Spring cleaning

Infidel 762

Infidel 762

Director
Staff member
Strange nights lately—refreshing the same war over and over, like it might change if you look again. Left, right, wrong… no kings, just noise. Then you drive far enough out that the bars drop to zero and the screen goes cold in your hand. No updates. No experts. Just wind, and lines you don’t notice until you’re standing on one, and empty miles in a place nobody talks about.

Same world, still spinning—but it feels like you stepped off it for a minute. Out here, nothing feels urgent. Like the chaos only exists when there’s signal to carry it. The algorithm keeps feeding it to you… then it disappears the second the screen goes dark. Out here, it’s quiet enough to realize—some of it might not exist the way we think it does at all.

At least some things out here are still real.

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Slipped out for a quick stand after work. I’ve called this pasture a couple times this winter at night, and the farmer mentioned he’s been seeing a coyote hanging around his cattle there, so I set up in the creek-bottom brush with a shotgun. A few minutes later, I could hear one running down the creek, crashing through the leaves.

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I’m getting to the point where I get more out of calling one in close—into shotgun range—than taking multiple at night with a thermal.

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Or just turn it off and look around…if I wasn’t “told” about everything social media thinks is important, I would never know.
Everything in my little town is all normal.
People are shopping, going through the few little drivethru’s we have to get food, or getting their dusty trucks washed for church tomorrow.
Hunters are chasing turkeys and boats are loaded up heading to the lake or their favorite ponds.
Some are working in their yards putting pine straw in their flower beds and planting those Spring flowers.
Kids are playing in the yards or riding their bikes through the woods exploring nature.

Yeah, if I wasn’t “told” of all the craziness going on, I’d never know it and I like it that way.
 
Spurchaser said:
Or just turn it off and look around…if I wasn’t “told” about everything social media thinks is important, I would never know.
Everything in my little town is all normal.
People are shopping, going through the few little drivethru’s we have to get food, or getting their dusty trucks washed for church tomorrow.
Hunters are chasing turkeys and boats are loaded up heading to the lake or their favorite ponds.
Some are working in their yards putting pine straw in their flower beds and planting those Spring flowers.
Kids are playing in the yards or riding their bikes through the woods exploring nature.

Yeah, if I wasn’t “told” of all the craziness going on, I’d never know it and I like it that way.
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Curiosity matters right now because wars like Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran are complex and connected—but headlines only show a slice of it. Groups like Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, the IRGC, and various mujahideen movements all play roles that tie these conflicts together. Staying informed through multiple, non-biased sources helps you understand what’s actually happening, not just the narrative.

Staying curious means you’re not just consuming headlines—you’re understanding the bigger picture, seeing how things connect, and staying a lot harder to mislead.

But there’s a balance—being informed isn’t the same as obsessing. Constantly consuming it can cloud judgment just as much as ignorance. The goal is to stay aware, think critically, and then step back—so you’re informed without being consumed by it.
 
jmeddy said:
My County has ~37,000 people, nearest (biggest) town in it has 4100 of them. I read the local paper (published in the next County) for my news which isn't much. Haven't watched a newscast in years. As Spur said above 'Ilike it this way.
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Every once in a while I’ll check Fox News, then CNN—and remind myself the truth usually sits somewhere in the middle, if you’re paying attention… or it’s all just a smoke screen to keep you occupied from what they don’t want you to actually see. :alien:
 
The human race isn’t just stupid. It’s incorrigible. History screams at us, and we walk into the same trap every damn time—overconfident, reckless, blind to the consequences.

Now it’s Iran. Same arrogance, same overplayed confidence. Airpower alone won’t decide anything—never has. Geography, ideology, time… those don’t bend for anyone. But everyone acts like they do. Like it’s going to be quick. Clean. Controlled. It never is.

Meanwhile, people tune in to Fox News or CNN, argue over the headlines, and pretend they’re seeing the truth. “Real eyes” know better—but even knowing isn’t enough. Most are still distracted. Still occupied. Still watching the smoke screen while the fire rages in the background.

By the time the reality sinks in—by the time it’s messy, expensive, and relentless—we’re already trapped in the cycle. Again. Same mistakes. Same arrogance. Same suffering.

And the worst part? We’ll probably do it all over again.



 
We’ve always said we don’t know how World War III will be fought—only that World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. But look closer at what’s unfolding now. This war isn’t just about missiles or territory—it’s about control. Oil is the surface fight… the visible prize. Tankers, choke points, the Strait—everything we can see burning in real time. And right now, that’s enough to shake the entire global economy.

But underneath it, something more dangerous is taking shape. Both sides are already talking about targeting desalination plants and power grids. That’s not strategy for winning ground—that’s strategy for collapsing the systems that keep people alive. The Middle East is already on the edge of water collapse—drought, failing infrastructure, and demand outpacing supply. War doesn’t strain that system—it breaks it. Once water and power go, it’s not about influence anymore—it’s about survival.

That’s the shift. This will likely be the last war fought for oil. The next one won’t be about keeping economies running—it’ll be about keeping people alive. And wars fought over survival don’t end the same way. They don’t de-escalate. They don’t negotiate cleanly.

They burn until there’s nothing left to fight over...
 
The issue is we seem to never have a clear goal to be met. What’s the end game? When do we call it and say that’s enough, we set out and accomplished what we intended to accomplish? Right now we’ve passed the threshold. We’ve created an even worse enemy that will now strike us during mine and my children’s lifetime. They’ve been striking since I was a young man, now they’ll stop at nothing to save face. I don’t have the answers and unfortunately those we elect don’t have the answers either.

I’m tired of the US being the one to think they have to bring peace to the world. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we brought every military person back home and just patrolled our borders (land/water). It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we quit exporting our gas/oil and kept it for ourselves. Drill baby drill does not hurt my feelings one bit.

If Russia wants to invade someone, invade. If Iran and Iraq want to destroy each other or another Middle Eastern country, have at it. Let’s take care of home before we worry about everyone else. Let’s fortify America to the point a nation would consider it suicide to even think about invading or launching on us. There’s never an end to the global war on terror or drugs, so why fight it. Build an empire here that would deter even the craziest terrorist out there.
 
Spurchaser said:
I’m tired of the US being the one to think they have to bring peace to the world. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we brought every military person back home and just patrolled our borders (land/water). It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we quit exporting our gas/oil and kept it for ourselves. Drill baby drill does not hurt my feelings one bit.
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Sounds good on the surface—but it’s not that simple. Most of what we produce is WTI—light, sweet crude. A lot of our refineries were built to run heavier crude like Brent blends or other imports. So we still bring in heavier oil while exporting excess WTI we don’t efficiently use.

If we just ‘kept it all,’ you don’t get cheaper gas—you get bottlenecks, refinery mismatches, and price spikes in the wrong places. And here’s the part people ignore—oil isn’t just fuel, it’s a financial system. Brent pricing drives the global market, and it all runs through the petrodollar. That’s why every country needs dollars to buy energy, and why the U.S. has the leverage it does.

Now look at what’s happening—there are credible reports Iran is trying to move oil through the Strait using Chinese yuan instead of dollars. That’s not just selling oil—that’s a direct shot at the petrodollar system. And let’s be real—when you start messing with the currency that underpins global energy trade, that’s the kind of thing nations have gone to war over before.

So when Trump says we ‘don’t need the oil,’ he’s either oblivious to how the system actually works—or, more likely, it’s a bait-and-switch line to calm people down while the bigger picture gets ignored.

‘Just keep it here’ sounds simple—but it ignores the system that actually gives that oil its power
 
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