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TruthSage

Category: World Events

  • A Challenge to Democrats

    20261105

    First I will present a challenge to Jake Broe specifically. Then I will present a challenge to all of the Democrats that were elected to an office in this 2026 mid-term election.

    Let’s establish this right up front. I don’t like Trump and I didn’t vote for him. While I do agree with some of his positions I strongly disagree with many of them. I am greatly offended by how he has conducted himself and how he has represented the United States. His treatment of our allies and our trading partners is inexcusable and goes against our national interests. His actions have done significant damage to the United States of America’s standing in the world that will take decades to repair and some of it may never be able to be repaired. He has negatively damaged the national security interests of the United States.

    Okay, so who is Jake Broe? He is an internet/YouTube blogger/vlogger/influencer. As of the writing of this article his YouTube channel has 715,000 followers.

    I watch each of his videos and appreciate his commitment to Ukraine and the information that he shares in regards to Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, his fervor against Trump is over the top and causes him to often blame Republicans in general for conditions and situations that the Democrats share at least equal blame for. Jake’s statements often do not line up with the historic record and the reality of the party politics as they currently exist in the USA.

    Jake ends his videos with the statement, “Keep defending the truth, keep defending democracy.”

    Democrats and the Democrat Party have been taking away my rights, my freedoms and my liberty for over 100 years.

    My challenge to Jake Broe:

    Stand up and fight for personal liberties and freedoms in the USA as hard as you have fought for Ukraine’s sovereignty, liberties and right to self-determination.

    Now let me turn our attention to the mid-term elections and the Democrat party in general.

    In the 2026 mid-term elections voters did not vote for the Democrat Party’s positions or policies they voted against both Trump and the general state of how our government is functioning and the Democrats share responsibility for creating the current environment.

    After the voting, a pollster asked his focus group who had voted for Democrats and who had voted against Trump. At least 11 out of the 15 said their vote was not for Democrats but rather was against Trump. That is not a mandate for the Democrats, it is a repudiation of Trump personally.

    Greg Terry, another YouTuber, in reflecting on the outcome of the elections noted that, “Donald Trump had to have checks and balances put in place and stopped.” Unfortunately, in a two-party system, the only option you have to apply some checks and balances is to vote for the opposing party even if you despise their policies and what they stand for.

    The votes in this election were against:

    • Trump- the votes were mainly against Trump but also go beyond that
    • The nastiness of our President (but it would also apply to our politics in general)
    • The disrespect for and poor treatment of our allies by our President
    • The lack of support for Ukraine and the principles of liberty (this applies both to the President for his actions and also to the Congress for their inaction)
    • How our President and other members of his administration cozied up to Putin and Russia (an enemy of the USA by their own declaration)
    • The use of private individuals, outside of the established agencies, oversight and protocols, to represent us in negotiations
    • The costs and disruptions of the tariffs
    • The seemingly endless self engrandizement and the enrichment of self, family & associates by the President
    • The disregard for national security and interests by the President
    • The bombastic egotism of our President

    The Democrat Party now has significant majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. They are in a position to make a difference.

    My Challenge to the Democrats:

    • Quit trying to control every aspect of my life
    • Respect my rights and liberties
    • Forget about fighting against Republicans and fight for Americans
    • Abolish the tight party control and allow members to vote their conscience and in the interest of their constituents instead of power brokers, special interest groups, party agendas, etc.
    • Change course and start undoing the extensive damage that you have done to this country over the past 100 plus years

  • Diesel Prices

    20261020

    Below is a chart showing diesel prices against Ukraine’s strikes on Russia refineries and events around the US/Iran conflict.

    I have seen the chart in a number of places and it seems to be attributed to the ISW (Institute for the Study of War). I did a number of searches on their website (https://understandingwar.org) and could not find it. I also tried to search ex-Twitter because there seemed to be some indications that they had posted it there but I could not find it. That may be because I am not an ex-Twitter subscriber and my searches may be limited. However, I believe the ISW is the source of the chart.

