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Darrell Castle
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Defending Western Civilization

  1. 5 days ago

    Tulsi’s Gone

    Darrell Castle talks about the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard from her position as Director of National Intelligence, and why she made the decision to resign. Was it because of her husband’s illness or something else. Transcription / Notes TULSI’S GONE Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 29th day of May in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard from her position as Director of National Intelligence, and about why Tulsi made the decision to resign. Was her decision because of her husband’s illness or was it something else. Tulsi never seemed to fit into Washington like a typical Washington politician. She never seemed willing to lie and cheat her way to the top as is typical of Washington. From the beginning of her prominence, she seemed a little too honest and too forthright for Washington politics. Nevertheless, she was a politician having served as a Democrat in congress from the state of Hawaii. She left congress and ran for president as a Democrat but lost in the primary to Joe Biden. She became disenchanted with the Democrat Party and decided to back President Trump in his run for that office. President Trump appointed her Director of National Intelligence, in theory the most important national security position in the country. The U.S. now has 18 intelligence agencies or departments if you count their various components and they all report to the Director of National Intelligence, but once in the office I imagine that the DNI found out who holds the real power in the intelligence world. When I learned a few weeks ago that the CIA had apparently broken into, raided, or whatever you want to call the CIA’s visit to their boss’s office, I knew Tulsi would soon be gone. Whistleblower James Erdman blew his whistle in congress and testified that the CIA had “seized” documents from their secure area in the office of the DNI. Some of the files they seized related to the assassination, or perhaps their assassination, of JFK. They apparently also took the files related to MKULTRA which was and probably is the CIA’s experimental program designed to alter and control human behavior through the use of mind-altering drugs and torture. They sought to and apparently did learn the art of mind control including control of whole populations through these experiments. There are people who exist now who are suing the CIA in an effort to get some answers to the questions of what happened to their minds and the minds of their parents because of MKULTRA. That’s not all they got because apparently they got the files on “Havana Syndrome” in which U.S. diplomats and others stationed in Havana and other places were apparently subjected to some kind of mind-altering rays. In response to the CIA raid, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and James Comer (R-KY) chairman of the house Oversight Committee, sent a preservation letter to the CIA demanding that all evidence related to the taken or stolen material be preserved. I imagine the CIA got a good laugh over that letter as they endeavored to show naive members of Congress who actually runs this country. Apparently someone spoke to someone and explained the facts of life as it exists in Washington because when that letter of preservation became public people started to backtrack their statements. Even Erdman, the whistleblower said no I didn’t say it was a raid instead I just said CIA refused to comply with “lawful oversight and documented everts to circumvent oversight.” He testified to Congress that not only did CIA refuse to comply with the directives of the ODNI Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG) investigations into the origins of COVID-19 and other “phenomena” but retaliated against those who did not support their own conclusions. Quoting long-term CIA agent Erdman, “The CIA illegally monitored the computer and phone usage of DIG personnel, their investigations, and contact with whistleblowers, which significantly impacted Director Gabbard’s implementation of several Eo’s issued during this administration and tasked to the DIG.” In addition, “when the DIG ceased operations, the CIA also took back 40 boxes of JFK files and MKULTRA files being processed for declassification by DNI Gabbard.” The CIA’s spying was referenced as tracking every keystroke of DIG personnel as they processed files directed by presidential EO to be released or unclassified. These files included files concerning JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, the origins of COVID-19, Crossfire Hurricane, The Biden Administration’s domestic surveillance, Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI) and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. So, just speculating here folks, but trying to do it with logic I think it went something like this. The President appoints this intelligent and experienced, but most importantly honest woman to head the nation’s intelligence organizations. He then says that as he campaigned on a pledge to be transparent and release long classified files he issues an Executive Order (EO) to that effect. Tulsi, his DNI, who most likely took the job based on a promise to be forthcoming, sets out to obey the President’s EO. She appoints a working group from among those in the office of the DNI which she calls DIG to sort through the files to determine if there was anything that should not be released. The CIA completely ignored that  report to DNI which was Tulsi and in fact they ignore or refuse to abide by the direct written orders of the President of the United States. They break into, or raid, if that is better, her office, take the files and even congress can’t get them back. My conclusion, then, is that this case reveals as clearly as anything has who or what runs this country. I knew when I heard the story of what happened and looked into it that Tulsi would not be able to remain in the administration. Who would want to be director of the office that controls American intelligence agencies, all 18 of them, if one of those agencies was completely exempt from you, their boss’s orders, and apparently didn’t even follow the orders of the President. So, is that why she resigned because she didn’t say that it was. In fact, she didn’t complain about the President’s inability or unwillingness to control the CIA but instead she thanked him and the American people for the opportunity to serve. In her letter she cited her husband Abraham and his diagnosis of a “extremely rare form of bone cancer” as the reason. She said he had stood by her every step of the way including when her Army guard unit was deployed to East Africa and through her political campaigns so she wanted to be with him full-time during such a difficult time. In 18 months as DNI she restructured the office, cutting its size and saving the American people more than $700 million per year. She launched many investigations and sought the release of previously classified material related to the programs previously listed. She has declassified more than 500,000 pages thus far. Her National Counterterrorism Center stopped thousands of narco-terrorists from entering the country until finally its head, Joe Kent, publicly resigned citing the Iran war as the reason. I saw her interviewed on the Shawn Ryan Podcast the other day and she was very forthright as she normally is. She said that the people who opposed her in her efforts were very intolerant of anyone who believes in God because in their minds they are God. They are the ultimate deciders of right and wrong and their choices are never wrong because they determine what right is. If a person opposes them, even if their boss opposes them, that person is on the way out. She said that before she goes at the end of June she will release many files related to the programs in question. Likely, these files will be released in weekly installments over the weeks of June. Her deputy director, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director until a permanent director is appointed. I predict without knowing one way or the other that the new director will have a CIA or perhaps military, meaning ex-General background. Politicians seem to be sweating over the prospect of files related to Crossfire Hurricane or the Russia gate hoax and other weaponization of law programs. I’m just speculating because I admit I don’t know but I will wager that Tulsi grew very weary of constantly trying to follow presidential directives and being stymied at every turn while doing so. That type of constant stress is very difficult to bear long term.  Why would the CIA take her JFK files along with the other assassination files. That’s a good question isn’t it but the answer is very obvious but unsayable in public. Yes I know the assassinations were all done by lone nuts who were killed or prosecuted without any real investigation but nothing to see here folks just move along. Finally, folks, Tulsi seems to be an intelligent, honest woman who loves her country and its people and who puts them before any political party. There aren’t many left like her and I for one will miss her. I wish her well. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    11 min

