Transcription / Notes

250 YEARS OF BEING AMERICAN

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 3rd day of July in the year of our Lord 2026. Tomorrow is the 4th of July when traditionally we celebrate the independence of our Country from England. To those who say they won’t celebrate because they are not getting everything they want from America I say perhaps you don’t understand what the ideals of America really are supposed to be or perhaps you don’t celebrate because this is not your country.

That is more than just a snarky, love it or leave it comment, because I have traveled and even lived abroad and when you do that you might like the country you are in but you don’t love it. To love a country, it has to be in your blood or your DNA. Terra Ferma or firm ground or the land under your feet is yours to live on and to defend with your life if necessary. It used to be that almost everyone felt that way so what happened.

Many things have happened but mass immigration from the Third World has had a profound effect on our culture and our politics. Now we elect members of congress who aren’t even American. Many other things happened of course but paramount among them was that our attitude and the attitudes of our politicians changed profoundly. For one thing the new media allowed us to finally get a glimpse at what the global ruling elite really are.

Let’s just start from World War ll and go forward from there. With a few notable exceptions prior to that war, America minded its own business for the most part. One of those exceptions was Woodrow Wilson deciding to spend thousands of American lives to rescue Britain and France from Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm. Staying out of European wars is pretty good practice and it always has been, but we seem to struggle with that from time to time.

When World War ll ended and NAZI Germany was defeated, Japan was defeated, and the lesser Axis powers were gone, America had about 10 million men in uniform and under arms. To some extent we demobilized and most of those men were sent home to their factories and farms but something else happened as well. We did not completely demobilize and instead we decided we could garrison the entire world. The idea was that in the event of a Soviet attack in Europe American troops could not be reinforced by ship due to Soviet submarines so the strategy was to forward garrison them. Now it can’t be done because of missiles and drones so it was never a viable concept and leaving would be the most obvious strategy.

We kept bases and troops just about everywhere including occupying the countries we had just defeated. People still loved us because after all we had just saved civilization from a return to the dark ages. Even with troops everywhere for the most part we still left other people alone to decide their own leadership. Korea and Vietnam were two places we intervened to prevent our great enemy, The Soviet Union, from expanding its politics into other countries against their will. We were at least able to convince ourselves that was the reason.

By the end of the Vietnam War a new generation was coming on the scene and that one had not fought and did not seem to remember World War ll. The bodies piled up and they filled the cemeteries. The American people finally started to listen to the new generation and the war became very unpopular. When we finally just left after all those dead, the Communists did prevail but now 50 years later Vietnam is one of the capitalist “miracles” of Southeast Asia.

In the meantime, we still had our great enemy, The Soviet Union” to occupy our time and resources and it kept our war production factories running at full speed. The philosophy that we lived with since World War ll had been containment or just don’t let them expand but don’t try to defeat them. Ronald Reagan said he had a different philosophy and it was “we win, they lose.” He and Gorbachev negotiated an end to the Soviet Union which was collapsing under the economic weight of cold war competition and maintaining 16 totally dependent colonies which could produce nothing.

The end of the Soviet Union was probably the greatest opportunity for world peace in modern history but we failed miserably and the world is still suffering from that failure. Instead of living up to the deal we made with Gorbachev we agreed to advance NATO to the very border of Russia. The purpose of NATO was to defend Europe from the Soviet Union which didn’t even exist anymore so it made no sense and NATO made no sense.

A new great enemy was needed and quickly found, When the Soviet Union was dissolved into the Russian Federation we had Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and the new enemy of radical Islam was found. Along with that a few very bright and very sinister American Neocons drafted the Project for a New American Century and that ambition has been followed since then. Invade and conquer the countries around the Middle East and make this an American century.

Other countries such as Russia and China had their own ideas about this unipolar American world and there has been conflict since then. The attitude of America and that of mind your own business and let others do the same changed into something else. We are the sole superpower and we run the world. We claim the right to intervene anytime, anywhere we choose in the world and we don’t care what you think about it.

If we don’t like the people who lead your country and your leaders are misbehaving, we will invade and change your leaders if you do not comply. That attitude has kept us constantly at war and it has changed the way the world sees us. The situation has been made much worse because it has become obvious that for whatever reason America has become nothing more than the military arm of Greater Israel. Much of the world sees that and they see that Israel would not exist and would not do what it does without us and so the world hates us along with Israel. Yes, the world and much of the United States literally hates Israel.

 Before the attacks on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, support for Israel was one of the most reliable things in politics, but now in just a few years its all changed. The fact that we are fighting wars for nothing but the policy of Greater Israel is becoming so obvious no one can ignore it except those who are bought and paid for. That the Israeli lobby is using our money to buy our leaders is very distressing and most see that. Even the dependable white liberal and Northern Jewish alliance has been broken.

Couple all that with the results of the war being humiliation for the U.S. and people are very dissatisfied. Recent polls reveal that the Iran War is more unpopular than Vietnam in its final stages. The war is saying something about us that is hard to take and that is that our leadership from Congress to the Senate and the Presidency are bought and paid for and possibly blackmailed for even worse reasons. So, we the people are supposed to send our sons and now even our daughters to die for that. No thanks the people are saying.

Well, that is quite enough about what is wrong with us right now so let’s look at some good news. The good news is that Washington is not America because it has become something almost foreign. We are America and when the world meets us and sees that the world recognizes it. The World Cup of soccer is a very good example of that happening and it has been very uplifting to watch. Huge stadiums filled with foreign fans shouting USA along with the Americans. Stadiums full of people from around the world singing American folk songs.

I saw a video of one German woman who said “if you want to hate America watch the news, if you want to love it drive its roads and meet its people. The outpouring of affection most of the fans have expressed has been heartwarming in the extreme. Even back in the Vietnam days more than 50 years ago I found that most people liked Americans but they did not like the American government.

For the first time in recent memory people are at least beginning to see that this is not just a Democrat/Republican issue but one that affects the entire country the same. In other words, I have been right all along and they are all in it together. Their differences and name calling are just theater for us and unfortunately sometimes we watch but many have stopped believing. I’m not talking about the people who have been conditioned through propaganda to hate each other so leaders can loot them. The leaders are all in it and if one is not he or she is quickly gone.

In conclusion, is there a way back. Yes, I think there is and it starts with disengagement from not just Israel but from the Middle East. I noticed that Bibi has returned to Washington for the 7th time during the Trump presidency. Tell him we are leaving and that he is on his own. We will sacrifice no ...]]> 0:11:27 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/154050984/ 154050984 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6064 Darrell Castle Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:43:00 -0400 Darrell Castle talks about Father’s Day, what it means, and why it is important to honor fathers.

Transcription / Notes:

FATHER’S DAY

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 19th day of June in the year of our Lord 2026. I previously did a Report on Mother’s Day and what it means so today I will be talking about Father’s Day, what it means and why it is important to honor fathers.

Yes, we are two days away from Father’s Day which falls on the 21st of June this year. It is dedicated as a Federal Holiday falling on the third Sunday of June each year. The holiday was started in Spokane, Washington in 1910 by a woman named Snora Smart Dodd who was inspired by a Mother’s Day sermon and she wanted to honor her father in the same way.

Her father was a Civil War veteran named William Jackson Smart who was the father of 6 children. His wife died in childbirth and he raised his 6 kids alone. His daughter thought that he had lived his life with honor so she persuaded local authorities to set aside a day to honor her father and all the others. In1972 President Nixon made it a federal occasion and now we celebrate it each year by honoring or remembering our fathers.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) tells us that the average gift per person given to each father in terms of dollars is $196.23. Interestingly for this year June 21st is the summer solstice or the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere which means it is the day of maximum daylight. So, I guess we can spend more daytime at all those cookouts with our fathers.