    I will post a screen capture of the chart here (with colored rectangles that I have added) and then will explain the rectangles below the chart.

    The line that appears kind of tan or brown to me are the oil prices and the line that appears to be kind of a burgundy color to me are the number of Ukrainian strikes against Russian refineries.

    So, the chart shows that even though Trump likes to try to blame Ukraine for the high oil prices and to claim that they do not have anything to do with his attack on Iran. The facts clearly show that the major contributor is Trump’s conflict with Iran.

    I love charts and believe that they can reveal things that may not be as evident just looking at a bunch of numbers. I also believe that this chart from the ISW is well done. However, reading charts is, in my opinion, part math or science but also in large part an art. I know many people who just go glassy eyed when presented with a chart. For those reasons I will present here some observations from looking at the chart that I hope will help people understand it.

    In the blue box we see that during the second half of 2025, during a period when Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries was at a relatively high level, the price of diesel stayed quite steady with a slight decrease near the end of that period.

    In the red box we can see that during the first half of 2026, during a period when Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries were lower the price of diesel increased.

    The green box shows the period in which the diesel prices rose, which also happens to be the period during which the US conflict with Iran occurs. The two sharpest rises come right after Trump attacked Iran and then again after Trump resumed large-scale attacks on Iran after a bit of a ceasefire.

    The purple box shows how, during the period of general rise outlined by the green box, there was a period where the diesel price started falling back down. That retreat in the diesel prices corresponds with the limited ceasefire and reverses and starts rising again as the ceasefire appeared to be falling apart.

    It is clear that Ukraine is not responsible for the rise in diesel prices and that Trump is very directly responsible.

    Those are my observations. I hope that helps.

  • Russian Army Could Collapse

    20261018

    I have been wanting to write this post for more than a year. The signs have been subtle but they have been there and they have been growing, certainly in 2026 but even before that.

    It is quite possible that the Russian Military, the Russian Armed Forces, will collapse. (Throughout the rest of this post I will mostly just call it the Russian Army. The term, as used here, refers to all branches of the Russian military but especially the Army.)

    According to an AI search, “military collapses often occur when logistical failures, morale erosion, or loss of external support reach a tipping point, causing large, equipped forces to vanish or rout rapidly.”

    Some examples of armies “suddenly” collapsing are listed below. It is worth noting that in many cases they were the bigger army considered to be more powerful and to whom victory was expected to belong.

    • 1917- Russian Imperial Army
    • 1918- Imperial German Army
    • 1944- Japanese Burma Area Army
    • 1975- South Vietnamese Army
    • 2021- Afghan National Army
    • 2024- Syrian Army

    Common factors in or causes of a collapse include logistical issues or internal disintegration.

    Another major factor in how a war goes is the motivation or objective of the participants. You can see more on this in our post, “American Example.”

    Throughout 2026 Ukraine has been hitting Russian logistics hard and I believe that the Russian logistics have become very fragile and could lead to a collapse.

    In addition the quality, training, experience, cohesiveness, and number of Russian troops have all declined.

    Another reason for military campaigns failing is a loss of financial support. The Russian economy is struggling in many ways and there is a serious question as to whether or not Putin will be able to continue funding the war. No matter how bad you want to “order” or insist that something happens, there are points at which things just cannot be sustained.

    Military collapses often seem sudden but usually if you look deeper into the circumstances they had been developing for some time.

    So here are a few additional things to consider.