  2. 22 May

    Nixon Went to China Too

    Darrell Castle talks about President Trump’s recent summit with Premier Xi in China and points out the similarities with President Nixon’s summit in China in 1972. Transcription / Notes NIXON WENT TO CHINA TOO Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 22nd day of May in the year of our Lord 2026. President Trump just completed a three-day historic summit with Premier Xi in China. He is not the first President to visit China since President Nixon made that trip in 1972 when China was a far different nation than today as it was in the throes of suffering through the Maoist revolution. This is the Friday before Memorial Day when we pause to remember the fallen and for most it is the start of a 3-day weekend, but for Joan and I it is a different sort of anniversary to remember. Forty-nine years ago, on this date we saw each other for the first time because we were introduced on a blind date with mutual friends. So, we met forty-nine years ago on this date and we have been together ever since but our actual anniversary, the forty-nine will be in December. This Memorial Day falls 81 years after the end of World War ll, seventy-seven years after the end of the Korean War, and fifty-one years after the end of the Vietnam War. I guess the other wars, the desert wars, are still going on. Since we are into a little nostalgia this week and to prevent burying the lead it was 54 years ago that Nixon made his historic trip to China. It was historic because China and the US, although friends in World War ll had been bitter enemies for 23 years or since the Maoist revolution. The governing principle upon which the Chinese government has been based for all those years now 77 has been that capitalism would inevitably fail, and communism would ultimately triumph around the world. The triumph would come by way of revolution as it did in China but with the aid of countries where the Communist revolution had already occurred. That principle explains why the real enemy of the Western forces fighting in Korea and Vietnam was China and Russia, not North Korea and North Vietnam. When Nixon arrived in China in 1972 the Communist Revolution had been ongoing since 1949 or 23 years but China had not fared well under Communism. It was a desperately poor, agrarian society in which the people were making little or no progress. There was very little indoor plumbing, especially in rural areas, and very little access to electricity. GDP per capita was barely at subsistence levels. Unlike today, China was technologically backward with a massive military but unable to technically compete. Trade with China was at $95.9 million and Nixon sought to build a bridge across the hostility of that world. He famously declared it “the week that changed the world.” President Clinton had a different approach to China because he apparently believed that massive technology transfers and resulting economic success would ease tensions and result in a more peaceful world. In 2000 he gave the Chinese PNTR or Permanent Normal Trade Relations and supported Chinese membership in the WTO or World Trade Organization in 2001. Before Chinese entry into the WTO the US-China trade deficit was about $83 billion but by 2015 it was $367 billion. Chinese imports into the US also surged massively with an estimated replacement of US jobs at about 2.4 to 3.4 million. Communities built in the US around the manufacture of electronics, clothing, furniture, automobiles, and other products were devastated and became just the rust belt. Nixon visited a weak, agrarian society but the new economic policies turned it into an economic and military superpower. Now President Trump has visited this country which has been hostile to the United States for 77 years. Trump’s approach to negotiating is to assume he has the strength in the relationship and to use it to his advantage. Tariffs, export controls, global alliances, and military power are all used in an effort to help benefit US farmers, manufacturers, energy workers, and many others. I predict that Trump’s trip to China will prove similar to Nixon’s in some ways. They both sought direct personal negotiation producing tangible economic benefits to both sides with protection from dangerous strategic competition. There is a knowledge or at least an assumption that President Clinton’s belief that economic success alone would moderate strategic behavior did not work and guardrails have to be installed and adhered to. Nixon engaged an impoverished third-world China for the purpose of using it to counter the Soviets. Trump engaged a powerful superpower to prevent it from obtaining or maintaining dominance in key areas. He got a public commitment from Xi to stop supplying weapons to Iran and to not aid in Iranian nuclear efforts. I have some thoughts on Xi’s statement about Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons. In my view his statement meant nothing or it was what in the law is referred to as legal fiction. He said that Iran should not have nuclear weapons and Iran should reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Well of course for the world’s economies the Strait should be reopened; a no brainer. Both sides know that nukes are not the reason for the attack on Iran and not the real reason for the continuation of the war. Thomas Massie just found out in his Republican primary what the real reason is. If the Israel lobby or the friends of Israel wants you out of congress then you are out of congress. There aren’t many surviving Republicans who are not totally sold out the Israel lobby. Rand Paul is an example and Thomas Massie was another. So almost no Republicans and about the same number of Democrats although some Democrats seem to survive without total subservience. If there are grounds for optimism coming from the summit they can be found in Xi’s public speech or at least that’s how I see them. The English version of Xi’s speech comes to me via George Friedman and his Geopolitical Futures so quoting Mr. Xi. “Honorable President Donald J. Trump, ladies and gentlemen, friends, looking back at the cause of China-U.S. relations, whether or not we could have mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation is the key to whether the relationship can advance steadily. The world today is changing and turbulent. China-U.S. relations concern the well-being of over 1,7 billion people of both countries and affect the interests of the over 8 billion people of the world. Both sides should rise up to this historic responsibility and steer the giant ship of China-U.S. relations forward steadily and in the right direction.” To me that statement says this is a multi-polar world and if we are to progress together and for the good of the world’s people you must recognize that. If you are willing to do that then 77 years of hostility can end at least open hostility can end. President Trump probably had the speech examined by his China people and he probably pointed out the thousands of Chinese spies who occupy every university of note, every corporation of note and even hold political office. Yes the mayor of Alameda, California has confessed to being a Chinese agent. There are hardly any members of Congress or the Senate who haven’t slept with at least one Chinese spy. Mr. Xi let me ask you this if the Chinese are so smart and so technologically proficient why do you have to steal your technology and your scientific advances from us. I’m just guessing but I imagine all those things were discussed. In short, China needs the American market to save its economy. In recent years economists have noted that Chinese domestic consumption has fallen off a cliff, but production is soaring. Thar means that China cannot absorb nearly enough of its production and needs the American market to do that. America needs China and Russia to help it find a face-saving exit from its war against Iran. You both control Iran and we will endeavor to control Netanyahu. To carry my point a little further Xi mentioned the Thucydides Trap in which the ancient Greek Geopolitical Thinker pointed out that when a rising power collides with an old power war is always the result. Xi said he hopes that can be avoided for China and the U.S. If that is the case and both sides want to avoid war then talking is at least the first step and a necessary one. To that end they have scheduled another summit for Washington in September, I think. Finally, folks, it seems to me that China has everything to lose and nothing to gain by war with the United States. George Friedman pointed out the fact that he mentioned Thucydides but did not mention Lenin, or Marx, and to me that’s pretty significant and could mean a turning away from 77 years of false assumptions. Why are these two men meeting and negotiating, well, I think necessity is the mother of invention and right now they need each other. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    11 min

