Cash to Iran

The financial aspects of the Iran nuclear deal formulated under Obama in 2015 have now been made clear. First off, the $400 million that was frozen when the Shah was deposed was released. Hostage Release: An initial $400 million was delivered on Jan. 17, 2016, the same day Iran released four American prisoners. While the Obama administration initially stated the incidents were separate, they later acknowledged the payment was used as leverage to ensure the Americans were released $1.3 billion in cash was delivered to Iran is Swiss Franks and Euro’s. To avoid triggering banking regulations related to large, single transactions, the $1.3 billion was divided into 13 separate payments of $99,999,999.99, and one final, smaller payment. There is much speculation that some of this money was used to finance Hamas and Hezbollah but there is no way to follow these dollars as they were comingled with other Iranian assets.

War cost

According to the press the cost of the military incursion to Iran is one billion dollars per day but that needs further explanation. First off, there are fixed costs, whether the military is fighting or not. The additional cost is primarily the cost of munitions and these will be replaced with more efficient equipment, manufactured in US defense plants. The real cost danger is to the lives of the troops, which cannot be replaced.

Canada

The phrase Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is used to describe certain individuals who are strongly anti Trump but it can be applied to nations. Canada had been controlled by liberals for ten years and as the 2025 elections approached the people were ready for a change. The conservative candidate Poilievre was leading in the polls until Trump made one of his ignorant remarks saying that Canada could be the 51st state and things changed overnight. The liberal candidate took the lead and won handily. The people were so offended by Trump’s remarks that they changed their vote. Nothing in the policy area changed but the emotional response made the difference. This is an example of TDS. Canada remains on the green path pushing net-zero by 2050. While Alberta wants to build a new pipeline to ship oil to China, final approval hinges on overcoming regulatory, environmental and Indigenous opposition. Without this pipeline Canada remains a captive supplier by the US. Canada under former PM Trudeau followed the path of the EU. His plan was to replace fossil fuels with wind and solar and bring in large numbers of immigrants. This cause dissention with the oil producing Albertans and housing prices that put the average Canadian out of the housing market. The new PM will continue these policies. As the emotions subside many Canadians are having second thoughts. Canada's economy is navigating a highly fragile, "on life support" state in early 2026, characterized by sluggish growth, high debt, and contracting output in eight of the last eleven months. While not in a technical recession, the economy is suffering from trade disputes, high unemployment—notably impacting youth—and weak productivity, leading many to feel like they are in a recessionary environment

Iran with a nuke

President Obama made a deal with Iran that limited their production of nuclear weapons but permitted them to proceed after some years. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, was designed to block Iran's pathways to a nuclear weapon for a set duration, not to allow them to have one, but it did include "sunset provisions" that would lift restrictions on their program after 10 to 15 years Eleven years after this deal was signed, the Iranians say they have 1,000 pounds of 60% enriched uranium. Most feel there was more but some was destroyed when the US bombed their facilities last October.

Alpha schools

Alpha School is a private K–12 school network in the United States founded in 2014. The network uses a proprietary instructional model called 2 Hour Learning, which replaces traditional teachers with "guides" and relies on software based instruction. They find out what a student is good at and help them to get better. During their 2-hour morning "learning block," Alpha School students use personalized AI-driven software to master core academic subjects—math, reading, writing, science, and social studies—at their own pace. This high-intensity, individualized instruction is designed to help students complete a full grade level in roughly 20-30 hours. They dedicate afternoons to workshops. Key skills include entrepreneurship (pitching, selling), public speaking, financial literacy, social skills (communication, body language), and critical thinking through hands-on projects, aiming for adaptability and independence This may be the first step to having individual AI programs for each student. Right now these schools are too costly and only available to wealthy people

Common sense

The phrase common sense is popping up in news stories but what does it mean. To independents and some moderates, it means: Bringing jobs back home Having Europe pay for more of their defense No men in women’s sports Secure borders Saudis and Israelis rebuilding Gaza No gender surgery on minors Energy independence Reciprocal tariffs Nuclear power using SMR Photo ID for voting Ending the Ukraine War Fewer regulations Deporting criminal migrants Legal immigration Remove politics and these policies are reasonable and achievable

Communism

I joined many experts in making the two big economic mistakes of the past 80 years. The first was the assumption that if countries chose economic freedom that political freedom would follow. The goal was to pull China away from communism. When they opened their society to the free market in 1978 under the “Reform and Opening Up” policy under Deng Xiaoping, the result was the movement of 500 million people out of poverty but they remained communist. Their GDP grew from two billion to 20 trillion but they remained communist. The second mistake was assuming that people would become disillusioned with communism. At the end of WW 2 there were 14 communist countries in the world and by the fall of the USSR in 1991 there were only five left. They were China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam. While Cuba and North Korea are barely holding on the other three are still thriving. In spite of this history, many young people in the West think that socialism is a better way to govern than free market capitalism. Here is what Google AI says: Many young Americans (aged 18–29) hold a favorable view of socialism, with studies indicating up to 62% view it positively, often associating it with equality, social justice, and government-provided services rather than strict state ownership. Socialism, according to Karl Marx is the first step to communism.