The Long Dim Under, 38th Day of Spring, 526 M.E. (Castor): I didn't die last night in a global thermonuclear war and I bet you didn't either. We can be grateful for that much at least.

Shortly after completing yesterday's post, I saw the news online, Stable Genius Announces Two-Week Ceasefire in Iran. Of course he did. TACO. It was all just more bluster and bravado.

But the bluster and bravado were literally terroristic threats to "wipe out" an entire civilization, "never to return." "Bomb them back to the stone ages." Irresponsible and reckless rhetoric from the so-called leader of the so-called free world, the man with the nuclear launch codes at his bruised and short fingertips.

Is the crisis over? No. Israel's already resumed bombing Lebanon, because that's what they do, and Iran is still throttling traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. But most significantly, a mentally incompetent, narcissistic despot is still in the Oval Office, and the world won't be able to even start working our way back toward anything even resembling normalcy until he's, well, no longer breathing. That's not a threat. It's just an observation that peace is apparently incompatible  with his existence.

The same regime still controls Iran, except now they're both more hardline, and, oh, we just killed their father, brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews. They still have enriched uranium, but now more motivation that ever to develop a bomb. The flow of some 20% of the world's oil is still under their control. And we're alienated our allies, gave Russia a financial lifeline, and emboldened China to seize territory they see fit to take.

And don't even get me started on climate change, the gutting of environmental safeguards, economic inequality, and making racism acceptable again.

I'm not happy withthis world and things are only going to get worse.