  3. 15 May

    Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and the Decline of Empires

    Darrell Castle returns to the discussion of war by talking about a war not spoken of so much since it has been driven from the headlines by the war against Iran. Transcription / Notes VLADIMIR PUTIN, DONALD TRUMP, AND THE DECLINE OF EMPIRES Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 15th day of May in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is once again war but we visit a war not spoken of so much since it has been driven from the headlines by the war against Iran. Yes, we don’t hear much about Ukraine these days but it continues to cost lives, and resources and it continues to threaten the global geopolitical order. I’m sure you remember, if you are a long-term sufferer of these Reports, that back in 2014 in the eastern provinces of Ukraine the people voted overwhelmingly to become or remain part of the Russian Federation but that decision didn’t sit well with Victoria Nuland who was the U.S. State Department representative there. She helped instigate a revolution that replaced the pro-Russian government with one more pro Europe and that led to a Russian invasion and the current war. Mr. Putin, like President Trump, has found that sometimes wars are easier to get into than they are to get out of. I remember from the war archives reading the discussions from the Japanese general staff when they were planning the battle of Midway. The admiral who was to command their carriers said this will work if the Americans do exactly what we expect and want them to. Well, the Americans didn’t do what the Japanese expected and the Ukrainians haven’t done what the Russians expected. When a Nation which seems to have overwhelming power goes to war against a much weaker opponent the powerful nation expects a quick and decisive, not to mention cheap, victory. Some examples would be the Soviet Union in World War ll, the Iranians of today, and the Ukrainians that are the subject for today. I mention World War ll a lot because last week the 9th of May was the annual celebration in Moscow of the Russian victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. This year the celebration was different because for the first time in 18 years, Russia’s Victory Day parade had no tanks, no missile carriers, and no armored columns going through Red Square. Smaller regions in Russia have their own smaller parades and celebrations and many of those have been canceled altogether. The people of Moscow were told to expect to have no internet service on May 9th. The reason for all the caution and the stepped down celebration was fear of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks. Yes, that’s right folks, the Russian Federation, successor to the Soviet Union, cannot traditionally celebrate its victory over Nazi Germany because once again it is at war inside its own borders. The ironic thing is that once again the war is being fueled, at least partially by German arms. The two wars being fought right now, Ukraine and Iran, in which larger more powerful nations attacked smaller weaker ones are changing the dynamics of global politics and showing us once again that the unexpected results of war can totally change the geopolitics of the world. Ukraine, supplied to the tune of hundreds of billions in arms and treasure, primarily by the United States but also by the European nations has apparently perfected drone and missile warfare and has become one of the world leaders in that technology. Ukraine is now a world leader as we will see but recently Great Britain, desperate to prolong the fight I guess, gave the Ukrainians 120,000 drones from their own inventory. Ukraine, just an agricultural region on the border of Russia and only of any significance because of its proximity to Russia has become one of the world’s most proficient practitioners of the new art of unmanned warfare. They are so proficient that they attack deep inside Russia seemingly at will to the point that the Russian people are afraid to conduct a parade in their community. Thousands of armed drones roam the skies looking for targets and although they are relatively easy to shoot down they are unstoppable in those numbers. Reports are that Iranian missiles and drones reach their targets about 10% of the time but that is against sophisticated air defense systems dedicated to stopping them. Against thousands, 10% is still a lot of destruction and in Ukraine/Russia I understand that they are virtually impossible to defend against. People will tolerate what they are told will be a short and decisive war but only for so long. The propaganda sent to them daily and now through Social Media minute by minute grows tiring when the people realize that it is all just lies. Reports coming from Russia indicate that Putin is feeling the heat of public dissatisfaction with the war. Nobody will tell us exact casualty figures but they obviously number in the hundreds of thousands. War you never have to feel and never see unless you look for it is one thing but when the numbers of dead reach that high and especially when the economy is crumbling as is Russia’s people notice. To that end, last week, President Putin made a phone call to President Trump and proposed a new economic relationship with the United States. The internal pressure on President Putin seems to be working because he is now saying the war is coming to a settlement when there is no battlefield evidence that is the case. He says now that he wants a negotiated settlement and he wants the Europeans to be a part of it. Ironically, he seems to have singled out Germany as the leader in the settlement negotiations. He has maintained all along that he will not recognize Zelensky as the legitimate leader of Ukraine and would therefore not meet with him. That attitude has changed and now he wants to meet with him and he wants the Europeans to help the two of them broker a deal. I admit I am guessing here, but I think it’s an educated guess. Putin always wanted to make Russia a part of the European community but the EU bureaucrats would not have him at their parties. These recent inquiries indicate to me that he wants to renew the efforts to make Russia part of Europe. Ordinarily, I don’t think the Europeans would give him the time of day but the world is far from ordinary right now and they just might listen this time. Why, because of Iran and behind that Israel. Putin might be trying to take advantage of anti-US sentiment in Europe due to the war in Iran. The Europeans obviously want no part of that adventure that Mr. Trump started so perhaps a Europe-Russia détente is now possible. European politicians have made some astonishingly anti-US statements lately. Spain has doubled down on its refusal to let the US use its own bases in Spain for attacks on Iran. One of the leading candidates for Prime Minister of Spain is running on a campaign to take Spain out of NATO as a way to prevent that country from becoming involved in fighting Israel’s wars. So, Putin seeks to turn the clock back to when relations between Russia and Europe were better, but that was when Russia was weaker than now. Just as in the U.S. regarding Iran there is massive and growing opposition in Russia to the war in Ukraine. The Russian economy is reeling and rumors are that the power brokers in Russia have turned against him. He has reportedly increased security at his private residences. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. will react to all this. President Trump left for China on Tuesday for a three-day summit with Mr. Xi. That summit has been in the planning process for months and has continued discussions despite the Iran war. The summit will obviously be primarily about the economic relationship between the U.S. and China but I’m sure Iran will be an important topic. China had Iranian officials in China just prior to Trump’s visit. The question being asked By American media is, will Trump trade Taiwan for Iran, but we will see. Meanwhile back here in America the empire appears to be in decline and is always looking for someone to accelerate the process and Donald Trump appears to be the right man for the job. The empire killers of debt and war are now out of control. The debt has passed 39 trillion and interest payments have passed one trillion per year. Cutting taxes is a good idea if the cuts are matched with spending cuts but the President is removing the fuel tax to bring prices down with no corresponding spending cuts. The wars continue to cost more each day with no end in sight. So much of the world’s economy depends on the price of oil so Trump starts a stupid war that closes the most important oil spigot in the world. It appears now that the U.S. cannot force Iran to do anything without risking major retaliation and resulting damage to the world economy with much higher oil prices. So, we are told the ceasefire is still in effect when it clearly isn’t. According to U.S. intelligence Iran has 75% of its missile capacity intact and almost all of its underground facilities have been reopened. Iran is now a superpower in control of the most important waterway in the world. Russia’s and other adversaries which depend on selling oil have had their incomes increase. So that all adds up to quite an achievement with no visible upside at all. Finally, folks, if the American Empire is in decline under the weight of debt and war what better man could we have to manage it. At least that’s the way I see it. Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    11 min