In this Report I will endeavor to make recognition of fathers something you can easily see as vitally important. Social scientists tell us that data overwhelmingly confirms that children born to their married parents have much better outcomes than children born to single mothers. The data indicates that children born to married parents are “significantly more likely to be on track” at every life stage than children who are born to unmarried parents.

Children who are “on track” are those who achieve age-appropriate benchmarks for every stage in life. At the end of elementary school an on-track child has mastered basic math and reading skills, has behavioral competencies that predict later success, has a strong relationship with parents and is in good health.  From elementary school to adulthood the child born to married parents is more likely to be on-track and significantly so than the child born to single or unmarried parents.

The report from which I am quoting said that even babies benefit greatly from married parents. A baby born to an unmarried mother is three times more likely to need Medicaid or other government assistance to pay for the delivery of the child and is twice as likely to have received late or no prenatal care. That child is twice as likely to be born prematurely and much more likely to be born at a low birth weight. That child is 14 times more likely to have been fathered by a man not identified on the birth certificate (29% versus 2%). This all serves to illustrate the importance of fathers involved in the upbringing and in the lives of their children but there’s a lot more.

The data also shows many other problems which present themselves when a father is not involved in the raising of a child. The study shows that the absence of a father leads to children who report feeling abandoned, struggling with their emotions, and experiencing self-loathing, increased behavioral problems, poor academic performance, much higher rates of delinquency, youth crime, promiscuity, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and homelessness.

If that were not all fatherless children are at greater risk of suffering physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and many times more likely to experience physical and emotional maltreatment with the risk of fatal abuse 100 times greater. The report from the Institute for Family Studies concludes that there is a growing list of disadvantages for children in households without fathers but the report concludes that current U.S. welfare policies tend to encourage fatherlessness. The current policies subsidize unmarried parenting by paying for prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care while allowing the men who fathered the children to escape accountability.

The authors of the article conclude that as a society, and especially our churches we have to start recognizing the value of fatherhood again. Our education system in general seems to be failing right now and the belief is that our moral standards have fallen first and a large part of that failing is how we view fathers. The poverty rate in the black and Hispanic communities lowers by 80% when the parents are married.

So, why wouldn’t fathers want to remain with the children they fathered. Why wouldn’t people want to get married and remain married if the statistics I just recited are true. That’s a good question but it seems that our society now sets up marriage to fail from the outset. There are many exceptions to that such as mine for example. I’m in the 49th year of my marriage and many people ask me how I do it because they recognize that lifetime commitment is unusual enough to deserve explanation.

To continue the point of absent fathers and no marriage I reviewed a recent report done by The American Enterprise Institute in which the authors looked at the issue from a purely economic standpoint. The report was entitled; “Land of Opportunity: Advancing the American Dream.” From their report I learned that one of the chief things causing failure or at least lack of success is the gap between married and non-married Americans.

In the middle of the last century and I mean the 1900’s, one in 20 children were born out of wedlock. Now it’s two in five. America has the world’s highest rate of children living in single parent homes: 23% in the U.S. against 7% internationally. Forty percent of millennials from intact, two-parent families graduated from college and 77 % achieved middle class incomes or higher.

For those who didn’t grow up in intact families, only 17% graduated from college and 57% achieved middle class income. They are twice as likely to be incarcerated, even after other socioeconomic factors are considered. Quoting from the article for a moment.

“Research using tax-return data suggests that neighborhoods with high rates of single parenthood cultivate lower social mobility, including among kids who themselves are not raised by single parents.”

 The conclusion from the research is that absence of fathers on their offspring has very long-term negative effects on the well-being of children.

This study concludes that among all races marriage protects against poverty. From a personal perspective I can say that for 46 years I counseled thousands of people in my law office and my conclusion has been that divorce especially for women and their children leads to a life of poverty. Married parents regardless of race and education suffer significantly less poverty than unmarried mothers.

Another interesting thing about these reports is that the phenomenon is not happening evenly but it seems to have a self-perpetuating pattern. For example, from 1970 to 2018 marital births dropped by 29 points overall but they dropped 47 points for the bottom education group and just 6 points for the top. From the early 1960’s to the late 2010’s marriage rates fell by roughly 46 percentage points for the least educated young women compared with 17 points for the most educated which leaves those least able to bear the cost of single parenthood the most likely to experience it.

Government, for whatever reason seems to be putting its thumb on the scale to tilt the outcome against marriage. The institution of marriage is obviously the most important factor in raising children and for income mobility, but that is not how the government views it apparently. For example, a couple with two kids, with each parent earning $30,000 receives around $5000 in earned income tax credits benefits if they remain unmarried. They lose all the benefits if they marry which is in effect a tax on marriage.

Medicaid, housing vouchers and SNAP benefits all phase out and punish couples who get married whereas they do not if the couples live together without marriage. It seems that careful research keeps finding the same conclusion regarding economic success and opportunities for children despite efforts to debunk it.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the occasion that is Father’s Day for the opportunity to be honored by my wife and our daughter. In addition, it gives me the opportunity to talk about something besides war and the opportunity to put into words something that I have observed over a very long legal career.

Speaking of families, I have a family obligation next week so there is no Castle Report next week.

Finally, folks, may God bless you and your families. If you can’t visit your father on Sunday, at least give him a call because he will be so glad you did.

At least that’s the way I see it,<...]]> 0:11:22 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/153975076/ 153975076 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6061 Darrell Castle Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:04:29 -0400 Darrell Castle talks about a bill currently working its way through the U.S. Congress which would, if passed, literally integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries and would put funding for the Israeli military on auto pilot. Will it pass and be signed by the President? Many people seem to think it will so he takes a look at it today.

THE ISRAELIZATION OF THE U.S. MILITARY

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 12th of June in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about a bill currently working its way through the United States Congress which would, if passed, literally integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries and would put funding for the Israeli military on auto pilot. Will it pass and be signed by the President. Many people seem to think it will so we take a look at it today.

Yes, unfortunately it seems that certain members of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States are now ready to complete the process of uniting the two countries militaries. The first bill introduced in the House would have literally combined the two. Many of the Israel first politicians are already dual citizens so why not complete the process and stop all the hypocrisy. Just go ahead and make the U.S. military the official enforcement arm of Israeli foreign policy.

The most egregious provision of the original bill is that the benefits due to American veterans like me, such as medical and educational benefits would have also been available to all Israeli veterans. That would have been a supreme insult to every American veteran who has ever served. The last time I checked there were about 15 million living American veterans so why not just insult them all while they are still alive. Just tell them all that “your service to this nation meant nothing” but certainly no more to America than an Israeli veteran meant to America.

Fortunately, that portion of the bill was pulled before it advanced but there are rumors that it is still out there in Congress or at least in some of their minds and it will be added back in. The bill being considered is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would fund the U.S. military for another year. According to members of the House whose opinions I have read, there is near certainty that Section 224 of that bill will pass through the House and become law with the President’s signature.

Congressman Ro Khanna, Democrat, and Thomas Massie, Republican tried to pass an amendment to delete Section 224 but the amendment failed. That section will set up a “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” that integrates US-Israeli military research and development co-production of weapons systems, licensing agreements, AI, directed energy. Data integration, and missile defense. It creates the framework for bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and virtually every manner of U.S.-Israeli military cooperation. The Director of this “Initiative” who will be responsible for coordination of the work will reportedly be an Israeli.

The funding will come 100% from the U.S, treasury through part of the $1.5 trillion defense budget requested by President Trump. The purpose as stated is to fully connect the functionality of the U.S. military with that of the Israeli military in what is being described as an equal partnership that will include the government of Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces as full partners.

There will be intelligence sharing and in fact the bill includes a requirement that intelligence must be shared. Israeli forces will be included in the planning process of how U.S. weapons are developed and procured.  This serves to explain at least in part why Netanyahu has been indicating recently that Israel might be willing to forego some of the mandatory $3.8 billion the U.S. gives it every year. He obviously knows there is an even bigger slice of American Pie coming his way via Section 224.

