Bosnia

In 1999, the NATO coalition, including the United States, bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months. According to the Serbian authorities, around 2,500 people were killed and 12,500 injured. The Balkan war did not pose a vital or direct national security threat to the United States. The US intervened primarily to stop a humanitarian disaster, prevent the war from spreading to neighboring countries and stabilize Europe. The US was the primary international force in ending the war through decisive military intervention. In the end the US sent 20,000 peace keeping troops to the country.

Star Wars

As the anti-ballistic missiles continue to knock rockets out of the skies with a 90% kill rate many have forgotten how this idea was laughed at. Here are a few quotes. The U.S. media and political opponents heavily ridiculed President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as "Star Wars". Media coverage frequently highlighted the immense cost and technical impossibility of the proposed space-based laser systems, dismissing the initiative as a "scheme" Senator Kennedy's, and other Democrats', characterization of the program as "reckless" became a cornerstone of opposition, aiming to highlight the potential for accelerating the nuclear arms race rather than preventing it. The New York Times maintained a consistently critical, often skeptical stance regarding President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), widely known as "Star Wars," during the 1980s. In today’s world these remarks would be called misinformation.

Nuke safety

The standard one gig nuclear power plant will have over 100 tons of fuel in its reactor at any given time. With a small modular reactor, the fuel is added as needed and therein lies the basic, walk away safety feature. The small reactor cannot melt down because if the power is lost the addition of fuel is interrupted and the core cools. The new small nuclear reactors use pellets of uranium for fuel. This has been enriched to 3.5%. These pellets are coated with materials that seal in much of the unwanted waste and are easy to store on site. Urenco USA in New Mexico is the sole operating commercial centrifuge enrichment facility in the US. When thorium is used as fuel it does not have to be enriched and can eliminate this step.

SS savings plan

When the discussions of how to save social security (SS) come up, one area that is pointed out it that stock holders have averaged 11% return over the past 50 years, while wages for working people have stagnated. The conclusion is that stockholders should be assessed to pay for the SS shortfall. Another way to look at the problem is to realize that if SS had been privatized 50 years ago the people not just the stockholders would have earned 11% and SS would not be in trouble. A little math shows that if that had been the case, people retiring today would have a greater benefit just from the interest from their account and would be able to pass on the principal to their heirs. Here is one example. A man starts work at age 22 and earns $40,000 and his wages increase 3% per year and he invests 8% of his wage at 11% return, how much will he have in 40 years and the answer is $2.5 million. If he lived off the interest which at 11% would be $275,000 per year, he could then pass on the $2.5 million in principle. In contrast his social security benefit would be $2,000 per month or $24,000 per year. Even if the man only earned one percent on his principle after retirement, he could still collect the same as SS but he could retain ownership of the principle. SS is 6.2% of wages matched by the employer but 2.2% must be set aside to cover disability claims and survivor benefits leaving 8% to invest. We could start to privatize SS next year and it would take 40 years to convert all workers over. Since 1986 all federal employees have participated in the Thrift Savings Plan, where their savings have been invested in stocks and it has been a resounding success.

Iran oil

Prior to the development of the oil fields by US engineers the countries in the Middle East were just desert tribes living in tents. Since that time these countries have prospered except for Iran. The GDP per capita in Saudi Arabia is $36,000, in Kuwait $32,000, in UAE $49,000 and Iran $4,000. Oil reserves in Saudi Arabia are 260 billion barrels, Kuwait 101 billion, in UAE 111 billion and Iran 208 billion. In answer to the question is the Iranian leader rich, Google AI responds: Yes, Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed as Iran's new Supreme Leader in March 2026, is reported to control a vast, hidden financial empire. Investigations estimate his wealth, built through shell companies and oil revenue, exceeds $100 billion, including luxurious real estate in London, Dubai, and across Europe, controlled via proxy It is time for the world to help the Iranian people to stand up to this autocratic regime.

Running out of workers

Countries in the West and others in the East like Japan, China and South Korea are losing population. Social security programs depend on current workers supporting current retirees and people are having fewer children and living longer. The only solution is to raise the retirement age and/or cut benefits to retirees but politicians who suggest such things are not reelected. Some feel that bringing in immigrants will solve the problem but the math shows that only postpones the problem and eventually makes things worse. Two recent attempts at using immigration illustrate the problem. Canada began bringing in 500,000 immigrants per year. This is a country with a population of 40 million. It would be like the US bringing in 4 million immigrants per year. Adding to the problem was Canada’s merit-based immigration system, that gave preferential treatment to immigrants with higher education and special skills. This allowed them to receive higher wages which drove up the price of housing to the point where native Canadians can no longer afford a house. Another example is Germany. They began bringing in millions of new comers mostly from Africa and the Middle East and the majority were Muslims. Immigration was too rapid and the new people could not or would not assimilate. Now they are deporting them. One possible solution looming on the horizon is AI. It is possible that robots could manufacture goods so efficiently that people could work less and still have their needs provided. In the 1930’s the 40-hour week became the standard. Perhaps the time has come for the 30-hour week. Then it might be more acceptable to raise the retirement age.

The Jews

During the 1600 years that the Holy Roman Church represented Christianity throughout Europe, most people were illiterate with three exceptions, the priest, the nobility and the Jews. Jewish families taught their sons to read and write so they could read the holy books. Also, during these years, the Holy Roman Catholic Church historically banned the lending of money at interest (known as usury) for centuries, considering it a mortal sin and contrary to charity and justice. This meant that in the communities only the Jews could read and write and only the Jews could lend money, so by necessity they became the bankers. As the Jewish families prospered others felt it was unfair and this led to a dislike for the Jews. In the US this dislike was seen in many areas, one in particular was medicine. Jewish doctors faced significant discrimination and were largely kept out of staff positions at many non-Jewish hospitals in the early 1900s, particularly in the US and Europe. Anti-Semitic quotas, which restricted entry to medical schools and hospital training programs, were common from the 1920s to the 1960s, leading to the creation of Jewish hospitals to provide both care and employment opportunities. The Jews responded in typical Jewish fashion by building their own hospitals where all doctors are welcome. Historically and currently, many hospitals founded by the Jewish community—often established to serve immigrant populations and train Jewish doctors facing discrimination—are ranked among the best in the world