point though, prison would not be that much different than my current accommodations, though I don't think they let prisoners have unrestricted access to the internet, which thank god I still have.

Anyhow, now all we do is chronicle the newz stories which are relevant to the topics I used to write on at great length.  It's not enough to develop or retain a following.  I'd like to do video again, but I've been waiting for Kdog to set up a better platform than what I used to do with Skype and YouTube.  Hopefully he'll eventually get around to that.  I can still talk well enough unscripted to do an entertaining show.  Maybe I can still be a Guru. lol. 😀

RE

Quote from: K-Dog on Jul 05, 2026, 09:34 PM

QuoteI doubt Elon would last long leading his survival clan of supermodels, tech bros and mercs for instance.

Exactly, none of our billionaire class has it in them to be a charismatic or competent leader.  They should pick me as guru while there is still time.

Well, once this site had all sorts of folks stopping in, discussing most anything, it was great entertainment. RE's early sites had even more followers. That might have been guru level leader status I suppose. But guru's being in charge of collecting followers....first his went....elsewhere....some then came here...and then they went.....I would say guru skills are having opposite consequences of what gurus do. Followers aren't supposed to be dropping like flies right? Everytime I get banned for whatever the reason djour guru ranking for whomever drops like 33%.

Quote from: K-Dog on Jul 05, 2026, 09:57 PMPops is not typical and 99% of people would not have dropped out to grow veggies and raise pigs. You still do not get it.

Of course get it. You make absolute statements...that aren't. I just happen to notice.

Quote from: K-DogPeople do not challenge that which contradicts their world view.

This I MIGHT agree with. For example, you do not challenge your world view of the MIB being after you, and therefore spammers must be the MIB. Pops DID challenge his world view of being a normal white collar professional type, to become a pig farmer in Missouri because he went for peak oil hook, line and sinker.

Quote from: K-DogPerhaps I am not being clear so I'll repeat that.  People do not challenge that which contradicts their world view.

Thank you for clearing that up. Telling someone black is white more than once is sure to convince them who are they to beleive, you, or their lying eyes.

Quote from: K-DogSome people are prone to conspiracies and seek them out.  That actually makes more my point than yours.

It depends. Lately, YOU have been making my point for me, I sort of figured that meant you were coming around.

Quote from: K-DogI am talking about people being convinced that the world works a certain way, and society reinforces the message.

THIS seems like a reasonable statement. Yes...I have no doubt people are convinced that the world works a certain way. And we all might think it works differently, your perspective versus mine for example. I can agree that society reinforces A message (different than THE message). The message society gives you and I have zero requirement of us thinking we got the same message. Different life experience, different innate capabilities, different mindsets from birth, different IQs, etc etc.

Quote from: K-DogIt becomes a core belief.

For SOME. Maybe for you. Maybe for me. Maybe we collected different core beliefs from the same message. Maybe one, or both of us, can see BEYOND whatever the message might be, and figure things out. I'll bet you would think that about yourself. Just as would I. You have your MIB proof. I have mine in peak oil.Fundamentally there is ZERO requirement we both develop a core belief, or ANY belief, fed to us by society. We have the ability to think....beyond. With ZERO requirement two educated and intelligent people arrive at the same conclusion. 

Quote from: K-DogJoe and Suzie Creamcheese may be the sons and daughters of lawyers from the other side of town.  They have never seen poverty up close.  They think the world is totally fair.  Poor people are only lazy.  'America follows the path of justice.' To them that statement is true and if they are presented with evidence that what they believe is not true, they will deny it with a passion they do not know they have.

You are lecturing to a true believer. I learned this from dealing with peak oilers, not Joe and Suzie next door. As you say, presented with evidence they believe is not true, they will deny it with a passion they do not know they have.

This characteristic works for the generally conspiratorial as well I might add.

Quote from: K-DogWhen a reader encounters a piece of evidence as concrete as this 1996 Independent article, they have a glimpse of the truth. However, a truth that is inherently "un-liveable" for most people. To acknowledge deep intrusion as a permanent, foundational fact of daily life requires them to fundamentally change how they engage with the state, technology, and their own feelings of safety.  And the fact is, they are not fucking going to do that.

Peak oil slots right into this example, circa 2000-2005. So I agree what you say is possible, including with people in general in terms of their view of the society they live in.

But I do have one comment. YOU don't have the lock on ALL perspectives. You might have a lock on J6P from your experience. Or the MIB. But your perspective isn't required to be mine just because you believe yours.

Quote from: K-DogAccess to the truth is not the bottleneck, the bottleneck is the capacity to endure truth.

Again, I agree. And peak oil proved it PERFECTLY. I provided access to as much truth as those doomers could handle. Not just some abstract truth, but scientific FACT. But because they believed, it must be true. To heck with BELIEF....they deny the basic precepts of SCIENCE itself.

The Anti-Christ gets no sympathy.

Christ blessed the humble, the grieving, the just. But in Trump's gospel, weakness is punished, cruelty is crowned. The Beatitudes were once a promise to the lowly. He turned them into weapons against them. This isn't just inversion. It's desecration.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit

In Trump's America, poverty is a moral failure. Aid is slashed. Tax cuts flow upward. Workers are parasites. The desperate are disposable. Humility is weakness. Wealth is righteousness.

