Castle Report

The Castle Report

• DON’T
  Darrell Castle talks about the recent attacks by Iran against Israel and discusses the growing violence with an emphasis on the Israeli decision of whether to retaliate again and if so how. Transcription / Notes DON’T Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday, the 19th day of April in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about the recent attacks by Iran against Israel and discussing the growing violence with an emphasis on the Israeli decision of whether to retaliate again and if so how. Yes, my beat is war this week and there is no shortage of war to talk about. The powers that be love their wars and so they tend to make them happen. There are other issues, of course, like the criminal trial of Donald Trump by George Soros funded proxies in New York City, but war trumps everything, no pun intended. I will also take this introductory paragraph to remind you that there will be no Castle Report next week since I will be attending the Constitution Party National Convention. If you are there look me up, I would love to talk with you. I also remind you that yesterday, the 18th of April was the 82nd anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The 80 men who took part are all dead now, but I take this moment to honor their act of courage and sacrifice. Yes folks, I know this news must be shocking to you but there’s war in the Middle East. President Biden did his best to stop it with one word but it hasn’t worked so far. However, his word serves as the title of this Castle Report. Don’t was the one-word warning given by the President of the United States regarding whether Iran would attack Israel. I suppose that word was meant to convey the message that the president is a tough guy and not someone to be trifled with. The Iranians apparently did not get the message because over last weekend they launched hundreds of attack drones and cruise missiles against Israel.  The Iranians said the attack was in retaliation and a “punishment” for the Israeli attack of April 1 against the Iranian Consulate in Damascus Syria which killed 7 Iranians including two general officers. The Israelis said that attack was in response to the October 7, 2023, attack by the Iranian proxy group, Hamas, against Israel in which some 1400 Israelis died. It seems that one Middle East country or another is retaliating for something just about every day of the week. The nations of the Middle East seem to be run by people who can never forget anything so consider these examples for a moment.  1953, the CIA and British Mi6 helped Iranian royalists depose the elected Iranian president, Mossadegh in a military coup code named Operation Ajax, like the cleaner. The Shah was allowed to extend his power and ruled as absolute monarch for more than two decades until the Iranian Revolution in 1979 in which Ayatollah Khomeini was reinstalled as leader. You probably remember the hostage crises resulting from all that intrigue, but the point is this was all about regime change in Iran to a regime more suitable to the U.S. and I think that is still the case. When the U.S. signed the Algiers Accords ending the hostage crises it agreed to never again participate in regime change against whatever regime ruled Iran. The Mullahs have been clinging tenaciously to power ever since constantly retaliating for one thing or another. The most recent attack against Israel was retaliation for the April 1 attack against the Iranian Damascus Consulate as I said, but also for the January 3, 2020, killing in Baghdad of General Qusem Soleimani. The general was a very important Iranian leader and a beloved figure in Iran. That attack was conducted by the U.S. and was reportedly personally signed off on by President Trump. Was it ordered by Israel? I’m sure the Iranians think it was, and so we continue in an endless cycle of retaliation and violence. Where will it all lead or what will happen next because...
• Desperation in Ukraine
  Darrell Castle talks about the war in Ukraine and how the NATO forces opposing Russia are growing increasingly desperate as Russia continues to grind down the Ukrainian military. Transcription / Notes DESPERATION IN UKRAINE Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 12th day of April in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about the war in Ukraine and how the NATO forces opposing Russia are growing increasingly desperate as Russia continues to grind down the Ukrainian military. The state of the war is becoming obvious and hard to ignore to all but the most ardent anti-Russia types. My beat is war again and this time it’s a war that is all but forgotten with the war in Gaza starting to take Ukraine from the minds of the media. The increasing desperation is evidenced by the threats of French President Emmanuel Macron to send French troops to Ukraine. The Russians, in response, said that French troops would become priority targets if they entered Ukraine. These French troops would be independent of NATO, but that would still put the U.S. on a dangerous path that could lead ultimately to nuclear war. It should be obvious to any rational person that Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons and if Russian backs are against the wall by NATO on its border would use them. Unfortunately, it appears that there are a lot of irrational people running foreign policy in the U.S. and other NATO countries. Things could and probably would escalate quickly if Macron sent French troops to Russia’s border. The vice president of the Russian Duma which is the equivalent of Congress or parliament is Pyotr Tolstoy, a descendent of the great Russian, Leo Tolstoy. He warned that it would take only two minutes to nuke Paris. The Russian air force is becoming more and more active in Ukraine because Ukraine’s air defense system has been degraded by the