Next Year, Someplace Without Missiles

Here's the thing: I'm an egg matzah person. Always have been. Doesn't much matter what's on it...Temptee Whipped Cream Cheese, butter, even cottage cheese, but given my druthers, I'll go for the egg matzah everytime. As those who actually know me already know, Passover is not my favorite holiday. Never mind the cleaning, the changing, the exorbitant pricing of anything with a P for pesadik on it, or the endless cooking. That's actually okay. Mind numbingly okay. It's the counting of the Omer that drives me over the edge every year. But you already knew that. 

It also means I'm rattling around my own head, trying to remember how to not think about stuff. I read the various news organs and just shake my head at global stupidity. I wonder how we can possibly have a head-of-state who lies like a rug each time he opens his mouth. And I sleep fitfully as the Tzofar alarm goes off throughout the night. I know I can turn off the sound, but then I keep waking up to look at the screen. President Felon keeps saying he's decimated Iran's military capabilities, but my friends are under almost constant bombardment from all those decimated missiles. It's not that we can't handle the truth, cognitively diminished tangerine doesn't have any clue what the truth actually is. 

Clearly, all his threats and banging about hasn't convinced the regime to open the Straight [sic] of Felon...I mean Hormuz...and to be honest, the only winner in this pissing match seems to be China's clean energy industry which is just raking in the chips. According to the Washington Post:

China is seizing opportunities in renewable energy as the Trump administration pulls the United States back from the emerging sector in favor of fossil fuels. Last week, as the Trump administration was agreeing to pay nearly $1 billion to stop a French company from building wind farms off the East Coast, officials in Beijing said they intended to raise the share of non-fossil fuel consumed by the country from 21.7 percent to 25 percent by 2030.

Makes one wonder whose side is Feckless is on anyway? Well, that's sorta a moot point, isn't it? He's on whatever side will best line his own pockets. Maybe he can sell China clean coal?

But all is not well at the Pentagram...I mean, Pentagon. CNBC has reported extensively on calls for investigation into Department of Defense insider trading. Citing a letter written to the SEC and the DoD Inspector General by Senators Mark Warner (D-Va) and Adam Schiff (D-Ca) advising that they are probing into the allegations:

Recent reports of equity trading that occurred shortly before significant government policy announcements suggest that federal officials are disclosing material nonpublic information for financial gain,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Pentagon IG Platte Moring. “These actions undermine public interest and market integrity, and demand oversight by each of your respective authorities, as well as by Congress.”

One of the items on that list for investigation includes Pete Hegseth's broker's attempt to invest in an defense EFT in the weeks before the Iran War broke out. Some people might call that profiteering; others might just call it a lucky guess. Unless they were participating in the prediction markets where bets are made on what comes next.

What does it say about a society where bets are made on any and everything? In that wonderful ol' warhorse, GUYS AND DOLLS, that's exactly the premise of the whole show! The men bet on everything...did Mindy sell more strudel or cheesecake? Can a certain guy get a certain girl to go to Havana with him? And we laughed at that. Sucker bets, they call them. But now, instead of those bets happening in bars and booths, they're on internet betting sites. Why not, looking at the prediction markets, begin to take more calculated risks on the stock market? How can that be illegal?

Well, it can when insider trading is involved. But why is insider trading illegal? According to a raft of sources all saying basically the same thing, it's illegal because it's unfair and undermines the idea of a level playing field. It reduces those who invest in publicly traded  companies into uninformed players being played by an uber class of "savvy" investors who profit from information not available to the public. Despite the penalties, there are those in this country who believe they are above the law and cannot be touched by insider trading laws. I have no idea if that is true; in this administration, they may very well be untouchable. 

As I write this, it's very possible the wheels are spinning out of control. And not just because President Felon has, once again, promised to bomb the shit out of Iran. Sure, that's part of it. Pete Hegseth has taken it upon himself to make the war a religious event. At a prayer service held at the Pentagon on March 25,2026, Hegseth said:

Give [US soldiers] wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy. Preserve their lives, sharpen their resolve, and let justice be executed swiftly and without remorse that evil may be driven back and wicked souls delivered to the eternal damnation prepared for them…. We ask these things with bold confidence in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ, King over all kings and amen.

On the same day, he ordered chaplains to cease wearing rank on their uniforms, only religious insignia. Military Times explain the orders:

The directive follows a broader effort by Hegseth to reshape the military’s Chaplain Corps. In a December message, he said he wanted to restore chaplains’ focus on ministry and argued that the role had shifted toward counseling and support functions in recent years.

He terminated the Army’s spiritual fitness guide and said he would simplify how the military categorizes religious affiliation.

In his most recent message, Hegseth said that the number of religious affiliation codes was reduced from over 200 to just 31. Military Times was unable to independently verify these numbers.

I wonder which religions/sects/faith practices will now be excluded...and who makes that decision. Considering Hegseth is a member of CREC - Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, one has to take into account his devoutness to a sect that believes, amongst other things:

1. The Bible is the ultimate authority on all matters of life. They use the New King James translation.
2. Christian Nationalism and implementation of Christian biblical law in government. 
3. Homeschooling children as a way to "conquer" secular society.
4. Strict patriarchy where women submit to their husbands in all things and are not permitted to hold leadership roles in the church. Some believe women should not vote.
5. Opposition to modernism...which rejects LGBTQ+ identities, and secular pluralism, often viewing these as "enemies" of the faith

Hegseth has been open about spreading his version of the faith to his subordinates. This is scary on a whole lotta levels. His meetings are decidedly religiously oriented as evidenced by the prayers he invokes. 

Hegseth has a collection of tats beneath his shirt that are more than simply provocative tattoos, the largest of which is a Jerusalem Cross, also known as the Crusader Cross, which has been adopted by far-right groups to symbolize the fight for Western Civilization. They all basically line up with far-right ideology and are viewed, by some, as a harbinger of a Christian new world order based on white supremacism.

New Lines Magazine describes them as follows:

He also has a “Chi-Rho,” the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ and one of the earliest forms of a so-called Christogram (letters formed into a monogram expressing the essence of the religion). Perhaps the most contentious is the Christian expression on his bicep: “Deus Vult,” meaning “God Wills It,” believed to be a Crusader battle cry. Τhere is another cross with a sword, referencing a verse in the Gospel of Matthew reporting the following words of Jesus: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” “Yeshua,” Jesus’ name in Hebrew, can be read across his elbow. All these Christian-related symbols, words and letters are accompanied by others that draw on American history and identity: the U.S. Constitution’s famous opening phrase “We the People,” the year “1775” in Roman numerals (the year the American War of Independence started), a “Join, or Die” snake from the American Revolution (from a cartoon attributed to Benjamin Franklin, urging the then-colonies to unite), an American flag with an AR-15 rifle, a pair of crossed muskets, a circle of stars and a patch of his regiment, the 187th Infantry. 

I just thought everyone should know about this. Hegseth is just like the rest of the Cabinet of Dunces we have running the country. Toddler-In-Chief only wants people who will give him cookies on demand. The rest of us are fucked. 

I am worried about tomorrow, although recent history tells us that President Felon will hold off for yet another week. Whatever. 

Meanwhile, back in the Crimea.....

Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains the very model of a modern major general despite being virtually abandoned by this administration. I have no idea how he does it. AND he offered drone technology and support to President Felon which the felon promptly rejected. What a horse's ass we have in the Gold House! 

Someone down line had the smarts to take up Zelenskyy's offer. Good for them.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Putting away the Pesadik?

Don't forget to leave yourself a written inventory of dry good.

There are only so many matzah balls you can eat in a week