Beyond the Blather

While we were distracted by an unconstitutional act of war....

Jun 25, 2025

Part 1
Not so fast. It looks like the “obliteration” of the Iranian nuclear site (stone mountain) was incomplete at best. And because our dear leader announced his intentions well in advance, nuclear material appears to have been relocated. Can I please hear a collective “DUH!”? IMO, we just opened another big can of worms - a president set another precedent in making war without congressional approval. Impeachable offense.

”Hours after the bombing, President Trump claimed in a televised address that the strike on Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordow had “obliterated” the facility. This morning Pete Hegseth echoed that, using the same word: “obliterated.” It fell to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine to inject a note of reality into the proceedings, noting that it was too soon to know for sure how damaged the facilities are.

Meanwhile, indeed, several new findings have surfaced making it clear that—just as military analysts had predicted beforehand—the strike has not left the facilities “obliterated” or “completely destroyed.”

A former U.S. Air Force targeting officer told Reuters that it’s "the difference between denting a safe and blowing it open."

Read more here from ex CIA officer Michael D. Sellers.

And for a perspective from other experts as to why this failed, read on:
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/18/30000-pound-bomb-iran-nuclear-program.html

And then there is this devastating yet unsurprising article from the NY Times. “Strike Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by Only a Few Months, U.S. Report Says”.

Let the boondoggles continue. Will our meddling in the Middle East never cease?

Part 2

This past weekend I visited an open house in our neighborhood. The condo has been on the market since early April. It is beautifully staged and in perfect condition. Extremely desirable area. Over the last ten years, units here have sold in four days with multiple offers - often over the asking price. But now, no bites.

Two price drops. Nothing is happening. I asked the realtor why. He said “It’s the market, it is dead. Normally there would be less than a dozen homes for sale in this town. Now there are 65 listings and none are moving.”

I asked why?
“Uncertainty. The immigration raids.”
“In our town a large percentage of buyers are Asian. They are afraid.”
“Others are just frightened about the economy. They are frozen with fear.”

“There were four very interested parties. They knew this was a 55+ village. But when they heard that the maximum permanent occupancy was two, they bailed. They all had “20 something” children living with them.” Guess why.

For more on the housing market, this article is revealing. And for Zillow’s take on the shift from seller to buyer, read here.

Part 3

“Canada Freezes Utah, Florida, Arizona, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Maine as Cross-Border Friction Deepens, This Strike Deep Steep in US Tourism Sector”

“Canada has pressed the brakes—hard. Utah, Florida, Arizona, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Maine are suddenly feeling the chill. As cross-border friction deepens, Canada freezes its travel enthusiasm for these once-favorite U.S. destinations. The result? A strike so deep, it cuts steep into the core of the U.S. tourism sector.

Utah’s scenic wonders now sit quieter. Florida’s sun-soaked beaches feel emptier. Arizona and Phoenix report drops. Las Vegas lights still flash, but fewer Canadians are watching. And Maine? It’s no longer the go-to coastal escape it once was.”

More Canadians are ditching U.S. road trips with 38% annual drop

“The overall tourism decline threatens to wipe out US$12.5 billion from the American economy this year.”

Part 4

The food inflation rate in the US, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food, is currently 2.9% for the 12 months ending in May. This means food prices are 2.9% higher than they were a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Food at home (grocery prices): Increased by 2.2% year-over-year.
Food away from home (restaurant prices): Increased by 3.8% year-over-year.
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs: Specifically, this category saw a 6.1% increase.

Part 5
Trump has set July 9th as a deadline before huge tariffs are levied on most of our trading partners. The ONLY “deal” so far is with the UK.

“Across Southern California, Port of L.A. officials estimate, a million jobs are tied to the port, including truckers, warehouse workers, manufacturers and freight forwarders. Their jobs now hinge on the terms of trade set by the president.”

On the recent Thursday, the effects of the tariffs were evident in the union hiring hall across the channel from the Port of Los Angeles where dockworkers go each morning to claim new assignments. The screens displaying jobs for daily workers showed about 40 percent fewer positions than normal.

Some truckers say tariffs have already hammered their business.”

Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said the tariffs posed a “very significant threat to the economy” that would become visible in the next few months.

“The hit to the economy is dead ahead,” he said. “We haven’t dodged that bullet.”

Concluding thoughts: It is a classic playbook for failing and flailing national leaders to inflate danger from abroad in an effort to distract us from our troubles at home. The real estate market and the tourism business are barometers of economic trends and health. The warning signs are there. We have shifted to a buyers market in real estate. Tourists are too afraid or too angry to travel here. The chaos of a trade war with the rest of the world certainly weigh heavy on the Federal Reserve who refuses to lower interest rates for fear of the inevitable inflation from the tariffs. Which completes the circle of housing continuing to be less affordable.

The impacts of removing thousands of workers, making veterans wait longer for health care, defunding important medical research…I don’t have the time to keep the list going. But it will be infinitely longer if the BBB atrocity makes it through Congress. Read an assessment from the Tax Foundation. Our nightmares seek to be reality.

The debacles will accumulate and “47” will be reviled as the worst, most destructive president in our nations history. I guess Stephen Miller really meant it when he said: “The Cruelty is the Point!”

Our president is hiding his incompetence behind B2 bombers.

Personal Therapy:

Visit garden at 6:00 am, water heavily to keep plant life alive in a heatwave. 99 degrees yesterday.

Beyond the Blather

While we were distracted by an unconstitutional act of war....

Discussion about this post