WARNING - Long winded story ahead.  Sorry.

@Ninu got me to thinking about hauling hay, which we're getting ready to do for the 2025/26 season.  Usually try to get 1st cutting on the Teff grass if we can find it.  But a fella's got to be on his toes and ready to go hop in the truck on a moment's notice to get in on the 1st cutting stuff.  Anyway, this got me to thinking about hauling and more specifically truck and trailer tires.  I'm a big proponent of spending top dollar on quality tires and brakes on all of our haul vehicles.  You can save a buck on some cosmetic thing, but not spending good money where the rubber literally 'meets the road' is just plain foolish, IMO.  The reason I feel this way is because of an experience I had once.  Here's the story...

I was living in WY at the time and I had to make a run to SLC to pick up a load of roofing tiles for a ceramic roof we were installing.  Our semi tractor was in the shop for repairs, and would have been overkill for this load anyway, so I decided to haul the tiles with my 3/4 ton GMC Suburban.  The trailer I was using was a 20' enclosed trailer.  I assumed all the tiles would fit, but I wasn't 100% sure.  Well, when I got everything loaded I still had one pallet left and didn't have enough deck space for it.  So, we broke down the last pallet and stacked the tiles on the top of the rest of the loaded pallets.  The trailer was full from front to back, and from floor to ceiling.  I had underestimated how much this would weigh.  But, I'd have to make it work because I wasn't driving 6 hours (round trip) to pick up only one remaining pallet.  So, off I went for the drive back to SW WY. 

If you've ever driven I-80 east bound out of SLC you know that right after you hit the WY border there are a series of 3 mountain hills you have to go over which are affectionately called the "Three Sisters".  There are no switchbacks; it's straight as an arrow down one side and up the other side three times.  From peak to peak each of the Three Sisters is probably 15-20 miles, so I'd guess the road distance on each, down and up, is about 30 miles.  And yes, they're STEEP!  Probably drove over this stretch of road 500+ times if I drove it once  (I went to college in SLC, so drove them every weekend for years).  

Anyway, made it down and up the first one without incident.  Again, if familiar with this stretch of interstate, going up is a long hard pull (even for a car).  For a truck, with a heavily loaded trailer the Three Sisters are an engine blower.  It was summer, and it was hot outside.  The last part of the uphill just seems like it takes forever, and then you hit the top and you can finally get up some speed (which can be very deceptive).  It's easy to get going too fast and suddenly the downhill section of the next one is right there in front of you.  This is pretty much your last chance to brake, because braking on the downhill just overheats your brakes and you get brake fade.  This day was no different.

Coming down the 2nd Sister (the biggest one), I was about halfway down and there was a line of slower semi's in the right lane just saving their brakes going down.  I was rolling about 75mph.  So, I moved over into the left lane and eased up off the brakes, accelerating to about 80+mph.  I got right up to about the middle of the trucks and some yahoo about a quarter of a mile in front of me pulled out into the left lane to pass.  I was rolling faster than him and closing quickly, so I started braking.  My brakes were already hot from coming down the 1st Sister, but I had no choice.  This guy totally wasn't paying attention (some out of State dude pulling a travel trailer), so he was in no hurry to move back over into the right lane.  By this time I was braking progressively harder, and harder.  I still had several semi's right next to me in the right lane, so there was nowhere to go but straight ahead.  The trucker next to me could see what was going on so he moved over onto the rumble strips to give me some room (thank you, buddy, whomever you were).  I wasn't going to make it, I could see that.  I was closing too fast.  I was still rolling about 75mph and couldn't really slow anymore.  I was going to hit this trailer.  My GF was with me at the time, so I told her to brace for impact and pushed myself back in the seat off the steering wheel.  DAMMIT!!

Right at that exact moment, at precisely the absolute worst possible time, the unimaginable happened...my right front steer tire blew out!  Explosively!  No shit!  I remember thinking the situation just went from getting into a crash immediately to...'these are my last few moments on this planet!'.  That was it; I knew I was going to be dead in the next few seconds.  Then a miracle happened...

I had had my CDL (then called a Class 'A' driver's license) for a few years by that point, and I knew the very last thing I should do was to hit the brakes.  The concussion from the blast of the tire blowing out had me seeing stars and my vision started to narrow (it was really that bad).  I knew that my truck was badly damaged; I could hear the tire and sheetmetal banging around, and the transmission was hammered making grinding and banging noises.  I contemplated moving left and going into the median, but I was pretty sure that would be suicide where I was because the median was pretty deep right there.  So, all I could do was try to keep it straight and hang on...which is what I did.  Miraculously, the blown out tire actually helped to slow me down, and I managed to keep the Suburban and the trailer straight without jackknifing.  I think I got to about 6" from the back bumper of the travel trailer in front of me before he started pulling away.  (He never even saw me, just completely oblivious to what was going on behind him!).