    • The Russian Army is not making progress on the battlefield.
    • If you look at the land that they have taken during this war they have only taken it after totally destroying whatever was there.
    • The Russian Army has actually lost ground in some areas in 2026.
    • Putin has basically resorted to focusing on bombing cities, on killing civilians and on trying to make Ukraine inhospitable. Russia is committing war crimes every day. (There should be a universal, worldwide outcry against this.)
    • In my view one of the few things besides China, Iran and North Korea that has been propping Putin up has been US President Trump. I believe that Trump is losing his power and his leverage and will be less and less of a factor over the coming months.
    • Even if Ukraine officially walked away from the areas that Russia currently occupies, I believe that Russia is too weak to rebuild them and as such would have trouble actually controlling them. I believe that guerrila type warfare would continue. You could use other terms like an insurgency or asymmetric warfare but I believe that government assests, resources and forces would continue to be attacked.

    Is the Russian Army collapse certain to happen? No, but I would say that it is quite possible.

  • Advantage Ukraine

    20260402

    It seems that what most analysts and pundits miss about Russia’s war against Ukraine is really core to the outcome.

    On April 30, 2025 the Hoover Institute posted an article titled, “Lack of Will Prevents Wars From Being Won.” In that article they state that, “Winning depends upon the combination of will and capability.”

    It is often the condition of the will of one party being greater than the will of the other party that will bring victory to the party with the greater will. This is often true even in cases where the party with the greater will is numerically or statistically out matched.

    Ukraine has longed for their independence, their freedom for many years. Over the past number of centuries they have been repeatedly attacked by Russia and in numerous cases Russia has prevailed for a period of time. However, the deep felt yearning to be free rarely is extinguished when one country occupies another.

    Throughout distant history as well as more recent past, Russia has perpetrated horrible atrocities against the Ukrainian people. Knowledge of that is part of what drives Ukraine’s determination.

    Ukrainians’ are fighting for their liberty, their freedom, their culture, their nation, their towns, their homeland, their identity, and to protect their loved ones, their family.

    So, the outcome of Russia’s invasion of and aggression towards Ukraine, is not a direct army versus army calculation.

    A significant factor will be the motivation, the will, of the one who wants to control versus the motivation, the will, of the one who is fighting for their freedom and, yes, even their very life.

  • Defense Agreements

    20260401

    A number of Arab Gulf nations have signed air defense agreements with Ukraine.

    This has the potential to provide a much increased level of defense against the attacks from Iran.

    Because of Russia’s invasion and continuing war against Ukraine, Ukraine has had to develop weapons that enable them to counter-attack the aggressor.

    I would hope that the Arab Gulf nations are also talking to Ukraine about those weapons, like the Firepoint 1 and 2, besides the purely defensive ones like the interceptor drones. For years the Arab nations have relied upon the protection of the United States. However, with the changes in warfare over the past few years, it is our opinion that they are going to have to become more self reliant and have more self based defensive and offensive weapons systems.

    They will need to be able to defend against missiles and against drones (air, land and sea). They also will need to be able to attack Iran. They need to be able to say, “If you attack our infrastructure, if you attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, if you attack us in any way, we will retaliate. We will attack your military facilities and factories, we will attack your ships, we will attack your oil and gas infrastructure, we will take away your revenue sources, and we will attack your general infrastructure if we must.

    Until there is a true regime change in Iran, Iran will not behave of their own volition. There has to be a price that they will pay that is high enough to deter them from continuing to spread terrorism across the Gulf and beyond.

  • To Change Iran

    20260330

    The Iranian government- the ayatollahs, the mullahs, and the IRGC- have been a terrorist state for almost 50 years. They came to power through terror. They terrorize their own people, other nations in the region and nations around the world. Iran’s government thinks nothing of murdering tens of thousands of their own citizens in order to maintain control and power.

    To change the government of Iran, to gain freedoms for the Iranian people, something needs to break the IRGC. One way to potentially break the IRGC is to defund them, to cut off their revenue.

    They receive tens of billions of dollars a year from oil, gas, energy systems, IRGC controlled portions of the electrical systems, and through smuggling.

    It is through this wealth that they attract people to the IRGC, are able to terrorize their own people, sponsor terrorist organizations and spread terror beyond their borders.

    Cut off their funds, defund them, and they will lose their hold on Iran.

