lostincalifornia
lostincalifornia's JournalI think Matt Mahan is going to make it more likely that a republican will be in the general election for Governor.
Mahan is currently Mayor of San Jose, and Silicon Valley is throwing tons of money for his campaign.
As a Mayor, not only he hasn't been in that long, he hasn't done much in my opinion, and now with all the silcon valley money pouring into his campaign for governor, he is really gumming up the race in my view, and actually making it more likely that a MAGA will be in the general election.
Democrats better unify behind one candidate quickly, or our STUPID jungle primary is going to make the possibility of having a MAGA Governor a reality.
and anyone who thinks this cannot happen in California, this state elected arnold schwarzenegger, ronald reagan, etc.
Per Bloomberg TV: Stocks gains as trump says Iran wants a deal.
Trump Says Iran Reached Out on Deal as US Blocks Hormuz
Even as Trump sought to jawbone negotiations back on track, there were few signs that was taking place after weekend negotiations failed in Islamabad. Iran blamed the collapse of talks on the US and Tehran has not confirmed further discussions on Monday.
“We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal,” Trump said at the White House, without elaborating on who participated in the conversation.
Trump spoke hours after the US moved to cut off vessels from transiting the vital waterway to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas, which could further inflame tensions amid the global energy crisis.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-13/trump-s-hormuz-blockade-deadline-hits-raising-iran-war-stakes?srnd=homepage-americas
Iran Sends Warning on Gulf Ports After US Threat to Block Hormuz
The security of ports in the region is “either for everyone or for no one,” Iran’s armed forces said in a statement on Monday, according to the state-run IRIB News. The US threat to block the strait would be “an act of piracy,” it said, reiterating plans to permanently control the critical waterway even after the war.
The comments add to a game of brinkmanship over the Hormuz strait, a major transit point for energy flows that accounts for about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. They signal Iran is ready to restart attacks on ports in Arab Gulf states — if the US follows through on a pledge to block all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian hubs from 10 a.m. New York time on Monday.
Such a move would also lead to more tension between the US and China, which buys almost all of Iran’s oil.
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“The risks and costs of a sustained blockade — and potential for pressure from other stakeholders like China — suggest Trump may not follow through or may not sustain a blockade,” they wrote, adding that Beijing may even use its leverage over the US with critical minerals in an effort to pressure Trump.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-13/iran-sends-warning-on-gulf-ports-after-us-threat-to-block-hormuz
So much for the degenerate in the WH and his "art of the deal"
The Hormuz Blockade Is a Throwdown the US Can't Win
by Marc Champion
Bloomberg Opinion Columnist
Energy blockades are acts of war. If in doubt, recall Pearl Harbor, which took place roughly six months after the US imposed a total oil embargo on Japan. They also take time to work. So the already fragile two-week Gulf ceasefire is in trouble and all that’s clear is that the blockade itself is a throwdown the US can’t win.
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But this works only if you believe the Islamic Republic won’t respond by hitting more energy assets around the Gulf, and will fold under the resulting pressure before Trump does. Both propositions seem so vanishingly unlikely that it’s hard to understand what it is the White House hopes to gain by trying.
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This is all, frankly, delusional and reveals the failure of Trump and his closest advisers to recognize that doing more damage to the other side is not the same as winning. I’d like to think the erratic nature of his wartime statements, at times self-contradictory within a single social-media post, are part of a cunning plan. But they’re merely expressions of frustration at the failure of US military supremacy to translate into success.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-04-13/iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-blockade-is-a-throwdown-the-us-cannot-win?srnd=homepage-americas
Ballots for the California primary are mailed out in May. Even though Swalwell's name will remain on the ballot, with
Swalwell bowing out of the race for Governor before the ballots have been mailed out, this means no vote has been cast yet for Swalwell, and gives plenty of time for those who were going to vote for Swalwell, to consider and vote for any of the other Democrats on the ballot.
The Debate for the California primary for governor will take place May 5, ahead of the June 2 primary election.
Trump's actions on the blockage of the strait of hormuz appear that he is telling any country who negotiated with Iran
to allow their ships through the strait whether for a toll or not, will be blocked by the U.S.
From those countries perspective wouldn't that be viewed as an act of war?
From the US perspective it is that the strait is in international waters, and any blockade is illegal.
The problem of course is what happens when the US tries to stop a Russian or Chinese ship?
It is becoming clear to most people that this war was a war of choice, and not the imminent threat that was pushed by this administration, and certain elements of the media.
This was highlighted by several high ranking people, one of who was Joe Kent, a retired Army special operations combat veteran, and was Director of the National Counter terrorism Center resignation as a protest against trump's war with Iran, arguing that it was driven by foreign influence and NOT an imminent threat to the U.S.
His resignation resulted in reports that the FBI was conducting a leak investigation into Kent regarding the Iran war prior to his departure.
