Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
The biggest block to peace in Palestine is Israelis who are not willing to compromise for peace and Palestinians who are not willing to compromise for peace. Such positions are strong among the right in Israel, and appear to be the majority position among Palestinians. A peace deal can’t last when a terrorist is willing to blow it up and return the nations to war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu3WtCS-FrM
“Few alphabet soups have as many letters as California’s system for financing affordable housing.
The time and headaches developers must endure when seeking funding from acronym-laden state agencies helps drive up California’s nation-high cost to build apartments for low-income residents, strangling housing production in a state badly in need of affordable places to live.
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after six years of half-measures and stalled reforms, the governor has unveiled a proposal to streamline the system, while at the same time consolidating power in his office. In the state budget proposal he released this month, Newsom outlined a plan to move decisions over potentially billions of dollars annually in cash, tax credits and bond allocations to a new housing agency he controls, and by doing so, strip authority from State Treasurer Fiona Ma.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/21/it-costs-more-to-build-affordable-housing-in-california-than-anywhere-else-newsom-wants-to-fix-it-by-consolidating-power-00738542
Trump will brutally insult reporters on camera, and then off camera say something like, “we’re still good right?”
Trump tried to get the military options to attack Venezuela in his first term, but his high military officials didn’t follow the order to get him the military options, and Trump seemed to have forgotten that he asked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUOyGIh8PYA
Iran brutally slaughtered its protestors. Up to 20,000 were killed.
Iran’s revolutionary guards are stronger than its regular military and they are loyal to the supreme leader.
Trump literally said that “help is on its way”, and many protesters said they expected Trump to help. When he didn’t, the ones that were still alive, felt betrayed.
A US intervention would likely cause a retaliatory strike, and the US wasn’t prepared for such attacks because it was using resources around Venezuela.
Local partner countries warned against a US intervention, fearing a regional conflict.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bt6K0Jo0xo
“Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.
The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.
The shift comes as the Trump administration dramatically expands immigration arrests nationwide, deploying thousands of officers under a mass deportation campaign that is already reshaping enforcement tactics in cities such as Minneapolis.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/immigration-officers-assert-sweeping-power-212644913.html
One reason the Iranian protests were so big, was because Trump called for protest and said he would help. So far, he has left them hanging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Pjm6HdVbA
US operatives have been weakening Russian infrastructure and helping Ukrainian weapons target Russian assets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqyhyQnL3EE
“”State capitalism is a two-way street. Many businesses, by aligning themselves with Trump’s agenda, elicit better treatment—in their ability to sell to China, the tariffs they pay, how they are regulated, and what mergers are allowed,” wrote Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journal’s chief economics commentator, in a recent piece about how CEOs are navigating Trump’s state capitalism. “In other words, state capitalism doesn’t just serve the interests of the state, but of favored capitalists.”
And the Trump administration does not seem likely to place its own limits on this behavior. Asked recently about the logic behind these acquisitions, Trump said, “We should take stakes in companies when people need something.” That’s an answer that lacks any limiting principle.”
https://reason.com/2025/12/19/more-republican-socialism/
“Nicaragua is run by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, a husband and wife who take the term “power couple” somewhat literally. They are now co-presidents of the Central American nation of 7 million. Over the years, they’ve rigged elections, wrested control over other branches of the government and crushed the opposition, while apparently grooming their children to succeed them. It has been a strange and circular journey for a pair of one-time Sandinista revolutionaries who previously fought to bring down a dynastic dictatorship.
Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled the impoverished country, some to the United States. Meanwhile, the regime has enhanced ties to Russia, China and other U.S. adversaries, while having rocky relations with Washington. Nicaragua is part of a free trade agreement with Washington, but it has also faced U.S. sanctions, tariffs and other penalties for oppressing its people, eroding democracy and having ties to Russia. Even the current Trump administration has used such measures against it, but the regime hasn’t buckled.
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Unlike Venezuela, Nicaragua isn’t a major source of oil, the natural resource Trump covets most. It has gold, but not enough of that or other minerals to truly stand out. (Although yes, I know, Trump loves gold.) It’s also not a major source of migrants to the U.S.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/13/latin-america-trump-nicaragua-00725393
“Prime Minister Mark Carney is opening the door to more imports of electric vehicles from China with expectations the olive branch will lead to “considerable” Chinese investment in Canada’s auto sector “within three years” — risking potential blowback from Washington.
The move comes as Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping chart a new era in Canada-China relations and diversify trade ties in response to U.S. President Donald Trump.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/16/china-ev-tariffs-canada-00733086