The intelligence sharing portion of the bill was introduced by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas which he calls “US-Israel Intelligence Sharing Enhancement.” Interestingly, at the same time the New York Times recently carried an article entitled “Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat from Israel.” The article is sourced to the Defense Intelligence Agency which says that the espionage threat from Israel is at the highest possible level and even says that Israel eavesdropped on negotiations between the United States and Iran conducted in Pakistan.

The senators pushing this bill often refer to Israel as our best friend and most trusted ally but at the same time the DIA has that country listed as the highest possible espionage threat. Just to keep following this espionage threat let me tell you or remind you of a couple of things this best friend has done during its roughly 78 years as a political nation.

In 1984 when a man named Yitzhak Shamir was prime minister and Ronald Reagan was the US president; Israel dispatched an American of dual citizenship named Jonathan Pollard to do some spying against the US. Pollard worked in the US defense establishment and had access to some of the most highly classified military secrets. He stole and delivered the entire 10 volume DIA manual of in person or human intelligence operatives all over the world.

The manual contained the names and locations of US intelligence operatives working in the Soviet Union and Communist China both countries in a desperate cold war with the US. Pollard delivered the manual along with many other vital intelligence documents to his handlers in Israel. Can you guess what our best friend and most trusted ally did with the manual and other information. Yes, that’s right, they gave it to the Soviet Union and Communist China in exchange for “favors”.

Thousands of US personnel along with foreign operatives working with US Intelligence were arrested and many were killed so I guess as the saying goes with friends like that who needs enemies. Pollard did his work in 1984 and in 1987 he was sentenced to life in prison and he served exactly 30 years plus five years of probation. He was then allowed to move to Israel where he has hero status. The American Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, had him over to the US Embassy for a little get together recently.

That Pollard incident illustrates the one-sided relationship the US has with Israel quite clearly but as bad as it was it was not the worst. No, the worst happened in 1967 when a man named Levi Eshkol was Prime Minister of Israel and Lyndon Johnson was US President. In fact, last Monday the 8th of June was the 59th anniversary of the Israeli attack on an American ship named USS Liberty.

The Liberty was an intelligence gathering ship operating in International Waters in the Eastern Mediterranean when it was attacked by air forces of Israel. This attack was not an accident or improper identification or anything except a deliberate act of murder. The Liberty, an unarmed vessel, was relentless bombed and strafed by Israeli jets while clearly flying the American flag.

The attack severed the radio mast and cut off the crew’s ability to send a distress call but one crewman managed to climb on deck despite strafing fire, raise an antenna and get off a distress call. Out in the Med a US carrier heard the message and immediately launched jets for a rescue effort. I can tell you from a lot of personal experience that there is nothing that motivates US soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines like coming to the rescue of brothers in trouble.

Unfortunately, the US Commander in Chief, Lyndon Johnson personally ordered the Carrier captain to withdraw his jets. They left Liberty to die on its own but the little ship and its crew refused to die. 34 men were killed and 171 wounded but the ship would not sink and made it back to port. The pilots of our most trusted friend and ally even machine-gunned wounded sailors in the water something honorable men do not do even when their nations are at war.

No real investigation by government investigators with subpoena power has ever been conducted to my knowledge. Oh, there was a cursory inquiry as there always is but according to reporter Donald Jeffries who did a yeoman’s job of private investigation and who has written extensively about the matter President Johnson ordered the board of inquiry to rule it an accident.

Why did the Israelis attack the USS Liberty. Without going into a lot of what amounts to guesswork, it was probably because Israel was fighting what came to be known as the six-day-war against a coalition of enemy nations one of which was Egypt. The Liberty was to be sunk and the incident blamed on the Egyptians which would have given the US an excuse to enter the war against Egypt as retaliation. In both the Liberty attack and the Pollard incident not a single thing regarding US policy toward Israel changed. Not one dollar was cut from the very generous support.

 Compare this to the reaction upon news this week that an Apache Attack Helicopter had been shot down in the Persian Gulf near Hormuz. The President said he would retaliate with a massive bombing attack and would “take over” Iran’s petroleum industry. I don’t believe...]]> 0:12:31 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/153946596/ 153946596 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6057 Darrell Castle Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:40:10 -0400 Darrell Castle discusses President Trump’s angry, profanity laced tirade directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Did it really happen and if so why did it happen and if it did not happen, why say that it did.

Transcriptions / Notes

TRUMP UNLOADS ON NETANYAHU

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 5th day of June in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is war and as usual there is no shortage of war to talk about but today I discuss President Trump’s angry, profanity laced tirade directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Did it really happen and if so why did it happen and if it did not happen then why say that it did.

Its no secret that Trump wants the U.S. role in the war against Iran ended and quickly. The war has placed the world’s economy in jeopardy and therefore its end is imperative. To that end Trump has been negotiating with somebody representing Iran while using Pakistan as the broker. Every time it looks positive and Trump announces that fighting has stopped it turns out to be a little premature.

Trump says we have a deal ending the war and fighting has ceased. In response gas prices in the U.S. come down and the stock market soars. The next step is for Israel to continue attacking in Lebanon as if there were no peace talks. Apparently Trump got tired of it this week and placed a call to the Prime Minister. The story, reported at first by people physically present for the call, and later admitted by the President himself went something like this.

Trump called Netanyahu F-ing crazy and accused him of ingratitude. “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving you’re a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

In the meantime, whether Netanyahu got the message or not Israel continued its war in Lebanon as if nothing had happened. According to Lebanese news agency NNA, the Israeli attacks continued and Hezbollah continued attacks against Israeli forces inside Lebanon. Lebanon’s Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah would refrain from further attacks if Israel would show the same restraint but Israel does not seem interested. Israel announced that the fighting would continue but it would not strike Beirut while talks were ongoing.

Israeli and Lebanese Ambassadors are in talks at the State Department in Washington. That makes me wonder if the Lebanese government has the authority to negotiate for Hezbollah. I guess one answer to that question is that Hezbollah is the Lebanese government. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that President Trump backed the strikes in Southern Lebanon. It’s all very conflicting and confusing but there is one other possibility.

There is a possibility that the phone call never took place at all or if it did then the whole thing was a stage show between Trump and Netanyahu staged for our benefit. Why would the President stage a profanity laced conversation he had with a foreign leader. To me the better question is why would he allow that conversation to be publicly leaked and then why would he admit that he said those things. I suppose the answer lies in his response to criticism he has been getting from the media and from people in his own party about how he does the bidding of Netanyahu and that he says America First but in practice its Israel First.

I don’t know what is true here but if it were all fake it would be to bolster his image of a strong leader who doesn’t tolerate disrespect from allies. I don’t know which version is true but it is very suspicious that the administration made such a big deal out of what should have been a private conversation. Israel, through its defense minister, has said that it would be remaining permanently in Southern Lebanon so why does this tiny country of 9 million seem so aggressive and so intent on expansion.

For one thing its tiny size relative to its neighbors makes it very vulnerable. At its widest point it is only 71 miles wide and at its narrowest point it is only 9 miles wide. In other words, defense in depth is virtually impossible because it has no avenue of retreat to fall back and regroup as any retreat would put enemy forces right in Israeli cities. Therefore, it must attack constantly to push back its enemies who state clearly that they seek its destruction. Looking at Israel from the Israeli position they probably see their status as expand or die.

Since defense in depth is essential and determines if a country has enough space to recover from an initial attack Israel believes it must constantly seek to push out its borders because a defeat on its borders leaves it extremely vulnerable. Now, with the new form of unmanned warfare coming to light with drones and missiles one of Israel’s chief advantages is taken away or diminished.

