Caption Photo: NOT Mike on a Bike
The year is winding down, and I’m sure you’re all organizing your New Year’s Resolutions. How many of those resolutions are faith-based? I understand that it’s none of my business, and the question is highly rhetorical.
When I looked up at my father as a boy, I thought being a man was having control and being the master and commander of your own destiny. How could any boy know that freedom is lost the moment you become a man? Things start to count. To press in. Constricting slowly, inevitably, creating a cage of inconveniences and duties and deadlines and failed plans and lost friends. And that’s your sermonette. Hopeful.
Posterity
My oldest daughter, who is a professional photographer in addition to being a school teacher and so many other things, did a photo shoot of my grandchildren and presented me with a zillion photos – this being but one. This one is framed; the others will be grouped and developed to go on the walls at the White Wolf Mine.
Iran – Save the Ayatollah Crime Syndicate – at all costs!
(Front Page) Amid an orgy of executions and the accelerating collapse of its economy, the mullahs’ regime has driven the Iranian people to unprecedented levels of hardship. The latest plunge of the national currency to a historic low is not an accident of market forces, nor the consequence of global instability. It is the inevitable result of decades of plunder, corruption, and ideological fanaticism by a ruling clerical mafia whose survival depends on bleeding the nation dry. In recent days, the U.S. dollar smashed through the 1,250,000-rial threshold for the first time, shattering all previous records. At the time of the anti-Shah revolution in 1979, 74 rials were equal to the U.S. dollar. State media declared that the rial “is melting away.” In truth, it is not the rial that is melting, it is the regime itself.
The mullahs’ solution to every crisis has always been repression at home and aggression abroad. Economic stewardship has never been on their agenda. Iran is a wealthy country, blessed with oil, gas, mineral resources, a young and dynamic population, and a rich cultural heritage. Yet under the venal dictatorship of Ali Khamenei, it has been reduced to penury. The catastrophic collapse of the rial is the most unmistakable evidence of a regime in terminal decline, clutching at any mechanism, no matter how destructive, to prolong its grip on power.
State-run newspapers lament that the currency has lost a staggering 70 percent of its value in only 12 months. The sudden spike is being blamed on seasonal demand for the New Year or supposed uncertainty surrounding negotiations with the United States under President Trump. But even the regime’s own media have ridiculed these excuses. The website Tabnak pointedly asked on December 1: “In any other economy, emergency lights would be flashing, but in Mirdamad [Central Bank headquarters], not even the curtains have moved… Why can’t the Central Bank calm the market?”
The answer is painfully clear. The Central Bank is not failing to act; it is refusing to act. In the clerical dictatorship, the bank’s job is not to serve the public interest; it is to serve the regime’s survival strategy. Governor Mohammadreza Farzin, handpicked by Khamenei’s inner circle, has presided over a series of absurd policy decisions, including appointing an automotive executive to oversee currency affairs amid a monetary crisis. Farzin’s inaction is not incompetence; it is complicity. The collapse of the rial is not the regime’s problem; it is the regime’s preferred solution.
For ordinary Iranians, the consequences are catastrophic. The official minimum wage for the Persian year 1404, just over 100 million rials per month, is worth less than $80 at today’s exchange rate. A worker two years ago, earning a lower nominal salary, could afford far more. Today, families must choose between heating their homes and feeding their children. Items as basic as bread, rice, and cooking oil have become luxury goods. Millions now live below the poverty line, clinging to two or three jobs to stay alive.
What is emerging is nothing short of an “army of the hungry,” a massive class of impoverished citizens with nothing left to lose. These are the very conditions that preceded Iran’s nationwide uprisings in 2019 and 2022. By engineering poverty on such a scale, the mullahs are creating a social powder keg. Each tick upward in the dollar exchange rate is a spark, edging Iran closer to an explosion.
If Iran is becoming poorer by the day, the regime has never been richer. By allowing the currency to collapse, the ruling clique sells its foreign currency reserves, derived from oil, petrochemical exports, and illicit trade, at astronomical rates on the domestic market. The result is a tidal wave of rials that the government uses to paper over its massive budget deficit.
