Collateral Damage From The Iran War Includes Far More Than Higher Gas Prices

One predictable casualty of Israel and the US attacking Iran has been fiery and explosive attacks on water-desalination plants, oil refineries, as well as shipping and oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

These incidents haven’t just been disastrous because they’ve led to higher gas prices…

 (Almost $4/gal? Quelle horreur! 😆 Quit your bitching: In Cali, gas has been $4+/gal. since early 2021 and, now, is over $6/gal).

The bombing, setting ablaze, and sinking of oil tankers and refineries in the region is a solely human-caused environmental disaster of epic proportions, which is affecting and will affect marine, human, and wildlife for generations to come.

Here’s how:

• Toxic air quality: Plumes of thick black smoke from burning tankers and refineries contain sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter. Residents of Tehran have already reported oily, black “rain” and widespread respiratory issues.
• Water scarcity: Attacks on desalination plants and the risk of oil spills clogging intake pipes directly threaten the primary water supply for millions of people.
• Food security: Contamination of fisheries and the destruction of coastal habitats endanger the livelihoods of fishing communities for generations.
• Critically-endangered species: The world’s second largest population of endangered dugongs, as well as green and hawksbill turtles have significant numbers there. Past spills have led to near total-annihilation of turtle populations.
• Habitat destruction: Oil spills have disastrous effects on coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows.
• Arabian Peninsula is a major migratory crossroads: Smoke and explosions are disrupting their routes, and oil-coated feathers lead to mass drownings and hypothermia for thousands of sea birds.

IF you can, please support one or more of these organizations that work tirelessly to preserve marine habitats and rescue marine and avian life affected by Middle Eastern conflicts, including potential oil spills and environmental damage from the 2026 Iran war:

• the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which works on oiled wildlife, 
• Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which protects marine ecosystems
• WildAid also supports marine enforcement
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF): Engages in global conservation efforts that can include habitat protection
• Marine Megafauna Foundation (marinemegafauna.org): Actively monitors and works to protect large marine species, such as whale sharks and manta rays, which may be impacted by military vessels and underwater noise in the region.

Avian and migratory birds:

• Congress of the Birds: This group specifically works on rehabilitating seabirds in the region, focusing on those affected by the ongoing bombings and environmental degradation

Local NGOs: 

• Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF): A non-profit that applies science and fieldwork to conserve wildlife and habitats within Iran, involving local communities in conservation efforts.

• Plan4theLand Society: Focuses on the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity, including educational programs like "Eco-Kids" that highlight endangered marine species like the hawksbill sea turtle.
• Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS): While primarily focused on land mammals, they are a key player in broader Iranian wildlife protection and biodiversity monitoring
• Thank You!

The REAL Reason Donald Trump Agreed To Join Israel’s Unprovoked Bombing Of Iran

The REAL Reason Trump Agreed To Join Israel and Bomb Iran:

Everyone who’s been paying attention, knows that Donald Trump is easy to manipulate because he’s “Mr. Transactional/Mr. Quid pro quo”.

Trump sycophants, the American people, and all of humanity - both individually and collectively; local, state, and foreign governments; allies, frenemies, adversaries, and every country on planet Earth only hold value to Mr. Transactional, Donald Trump, IF they have something that he wants/covets. (e.g. rare earth, minerals, a Moscow location for Trump Tower, beachfront property, etc.).

Between 2012 and 2013, when war criminal Bibi Netanyahu informed then-President Obama that the IDF (“Israeli Defense Force”) was going to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, President Obama pushed back, urged diplomacy, and rightly-argued that such a strike would not prevent future nuclear threats, and, it would likely destabilize the entire region.

Result: War criminal Netanyahu backed down. Likely due to a combination of internal opposition within their own security establishment and because war criminal Netanyahu was well aware of how heavily-dependent Israel is on the US for financial support, cutting-edge offensive weapons, and military aircraft. And, creating a sharp rift with Washington would not serve their needs in the long run.

Fast forward 12 - 13 years to 2026:

War criminal Netanyahu informs Mr. Transactional Trump that the IDF was about to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Not only that, but, war criminal Netanyahu wants Mr. Transactional Trump to order the US military forces to join Israel by initiating an unprovoked, unjustified, and illegal war against Iran.

This time, instead of choosing to do the logical, rational, strategic, and right thing - as President Obama had previously and successfully done - by saying, “No.”…

I’d wager that war criminal Netanyahu offered, or Mr. Transactional, Donald Trump, himself, negotiated a plan with war criminal Netanyahu in which Mr. Transactional would agree to order US forces to join Israel by going to war against Iran - and, thereby, become their willing accomplices/partners in war crimes…

But, he would only agreed to do so IF war criminal Netanyahu promised to give Mr. Transactional the green-light to begin the planning and construction of a “Trump Riviera” (on top of the bombed-out and bloodied remains of homes, businesses, communities, bodies, and the graves of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, children, and infants who have been mercilessly-slaughtered with impunity by the IDF during Israel’s decades-long genocide of the Palestinian people) afterwards.

Bet.

Mea Culpa.

I know that it’s been a while, and I apologize for my extended absence.

My explanation for it is that I knew that IF I were to dive into writing and posting in response to every anti-American, anti-Constitutional, anti-rule of law, anti-democratic thing that the still illegitimate POTUS Donald J. Trump - or his highly-placed, incompetent, morally-bankrupt minions and sycophants - said or did, THEN,  I would, undoubtedly, spend my every waking moment (and then some) tirelessly doing so. Which would’ve eventually lead to me losing my beloved, extraordinarily-creative mind, to my starving to death mid-keystroke, or both.

So, here goes… something (drumroll 🥁, please)… 

I cannot look at or listen to Trump’s corrupt, Deputy AG Todd Blanche, without fighting back a powerful urge to projectile vomit… 

Preferably and ideally onto Todd Blanche, himself, at the exact moment when he is standing before the cameras and smugly continuing to disrespect and lie to all of the Epstein survivors and to all of us, while he, simultaneously, continues to permanently stain and dishonor the once well-respected Department of Justice, whose career prosecutors were known for going after the “worst of the worst”, and who enjoyed a virtually flawless conviction record.*

(*Unless, the “worst of the worst“ happens to be extremely wealthy, Epstein class, (mostly) white (mostly) men who are heads of industry, members of royalty, hold various titles and/or occupy positions of power from around the world, and/or who are “friends”/enablers of the still-illegitimate POTUS Donald J. Trump, and who sponsor, participate in, and/or protect from accountability, the global exploitation of- and sexual abuse of children - with impunity, and/or who knowingly and voluntarily do business with such universally-detestable and abhorrent individuals.