What seems to be ignored by many of the MSM was that it was during trump's first term where he unilaterally disbanded and walked away from the Iran nuclear deal, which immediately caused removal of inspectors from Iran.
If that agreement wasn't disbanded by the U.S., it could have been the basis for negotiations with the second trump administrations to address the flaws in the first agreement, but instead, the U.S. unilaterally commenced bombing what it said were Iran's nuclear sites during negotiations, with the WH saying "mission accomplished", and that threat had been removed.
As most of us remember a few months later trump threatened military actions against Iran, because of what the trump administration said was the nuclear threat Iran poised, in spite of saying that threat had been removed after the first bombing of Iran nuclear sites.
Again negotiations resumed with Iran and the trump administration, but instead of continuing where the first Iran nuclear agreement left off as a basis for negotiations, started to negotiate a new agreement with Iran. It was during these second negotiations that trump was amassing our military in the region, and without consulting NATO, or our allies, the trump administration unilaterally started the widespread bombing of Iran.
While it would be foolhardy to trust Iran under its existing government without verification, based on the actions and history of this administration, the U.S. also is not a trustworthy party. After all, they attacked Iran unilaterally twice during negotiations with them.
Israeli and Palestinians Must Escape the Prison of Fear and the Grip of Religious Hardliners
I write to you at a difficult moment. The public debate in Israeli society is becoming more extreme, particularly under the influence of religious-political actors who deepen hatred and further complicate an already complex and dangerous reality for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
But I do not write to accuse, but because reality compels us to speak differently.
This conflict has lasted longer than it should have. It has left all of us with deep fear and unhealed wounds. What is especially alarming is the rise of hardline religious discourse – among Israelis and Palestinians alike – a discourse that portrays the conflict as an existential battle with no room for compromise. This is a dangerous path because it closes off any horizon for a solution.
When religion becomes a political tool, it loses its moral value and turns into a source of extremism instead of a bridge for understanding. On both sides, there are voices that speak in terms of exclusion and monopolizing truth, but reality is more complex.
The real question is not who will win, but how we will live here together.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-04-10/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israeli-and-palestinians-must-escape-the-grip-of-religious-hardliners/0000019d-739d-da4e-a5df-7b9f027b0000
America Can't Let Israel Pull It Into a Renewed Iran War
Eisenhower was no pacifist. But as a career soldier and World War II’s supreme allied commander in Europe, he knew the costs, risks and limitations of war in ways that the men taking decisions in the Middle East today do not.
In the case of Trump, that’s because he never saw military service and only hears the counsel that suits him. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is different. He saw significant special-forces combat, was wounded and lost a brother in action. But unlike Eisenhower, he sees the use of armed force as the preferred and often only tool in Israel’s foreign policy kit.
This is why — according to two convincingly reported accounts, from the New York Times and Bloomberg News — Netanyahu played down the risks and uncertainties involved in attacking Iran to get Trump to join in, promising this would end Tehran’s threat once and for all. It’s also why he only reluctantly agreed to join the two-week ceasefire the US has reached with Iran and, via Lebanon, was doing his best to derail it.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-04-10/lebanon-trump-cannot-let-netanyahu-pull-him-into-renewed-iran-war?srnd=homepage-americas
What It Would Take for Democrats to Win the Senate
A Democratic-controlled Senate could block President Donald Trump’s nominees, including to the Supreme Court, investigate the president and his allies, hold leverage over the federal budget and set the rules for a potential third Trump impeachment trial.
Democrats have long been favored to win the House, where they need to pick up just a handful of seats across the country. The path to Senate victory is narrower and more arduous, requiring the party to pick up at least four seats, including at least three in states Trump won.
It’s a stretch, especially with Republicans holding a fundraising advantage, including a plan this week by the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund to allocate $342 million to the key battlegrounds. But Democrats have history and momentum on their side. In 2006, another Republican president with fading popularity in the middle of his second term — George W. Bush — lost both the House and, more surprisingly, the Senate amid waning support for the war in Iraq.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-09/what-it-would-take-for-democrats-to-win-the-senate?srnd=homepage-americas
The article goes on to say that it likely hinges on four states:
1. Alaska
2. North Carolina
3. Maine
4. Ohio
The article goes on to say that there are other possibilities, but they are long shots:
1. Texas
2. Iowa
3. Nebraska
4. Montana
and republicans are targeting these states:
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. New Hampshire
November 3, 2026 is going to be a long night, and it would be nice if Democrats were completely united going into the midterms.
Winning both Houses of Congress could finally put an end to this atrocity in the white house.
I see posts appearing without links or substantiation with things such as Netanyahu has "pictures of trump and Epstein,
with the implications that some sort of blackmail is occurring, or that the DNC is rejecting a resolution against AIPAC influence.
while such statements may make make good fodder to push a certain political agenda, unless things like that can be substantiated with links from reliable sources, it is just either speculation, or worse an attempt to stir up the pot among Democrats.
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