  • Two Neighbors

    20260321

    Let’s start by considering an example scenario.

    Consider three individuals that live with their families on three adjoining lots. The lots are oversized at a third of an acre each.

    Now take on the role of the neighbor in the middle and consider this scenario.

    (I was going to try to write this with all neutral references but it was too distracting for me so I will just refer to both neighbors as males. They could be females. One could be male and the other female. For the sake of the example it does not matter.)

    The first neighbor is always friendly, waves, says hi and interacts with your kids in a positive manner. If he sees you working on a project he comes over and offers to help. You plan social events together and celebrate birthdays, etc.

    The second neighbor is not friendly. When he sees you in your yard he yells threats of one kind or another. He chases off your kids if they wander onto his driveway a little bit as they walk home past his house. He has stated that he is going to take 10 feet from the edge of your property, whether you like it or not, because he “needs” it.

    Now, let’s suppose they both ask you for a favor. Well, actually, the first neighbor comes over and asks nicely. The second neighbor yells from his yard that you better come help or he will make things difficult.

    You can fill in whatever kind of favor you want but for illustration purposes I will present one.

    Lets say that it just happens that they both hired the same roofing company to redo their roof. And that roofing company lacks a little bit in the customer service side of things and Sunday afternoon their trucks rolled up to both properties and dumped the plywood, pallets of shingles, gutters and other materials across the end of the driveways blocking any cars from getting in or out. Both of your neighbors and their wives need to get out of the driveway Monday morning to go to work. Being that it is Sunday, nobody is answering the phone at the roofing company.

    The roofing material is heavy and they need help moving it.

    Would you help either neighbor move the material? Which neighbor(s) would you help?

    I would help both. Neighbor Two I would help not because they were a friend and not because they deserved it but simply because it would be the right thing to do. Neighbor One I would help for very different and more positive and compelling reasons.

    Now, the reality is more nuanced. Here is how it would probably go down. Neighbor One and I would go over together to help Neighbor Two knowing full well that once we cleared a path on his driveway and moved over to Neighbor One’s driveway, Neighbor Two would find some excuse to not come over and help.

    The resulting reality is that for Neighbor Two we would probably move the material the minimal amount of distance to clear the narrowest path required to get a car through and he would continue to have to deal with the mess.

    For Neighbor One it would be different, I would help him figure out the best place to stage everything and move it all to that area so that it is out of the way and he does not continue to have to deal with it. The kids would probably come and do what they could to help. It would turn into a big party, we would order pizza and drinks to be delivered and we would sit out in the yard laughing and having a good time.

    Lets apply that example to the real world.

    Neighbor One is the kind of ally the United States has been for the past 75 years or so. Perfect? No, but working on maintaining good, mutually beneficial relations.

    Neighbor Two is the kind of ally the United States is today under Trump.

    Trump threatens our allies, slams them with tariffs, shouts nasty remarks calling them by disparaging names/terms and then wonders why they don’t want to help him.

    The truth is that the United States strength and standing in the world was partly a result of our alliances, of our allies. Trump just looks at dollar figures over the years and fails to recognize the many other ways that the United States also benefited.

    Trump has weakened the United States, reduced our standing in the world, and reduced our safety and security.

    Trump is supposed to be representing America’s interest. Stand up America. It is our future.

  • American Example

    20260320

    “This glorious Example of our Troops, under the like Circumstances with us, The General hopes will animate every officer, and soldier, to imitate, and even out do them, when the enemy shall make the same attempt on us: With such a bright example before us, of what can be done by brave and spirited men, fighting in defence of their Country; we shall be loaded with a double share of Shame, and Infamy, if we do not acquit ourselves with Courage, or a determined Resolution to conquer or die: With this hope and confidence, and that this Army will have its equal share of Honour, and Success….With such preparation, and a suitable Spirit, there can be no doubt, but by the blessing of Heaven, we shall repel our cruel Invaders; preserve our Country, and gain the greatest Honor.”