  4. 8 May

    Mother’s Day

    Darrell Castle doesn’t talks about war today, but about mothers and Mother’s Day. Transcription / Notes MOTHER’S DAY Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 8th day of May in this the year of our Lord 2026. I am so happy today because my beat is not war but mothers which will make most people happy and uplifted because after all who doesn’t like and respect mothers and stories about them. Mother’s Day as a national holiday had kind of a dual start or I guess you could say dual founders. Both of the women who started the day as a way to honor and support mothers did it because of the severe rural poverty and resulting infant mortality in their native Appalachia. In 1887 Mary Towles Sasseen from Henderson Kentucky led her class since she was a teacher, in what is believed to be the first observance of Mother’s Day. Mary traveled around Kentucky and Ohio trying to have the day recognized as a national holiday but she died in 1906 before that happened. Schools in several states adopted the idea and in 1926 the Kentucky legislature passed a resolution officially recognizing Mary as the founder of the day. The creation of Mother’s Day as a national holiday is usually attributed to three women Ann Reeves Jarvis, Julia Ward Howe, and Ann’s daughter Anna M. Jarvis. Ann, known as “Mother Jarvis,” was an Appalachian homemaker who taught Sunday School lessons. Mother Jarvis saw the extreme poverty and lack of education among the Appalachian rural poor which resulted in a high infant mortality rate and a high rate of the death of mothers during childbirth. She set out to educate and help the women who needed it the most and she was eventually joined by the other two women. Anna, Ann’s daughter, led the fight to honor her mother and to have the day become a national holiday and at her church the year after Ann’s death a service was held on May 10th to honor not just Ann but all mother’s. In 1948 Anna died in what was then called a sanitarium from dementia. Yes folks I am happy to have something to say that is not about war and what better subject than Mothers. Oh, I could bring war into it of course by talking about the mothers who are photographed holding their starving babies perhaps for the last time. I could even tell stories I have personally seen concerning mothers in war-torn countries who would do literally anything for enough money to feed their babies but I will not do that today and instead I will report on stories of mothers right here in America. Speaking of mothers right here in America many of my friends who are a little less conservative politically than I am, are very concerned about the plight of mothers. They are particularly concerned about infant mortality the same as what those women I mentioned who started national recognition of mothers and that came to be Mother’ Day.  I wonder so I ask them why they care so much about infant mortality. I point out to them that one day they advocate for “a mother’s right to choose” and the next day they are fighting to save infants from mortality so what gives. OH, wait I get it now those infants still inside their mothers are not really babies but just protoplasm or more generously just part of the woman’s body. If so, then killing the child is not really murder because we have defined the child out of existence. I guess its like the war powers resolution which unconstitutionally gave the president the power to make war on his own without congressional involvement. He is required to report to congress within 60 days but when that is over he just says no the war is over and we won and this is a new war with a new 60 days. My point is that murder is murder but homicide is a legal term awaiting interpretation. Anyway, we all have or had mothers at some point but for many our mothers are long since dead and we have only the memories. Joan and I were both blessed by God with very good mothers who cared for us and loved us to the end. It sounds like a cliché but there is nothing like a mother’s love for her child. She will sacrifice to the point of giving up her own life for that child. Let me give you an example from the animal kingdom. In my home office I have a bay window with my desk right in front of it. There are a few azalea bushes right outside the window and sometimes birds nest in them, especially cardinals which like to nest close to the ground. A couple of years ago I was working at my desk when I noticed a nest with a cardinal sitting in the nest. I didn’t know it but she was sitting on her eggs to hatch them. I watched her for a few days and she would sit there through rainstorms with the rain pounding down on her and through wind that looked like it would blow away her nest. The male would come by from time to time just to check on her I guess. One day the eggs hatched and she had to feed the babies so she would go away and get worms for them and sometimes the male would contribute but the mother acting on instinct would give her life up for those babies. When they were at an age instinct told her was right she threw them out of the nest and said fly or die trying. They either fly or a cat eats them. We humans have developed a more humane way of dealing with our young than the animal kingdom but there are similarities. The cardinal mother would never think of killing her young for some always good reason but our humanity has allowed us humans to do that. When our babies are a certain age we still know that it is time for them to leave the nest. Sometimes we call that time graduation and sometimes it’s marriage. “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 That verse becomes more and more clear as we age because the child means everything especially to the mother. She would literally take a bullet for that child and then one day the father takes his daughter’s hand and gives it to her husband and she has a new family which is now her first love as it should be. For the mother that child will always be her child but for the child which probably now has children of her own it’s different. Well, that’s about enough glorification of the role of mothers for one day and one Castle Report. Finally, folks, visit your mother this Sunday for Mother’s Day. If you just can’t get there at least give her a call because I promise you she wants to hear your voice. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    8 min

