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June, 2026:

What’s the latest on whether or not the Strait of Hormuz is open?

Well, as of today, 20 June 2026 (on the North American west coast), the only reason I am looking at the news today is to find out. As of now, Iran says it’s closed, while the US, as usual, is lying and claiming it’s open. I don’t know in what plane of existence the US (and trump) operates, because if I was operating an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, I would steer clear of the Strait of Hormuz.

I’ll just have a quiet word in the ear of donald trump now, if you’ll excuse us. Donald, Israel operates in the real world, where most of their neighbours — that’s the people living next to them — deny that they should exist. That’s pretty serious. That’s like us, the rest of the world, insisting that you (the United States) shouldn’t exist as a country because you’re just a colony of England. Now, to the north of them is a country called Lebanon. You might have heard of it. It contains a city (Beiruit) that was the original “riviera of the Mediterranean” before you re-invented such a thing with AI (that’s all you’ve done) in the Gaza Strip. Imagine, if you had enemies, armed with rockets, across the Potomac in Virginia, and they kept insisting on firing them at you. I don’t think you’d put up with it for long. That’s the situation in which Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself. The untenable position that Israel’s enemies hold that the country shouldn’t exist isn’t going to go away with some magical “memorandum of understanding” between you and Iran, and Netanyahu knows that, and it’s why he insists that Israel holds the right to retaliate against Hezbollah when they launch rockets from Lebanon.

So that’s one of many reasons why none of your predecessors have done what you’ve done, as you so often like to boast. They didn’t want to open the Pandora’s box that you have opened. But you’ve opened it, and so here we are.

And yes, you haven’t handed Iran a plane load of cash, as Obama allegedly did, but you’ve done better, by handing them $300 billion of development money — supposedly not from the American taxpayer — and ended sanctions on them. What more could a murderous regime in Iran (that hasn’t been changed) wish for? You’ve tested Iran’s ability to close the Strait of Hormuz and they (and you) have found that they can indeed close it, and we’re right back to where we were on 27 February (the day before you launched this war, in case you forget), except that we’re now at Iran’s mercy and your real enemies, Russia and China, can attack you at any moment because you’re arsenals are empty. So what have you accomplished in the last almost four months? As I just said, you’ve emptied your arsenal; that’s not even something putin or Xi could have accomplished! And you’ve changed absolutely nothing in the Strait of Hormuz except accumulating ongoing deaths in countries surrounding the Persian Gulf and the ever increasing price of oil.

So no, the Strait of Hormuz is closed to traffic, hundred or thousands of people have died, and the Iranians still have a choke hold on 20% of the world’s oil and the population of Iran, among other things. What, exactly, have the US and Israel accomplished by launching this war on Iran?! Fuck all.

Troublesome Mobile Arch

Jann Arden

Jann Arden.

If you’re a Troublesome Mobile — a.k.a., Freedom Mobile — customer, you’ll be surprised at this too! I’m a Troublesome Mobile customer, and I heard nothing in advance about Jann Arden‘s opening concert at the new Troublesome Mobile Arch in Vancouver last night, 5 June 2026. My dentist went. I guess he’s more in the loop than I am, although one would assume that, as a Troublesome Mobile client, I’d have been given access to some discounted tickets, but I suppose I’m out of touch, because why would a company provide any inside deals to their customers? I mean, why would I get such an idea, except via the incessant advertising by companies telling us how wonderful it is to be their client? And yet, in the things that count, that I’ll remember a week, a month or even a year from now, they fall down and provide us nothing, absolutely nothing.

It’s no wonder that I consider their advertising/marketing to be nothing but lies. They just advertise what they are already expected to provide as if it’s better than the old bubble gum that you’re used to, because their bubble gum is somehow better, and you’re just expected to know that. And if you don’t, you’re the one that’s stupid. Why are you so dumb? Why are we all so dumb? I guess there’s a segment of the market that does indeed believe every word out of their mouths, and they count on those few people to keep up the hype.

While I just continue to exist and pay my bills. Yup, there’s no reward for that other than the companies I deal with continuing to provide my basic service, and I have to remain jealous of those customers who do get the preferred treatment. It’s my own fault for not gobbling up their hype.

FIFA in Vancouver

As if I don’t have enough to complain about, FIFA‘s coming to Vancouver to fuck us all up. I’m really not as much against fun as I seem, but I’ve cancelled all reasons to go into Downtown Vancouver this summer. Family and friends know this. I left the country when the Olympics came to town in 2010. I did buy a pair of red mittens from some Olympic vendor before I left (The Bay?), but that’s about it. It’s the only souvenir I have.

On the other hand, unless you consider roadwork to be “excitement”, there is no excitement around here. World Cup? What World Cup? It’s wall-to-wall roadwork to double your travel time to anywhere. Events have had to be cancelled or moved city-wide if they conflict with FIFA. Anything that FIFA could mistake for competition is not allowed, so don’t even think of putting something up that might indicate you you’re excited, because the FIFA police will make you take it down.

And if you’re the BC Sports Hall of Fame, well, you have to move out of your premises because FIFA needs them as a media centre. How fucking ironic. If you’re a sports hall of fame, you have to shut down, move everything into storage lockers and forgo your revenue during the most sports intensive time of the year because of the almighty buck. There’s nothing you can do. Propose that FIFA do something with the Hall to promote sport in BC? Not a fucking chance. What’s in it for FIFA? Goodwill with the local Vancouver sports community? How much is that worth? Unless it’s a few million dollars to contribute to Gianni Infantino’s bottom line, no thanks. Just move into a storeroom for a couple of months, don’t complain, and keep your nose clean.

And then there are the admission tickets, the last thing you can blame on FIFA. They’re reasonable, right? Because after putting Vancouverites through everything they’ve put us through and fleecing our governments, at least the ticket prices are reasonable, right? That’s the point of living here, right?

Nope, not a chance. News stories show that they’re in the tens of thousands of dollars each. A year’s salary for your average person each! For that kind of money, I’d expect a lot more for ninety minutes, and you know what I mean. I get more out of watching a local football team; I get nothing from watching Alphonso Davies, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, not a damn thing. Unless you want to pay me for a year at the rate at which Gianni Infantino is paid? Then I’ll be able to afford a FIFA ticket, and to pay someone to drive me down there and park the car.

I have zero respect for the Olympics, FIFA and any other massive sporting body that just rides roughshod over the locations that they pick to milk dry of our tax-payer dollars. Zero. Nada. Nothing.

Conservatives are determined not to get elected

Kerry-Lynne Findlay

Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

With the election of Kerry-Lynne Findlay to lead the Conservative Party of BC this past weekend, the Conservatives have proven that they’re not serious about governing. Nobody with half a brain could have voted for her, and it’s clear that 49% of the party couldn’t bring themselves to do so. So the federal party is lead by Pierre Poilievre (who is unelectable in any normal part of the country) and now in BC we’ve gone from the party being led by John Rustad (a conspiracy theorist anti-vaxxer) to … someone who is not much better, and who is way older then her PR material hints. The NDP characterised her as “trump north”, and considering she’s just a few years behind trump, that may be true in more ways than one.

Right now Conservatives have to admit that they’re only voting for the party and what it means to them. They can’t possibly be voting for their leaders.