153. Nasruddin’s Hurried Prayers
Nasruddin was in a hurry when he went into the mosque to say his prayers.
When the imam saw how quickly Nasruddin was praying, he hit Nasruddin on the head. “Say your prayers again!” he commanded. “And show some respect this time.”
Nasruddin said his prayers again, more slowly.
“That was better!” said the imam. “I’m sure God was more pleased with your prayers the second time than the first time.”
“I’m not so sure,” said Nasruddin. “The first time I said my prayers in obedience to God, but the second time I said my prayers in obedience to you.”
This Tale is from “Tiny Tales of Nasruddin” by Laura Gibbs. The book is licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. © 2019-202The2 Laura Gibbs
Strip away the theater and the sequence is self-refuting. If Iran’s military were defeated, no unprecedented sanctions “punch” would be needed. If the strait were truly open and American-controlled, oil would not be near $92 with traffic at 17 percent and supertankers turning back. If the blockade were total, Iran’s oil revenue would be zero — instead it is selling to China in yuan, outside the blockade’s reach and outside the dollar’s reach, which is the very reason Bessent has to reach for a financial weapon Washington does not comfortably possess. And the overland bypass through Pakistan is running real cargo through Gwadar while Washington, needing Islamabad as its mediator, looks away — the same administration vowing to seal every door to Iran is courting the government that holds one of the widest doors open. Each claim of victory is contradicted by the next escalation, and the escalation keeps coming. When a government that says it has already won keeps demanding new and more extreme tools to win with, the demand is the evidence. The war is not over, the strait is not ours, and the sanctions are aimed at a chokehold Iran already slipped. — The Confession in the Escalation: If Iran Is Beaten and Hormuz Is Ours, Why the “Unprecedented” Sanctions? by Larry C Johnson
This is what President Trump said in one of his latest TRUTH postings.
No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it.
Therefore, today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.
Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread.
Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.
Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat.
These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide. IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. President DONALD J. TRUMP
We did no walk yesterday. This time it was me that was the cause. I had an elevated resting heart rate and elevated “Garmin Stress” reading on the Garmin Watch. So, no walk and took an ibuprofen in the morning and one in the evening. The watch uses heart rate variability (HRV) to calculate the stress level and anything over their measure of 50 is elevated from my usual 20 or less. The elevated heart rate has been my trigger to take an ibuprofen to combat inflammation and a possible psoriasis flare.