  5. 1 May

    Options to End the War Against Iran

    Darrell Castle provides some options to end the war that Washington is currently fighting against Iran. Transcription / Notes OPTIONS TO END THE WAR AGAINST IRAN Hello this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 1st day of May in this the year of our Lord 2026. Yes today is May Day but my beat once again is war. This time I am looking for options to end the war that Washington is currently fighting against Iran. Donald Trump began the U.S./Israel war against Iran apparently because he wanted to deny Iran the chance to build its own nuclear weapon. That was at least the stated reason for starting the war. Suppose you are Iran and the U.S, demands that you dismantle and cease your nuclear weapons development program. Would you have any reason to comply with that demand considering what has happened to other countries in the Middle East. Acquiring nuclear weapons might be the only way left to prevent becoming a victim of a regime change war. Think about it like this for a moment. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Iran, Venezuela, Russia and North Korea have all been demonized by the U.S. in one way or another this century. The only two that remain uninvaded, Russia and North Korea have nuclear weapons and the others do not. The leaders of those countries who do not have nuclear weapons are dead or locked in prison. I ask myself if the United States would be threatened if Iran were allowed to develop nuclear weapons and my conclusion is that it would not. Israel would be threatened because a nuclear armed Iran would serve as a blocking force to the expansion of Israel and Netanyahu’s plans for greater Israel. If Iran had nuclear weapons Operation Epic Fury would not have happened or at least logic tells me. Why then, other than Bibi’s influence, did Donald Trump launch this war. He must have been told and must have believed that the Iranian government would collapse and flee in the face of overwhelming U.S. and Israeli air attacks. If he believed that then he must not be a student of history because that theory has never worked throughout the history of air power. It worked in World War II as part of a combined arms attack that involved millions of troops fighting around the world in ground combat. Later wars like Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan it was assumed that air power and destruction from the air would make the difference but it did not. If a belief that Iran could be forced or persuaded to surrender or agree to U.S./Israeli demands as a result of destruction from the air was the cause of the attacks then obviously that was a false conclusion. Perhaps senior U.S. military leadership were and are students of military history and they warned the president that the strategy would fail and that explains in part why so many have been relieved. I admit that I have no inside information that leads me to that conclusion just logic and history. Having said all that what are the options Trump has in front of him right now. Here are a few that come to my mind but I’m sure there are others I just can’t think of right now. First, he could just pack up and come home ala Ron Paul’s advice to come home and mind your own business. That would mark the end of the unipolar world and an admission that the empire stage of American history is ending and what results it would leave in the Middle East are anyone’s guess. Second, he could just continue the blockade and the air war in the hope that it would finally work. Third, he could launch a ground invasion of Iran like the other wars the U.S. has fought recently in which air power proved unable to force surrender. Invading Iran with ground troops would be different from the other multi decade wars because I doubt that it could be done with minimal U.S. casualties. Iran is a much bigger country with very different terrain across the country. It might even require a general mobilization of the American population with a draft and a conversion to war time production. It would most likely involve tens of thousands of casualties with many of our best young people coming home in boxes. In other words that would be one of the stupidest things an American president could possibly do, but they often do things that seem stupid to me. Fourth, he could resort to the weapons he is trying to prevent Iran from acquiring. He could tell the Iranians that unless they comply with his demands he will use tactical nuclear weapons to destroy their known nuclear and missile sites. He could threaten to increase the intensity and frequency of the attacks until they complied. The results of the fourth option would be so catastrophic that I don’t even need to talk about them. It would forever remove from America the belief that we were once a moral and religious people. Fifth, he could reach a negotiated settlement and to that end Iran offered a suggestion which was quickly rejected but only in part. Iran suggested that the blockade would be lifted and the Strait would be open for free commerce. That would obviously leave Iran in a position to close it anytime the nuclear negotiations did not go their way. The question of nuclear enrichment would be deferred until some day in the future when the sides would start talking again. A lot of people would have accepted the settlement offer except that Trump knows what it really means. It would revert the conflict to status quo as if the war had not been fought except for the fact that Iran’s infrastructure along with much of its leadership are gone. The other message the settlement will send is if we close the Strait you cannot force it open with air power or your navy. That message was not one Donald Trump was willing to accept so he said; what part of no nuclear weapons did you not understand. For now, the war continues and the blockade continues. It appears that the blockade is far more effective than air power proved to be. The blockade is hurting Iran economically to the point they want relief from it so perhaps soon they will relent and the president’s ego could be salved with victory. He admitted when he announced that the settlement was rejected that the blockade was more effective than the bombing. “They are choking like a stuffed pig and it is going to get worse for them.” Perhaps the analogy of a stuffed pig is not the proper one to use with the Mullahs but that is Donald Trumps style not mine. He went on to say that they want to settle. They don’t want me to keep the blockade but I don’t want to lift the blockade because I don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. Iran had to do their tough talk as well saying it would engage in “unprecedented military action.” U.S. Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper said “Right now there are 41 tankers with 69 million barrels of oil that the Iranian regime can’t sell. That’s an estimated $6billion-plus from which Iran’s leadership cannot financially benefit. The blockade is highly effective and U.S. forces remain fully committed to total enforcement.” The Pentagon’s accounting office announced this week that so far the war has cost about $25 billion in taxpayer money. When I hear that I raise an eyebrow because I have a good idea what it costs to maintain a carrier battlegroup at sea and in-flight operations. I know what it costs to keep a carrier-based aircraft in combat mode let alone a massive B-52 or one of the stealth bombers. Tens of thousands of troops deployed with some 32thousand at least, bombs and missiles dropped on Iran. I just don’t think all that can be done for $25 billion. The money is one thing but the war has cost at least 15 American lives and about 400 wounded although casualty figures have been very hard to come by. Let’s not forget the billions of dollars reportedly incurred in damage from Iranian missiles to U.S. bases across the entire region. Damage assessment in the Gulf States and in Israel to U.S. property has been almost impossible to obtain accurately so why lie about the $25 billion. If that department lies each year about the trillions that go unaccounted for by the GAO or Government Accounting Office I suppose it’s not a stretch for them to lie about the cost of war. So, I will assume that the Iranians are politically astute enough to know how this war is affecting U.S. politics. It is terribly unpopular and is a threat to control of the House and Senate. In addition, I spoke to a gentleman the other day who had recently been in Ireland. He said that in the U.S, terms of measurement gasoline was running about $12.50 per gallon and heating oil was unaffordable for most people. That condition probably exists across Europe and would probably make Iran have confidence to just hang on because political pressure will force Trump’s hand. Time will tell if that works or not. Finally, folks, according to UNICEF about 1800 Iranian children have been killed or wounded by the war on Iran. I don’t know if that number is accurate but if the accurate number is more than zero it’s too many. However, as you are painfully aware my opinion is that this war is a stupid waste of lives and resources and should end as soon as possible. Having said that the men and women fighting it are my brothers and sisters and I stand with them always. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    11 min