By this time, the trucker next to me and the two truckers behind him had pulled over onto the shoulder and slowed down to open a gap to give me as much room as possible.  I was able to get my truck and trailer slowly over into the right lane, and then off onto the shoulder and rolled to a stop (it seemed like it took an hour to fully stop, but it was only a couple minutes).  After we stopped, I couldn't even move.  I sat there for a moment in shock and utter disbelief!  I was alive!  It was impossible, but I was actually alive.

I looked over at my GF and she was just staring straight ahead, her face was just frozen with her mouth wide open like she was screaming, but no sound was coming out.  (that was actually pretty comical, in some twisted way).  When I came to my senses, I immediately reached between the seats and unbuckled the fire extinguisher which was strapped to the floor between us.  There was smoke everywhere, so I was pretty sure something was on fire.  Turned out most of the smoke was coming from transmission fluid spraying on the hot brakes.  Everything was really hot, but fortunately there was no fire. 

We had lived; through what was probably the scariest driving experience imaginable.

 When the smoke cleared I could finally see the damage.  When the tire had exploded it had completely ripped out and disintegrated the wheel well liner.  The tread had whipped around and broken all the transmission cooler lines (hence where the transmission fluid was coming from) and exploded through the front grille, ripping out the headlight.  The radiator was ripped in half.  The tire was just gone, nothing left.  The rim looked like a racing slick, ground down to smooth.  Something, maybe the tread again, had whipped up through the frame underneath and busted out the bottom of the transmission filter pan and it was ripped open and hanging down.  There was a transmission fluid and motor oil slick trail on the roadway and deep gouges in the concrete on the interstate back as far as I could see (well over a mile).  Fragments of tire and truck parts were laying all over the roadway and shoulders on both sides.  It looked like a bomb had gone off, or I'd hit a landmine.  In fact, I've seen vehicles in better condition after they'd hit a landmine!  The whole front of the trailer was dripping transmission fluid and engine oil.  When we got the Suburban in the shop after they unloaded it off the flatbed, we found the impact had ripped off two of the engine mounts.  The crankshaft was broken in the motor and the transmission was a complete loss.  Closer inspection revealed the front right frame was even bent.

The tire was a relatively new Goodyear steel belted radial LT tire, properly sized, inflated and rated.  It was just a massive tire structural failure.  To this day, I still will not run Goodyear tires on any vehicle I own.  I believe the tire failure was a result of hot brakes and maybe a flaw in the tire itself, combined, for a catastrophic failure at the worst possible moment.  I've never been the litigious type, so in the end I was just thankful my GF and I lived to tell the tale.

Oh, and the out of State yahoo in the travel trailer who pulled out in front of me?  Yeah, he never even saw the whole thing unfold behind him.  Never even hit the brakes.  Just kept on going, oblivious to the world around him.  And the trucker who was beside me when the tire blew, well, he stopped (as did a couple other truckers).  He jumped out of his truck and came up to me.  "Jeezus Krist!!  I've never seen anything like that before, ever, in 30 years driving!  I figured for sure we were all going to wreck.  Great job keeping that thing straight!", he said.  Then he said one of the funniest things I'd ever heard.  (so funny, in fact, he got my heart beating regularly again right there on the side of the interstate).  He said..."Son, my asshole was clamped down shut so tight I was pinchin' those little buttons off the upholstery in the seat!!!!  No shit!  Literally!"  Now, I don't know how long he'd saved up that little ditty to use on someone, but my GF and I looked at each other and then busted out laughing.
 
The End

edit - For those wondering why the crankshaft in the motor busted; well, we wondered the same thing. The only thing we could figure was when the transmission locked up and fragged itself it shocked the main shaft coming out of the motor enough to instantly change the RPMs lower. The shock was apparently too much for the inertia of the motor, so the main crank busted to relieve the forces. That was all we could conclude. The whole engine and transmission had to be replaced, and new motor mounts needed to be welded back in the frame. Ordinarily, this would have been a total loss, but I loved that Suburban (they don't make 'em like that anymore), so it was worth it to repair. We did get the frame straight, but not perfect apparently, because even though it drove fine it would eat up ball joints on that side like Skittles after that. Only thing we could figure was the frame wasn't quite perfectly straight. You could get it aligned perfectly, but it still chewed through ball joints (upper ball joints...not a 'fun' repair). Ultimately, it was the ball joint issue which led to the "Burb" being retired. And, it was indeed 'retired', not sold off to some unsuspecting buyer.

Quote:A bunch of new evidence has come out that China may be planning an invasion of Taiwan. Or you could look at it as preparations for defending themselves against the United States of America. The Pentagon and Department of Defense are trying figure out what Xi Jinping is up to.