That advantage is pilot courage and training which thanks to the U.S. is some of the best in the world along with top-of-the-line aircraft it all serves to make Israel a foe to be reckoned with. Drones and missiles are rapidly changing the dynamics of war and Israel and the U.S. are apparently late to the game and a little behind in how best to defend against them. Israel’s tactic seems to be to attack with as much force and with tactics as ruthless as necessary to push the enemy back as far as possible.

I admit this is guesswork, but to much of the world the Israeli tactics is genocide but to Israel they just don’t care because for them it is survival. Israel, it seems to me, could be controlled enough for the U.S. to make peace because it lives in a very bad neighborhood and without the U.S. Israel could not exist as a sovereign nation. It is a little unrealistic to think Israel, with its 9 million population would never face a superior force or coalition of forces.

Therefore, Trump’s phone call, if it did happen and was not a preplanned exhibit was probably necessary although the crass profanity which is so very common now could have been tempered. That type of profanity is so common it no longer has any meaning except that its user has no appropriate vocabulary. It reminds me of a different time when Harry Truman reportedly used the word Damn in the presence of Madame Chiang Kai- Shek the widow of Chaing who had been ruler of China until he was overthrown in the Maoist revolution. Madame Chaing resented it and complained and it was a front-page scandal.

A few Presidents have apparently resisted Israeli pressure to attack Iran. If the testimony of Obama’s Secretary of State is accurate then he is one who did and George Bush would not do it either but lots of Israeli money poured into the campaign of one who would and did do it. Often, national leaders opt for whatever they think necessary for staying in power rather than what they truly believe to be in the national interest. The smaller the group they actually have to please and make happy the better or at least that makes it easier.

If staying in power and the national interest happens to coincide well that’s just great, but in my opinion they rarely do.

Finally, folks, there are reasons for why people do things but quite often we don’t know what the real reasons are. In Truman’s day we were different and perhaps a little naïve about leaders and maybe we still are.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

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,

0:11:29 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/153901713/ 153901713 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6041 Darrell Castle Fri, 22 May 2026 11:36:51 -0400 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.

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 Americ...]]> 0:11:08 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/153869579/ 153869579 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6029 Darrell Castle Fri, 08 May 2026 10:16:10 -0400 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.

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.

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 app]]> 0:12:35 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/153800610/ 153800610 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6013 Darrell Castle Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:40:39 -0400 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.

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.

Transcription / Notes

THE WAR HAS BEEN WON

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 27th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about war today and the President’s statement that it is basically over and we won. Is that statement true and what are the most recent developments in Iran.

What is war but the most horrific thing in which a country, a people, can engage. It is killing on an industrialized scale and from the carpet-bombing campaigns of WWll to the guided munitions of today it is about killing. It is the young men of a country being ordered by the old men of that country to kill the young men of another country but they kill everybody, men, women, little schoolgirls, everybody. Unless done for purely defensive purposes it is immoral and unconscionable. Was Iran an imminent threat to the U.S. No case for that has been made as far as I know. Joe Kent, Counterterrorism Director said there was no imminent threat and his boss, Tulsi Gabbard, refused to state under oath that she knew of such a threat.

Well, last weekend the President said he had quite enough of the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact of the world’s economies, it’s rapid increase in the price of fuel and the price of everything here in the U.S., and its downward effect on his poll numbers. He gave the Iranians 48 hours to open the Strait or he would destroy their power system by attacking power plants.

Apparently, the new Supreme Leader of Iran was not amused nor was he in a mood to accept the threats. It appears to me that President Trump is desperate to end America’s part of this war with some kind of deal, any kind of deal that would free up the flow of oil. The new leader, Mr. Khamenei, has suffered enough he most likely thought, so why should he voluntarily end the President’s suffering.

His father, his mother, his sister, his nephew and his brother-in-law were all killed by the U.S./Israeli military. His father was not only the Supreme Leader of Iran, but he was also the spiritual leader of his faith that being Shia Islam. So, let bygones be bygones the Americans said to him just move on there’s nothing to see here so let’s move on. He was not going to submit meekly to the threats and he said that if the U.S. attacks his energy, he would attack energy infrastructure all around the gulf.

Once again the bible speaks to us and says, you reap what you sow. I am not sure right now who is in charge in Iran, of the speaking to diplomats or of the Iranian military because supposed leadership and armed forces leadership are often different. Americans play similar games because Trump is saying the war is over and we won and at the same time diplomats are begging to negotiate while the Israelis are still attacking. That, I suppose, is just psychological gamesmanship.

Here’s a quote from Iran’s armed forces spokesman. “We are watching your cowardly officials and commanders, pilots and wicked soldiers. From now on, based on the information we have on you, the promenades, resorts and tourist and entertainment centers in the world will not be safe.”

The U.S. warned Americans across the world to exercise increased caution. So, was this a threat to the start of another worldwide terrorism campaign against Americans amusing themselves. Well, perhaps because that’s the sound of it to me. Did he mean only the resorts in the Middle East such as those in Dubai or did he mean worldwide such as those in the U.S. Time will tell I guess but it was an ominous threat. Americans residing in Iraq were warned to leave immediately as well.

Then we heard that Mr. Trump had decided to postpone the attacks for five days while negotiations were ongoing. It gets really confusing at this point because we are told that chief negotiator, Steve Wittkoff and Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law, were at a point where a partial deal was in place pending further negotiating. The Iranians said that no deal was in place and further they would not speak to Wittkoff and Kushner anymore. If any further talking which had not occurred were to be done only J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio would be acceptable.

I understand why they prefer Vance because for one thing he is Vice-President and for another he has been sidelined through all this and my guess is that he was opposed to the attacks in the first place. Trump has made many statements about offered solutions to the Strait including joint U.S. and Iranian control of it but recently he offered a 15-point peace plan to end the war. He once again said he would unleash hell if the plan was not accepted.

The plan went something like this; without giving you all 15 points, the Strait would be opened immediately and remain open. Iran would reject nuclear weapons forever and cease enrichment of uranium. Iran would allow international inspections and abide by their decisions. Iran would restrict its missiles to the short-range defense only type and would immediately cease attacks around the region and would cease attacks through its various terrorist proxies.

The U.S. would do its part by ceasing its bombing campaign and the U.S. would assist Iran with development of peaceful nuclear energy. Washington says it wants a framework agreement for a ceasefire until details can be negotiated over a period of a month. So, we are given some hope that the bloodshed might end soon, but as usual those hopes were dashed very quickly. Last Wednesday Iran completely rejected the 15-point plan and said it would not negotiate. Instead, it would run the Gulf shipping lanes along with its proxies in the area. Iran offered its own five-point plan in response most of which has zero chance of acceptance. They want the U.S. to fix or pay for the damage it caused in Iran.

Iran continues attacks inside Israel and continues to attack Gulf States friendly to the U.S. Reportedly Bibi Netanyahu has urged Trump to not make a deal until all the Mullahs are gone from Iran. I have even seen a report that Mr. Bin Salman down in Saudi Arabia has joined Israel in that urging. Iran’s response is one of anger from their armed forces while diplomats pretend to talk.

 “Someone like us will not come to terms with someone like you” the IRGC spokesman says. Trump says we are in negotiations right now, but the Iranians, officially anyway, say no we are not so go figure.

In the meantime, the U.S. is not acting as if this war is ending soon. The Saudi report also said that U.S. ground troops should be used to remove the Mullahs from power. Notice I said U.S. ground troops not Saudi ground troops. The U.S. has a Marine Expeditionary Unit on its way to the Gulf onboard an LPH. There is normally between 2500 and 5000 Marines in such a unit. This week about 3000 members of the 82nd airborne division have deployed to the Middle East. This historic division which jumped into occupied France prior to the D-Day landings in 1944 contains some of the best troops in the U.S. military.