  6. 24 Apr

    Some Unexpected Results of War

    Darrell Castle talks about the war against Iran and the efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for the commerce of the world along with the unexpected results being felt around the world. Transcription / Notes SOME UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF WAR Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 24th day of April in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking again about the war against Iran and the efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for the commerce of the world along with the unexpected results being felt around the world as a result of this war. Let me start with a brief refresher regarding the history of the U.S. war with Iran before I get into unexpected results. The U.S. government back in 1953 started this long conflict by its overthrow of Mosaddegh who was popularly elect and his replacement with the Shah who was always seen as a U.S. puppet. If what I just said is true and I obviously believe that it is, then the U.S. has been in this conflict for 73 years. In 1953 the Korean War was just shutting down so maybe a new conflict was needed in the Middle East to feed the war machine, who knows. Fast forward to today and we find that often history does repeat but barely is it noticed because it will always be different this time. We have lots of propaganda coming out of the war from both sides and unlike propaganda in earlier wars today’s propaganda reaches the whole world instantly through social media. In World Wars, for example, propaganda was designed only for the home populations of each side. Don’t worry we are winning etc. Except for the Tokyo Rose broadcasts to the U.S. Navy and the Axis Sally broadcasts to the U.S. bomber crews the propaganda was primarily to keep the population’s backs in the war effort. To that end a ceasefire is announced from time to time and that mere announcement will usually calm the headlines and the markets for a brief time. The other side quickly violates the ceasefire or denies that it exists and the whole thing starts over. President Trump says they have agreed to everything and the Iranians say no we will keep our uranium and the Strait remains closed. It appears to be just propaganda back and forth or perhaps just wishful thinking, and the confusion is exacerbated by Iran’s lack of known leadership. We do know a few things that appear to be factual, however. Six or seven weeks ago, the U.S. and Israel launched a preemptive attack, surprise attack, sneak attack depending on your point of view. This attack was launched in the midst of negotiations ala Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese did it they thought and hoped it would demoralize the American people into negotiations favorable to Japan but it had the opposite effect and I submit this attack did the same to Iran. The U.S. dropped unprecedented amounts of bombs and missiles on Korea and Vietnam but neither surrendered and that fact of history seems to have gone unnoticed by the administration. The Iranians believe they are victims of an unprovoked attack which cost them dearly in terms of lives, treasure, and infrastructure. They think they are entitled to compensation for that and I submit that one way or another they will get it. In the meantime, the war is actually helping Iran by raising oil prices worldwide thus helping the Iranian export prices. They could insist on tolls through the Strait of Hormuz which they had never imposed before this war. I suspect that no permanent peace agreement will happen without compensation from the U.S. and/or Israel. Either way it would be on the backs of U.S. taxpayers. My guess is that this war will continue for a time that we could call indefinite and here is one reason why. Trump apparently started this war at the behest of Netanyahu but now he aggressively insults and attacks anyone he perceives to have said a negative word about him and that includes foreign leaders. He doesn’t seem to understand that people remember the insults and foreign affairs of a great nation can’t be conducted like kids jostling each other on a school ground. The problem of war in the Middle East is more than likely unsolvable as long a s Israel exists especially with its current leadership. Therefore, expect to be at war for a long time at least until it finally destroys the U.S. economy. Speaking of the U.S. and world economy let’s look at some results of the war or at least some things made worse by it. This all comes at a time when rising debt levels and rising interest obligations are pushing the U.S. into a more fragile state. According to MoneyWeek U.S. debt has now exceeded 39 trillion. It has been only five months since it blew past 38 trillion. The debt has doubled since Trump was sworn in for his first term or about 10 years ago. No amount of bluster and bombast will erase certain facts such as the U.S. approaching 40 trillion amid rising interest rates, along with a coming debt crises. The U.S. has about 9 trillion of debt that must be refinanced or rolled over this cycle. Presumably short-term treasuries can be sold at about 3.5% but what if they can’t and it takes 5%. That would be catastrophic and would accelerate the crash to unstoppable speed. I admit I’m no economist but that’s the way it looks to me from the numbers. The disturbing thing is that Washington seems to take no notice of it at all. This fiscal year, 2026 the defense budget or war budget as its now called is about $950 billion. Trump has requested an almost 60% increase to $1.5 trillion for fiscal year 2027. That’s all caused by the war right. Well, no, I’m afraid not folks because that doesn’t even include the costs of the Iranian war so he’s saying we need a 60% increase just to keep up. The U.S. has dropped tens of thousands of bombs and missiles on Iran and has lost a few aircraft along with great damage to bases all over the Middle East. The U.S. has had to move its military out of the Persian Gulf region and move its carriers at least 1000 kilometers or about 620 miles from the conflict to avoid missile attacks. So, one unexpected result of the war is that the U.S. multibillion-dollar carriers are very vulnerable to cheap drone and missile attack. Iran apparently has quite a stockpile of those and reportedly China is resupplying them all the time. Iran has an ace up its sleeve in this international poker game of death and that ace is the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is a narrow strip of water that links the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. Before the war started approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day or about 20% of global production passed through the Strait along with 20% of global LNG exports according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Strait is so vitally important to the world economy that it’s a fair guess that disruption for a prolonged period would provoke a worldwide depression. Iran has spent decades accumulating the means to shut the Strait down. It has commanding geography with a thousand miles of coastline and many inlets where missiles can be stored and launched. The U.S. has discovered that even the U.S. Navy cannot police all of them. Just this week reportedly 24 Iranian tankers slipped through the U.S. blockade. If the Strait is not completely closed it is too dangerous for normal commercial shipping. Oil and natural gas are everywhere and in everything. They are the most important of all commodities that the world depends on. The Far East today is the manufacturing center of the world or the world’s workshop and Middle East oil and gas keeps the Far East working. Until this war is resolved we can probably count on oil above 100$ per barrel and increasing shortages of many things we are used to having in abundance. Ultimately the real danger is worldwide food production and the increasing cost of food caused by ever lower crop yields. This threat to the world’s food supply is being caused by the drastic reduction in fertilizer because so much of it is shipped through the gulf. The world needs fertilizer to grow crops and feed people and that is gradually being strangled. Once again, the unexpected results of war. Perhaps the markets of the world have just been waiting for a pin to pop the bubble so we will see that higher prices for fuel will result in higher prices for everything and that is as inevitable as night follows day. The result of all this and the result of the war will be a significantly lower standard of living for the people of the world. So, propaganda tells us the Strait will remain open and the Mullahs will never have a nuclear weapon. Neither statement appears to be true at the current time so that leaves the U.S. in a very difficult position. The U.S. could admit defeat and leave thus admitting that the Empire cannot fulfill its promises or the U.S. could resort to the unthinkable but I don’t see many other choices. In any event the petrodollar world appears to be ending. I heard Marco Rubio, the Secretary of everything say that Brazil, the largest country in South America just concluded a deal with China to trade in the Chinese currency. The U.S. relies on the dollar as the world’s reserve to bully and sanction other countries but if they are not trading in the dollar then sanctions are no threat. So, the world is changing rapidly and not in favor of the American people or at least that’s my take on it.  Donald Trump has hung an Albatross around his neck and removing it is job number one. He might have to allow a strategic retreat to a more defensible line. The failure to reach that conclusion has resulted in the destruction of many armies and the loss of many wars. So, admit it was a mistake and find some way to reverse course no matter what Israel says about it. The longer he persists the worse it will get because he simply is not all powerful like he apparently thought he was, and neither is the United States. Finally, folks, I hope this was j