Quote:Asia is seeing a resurgence of COVID, with sharp case spikes in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore. Hong Kong’s infection rate soared to 11.4%, while Thailand reported over 33,000 cases last week. The surge is linked to JN.1 variant strains, waning immunity, and reduced booster uptake. Where does India stand? Should you be worried? What does global preparedness look like?

I never got the VAX as I got covid and figured why get the VAX ? 

Something went dramatically wrong at the launch as the sparkly new warship tipped onto its side during what is believed to have been a side launch , the Dear Leader (the Korean one) is said not to be best pleased.

Sadly given DPRK no footage of the embarrassing mishap but story below.
 

I really wouldn't want to have been involved in that project.

The WHO Pandemic Agreement has now passed.



There was no parliamentary vote, no public debate, and no referendum.

Outside the US there are growing concerns about sovereignty, accountability, and global governance with the foul odor of WEF shenanigans.


The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted on May 19, 2025, by 124 countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, with 0 objections and 11 abstaining, including the U.S. It aims to boost global pandemic response and equity but wasn't voted on by parliaments or public referendums, as is standard for such treaties. Critics fear it erodes sovereignty and lacks accountability, citing potential WHO overreach and human rights gaps. Supporters say it respects sovereignty, requiring country ratification, and enhances health security. The U.S. withdrawal from WHO, effective 2026, may hopefully weaken its impact. Concerns are valid, but the agreement's effects depend on implementation.

The treaty was adopted by consensus, not a formal vote, which means that governments, including the UK, virtue signaled approval without domestic scrutiny.



The countries not part of the WHO are Liechtenstein, Vatican City, and Taiwan. Liechtenstein, a UN member, collaborates via Switzerland and opts out due to its small size. Vatican City, not a UN member, has minimal global health involvement. Taiwan's exclusion stems from political tensions with Beijing, though it participates in some WHO activities as "Chinese Taipei."

The treaty is designed to address failings exposed by how countries "handled COVID-19."

It outlines legal commitments to:

– Share pathogen samples & genetic data
– Distribute vaccines & therapeutics "equitably"
– Strengthen international surveillance
– Comply with WHO-led emergency declarations
– Develop global digital health certification systems

World Health Assembly adopts historic Pandemic Agreement

This agreement is not limited to pandemic response. It's based on the WHO’s "One Health" framework, which views human, animal, and environmental health as interconnected. (interlinked / interlocked)


Critics (rightly) argue this broadens the WHO’s scope, allowing it to influence food systems, climate policy, agriculture, and land use under the guise of "pandemic prevention."

While the WHO cannot override national law, the treaty creates binding international obligations. Governments may use it to justify emergency laws or sweeping public health powers while shielding decisions behind the language of "international compliance" or "global coordination."

The WHO is not a democratic institution. Its Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, is not elected by citizens, but appointed via a process dominated by diplomatic negotiations between member states. His past controversies, including handling of the early COVID outbreak and ties to China, have fueled considerable concerns about impartiality.




The WHO’s top funders are not primarily governments. As of 2023, its largest contributors included:

– Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
– GAVI Alliance
– UNICEF
– The European Commission
– Germany and the US

Private foundations now shape global public health priorities without any electoral mandate.

Among the more contentious provisions of the treaty are proposals to implement a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system. This would allow WHO to access pathogen samples from any country and redistribute pharmaceutical products under "equitable" frameworks — potentially overriding domestic vaccine supply chains.

The treaty also encourages states to adopt digital health documentation systems, which could evolve into permanent digital IDs tied to vaccination or health status. While presented as public health tools, such systems have been heavily criticised by civil liberties groups as intrusive, coercive, Orwellian and open to mission creep.



Several countries abstained or objected during the drafting phase. These include:

Poland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, Iran, Algeria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Argentina, and Egypt.

Their stated concerns include loss of national sovereignty, lack of legal clarity, and the risk of unelected institutions imposing policy.

In the UK, there has been virtually no parliamentary debate over the treaty. No formal statement has been made by the Prime Minister or Health Secretary. Despite the agreement’s long-term implications, the UK has participated in negotiations quietly, bypassing public scrutiny.

The adoption of this treaty reflects a broader trend:

The shift from nation-state governance to transnational managerialism. Under this model, decisions affecting hundreds of millions are increasingly shaped by busybody billionaire technocrats, NGOs, foundations, and UN agencies — none of whom are directly accountable to voters.

James Burnham's 1941 "The Managerial Revolution" explains this.


Burnham's idea of an unaccountable managerial class has gained traction among conservative intellectuals seeking to counteract the power of this class, viewing "woke" as the justifying ideology of the new class.