Trump says that he is confidant he is dealing with the right people. I know one thing he usually doesn’t bluff so these Marines and airborne troops are rather ominous to me and it is starting to take on an Armageddon type of vibe. The importance of all this to the world’s economies is enormous. Aside from the bloodshed and destruction the Gulf and its Strait connect the oil rich nations of the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world and about 30% of the world’s oil passes through that Strait every day. For some nations, such as China, the percentage is higher.

Many other nations are very concerned about how the closure of the Strait effects their economies. India said it plans to deploy five warships near the Gulf to protect its interests. England, France, and Germany have all sent warships to the region but the British Navy is apparently not what it used to be. I guess it has been allowed to deteriorate because to this point the UK could only muster one out of date destroyer to contribute. In fact, listen to a few words from a recent article in European Business Magazine.

“For over 300 years, Lloyd’s of London has underwritten maritime insurance for the tankers and cargo ships that carry the world’s oil, gas, and goods. Its dominance over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint through which approximately 30% of the world’s seaborne oil supply passes represented one of the most quietly powerful financial monopolies in history. Control the insurance, and you control who can sail. Control who can sail, and you control the flow of energy that powers the global economy.”

That article is really telling us that the 300-year imperial world order has changed and that created a vacuum and as we know power abhors a vacuum. Into that vacuum stepped the U.S. Navy offering the protection that insurance underwrites. The British Crown’s 300-year-old chokehold on global energy insurance has been severed by the U.S. when the UK got cold feet at the wrong moment. America now controls the physical protection of the most critical oil shipping lanes and the world knows it. The world order has indeed been changed on purpose or by accident it has changed.

I wonder if the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is embarrassed by this development. My guess is that he is but he seems to have no idea about what to do. He is in the middle of a terrible scandal involving close associates of the PM and the Epstein files. He has a lot of Muslim voters in his country now so he doesn’t want to be seen as supporting Donald Trump and I suppose that contributed to the embarrassing decline of the British Navy which can’t even protect its own base]]> 0:13:01 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/153386855/ 153386855 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=6002 Darrell Castle Fri, 20 Mar 2026 10:54:13 -0400 Today, Friday, March 20, 2026, Darrell Castle talks about the resignation of Joe Kent as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and especially about the ramifications of the letter he publicly released explaining his resignation.

Transcription / Notes:

GOODBYE JOE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. I will be talking about the resignation of Joe Kent as Director of The National Counterterrorism Center and especially about the ramifications of the letter he publicly released explaining his resignation.

Yes, Joe is gone and I for one will miss him in government because he was not afraid to ask questions and to encourage legitimate investigations into things which didn’t make sense from the official government explanation. First, let’s take a brief look at who he is and how he became Director of Counterterrorism.

He was born April 11, 1980, so next month he will be 46 years old. He enlisted in the U.S. Army after 9-11 and made it through Ranger School where he served with the 75th Rangers. He requested special forces where he spent his 20-year army career. He served 11 combat tours in the Middle East wars. In 2018 he left the army and became a paramilitary operative for the CIA. He was married to Shannon and they had two children. She was also a military officer and a navy cryptologist and in 2019 while serving in Syria she was killed by a suicide bomber.

If the loss of Shannon was as devastating for him as it would have been for me it’s easy to see why he left military service and tried to enter politics. He ran for the U.S. Congress in 2022 and 2024 winning the Republican primary but losing to the Democrat in his Washington district. He voted for George Bush in 2000 and 2004 but then became more of a Libertarian and supporter of Ron Paul. I thought of him in Libertarian and Ron Paul terms while I was dabbling in politics myself.

He liked the anti-globalist, antiestablishment message of Donald Trump and after Trump’s election in 2024 He eventually served as chief of staff to the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. In July 2025 he was appointed Director of the Counterterrorism Center but from the start he had difficulties. I suppose that being on the inside of government exposes one to things that you either accept as part of the team or you become a pain in the butt to those who do. Joe made statements in favor of harsh views of Iran such as if it were up to me I would just take them out so something changed over the course of that year in his views.

Well, Joe concluded that a foreign government was somehow complicit in the death of Charlie Kirk and he encouraged Tulsi, his boss, to look into it. When Kash Patel, the director of the FBI found out that Joe was doing that he took him off the President’s Daily Briefing group and he disappeared for a while. He, like Charlie, lobbied the President to resist the advice to go to war with Iran. Whether Joe was correct with the opinions he expressed in his resignation letter, or not it seems now that going to war with Iran was not a very good idea.

Why, because you can bomb them ala Curtis Lemay, back to the stone age and they will just crawl out of the rubble and fire ballistic and drone missiles at the ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ground invasion of Iran is impossible because of the terrain and size of the place but I just read where a Marine Expeditionary Force has boarded an LPH in Japan on its way to the Persian Gulf. I spent some time on LPH ships a little over 50 years ago so I know what those Marines are probably tasked with. The H stands for helicopters and that means the old days of Marines climbing down rope ladders to the landing craft are over. Everything is done by helicopter insertion and you need air superiority for that. I guess they have that except for the danger of some Iranian waiting in a spider hole with a man portable missile.

 Reports are that the Strait is about 90% closed to international shipping and it is damaging the world economy severely. The President calls on our former European allies but most decline as does NATO. Why would NATO decline to help keep the Strait open since they need the oil as much as anyone. I have a book in my library entitled Statesmen of the Lost Cause. It’s about the southern politicians of the Civil War of course, but it reminds me of the NATO refusal because those countries view it as a lost cause or a fool’s errand.

 The Europeans apparently view it as a lost cause but I do not because I know what the U.S. military can do especially when things look bad. The Europeans are certainly qualified to speak on lost causes because their entire bureaucracy known as the EU plus UK is a lost cause. They celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin but third world immigration has destroyed the cohesion of the Irish people. What they are really afraid of and angry about is that Donald Trump refuses to bend his knew to their global government run by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.

However folks once again it seems that Ron Paul has been proven to have been correct in his warnings. “This is surely one of the worst military disasters in U.S. history. There are no military options available beyond the unthinkable, the use of nuclear weapons. The only viable option that remains is one that was often urged in the Vietnam War: Just get out. Now! No return to U.S. bases, no security guarantees to Gulf States. End the U.S. empire in the Middle East and elsewhere. If not, it’s only going to get worse.”

 Well, amen Doctor Paul but now let’s take a look at what Joe said in his letter of resignation. I won’t quote the entire letter but I will just give the paragraphs that have upset so many in the war/uniparty.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to out nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

To counter that statement the administration relies on Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who said his Israel pressure accusation was a false narrative started by Democrats and the liberal media. “As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the U.S. first. “

Yes Karoline we heard that explanation clearly from Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told us that if Israel attacked first Iran would attack U.S. interests and we knew Israel was going to attack. I would call your statement more in the nature of an admission than proof of a lie.

From Joe’s letter: “Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that you should strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again.”

Well, Karoline responded by giving us a long list of threatening things Iran did and said before the attacks started. I say in response that Iran did not have two carrier battle groups deployed against the United States and it did not have strategic bombers such as the stealth bombers and the old but reliable B-52’s.

The toothpaste is out of the tube now and things are being said that cannot be unsaid. This statement by a counterterrorism official is an open challenge to U.S. war justification and it has brought down on Joe’s head the kind of attacks one might expect. If you are critical of Israel or of U.S. military efforts on Israel’s behalf that makes you anti-semantic in today’s media world. The last report I saw about Joe was that he is currently being investigated for being a Nazi.

Joe Kent is a 20-year military veteran of U.S. special forces and as he puts it a gold star husband. His wife, Shannon, a navy cryptologist was killed in in Syria by a suicide bomber in 2019. Everything he said in his letter seems true to me. I am certainly no insider but it looks obvious in the absence of conflicting evidence that his portrayal of the situation is accurate.