    13 min

  7. 10 Apr

    The End of NATO

    Darrell Castle talks about whether or not the United States should leave NATO and whether that decision would bring about a new U.S./Iran order in the Middle East. Transcription / Notes: THE END OF NATO Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 10th day of April in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is once again war but I am so tired of war each week that I have decided to carve a niche out of the unexpected results of our current war and that is NATO and its possible end for the United States. I’m sure you all know what NATO is but as a refresher it is a treaty (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in which the U.S. along with the other members agreed to come to each other’s aid if attacked. The purpose was to prevent and protect against a Soviet attack in Europe like the NAZI’s had done. Everything worked fine when there was a Soviet Union to fight and to protect against. The cold war justified the massive defense spending by the U.S. which allowed Europe to rebuild from the war’s devastation and to provide generous welfare benefits to its citizens. The fall of the old enemy, the Soviet Union, triggered a crises in NATO because there was no longer a justifiable reason for its existence. The collapse of Russia and with it, communism, put the alliance under tremendous strain especially when rising debt levels in the U.S, caused economic hardship. People would ask why are American forces still deployed in Europe. Why can’t Europe protect itself from perceived threats. Why do our families have to bear the brunt of Europe’s defense. NATO continued to exist although the reason for its formation no longer existed. The reason smells like the Military Industrial, Intelligence, Security Complex and I am sure that was a lot of it, but some vehicle of justification had to be found for NATO’s continuation and so found it was. NATO still exists today, and American troops are still deployed in Europe today although the reason is now obsolete. Moving the alliance to the borders of Russia along with a coup that replaced Ukraine’s government of pro-Russia elected officials with anti-Russia officials might justify its existence. Who knows, maybe a new war could be started that would require hundreds of billions in new spending. That is exactly what happened and the Obama, Biden, and Trump administrations have handled it the same way. Pour money and weapons into Ukraine to fuel its war against Russia. Make the war last longer and be much worse than it otherwise would be. Perhaps if Ukraine were allowed to use American weapons to attack deep inside Russia then Russia would be provoked enough to attack outside Ukraine but so far that has not happened. Meanwhile back to present day and we find that although the U.S. poured hundreds of billions into Ukraine ostensibly for the defense of Europe, when President Trump decided to launch a stupid, pointless, unprovoked attack against Iran Europe seemed to want no part of it. Trump seemed to think that Europe should have been willing to support the U.S. out of gratitude for all the money and all the graves of America’s sons scattered across Europe. NATO was much weaker than when the U.S. and Europe saw Russia as an existential threat. The Ukraine war, despite all the bluster and propaganda, proved that Russia could not even conquer that small corner of Ukraine on the border of Russia. My theory, then, is that Europe no longer feels threatened by Russia despite all the rhetoric to that effect but it does feel threatened by the millions of Muslims it has invited into its countries and who now live among European populations. So, Europe offers no help in Trump/Israel’s war against Iran. Shockingly, even with our long special relationship with the UK, Prime Minister Starmer would not allow the U.S. to use bases in England, which the U.S. at least partially paid for, to refuel and rearm aircraft used against Iran. Many U.S. administrations, including the Trump Administration, have criticized Europe for not bearing more of the expense and sacrifice for its own defense, Trump has said that this is not 1949 which was the year NATO was founded and Europe is perfectly capable of defending itself. This hostile rhetoric back and forth along with the changing political climate in Europe in which the European general outlook was fast becoming one of subservience to the new global world run or at least managed by the bureaucrats in Brussels. Trump, J.D. Vance, and Marco Rubio have all made it clear that the U.S. would not follow that path so Europe says no help in Iran. Even the European effort to keep the Strait open is virtually nonexistent. There is nothing in the NATO charter that requires member states to support the U.S. efforts in Iran. The U.S. was not attacked which would have triggered the article 5 common defense clause so there is no Charter obligation in their eyes. How about just friendship and gratitude as Trump would put it. I suppose the Europeans say that friendship doesn’t extend that far and in fact we don’t even like you because you are crass and won’t play by our globalist playbook so why should we anger all the Muslims in our countries. Supposedly, Iran has missiles that could reach Berlin and possibly even further and they have proven that these missiles are still there and they cannot be stopped if fired in volume. So, I understand why Europe does not want to support the U.S. in its attack on Iran, but I don’t understand why the U.S. remains in NATO. I am very onboard with Trump’s constant threats to leave NATO because the time is long passed when that should have been done. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will happen because leaving NATO would require congressional approval and I don’t think there is nearly enough support in congress to leave. Of course, another aspect is that the U.S. created NATO and accepted the defense of Europe not as a protection racket but as a strategy to keep European nations from building armies and invading each other which lead to two world wars. To me, this NATO issue along with the two-week ceasefire in Iran represent the best possible chance for a new order to emerge from the chaos. Not a new world order as traditionally talked about but an order in which the U.S. adopts a foreign policy designed to truly benefit the U.S. and its people. That would mean ending the special relationship with Israel and the beginning of treating it like we treat any other country. Ending the special relationship with Israel is job number one if Trump truly wants to extricate the U.S, from the Iranian war, and I think he does. Israel and its American lobby obviously do not want the war to end even if the Strait remains closed and the global economy suffers. It appears that he is not any more grateful than NATO for U.S. help. If that is the case and Trump constantly threatens to leave NATO because “they have been of no help to us “then why doesn’t he threaten Israel with abandonment. The answer to that question would certainly explain a lot. The two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, apparently, was something that had great promise for a new U.S./Iran agreement that could have remade the Middle East. The idea of joint U.S. and Iranian control of the Strait makes sense to me and I saw it as a way to pay for the rebuilding of Iran by charging all those European and Asian tankers a toll for passage. Before the war about 127 ships per day on average passed through the Gulf and now it is 6. If each of 127 ships was charged an average of $100,000 for passage that’s roughly $355 million per month using my crude math. That money would go a long way toward rebuilding Iran from the rubble it now is. Reports say that the U. S. alone has dropped some 32,000 bombs on Iran since the attacks started and that figure doesn’t include what Israel has dropped. In any event the U.S. taxpayer pays for all of it and we are U.S. taxpayers and therefore responsible. This is a free country right or at least that’s how much of the world views it so since we are a “democracy” we the people are responsible for its actions. That sounds good in theory but in fact we have no real way to change anything and when we are given the illusion that we can all we seem to do is make a terrible situation worse. My toll charge system probably would not work because it would increase the price of everything but for the U.S. I’ll wager its cheaper than war. Here in the real-world Trump reportedly told the Iranians that they have a chance to be Persians again. That is a tremendous offer and it shows he does understand at least some of the history of the Persian people. Iran was created by Great Britain from ancient Persia after World War 1 and Trump is offering them an olive branch they could use to regain control of their oil and shipping from Lloyds of London and the English banking system. Why not leave NATO for a new order in the Middle East. Why not, well I’m glad you asked. The answer is Israel, its American lobby, and the neo-con globalist war party that seems to own everything including all our lives. It is probably more than a coincidence that J.D. Vance is going to Pakistan to continue the very intense negotiations that brought this cease fire to life. J.D. is probably the least neo con of anyone in the administration. Could this really end in 5 weeks. Vietnam 15 years, Afghanistan 23 years, Iraq 18 years approximately so we’ll see. Finally, folks pray this cease fire accomplishes more than the neo con war party wants it to accomplish and pray for peace. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    12 min