This is not a conspiracy theory. It is a structural change in how global policy is made — particularly in moments of crisis...which you can trace such crisis moments all the way back to the Black Death and the ensuing global policies that were added/changed.

What COVID 911 began, the WHO treaty formalizes:

Emergency governance, centralized authority, and the use of global health as a gateway to broader control.

If democratic governments can enter binding international agreements on pandemic policy without consulting their citizens, then who governs in a crisis?

The answer, increasingly, is:

Those you cannot remove from office.

The only way to remove them is you have to kill them. Just like back in ancient times.

The WHO Pandemic Agreement is a landmark. Not just in public health, but in global governance. It centralizes authority, weakens national sovereignty, and embeds unelected influence at the heart of crisis response.

The public was never asked.

Note this agreement is just an agreed upon adoption. It will be several years before any of it is implemented. Smaller countries/small populations will feel the WHO whip first and be used as trial & error tests. But, these parasites work on generational plans, bit by bit. The US will be fully exited from the WHO cult sometime next year and at least while Trump is in Office I'm not going to worry much about it. I'll still keep my ears open in the event their policy influence starts creeping into the USA.

In the 8th century, the fate of Europe teetered on a knife’s edge.

A vast caliphate swept westward—unstoppable, unchallenged.

But in the heart of Gaul a man rose to stop the Muslim invasion in a final battle that saved Western Civilization.



The year is 732.

In the heart of Europe, the world holds its breath.

A storm approaches from the south, an empire on horseback, forged in the deserts of Arabia, now sweeping westward with the force of destiny itself.



Within a century of Muhammad’s death, Islamic armies conquer Persia, the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa.

Their banners catch the winds of victory. Now, they turn their gaze to the green, vulnerable fields of Gaul.



Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar in 711 AD, Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad smash the Visigothic kingdom.

Spain falls almost without a struggle.
Europe’s defenses are shattered.
The path north lies wide open.




By 732, the Muslim general Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi leads a great army beyond the Pyrenees.

Wealth, conquest, and glory await. The Frankish lands, rich and weak, seem ripe for the taking—and no one stands in their way.



Their horsemen ride swift and deadly, razing towns and sacking churches.

From Bordeaux to the River Loire, the countryside burns.
Pilgrims flee.

Monasteries fall silent.
Europe seems ready to fall into darkness forever.

Yet not all in Gaul are defenseless.
In the north, a warrior-king gathers his forces.

His name is Charles—Mayor of the Palace, son of Pippin, leader of the Franks.

He has spent years hardening his army for this moment.



Charles is no king; he holds no crown.
But power answers to strength, not ceremony.

He has clawed his way to command by sheer force of will and now he prepares to hammer history into shape with blood and iron.

The Frankish army is different from the foes the Muslims have crushed. They fight not with dazzling cavalry, but with disciplined infantry. Heavy armor, long spears, and brutal, unbreakable ranks define them.



Charles watches the invaders carefully.
He refuses rash battle.

Instead, he shadows them, learning, choosing his ground carefully. He knows the future of Christendom itself will be decided in a single, terrible clash.

At a high, wooded plain between Tours and Poitiers, Charles sets his trap. He forms his men into a dense, bristling wall—deep ranks of armored warriors, unmoving as stone. Here, the fate of Europe will be written.



For days, the two armies stare at each other across the cold fields.

Neither side dares to move first.
The Franks stand silent, grim, patient.

Charles knows: it is not the first blow that matters, but the last.

Abd al-Rahman is confident.
His cavalry has shattered mighty foes before—why should a band of stubborn Franks be any different?  At last, growing restless, he orders the charge.



The Muslim horsemen thunder across the fields, armor flashing, banners snapping in the wind. Their lances gleam like stars as they lower their points toward the Frankish line, ready to break it in a single sweep.

The ground quakes beneath the hooves.
Closer, closer.

Charles shouts no commands.
His men do not flinch.

They tighten formation, shields braced, spears leveled forward.

The wall of warriors wait for the storm.



The impact is brutal.
Swords clash, lances shatter, bloody screams fill the air.

But the Frankish shield wall holds firm, absorbing the fury of the first assault like a great stone against crashing waves.

Continue...

About the time everyone gears up for drone warfare a game changing development will come along and make the drones almost useless IMO

Quote:Britain’s new Rapid Destroyer weapon could change the war in Ukraine overnight. Using invisible radio waves, it blasts Russian drones out of the sky—fast, cheap, and unstoppable. Is this the future of warfare? And can it crush Putin’s drone strategy for good?

Some serious topics discussed; supposedly within the next two weeks or so there will be some big releases on past indiscretions by the FBI and DOJ under the last administration. Worth a listen IMO

Quote:FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on celebrating National Police Week, keeping the homeland safe, rebuilding trust in the FBI and alleged corruption within the agency. #FoxNews