This deficit does not stem from investment in public services, welfare, or infrastructure. It arises from the vast sums required to finance domestic repression, ballistic missile development, the nuclear program, and the regime’s web of proxy militias across the Middle East. Billions are drained into Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and the brutal militias in Iraq. All of this is paid for by Iranians who cannot afford a loaf of bread.
Even the regime’s own outlets have been forced to acknowledge the truth. In February 2025, Serat News admitted that “economic mafias… are raising rates by creating false demand.” But this “mafia” is not some shadowy private cartel. It is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself, along with Khamenei’s sprawling financial empire, that has seized control of most of Iran’s economy. Whether through currency manipulation, smuggling, or the looting of national industries, the IRGC and the Supreme Leader’s office operate as a gargantuan criminal enterprise, siphoning the country’s wealth to fund a machinery of death and destruction.
Iran’s economic collapse rests on two foundations: a bankrupt, mafia-like regime that uses the rial as a weapon against its own people, and a fundamentally ruined economic system built on cronyism and corruption. Decades of mismanagement have hollowed out production, devastated agriculture, and pushed millions into unemployment. The once-thriving middle class, a crucial pillar of any functioning society, has been obliterated.
With inflation spiralling, foreign investment extinct, and sanctions tightening, the rial has only one direction left, downward. This trajectory is irreversible as long as the current regime remains in power. Currency collapse has become the barometer of the mullahs’ desperation, a measure of their willingness to sacrifice the last shreds of national stability to cling to their crumbling throne.
The regime has chosen to impoverish its own nation rather than relinquish power. Yet in doing so, it is paving the way for its own destruction. When the people rise again, as they surely will, it will not be for bread alone. It will be for dignity, for justice, and for freedom from a tyrannical system that has robbed them of all three.
Keep in mind that Iran’s treasury still has significant Gold and other valuables that have been hoarded. Pay-offs to other radical groups must be made in 24K gold (taels, coins, bars, whatever). Oil is traded mainly in US Dollars, though the embargo has led to a trade in goods/services and barter.
Bullet Points:
** Fulton County, GA 2020 votes – the ice is breaking.
** BREAKING: Niger announces a nationwide ban on visas for U.S. citizens. Color my heart broken. I was in the process of planning a vacation for my entire in-law family in livable, lovable Niger. Niger(ia) is still open.
Identify the Aircraft
1
This might be a tough one. Constructed between 1934 and 1936. The designer was arrested during the Soviet Purge and died in prison in 1946.
2
136 made.
Identify the Ship
3
Identify the ship, and if you get that (which you should), identify the city.
4
Identify the Armor
5
Parting Shot
End
1
2 is Blackburn Roc
3 is USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is a Banner-class technical research ship captured by North Korea in 1968. Currently in Pyongyang
Yes!
I somehow missed the move of the USS Pueblo from Wonsan to Pyongyang. My first thought was that it had to have been sailed (towed?) there during the Obama years. And so it was, in late 2012. My 2nd thought was, “Well, why didn’t we sink it in international waters?” “Oh, yeah. Obama.”
1 – Soviet Grokhovsky G-38
2 – British Blackburn Roc
3 – USS Pueblo in Pyongyang, North Korea
4 – Japanese JS Umigiri Asagiri-class destroyer
5 – German Leichter Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz. 222
Well done!!
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Grokhovski G-38
2. Blackburn Roc
Identify the Ship:
3. USS Pueblo at Pyongyang, North Korea
4. JS Umigiri
Identify the Armor:
5. Sd. Kfz. 222
Absolutely!
LBJ’s buddy and un-indicted co-conspirator in his 1948 Senate campaign, George Parr a.k.a. The Duke of Duval County, is apparently alive and well and living in Fulton County.
.
Vol. 2, Means of Ascent of Robert Caro’s massive biography The Years of Lyndon Johnson covers all that. If you don’t quite despise that rat-bastard LBJ enough just yet, and you should, that’ll tune you right up. I pray God allows him to live long enough to finish up and publish Volume 5.
During my days of higher learning happened to see an LBJ Coloring Book in the college bookstore. Thumbed through it and there it was….a ballot box from Duval County, Texas. Written suggestion was to color it “Magic:”.
Great image of the grandkids, nice looking group!