2. Blessed are they that mourn

But mourning is mocked. Families killed in climate disasters ignored. Starving families scorned. A million COVID deaths met with shrugs. Empathy is weakness. Grief is noise.

3. Blessed are the meek

Humility is heresy. He kneels only to tyrants and demands submission from the governed. Generals are traitors. Judges are enemies. The meek don't inherit the earth—they're crushed beneath it.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness

But justice is hunted. Whistleblowers exiled. Prosecutors purged. Watchdogs defunded. The righteous aren't ignored—they're targeted. Righteousness isn't a virtue. It's a threat.

5. Blessed are the merciful

Mercy is eradicated. Immigrants caged. Children torn from families. Trans youth denied care. The sick mocked. The poor blamed. Compassion is criminalized. Cruelty is policy.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart

Purity has no place. Loyalty eclipses truth. Corruption is rewarded. Integrity is exiled. The honest are cast out, the vile promoted. In Trump's dominion, purity isn't rare—it's extinct.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers

But peace is sabotaged. He courts conflict, stokes unrest, and fans the flames of civil war. Allies alienated. Enemies emboldened. Chaos keeps him centered. Hatred is the fuel. Division, the engine.

8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake

And yet he dares call himself the persecuted. A billionaire felon cloaks himself in martyrdom while real truth-tellers are jailed, exiled, or silenced. He doesn't suffer for justice—he profits from injustice.

RE

TEHRAN — In a display of public grief that appears to contradict years of Western media portrayals, hundreds of thousands of mourners have flooded the streets of Tehran for the third day of a seven-day funeral program for Iran's slain Supreme Leader, Imam Ali Khamenei.

The gathering at the Grand Mosalla Mosque—the largest in Iran—has drawn crowds so vast that journalists on the scene estimate attendance in excess of one million people, including those in the immediate vicinity of the mosque complex. The morning prayer on July 5 concluded with worshippers packing the square and surrounding areas so densely that reporters were unable to navigate through the crowds for approximately 45 minutes.

"This is challenging directly the narrative that the West has been hearing for years—that the supreme leader of this country was widely despised and enjoyed very little support amongst the population," said this reporter, observing from Tehran. "People could see the physical evidence of the absurdity of this at this very moment."
A Nation in Mourning

The slain leader, along with family members who were killed alongside him, lies in state at the Grand Mosalla Mosque. Mourners have traveled from across Iran to pay their respects, including from provinces such as Kerman, Hamadan, and Alborz—some making journeys of five hours or more by car.

Among those interviewed were families, students, and volunteers from the Basij paramilitary organization, which one member described as a social service organization that "helps people build houses, build healthcare centers" rather than a purely military force. Volunteers at the event assisted with crowd control and guided attendees through the massive complex.
Grief and Resolve

Mourners interviewed at the scene expressed profound personal loss, with many referring to Khamenei as a "father figure."

"You see, in fact, he was our father," one attendee explained. "The leader was our father, and if in reality you lost your father, maybe after one week or two weeks you will forget it. But this lasting—the loss of our leader is very difficult for us."

Many expressed belief that the United States and Israel were responsible for the assassination, citing the late leader's opposition to what they termed "arrogant governments."

"The Americans and Israelis have a problem with our belief, with our school of thought," one mourner stated. "So if instead of our leader, another person—they would kill him too. They have a problem with our belief."
Rejection of Negotiations

A recurring theme among those interviewed was opposition to negotiations with the Trump administration, despite the US president's recent comments about the mourning crowds. When asked about Trump's suggestion that the tears might be "fake," mourners were unequivocal.

"This is completely a lie," one attendee responded. "These are feelings that come from our heart. It's not correct. Trump is a big liar and a big actor—he thought all people are the same team. No."

A volunteer with the Basij organization articulated a common sentiment: "We have a saying: 'A wise man never gets bitten twice.' We cannot trust them."

Several mourners expressed conditional openness to negotiations, but only if ordered by the country's new leadership, saying: "We do not like to negotiate with the United States, but based on our leader's order, we just follow him."
The War and Its Toll

The funeral comes amid what mourners described as an ongoing conflict, with one attendee stating: "We lost our commander, we lost our leader... we have some very good achievements against oppressors, but also some very big losses."

Another, a student at an Islamic school, declared: "With the assassination of our leader and the martyrdom of his family, we will be more powerful than before. We are standing here to damage any arrogant power."

When asked what message they would send to the West, one mourner urged "the Western youth to listen to their heart... and support the Iranian nation." Another added: "History will be made by poor people. God says the poor people will make history."
Historical Context

The gathering represents one of the largest public displays of support for Iran's leadership in recent memory, occurring at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Western powers. As the seven-day funeral program continues, observers expect even larger crowds in the coming days.

The event has forced international media to confront a reality that many Western outlets have been reluctant to acknowledge—the apparently deep well of public support for Iran's supreme leadership despite years of sanctions, international isolation, and military conflict.

As one mourner put it: "Any people you see here came with his own discipline. We came to say thanks to our martyr leader and say goodbye to him, and to say we are ready to support the new leader."

And we are astonished why? deja vu does not generate surprise or astonishment.

Fascism is here to stay.

Sadly, anyone who would be a good Guru doesn't have the necessary funds, and anyone with the moolah would make a lousy Guru.  They are mutually exclusive sets, there's no intersection.

RE