Still, it seems irresponsible to write and publicize such a letter. I wonder if he could have gone to his superiors in private instead of this public letter while his country has troops in harm’s way. Oh, but he said he did do that by going to Tulsi and Vice President J.D. Vance both of whom apparently agree with him. Perhaps that is why they seem to have been sidelined while Marco Rubio who is Secretary of State, not National Security Director or Vice President always seems to be out front. He told them he was going to resign but I don’t know if he told them he would make it public. I’m guessing but my guess is that he got nowhere by making his views to those above him in private so he decided to go public.

In conclusion: His letter seems very close to giving aid and comfort to the enemy while his country is at war. This is a very difficult decision and one I’m sure he gave a lot of thought. Those of you old enough to remember Vietnam might remember the same controversy with the Pentagon Papers but this letter is far worse because it is an accusation of massive death by mistake and deception. Another phrase I remember from Vietnam is my country right or wrong. Apparently Joe couldn’t take it anymore and had to let us know.

Joe’s letter could have devastating effects on the mid terms as well as 2028. Could it be just raw political positioning i.e. those on record as opposing the w...]]> 0:12:42 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/152940215/ 152940215 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=5999 Darrell Castle Fri, 13 Mar 2026 11:10:28 -0400 Darrell Castle talks about the fact, proven over centuries, that war is easy to start but hard to get out of and if one gets out, the continuing effects exist long into the future.

Transcription / Notes

THE SHELF LIFE OF THE IRANIAN WAR

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 13th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. Once again my beat is war and Friday the 13th seems like a good day to talk about something so unpleasant. I will be talking about the fact, proven over centuries, that war is easy to start but hard to get out of and if one gets out the continuing effects exist long into the future.

Yes, this is Friday the 13th once again and we are only two days from the Ides of March which was the date of Julius Ceasar’s assassination on 15 March 44 BC. He was born in 100 BC so by my rough calculations that would make him 2126 years old today. Why talk about Ceasar more than 2000 years after his death, because he has been the gold standard for leaders who became emperors since then. Emperors in Rome, for example, continued to be called Ceasar after his death and today we ask as did Shakespear, upon what meat doth this our Ceasar feed that he has grown so strong.

Our Ceasar today has certainly grown strong. But I submit that his meat is money and especially oil. Reports say that the U.S. has borrowed more than $50 billion per month for the last 5 months and that this war is costing in excess of $1 billion per day. The more important problem is oil and how much does it cost. The price of oil at the pump for the American consumer is what will determine if the U.S. can stay at war indefinitely or will have to declare victory and come home. It’s really hard to just come home when you have demanded unconditional surrender in an undeclared war.

Gas prices have accelerated but there are still a few desperation moves to temporarily moderate them. For the average American rising gas prices mean lowered standard of living because the real effect is similar to a cut in pay. The employer doesn’t increase wages because it costs more to get to work so you have a lower standard of living and lowered optimism. Oil effects virtually everything price wise because everything has to be made or harvested and transported and that drives up the cost of living for each American.

Iran is a major source of oil for the world or at least it was. Iran was a major supplier of oil to China with about 45% of China’s 11 million barrels per day of imports passing through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. That Strait is now closed by Iranian mines and anti-ship missiles. The administration has made it clear that the Iranian navy and air force are no more so this closing is a little hard to understand. Reports stated that the U.S. Navy sank 10 or 11 mine layers earlier this week so my question is why not sink them before they laid the mines.

The end of Iranian oil has created opportunities for others to step up production which I imagine has made Russia and Vladimir Putin quite happy. The world price of oil is rising rapidly which puts money into Rusia for domestic use and to prosecute the Ukrainian war. Trump is very aware of the effect of rising oil prices on his poll numbers and on the upcoming mid-term elections so he has taken steps to alleviate it. He and Mr. Putin had what was described as a very good call on the 9th and Russia has been freed from sanctions to sell its oil on the world market. It will be a little higher in price for China than the cheap Iranian oil but nevertheless it will help. Trump is also freeing up several million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve something he criticized Biden for doing to help his poll numbers.

China has to be hurting from all this war and oil strangulation because reports are that about 90% of Chinese oil came from Venezuela, Iran and Russia and now only Russia is left. Perhaps telling China that it will no longer get energy from the Western Hemisphere or from U.S. allies is the point of the war. That is just speculation on my part but with the attack on the cartels in collaboration with other South and Latin American countries it makes sense. Rising energy prices will be hard for China’s export driven economy to absorb because it makes all their exports less affordable worldwide. Trump is scheduled to travel to China later this month to meet with Xi Jinping so we’ll see how that goes.

So, as the title of this Castle Report suggests the U.S. and Israel need to end the war before prices in the U.S. rise so much they effect public support for the administration. There are many events from war that can be hidden or censored from the public but it is hard to hide price increases at the pump. Casualties can be hidden to a certain extent for example getting real casualty figures has been close to impossible so far. We learned this week that at least 8 Americans and today 4 crewmen in a refueling tanker died so 12 are now dead and about 150 wounded. Some of those are gravely wounded with brain injuries and burns and may not recover. Those numbers have been censored but they leak out so accurate or not, we can’t be certain.

The other thing that is easier to censor from Americans is damage to infrastructure and casualty figures from others targeted because they host Americans. The U.S. bases and embassies in several of the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia have been seriously damaged by missile and drone attacks. In addition, the attacks have hit infrastructure and civilians which have nothing to do with Americans.

These problems are much harder to solve because no one seems to know who is currently in charge in Iran. The Supreme Leader is dead and his son was appointed in his place. He might be dead or wounded but for some reason he seems to no longer be in charge. The very religious and new Islamic supreme leader apparently owns about $140 million of prime real estate in London’s billionaire row. Does he control the military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or (IRGC) and if not who does. There are indications that no one does and the IRGC is acting on orders of individual officers. That would explain why the new leader apologizes to the Arab states which Iran attacked and said it was a mistake which would not be repeated. The attacks continued after his apology as if it had not been made.

The U.S. cost of living and that of the world for that matter is why the Strait of Hormuz seems likely to be the deciding point of the length of U.S. involvement. A war of conquest with a ground invasion of Iran would probably be long, bloody, and very expensive and therefore can’t happen. Oh, wait I’m sorry I mean it can’t happen if there are rational, non-insane people making the decisions. The key to the war, then, is the battle to keep the Strait open and with it the flow of oil. Air power can probably destroy the IRGC and that should make it somewhat easier, but we have known since the end of World War ll that air power alone will not make determined people give up their homeland.

The options then seem to me to be destroy the IRGC very quickly, which may or may not be possible, somehow get a new regime into power which can control them and which also may not be possible, or just fight it out however long it takes in the Strait. I guess some combination of all three is also possible. I am certain that Trump wants out of this mess, but I doubt if the Israelis do.

 He held a meeting this week with the heads of various defense firms and told them to ramp up production of missiles both cruise and Patriot air defense missiles so the U.S. is running low. The Iranians answer by making 100,000 suicide drones at $20,000 each instead of the multi-million missiles to attempt to shoot them down. The Iranian tactic seems to be the rope-a-dope whereby the U.S. fires all its missiles then the Kamikaze drones counterattack. People tried to warn Trump but apparently he wasn’t listening or had bad advisers as well.

My own view, and this is pure speculation on my part, is that Trump believes that World Warlll has already started but it is a cold war right now pitting many forces against each other. We have what Reagan called the axis of evil consisting of China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran and North Korea. Two of those are gone and the rest are nuclear armed. Trump is apparently trying to cozy up to Putin which I imagine makes Xi a little nervous.

Then we have the forces of the European global elite as managed by the World Economic Forum and its great reset of global bureaucracy and its unelected world government. Opposing those we have the American way of individual nation states living in freedom so that seems like the battle to me.