+1!
#5, I didn’t know what it was but I did notice the 80L of fuel strapped to the front.
Even a smaller caliber API or tracer round would turn you into a torch, and it would not be a pleasant ride to the next life.
When I started reading the summary on Iran, I was shocked at the collapse of the rial: from 74 to the dollar to over a million is simply mind-blowing, but the more I read, the more the old song by the Talking Heads played in my head. “Same as it ever was… same as it ever was…” Tehran is on the way to being uninhabitable due to the water table collapsing, causing other things – you know, like buildings – to collapse. We can be sure nothing will be done.
The power elite (holy that they are) will ride that ship beneath the waves.
Combine all that with the rising ascendancy of Christianity in Iran and, well, the mad mullahs and imbecilic imams can go suck it.
–
I feel sorry for the little people in Iran, but, well, kinda not my circus and kinda not my monkeys. My prayers are with the Christians there.
Grandkids…now there’s a legacy continuum. Warms the heart.
***
Love the opener…if not Mike then certainly a SISU type. (Note to self: Watch SISU 2 to set the proper tone for 2026…heh)
***
New Years: I never do ‘resolutions’ per se…mainly (as many here likely) I reevaluate ‘things’ throughout the year to make sure I’m on the right track, often directly after stubbing my proverbial toe on something (can’t always anticipate even when trying). Biggest for me – against my nature but critical – is being the ‘good man’ vs. ‘the nice guy’…okay to say ‘no’ to time requests from others. Already nixed a lot of the news stuff, as it is more of the same only different each week, keeping ‘newstainment’ at arm length, checking in but not imbibing as much, keeps the frustration levels down which allows focusing on what’s truly important, faith, family, and friends.
SISU2 is a great New Year’s Resolution.
It is a inspiring modus operandi for life going forward.
Ok, you talked me into it. Watched about 20 clips of SISU 1, practically 1/2 the movie is being quoted “out there.” SISU, that’s real grit and emotionless resolve.
My sweet mostly-non-violent wife, loved SISU, actually laughed out loud when that one kraut got a facefull of anti-tank mine.
–
Then again, should not surprise me as it is a moral imperative to watch THAT Christmas movie, you know, it isn’t Christmas till Hans Gruber falls off Nakatomi Towers.
“When I looked up at my father as a boy, I thought being a man was… ” (even when I was looking down at him as a late teen) going to work six days a week even on the Sabbath ,leaving home well before the sun even thought of poking its nose above the skyline and returning well after the last lingering rays either were just leaving or had well left the sky depending on the season throughout the ’40s and ’50s when I was a kid three hundred and ten days a year (he went to schul on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).
He worshipped G-d; religiously in his own way, and the United States of America (having arrived at Ellis Island from Czechoslovakia in 1929 at the age of 19 speaking five languages, including English, fluently) came in a very close second when he was praying,
When I looked up at my father as a boy, I thought being a man was working hard as hell to support my family and worshipping G-d and the United States of America; haven’t changed my mind since I was about three/four.
X2
My grandfather died when I was thirteen, and he was very ill during that last year or two, but he was that man to me. It was difficult when he was gone when I was 13, and then people told me, “Now, you’re the man of the house.” They were correct, but it’s a heavy load for a little boy.
I understand. My folks divorced when I was in third grade. It was just my mother and I on our small ranch in Amador County. I was never told that I was the man of the house, but the expectation of responsibility was there. She was a pack a day smoker, and lost her battle with lung cancer the summer after my freshman year in high school. It wasn’t until I started college that I got to really know my dad.
I’ve been watching the collapse of the rial in Iran just as I was watchng the collapse of the dollar under Biden as a function of the cost/price of an ounce of gold
Have you seen the spot price of silver? It’s insane.
I’d still sooner invest in palladium (or boron)
I’m invested in brass and lead for the most part.
Molybdenum. It’s crazy how expensive it is and it’s in everything from steel to circuits.
–
That is, if I had money to invest…
Your sermonette is spot on. I don’t think Charles Buchinsky was acting when he did this scene–
—
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBgrXmHJACs
—
Our calling is to go the distance. Hopefully, when it is time, we can pass the wheel on to the next generation.