war so, in response, NATO says it will step up the schedule for delivery of F-16’s. I’ve mentioned before when the F-16 decision was first announced that Ukrainian airfields cannot accommodate those aircraft. They would, therefore, need bases outside Ukraine in NATO countries and Putin has warned that those bases would be legitimate targets. Russia has hypersonic missiles that are extremely difficult to defend and that would, of course, require a NATO retaliatory response. Where would all that madness lead, I wonder. The listed reason for all this escalation is that Russia poses some existential threat to NATO and/or Europe but that premise is clearly absurd. The U.S. has already caused severe damage to the economies of most European countries, especially Germany by destroying the Nord Stream Pipeline, so who is the bigger threat to Europe. Isn’t that destruction a message that says obey me or else. The reason I say that the idea that Russia could invade other countries in Europe is absurd is that Russia has nothing to gain by it. The Russian military has struggled for more than two years to occupy a small territory on its border with Ukraine. Why would Putin want to trigger an Article 5 NATO response when none of those countries can do anything for him and would put him on a fast track to nuclear war. Sometimes people point out that Putin once said, “whoever doesn’t miss the Soviet Union doesn’t have a heart.” They conveniently leave out the rest of the sentence which was, whoever wants it back doesn’t have a brain.” He has a brain and he has no intention to restore the Soviet Union. Russia does, however, have strategic interests like any great power. Ukraine, and especially Crimea, have always been strategic interests of the most vital sort to Russia. So, Washington says that Ukraine is a free and independent nation and can join NATO anytime it wants and doesn’t need Russian permission to do so even though it is on Russia’s border. The U.S. is free to declare the entire Western Hemisphere off limits by way of the Monroe doctrine whi...
• Spiritual War
  Darrell Castle talks about the Christian High Holy Day of Easter or Resurrection Sunday and how President Biden chose to use the day to honor Transgender Visibility Day. Transcription / Notes SPIRITUAL WAR Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 5th day of April in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about the Christian High Holy Day of Easter or Resurrection Sunday along with Transgender Visibility Day which tragically this year occurred on the same day thanks to the President of the United States. Yes, my beat is spiritual today although I admit that theology is not my strong suit, I will endeavor to do my best. Whether or not you are a Christian and whether you are a believer in the biblical account of creation, i.e. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” Genesis 1-1: there is a sentence that humanity has understood throughout man’s time on earth until just a few short years ago. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. That sentence says there are only two genders in the created order, two sexes, male and female. Sunday, March 31st was Easter in 2024, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. It is a day that Christians believe Jesus died to pay for the sins of created humanity not to celebrate those sins. It is the day when we Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then he is still buried somewhere and we as Christians are lost and Christianity fails. God saw all of humanity, created in his image, condemned without a way of redemption so he gave his son as the sacrifice for that sin so we would not have to pay it. That, I argue, is the very essence of Christianity. This past March 31st was doubly tragic because it gave those who reject the created order of God a chance to celebrate that rejection through Transgender Visibility Day. I ponder this because its not as if this tiny section of the population is not already the most visible segment of people in America. The president, who says he is catholic, used the day as a chance to make political points with his base. I tell you right now folks that his base must be a pretty strange group of people if they still support Joe Biden after this. The president welcomed Transgender Visibility Day by saying “Today, on Transgender Day of Visibility, I have a simple message to all trans Americans: I see you. He went on later to say, “You are made in the image of God, and you are worthy of respect and dignity.” He went on and on about the travails of the group of people he celebrated. His official language concluded with this emphasis, “in the year of our Lord.” Many churches, corporations, and politicians joined him in celebrating his words and his proclamation. Apparently, the president did not come up with the idea of Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31st specifically to insult Christians but he simply chose not to move it or ignore it despite the fact that he would be spitting in the faces of Christians across the world. My understanding is that the day was started 15 years ago by president Obama who chose March 31st to set it apart from the Transgender Day of Remembrance in November and Pride Month which is the entire month of June. He also had to work very hard to keep from bumping into one of the many days already set aside to celebrate that condition. Let me just take a minute to list some of the days of celebration we already have: January Third Friday: International Fetish Day. February 12: National Freedom to Marry Day. February 25-29: Aeromantic Spectrum Awareness Week. March: Bisexual Health Awareness Month. March 1: Zero Discrimination Day. March 20-24: National LGBT Health Awareness Week. March 31: International Transgender Day of Visibility. April 6: Asexuality Day. April 22: Day of Silence.