  8. 3 Apr

    The Restoration of Liberty

    Darrell Castle turns his attention away from the pressing issue of war and looks at Christians and Christianity as we near the end of Holy Week. Transcription / Notes: THE RESTORATION OF LIBERTY Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 3rd day of April in the year of our Lord 2026. I’m very happy that I have something to talk about besides war today. This is in fact Good Friday and in honor of that date and with Easter Sunday just a couple of days away I turn my attention away from the pressing issue of war and look at Christians and Christianity as we near the end of holy week. First, I want to say a few words about the title of this Castle Report and where that title comes from especially since we are currently in the 250th anniversary year of America. My argument is that the founders rather than trying to build a utopian perfect world were seeking the restoration of liberties they once had. The Declaration, written by Thomas Jefferson but inspired by the thinking and writing of John Locke and by the life and words of Jesus Christ as expressed by Jefferson as nature’s God reflect that desire for the return of liberty. They had witnessed the excesses of the French Revolution and the results of mob rule or what we today might call democracy and they sought to build something based on the rights of the individual rather than the collective and that is what for individuals is called liberty. They sought a way to protect the lives they had built in their world and the lives they fought for from the reach of foreign imperial rule. That is one reason why I cringe when America today goes abroad to impose its will on others especially when there seems to be no provocation. Speaking of foreign imperial rule an incident occurred this past Palm Sunday in the ancient city of Jerusalem in modern day Israel. There is a church located in the Christian quarter of the city known as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. That church was built in the 4th century on the site where Jesus’ empty tomb was believed to be located. In other words, it is about 1800 years old and it is one of the holiest sites in all of Christendom. It is simultaneously the seat of the Armenian, Greek Orthodox, and Catholic Patriarchates of Jerusalem. Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, those gentlemen wanted to go inside the church to do a live simulcast to their congregations on that Palm Sunday but they were barred from doing so by the Israeli police. The announcement was made that it was for “security reasons” but no synagogues were closed that day. The church has a long history of remaining open even during two World Wars so the explanation was doubtful. Denial of the Church to the people was so outrageous that even U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee was critical. Huckabee is usually a spokesperson for the Israeli government and so his words stung a little. My understanding is that when Israeli authorities heard his mild rebuke they rescinded the order. I don’t know if that is true or not but in any event the Palm Sunday opportunity to minister to their worldwide congregations was lost. Meanwhile back in America a couple of incidents happened this Holy Week that are worthy of note. A young professional basketball player named Jaden Ivey lost his job because of his refusal to remain silent in the face of what he considered intimidation by his team regarding its affiliation with the LGBTQ community of activists and especially Pride Month celebrated in America in June. Jaden was raised in a basketball family and I guess it is in his DNA because his mother is currently the head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team. He had a stellar college career and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons where he spent several seasons. He also was selected to play on the U.S. national junior team. In February of this year, he was traded to the Bulls where he played in 4 games before suffering a season ending knee injury. He started to speak out against what he considered to be forced imposition of the LGBTQ agenda within the NBA. He said as a committed Christian he considered it “unrighteous.” He said a few other things such as he thought Catholicism to be a false religion. He made all these comments on his private twitter account but if you are an NBA player nothing you say is private so the Bulls quickly released him. To their credit they didn’t try to lie and say it was because of injury, etc. They announced the reason as conduct detrimental to the team which triggers a clause in his contract that permits them not to pay him his contract balance. So, they are, in effect, saying that expressing one’s Christian faith is conduct detrimental to the team. The problem for Jaden is that with a knee injury no one will sign him until they see proof of complete recovery so he should consider filing suit for religious discrimination and recovery of the balance of his contract. My guess is that on the contract at least, they would pay him. So, Christians are not welcome in the NBA or at least no vocal ones. It would be some justice if no Christians bought tickets or watched the team on TV so we will see. People voice their disapproval but nothing will change until we stop buying tickets.The Christian persecution, so evident in the NBA has also infected the NFL. Yes that’s right the mighty NFL bends its knee to the even mightier LGBTQ lobby. It seems that Jaden had some friends in the NFL who knew him and who respected his Christian faith. A player named Treveyon Henderson with the New England Patriots chimed in on his friend’s behalf. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Mathew 5:10.” Well that created quite a stir and in his required news conference New England Coach Mike Vrabel was asked about it. He made a long statement about how much he liked and respected Treveyon and how we want them, meaning players I guess, to be able to express themselves but we want them to be “educated.” My guess is that Treveyon’s education matches up quite well with his coach so I submit that what he really meant was reeducated. Perhaps the NFL is trying to bend to Communist China as the NBA has done. I understand they do some reeducating in North Korea as well. The Germans used to call it “ideological education.” So, Coach Vrabel is in good company when he wants his player to be educated. There seems to be a growing number of players across professional sports who are Christian and more and more are willing to say it publicly, but it is very obvious that their leagues and this modern immoral society would prefer that they remain silent. Well, this is Easter weekend and I’m paraphrasing now but when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the people cheered for him didn’t the Pharisees say rebuke your disciples and then he replied If they remain silent the stones along the rode will praise me. Finally, folks, I bring this Good Friday Castle Report to an end with a statement, just a feeling really and that feeling is that there is something going on in this world now that is different. Not just the open persecution of Christians or the obvious belief that the persecution is OK or even desirable, but the fact that this Mideast war seems different. The major religions of the world are looking at it from different positions and they see it through different books but they are saying this might be what our book has been pointing to. The Restoration of Liberty would help though. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

    9 min
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About

Defending Western Civilization

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  • Creator
    Darrell Castle
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    299
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Darrell Castle
  • Show Website
    The Castle Report

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