What a fine looking group of grandchildren. As I watch mine grow into decent and productive adults, I am uplifted; that something in my life has mattered.
Yes, they give me hope, WSF. Maybe I did something right?
X10
Us “Boyz”…all 60+…STILL reflect Mom and Dad’s rules for a proper life, emulating as best we can, adding our own personalities into the mix…yet ALWAYS offering accolade to their wisdom and strengths (aka. hearing them in our heads). Even then, can’t ever lose one’s historical references, either parents, grandparents, or in my case, generations from the wayback who were engineer and farming types, all transplants who made the most of their Ellis Island thru-hike so the rest of us – those who understand and appreciate the sacrifice – could live THIS life. We are lucky, and realize it more and more each day.
+1
Well; there goes the neighborhood!
A new ‘city within a city’ is springing up in the Arizona desert offering people the chance to own an ‘affordable home’. The master-planned Teravalis community in Buckeye is situated between the White Tank Mountains and the Belmont Mountain Range, about 30 miles west of Phoenix, and will see 100,000 homes constructed on the 37,000 acre site.
Microsoft bought up most of that raw land
Doesn’t matter if there’s no water.
There’s plenty of water in that area.
What i want to know is what does Mike have in that pocket?
All of us are grievously stricken at being barred from Niger. A tragedy. But what a beautiful family photo! Well done.
I wonder if you crossed the Niggerian border illegally, whether the locals would notice? Or would you be forced to wear black face make-up every day to blend in?
“Things start to count” h/t but a tough one L.L.
Facing the severity of events that led to my parents separating @ 14 is still not easy. Had been driving the chore truck 4 miles a day to do chores up until we moved into town. Owning up to consequences of the next few yrs of my rebel living was even more difficult. Since then, the new found freedom of moving out on my own at 17 became an adventure of meeting new friends and eventually filling the shoes of husband and father. It’s been ever expanding experience of growing commitment. Fortunately along the way elders and mentors were examples i could look up to. Still listening and trying to learn their / your wit.
I had to explain to my wife, who is normally astute, as to why so many men stroke out. She didn’t know the stress on men starting as soon as they have any responsibility.
–
Not funny story, after my wife had a deep brain bleed (which she survived and recovered from despite the medical industry’s repeated attempts to kill her) the doctor quizzed me on what pressures she was under. And then asked me what was going on with me. After 5 minutes of listening the only thing he could think of was, “So why aren’t you the one who stroked out?”
–
Back to the first paragraph, after one of her ‘Lifetime’ “Oh, women have it sooo hard” moments,” I actually laid down all the things I have to do and have to worry about daily. Which made my wife cry and beg me to stop, which I didn’t because she wanted to know and I needed the stress relief. The constant existential dread of wondering when the next thing on the vehicle, that gets me to and from the store and to and fro from her doctor appointments, was enough to frustrate her. Add in things like getting the rent paid, wondering what next big bill will hit, constantly shielding her from the neighbors (I don’t tell her half the things that go on outside of the apartment) and and and and and…. But women have it sooo hard, don’t they? Bwahahahahaa…. (starts crying like George Bailey at the bar after his idiot relative lost the money…)
–
It’s why men need their ‘men only’ spaces. And if denied them officially then they’ll create their own. Witness the ‘need’ for man-caves and man-sheds (also known as workshops…) and other things like that.
Nope, not me. The ride on this side is a Merlin Cyrene with the engraved titanium frame (a grail bike for me). Also, I’m prettier than that man. Though he has, alas, the thick white hair that 15 years ago I thought I’d have now. Instead, it’s blacker than ever [1] but thinning. Grrr.
[1] started getting white hairs in my 40’s. Then it all fell out (apart from a few stubborn Gollum-like strands) with chemo. When it came back in, no more white hairs. WTF?
—
Speaking of prettier. Crossed over into Canada. The francophone border guy was astonishingly handsome. I’m boringly straight, but damn that was a good looking man. For some reason, the border people at that crossing on the Canada side have uniformly been attractive. There was a long string of gorgeous, athletically fit women before this. On the return, the Americans are just normal people. Weird.
—
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/AqgcdYV16UQ