In conclusion, I remember the wise words of a man I once heard say that if I am proud of anything about my life I am proudest of my humility. Well, I echo that now and admit that I know very little firsthand just what logic and research produce so I use my best guess powered by some experience. I know from history that the Middle East contains a lot of people with long memories. Apparently they are still settling disputes that happened over 1000 years ago.

Finally, folks, children don’t start wars they just die in them. It is a terrible thing to go to war and this one seems especially brutal. It appears that this attack was unprovoked and that makes it even sadder. I pray that it ends soon.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

Transcription / Notes

PRESIDENT TRUMP DECLARES WAR AGAINST IRAN

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat is war today and war is obviously the most important story in the world right now as President Trump, unilaterally it seems, decided to make war against a nation that apparently had not harmed the U.S. and was not a threat to the U.S.

Why then did President Trump do it. I’ll give my thoughts on that but first let’s look at what he did. The U.S. spent a few months building up forces in the Middle East region while negotiating or pretending to negotiate a settlement. The U.S. demands became increasingly more difficult for the Iranians to comply with including give up the use of peaceful nuclear power except for medical purposes. Surrender all enriched uranium that you currently possess and allow international inspection. Give up all offensive missiles and drones. Cease all support for your terrorist proxies across the region. Finally, you must change your head of state and give up your oppressive theocratic government.

Well, those are some bitter pills for a sovereign country to swallow and some people believe they were designed to lure the Iranians into complacency while a serious attack was always the plan. The battle forces assembling in the region would have said to me were I head of state in Iran, prepare for serious war. I would have made defensive preparations such as moving my leadership and especially myself to a safe area. Iran didn’t do that and with the Ayatollah’s rejection of the peace proposal on Friday, he was dead within 24 hours.

Once again, the U.S. war machine and the high-tech war fighting ability of the U.S. are amazing and a demonstration for the world. Two carrier battle groups including the largest warship in the world. Two hundred fighter jets which, by the way, cost $10,000 for each hour of flight operations so if they were all in the air at once which they often were, that’s $2 million per hour. The last time I looked these figures up it cost about $25 million per day to keep a carrier battle group at sea and in-flight ops. Fifty thousand U.S. personnel, we are told, are currently engaged in combat.

Six U.S. soldiers are known dead having been killed in Kuwait from an Iranian missile or drone strike. It seems that the Iranians misread he reactions of their neighbors because they reacted by attacking everyone in the region, thus driving the entire region into a military alliance with the U.S. The U.S. at the time of this recording has launched over 2000 sorties against Iran and the Iranians have fired over 500 missiles and over 2000 drones about 10% of which get through,.  Iran attacked U.S. bases and civilian targets in countries including Israel, The Gulf Arab States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. Only one has been fired at Turkey even though the U.S. has bases in Turkey. These figures don’t consider the Israeli attacks which were, of course supplied by the U.S. for the most part. The arrangement was apparently that Israel would attack command and control systems and assassinate personnel including the head of state while the U. S. attacked the ability of Iran to retaliate with missiles and drones.

So, does the President of the United States have the Constitutional authority to take the nation to war. My short answer is no but ever since the Korean War the U.S has held the view that as Commander-in-Chief the President can constitutionally command the military to do what he wants but that is not my view and it was not the view of the founders. Commander-in-chief means that once war is declared by congress he runs it. Our system of government does not allow one individual to put the entire population at risk by unilaterally and individually making war.

What about the War Powers Resolution passed in 1973 which gives the President authority to commit troops to battle anywhere in the world for 90 days without congressional approval. Anyway, he said he briefed the 8 leaders of congress known as the gang of 8. My opinion is that the War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional. No one seems to care anymore what that document says or what it means and very few want to be limited by its words. So, to prevent the restraint it requires, congress passed a resolution essentially amending it and as I said that is unconstitutional.

However, I admit that the resolution is what he used and even though it is misused and misapplied it gives him a pretty good argument for unlimited power. Most in congress will no longer argue that the President does not have authority to do what he has done. So, having looked at what he did now we ask why he did it.  Part of the answer was the usual i.e. the Iranians are terrible people who arrest a protester and hang him the next day. Prison guards routinely rape virgin girls who are arrested by the moral police because they believe that when they murder the girls they will be barred from heaven.

Most of the explanation he gave had to do with nuclear weapons. Although just a few months ago he “obliterated” their nuclear program they were, he said, rebuilding it. The International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN said that Iran was enriching to 60% and only nuclear armed countries did that. Iran was supplying the whole hostile world including Russia with drone and missile technology. My understanding is that Iran’s hypersonic technology came from China. There is an elephant in the room that he did not mention and that is Israel. This entire war is so obviously at the behest of Israel that I can’t understand why the U.S. is not a little humiliated by it. Netanyahu said publicly that what Israel and the U.S. are doing is something he has dreamed of doing for 40 years.

The real reason diplomacy could not work was not any of the things listed but something Marco Rubio announced to reporters on Monday.

“It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone, the United States or Israel, or anyone, they were going to respond and respond against the United States. We knew there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that would precipitate an attack on American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after Iran before Israel launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”

So, if you reason this out and apply logic the reason we attacked Iran, killed many civilians, destroyed much infrastructure was that if we hadn’t our ally would have gone rogue and launched its own war thus exposing the U.S. to much higher casualties. In that sense, then operation Epic Fury was an act of self-defense, against Israel. The nation of Israel puts Israel first so I wonder why the U.S. won’t do the same.

Why won’t U.S. leaders tell our ally you launch your jets which you got from us and you will lose all American support and all-American bases in the Middle East or you can restrain your murderous impulses and remain our ally. The answer to that question probably explains the whole war but who knows the answer for sure. Maybe the answer is in the Epstein files but who knows. I know that when JFK gave Israel a firm no on their development of nuclear weapons he didn’t live long and LBJ quickly reversed his decision.

So, whatever the relationship between U.S. presidents and Israeli leaders throughout Israel’s history President Trump is inclined to listen to Bibi and neocons in America rather than his Maga base. He promised the Maga people he would not start another disastrous, stupid, pointless, and very costly Middle East war but here we are. It appears that for the second time in President Trump’s second term he used negotiations as a cover for a decision already made to go to war. Launching a military strike during negotiations could have the long-lasting effect of destroying trust in U.S. diplomacy so it’s risky.

Another reason for this that I admit is not obvious but this attack is an attack on China and Russia as well as the other BRICS. The U.S. does not want WWlll in the traditional sense because in today’s nuclear world that would result in a worldwide catastrophe with no winners, only losers. Instead, today’s war is about trade, money, commerce, etc. Who gets to run the world order of today. World orders come and go and they have throughout the centuries. In fact, the world order that emerged in 1648 formed by the Peace of Westphalia or the treaty by that name makes the most sense to me. It lasted It ended the 30 years war in which Europe was devastated and starving. It lasted from 1648 to 1803 when it was destroyed by Nepoleon. The treaty involved much of old Europe including the Holy Roman Empire and it allowed a world in which nations agreed they would stop unprovoked attacks on each other and would not assassinate each other’s leaders. It brought peace and allowed the people of Europe to prosper and be fed again.

Eventually, world orders and peace agreements always break down into violence and bloodshed. Today, the new order of the world is trying to form and it has devolved into proxy wars, economic wars, cyber wars, biological wars, sabotage wars, and information wars. Russia and China resent U.S. dominance and attempt to topple it while the U. S. will hold it by any means necessary.

In conclusion, I don’t know anything about this war for certain but I try to use logic to make the best guess possible. I know that China has stopped export of oil and gas and restricted its domestic use.  China imports 11 million barrels per day 45% of which comes through the gulf. Perhaps Chinese tankers could buy the new U.S. provided insurance...]]> 0:12:43 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/152588193/ 152588193 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=5987 Darrell Castle Fri, 27 Feb 2026 10:10:05 -0500 Darrell Castle talks about the State of the Union Address by reviewing a few of the things President Trump said and the reaction of his opponents, as well as providing a Constitutional response.