    The above was written by General Washington on July 21, 1776 after learning of the improbable victory of the unfinished fort on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, SC over the formidable British navy.

    It really was the first true victory of the American Revolutionaries, the Continental Army, over the British.

    It comes from a different era, a different point in history, with vastly different technology, however, I think Washington’s words hint at an aspect of human nature that has not changed.

    I will make one nitpicking distinction before continuing. Washington states that, “we shall repel our cruel Invaders.” I understand why he would have this sentiment and make the statement, however, one could argue that the British were not invaders as they were the official government and were protecting their land. The Americans were fighting to gain their freedom.

    Consider that in contrast to Ukraine today. Ukraine was truly invaded by “cruel invaders,” the Russians, who are trying to take away their freedoms. Ukraine has had it’s independence for years. It’s borders were internationally recognized. It’s people had their freedom, achieved through sacrifice.

    I think this distinction is minor but I would argue that it would provide more incentive to Ukraine than the circumstances the Americans were in.

    So, back to the sentiment that Washington is capturing. In essence, he states that, people “fighting in defense of their Country” (and their freedom) will have the courage and determination to preserve their country, to repel their “cruel invaders” and to achieve victory!

    That is why I believe that, as long as the free nations do not abandon them, Ukraine will defeat Russia.

  • Hegseth Blame Mongering

    20260319

    The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, held a press briefing at the Pentagon on March 19. In it he inexcusably and shamefully engaged in blame mongering to try to dodge the administrations responsibilities for it’s Iran policy and actions.

    Hegseth stated, “We are still dealing with the consequences of what Joe Biden did—namely, depleting our stockpiles and sending them not to our own military, but to Ukraine,” Hegseth said.

    So he is trying to blame Biden and Ukraine for our weapons stockpiles. This administration has been in office for over a year. Plenty of time to do something about any stockpile shortage.

    In addition, while Iran has been a bad actor for almost 50 years, the US was not attacked in this case. The administration chose to execute a military confrontation. They should have analyzed and weighed resources available against resources needed before starting the action.

    In regards to Ukraine, not very much was actually given to Ukraine and much of what went to Ukraine was slated for being rotated out of service.

    In the first 3 days of the Iran engagement approximately 800 guided missiles, primarily Patriots, were used. That is more than what has been expended in Ukraine in the 4 years since 2022. During those 4 years Ukrainian cities have been being bombed on a daily basis.

    On March 4, President Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States has a “virtually unlimited” weapons stockpile that could allow it to “fight forever.” So, which is it? Do we have a “virtually unlimited” stockpile as Donald Trump claims or “depleted stockpiles” as Hegseth claims.

    The truth matters.

  • Lacking Clarity

    20260319

    One of the problems with Trump is that by making his statements bombastic in nature he sacrifices clarity.

    Regarding the closing of the Strait of Hormuz he said, “I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”

    “Reconsider this decision” does do lay out clear boundaries and consequences. Something like, “Iran must irrevocably and clearly declare the Strait of Hormuz open and that they will in no way interfere with shipping within 48 hours. If they do not make such a declaration we will start to dismantle their oil infrastructure and capacity on Kharg Island.”

    More recently Iran bombed Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG export facilities. Trump threatened Iran saying that the United States would “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field” (which is the portion that lies within Iran and supplies about 80% of Iran’s natural gas) if Tehran chose to retaliate in response to a strike by Israel. This threat is after Iran’s attack on Qatar which sidelined about 12.8 million tons of LNG production annually and will take three to five years to repair. This strike was a retaliation already it just was conducted against a third party bystander rather than against Israel.

    Trump should have clearly stated many weeks ago that attacks on Arab nations by Iran will not be tolerated and will trigger retaliatory strikes against Iranian oil infrastructure. Not the military targets that they have been focusing on but the infrastructure that provides a massive amount of revenue to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.