Transcription / Notes

SOTU – A RESPONSE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 27th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the State of the Union Address delivered last Tuesday by President Donald Trump. I will comment on a few of the things he said and on the reaction of his opponents to those things and then I will do what I am often asked to do and that is give a Constitutional response.

The President spoke for almost two hours the longest speech in SOTU history. He spoke mostly about the achievements of his second term and he mentioned that America is entering a golden age. He emphasized patriotism and heroes and he invited many of them to the speech including the gold medal winning men’s Olympic hockey team.

According to the reports I’ve seen more than 70 Democrats chose not to attend the speech but most of them did and they exercised their choice which was to set and glare straight ahead or occasionally to boo him. He noticed and called them out repeatedly for their failure to muster even the most basic bipartisanship in moments that should have been beyond partisan politics.

For example, the President invited “a woman who has been through hell,” Anya Zarutska, whose daughter Iryna fled war torn Ukraine only to be murdered on a train in Charlotte North Carolina.  Yes, the killer had many past felonies only to be released on bail when he killed Iryna with a knife. The Democrats could not muster any energy to stand for her mother.

That was bad but not the worst moment for Democrats. He held them up for the whole country to see in their worst moment and they went for it. “One of the great things about the State of the Union is how it gives Americans the chance to see clearly what their representatives really believe. So, tonight, I’m inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

Who, in good conscience could not agree with that statement and Republicans certainly did. They stood, clapped, and whistled for a full two minutes in a raw, spontaneous reaction, but the Democrats didn’t even move. Not a shuffle or even a courtesy clap, just nothing. He let that sink in for a moment then twisted the knife. “isn’t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourselves, not standing up.”

I think people noticed as post speech polls indicated especially since illegal immigration was the most important issue of the 2024 election. His invitation to stand was not an attack on immigrants, nor was it hateful. Instead, it was a simple invitation to endorse common sense publicly. The American people elect and pay their leaders and in exchange for power and the honor of election those leaders must prioritize the needs of their constituents. It is the most basic social contract of the American government and it’s hard to see how anyone could not grasp it immediately.

However, I will point out that the theme transcends immigration. Whether you call it America first or you simply understand that we are all Americans and illegal immigrants especially murderers, torturers, and rapists are not, it is or should be a basic requirement of holding office. Washington is now filled with politicians who have agendas that take priority in their minds over Americans. Yes, for some its Ukraine first, for some its Somalia first, and for some perhaps even the President its Israel first.

Now, let me finalize this concept and attempt to link it to Constitutional government and what that would mean. My view is that anyone who thinks that there is a single group who should come ahead of Americans in the minds of officeholders should not be in politics. Let them get a job in Silicon Valley, but please stay away from politics. In reference to the Constitution, I want to say a few words about Iran and what appears to be steamrolling toward an extended war.

Like refusal to stand for the concept that American politicians should put the interests of Americans ahead of those of illegal immigrants, American politicians are bound by oath to the Constitution to oppose the drive to fight wars and attack other countries which have not harmed America in any way on behalf of others. This coming war is so obviously unconstitutional that I wonder if anyone in Washington even knows what it means anymore. I will also point out that if the U.S. Constitution is not enough for some of our globalist neo-con politicians, it is also a clear violation of the U.N. Charter which the U.S. signed in 1948.

The charter forbids attacking countries which have not harmed you and are not a threat to you but the U.S. has done that many times especially since 1991. A nation does not have to attack to violate the charter because even threats and intimidation are also forbidden. The threat to Iran of you have 10 days to comply with my demands or something very bad will happen to you is an obvious violation. The idea of I am much stronger than you and you have something I want so if you don’t give it to me I will take it by force is also an obvious violation.

I oppose an attack on Iran for many reasons and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine apparently agrees with me. He has reportedly warned the President that an act of war against Iran carries significant risks including a prolonged conflict with high casualties. I understand that General Caine has the President’s respect so maybe his views will prevail over Bibi’s but I doubt it. Rumors abound that on one of Bibi’s six visits to the Trump White House he threatened the President with what is known as the Samson option. In other words, it you don’t do this thing for me I will bring down the entire temple by attacking Iran with nuclear weapons. There can be no reasonable doubt at this point that the coming war is for the purpose of greater Israel. If you don’t believe me I invite you to listen to Tucker Carlson’s interview with Ambassador Mike Huckabee conducted in Israel about a week ago. In that interview Huckabbe essentially admitted it and said it would be OK.

Back to honoring the U.S. Constitution I have spent 37 years of my life defending it along with Western Civilization itself. I now have no confidence that the battle can be won. In other words, it appears that I lost the battle and a return to Constitutional government is impossible. As you probably know, I was a presidential candidate for the Constitution Party and I knew then that by some chance if I was elected it would mean great sacrifice and possibly even death so let’s look at why I feel that way.

Politicians seek power to get ahead, and to use the near monopoly on violence the government has to achieve those goals. They become seekers of largesse, and there are other words to describe it, but they seek largesse and they exchange it for votes and for special treatment. Subsidies for certain industries are clear examples of this. The subsidies given to corn farmers require corn ethanol to be mixed with gasoline. Now the corn producers say they could not survive without that largesse and any corn state politician who seeks to cancel it better consider a new line of work.

The original ethanol requirement was to prevent global warming but the current President says it’s a hoax, but the subsidies continue. Subsidies, bailouts, welfare, giveaways, and other shakedowns are not only unconstitutional, but they are also normally unnecessary and inefficient. For example, tariffs are essentially subsidies for selected industries, paid for by price hikes on consumers. The largesse that tariffs represent are put in place to favor a select group of beneficiaries and disfavor everyone else.

Over time, the largesse builds up and becomes a huge drag on the economy. I grew up as a farmer’s kid and we kept pigs whose meat the pigs sacrificed to feed us through the winter. With so many piglets sucking their mama the sow, the poor sow grows weaker and weaker, A once healthy, dynamic sow goes into decline and stagnates but the pigs are so addicted they cannot stop sucking until their mother can no longer feed them. So, I tell you what is necessary if this empire is to be saved from the disaster that appears inevitable but word of warning if you actually tried to do these things you would probably not survive.

Empires have come and gone throughout history. They turn their money to trash by currency debasement, for example our own currency has lost 99.9% of its value relative to gold and we ask why things cost so much. Affordability crises they call it without any understanding of what actually causes it. Eventually, civil war and the struggle for remaining largesse destroys the empire and starvation and poverty are the result.

 Old friend and economist Bill Bonner shares three essential things for a good beginning and I agree with Bill on all of them. So,” 1. protect the integrity of U.S. money and the money system. 2. Do not spend more than you take in, ever. This year revenue is projected at $4.9 trillion and spending is projected at $2 trillion more than that. 3. No wars, and I mean no wars that are not purely defensive.”

This sacrificial candidate and hopefully President should announce no more deficits ever. No tariffs, no sanctions, no printing money to pay the debt and no more inflation because a balanced budget is non-negotiable. To do this, abolish the FED immediately. You will have to cut $2 trillion in spending and peop...]]> 0:13:25 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/152410544/ 152410544 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=5982 Darrell Castle Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:21:38 -0500 Darrell Castle talks about the continuing saga of Jeffrey Epstein and what that saga means for the relationship between the global ruing elite and the people.

Transcription / Notes

EPSTEIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF TRUST

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 20th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the continuing saga of Jeffrey Epstein and what that saga means for the relationship between the global ruling elite and the people.

Yes, folks we are faced with a moral dilemma today and that dilemma is what to do when we find out that the ruling elite of the West, not just America but the West has completely abandoned the moral bedrock upon which the whole system is based. Western Civilization also known as Christian Civilization is based on a system of moral principles and if those principles are adhered to by everyone the system works and we can pass it on to our offspring.

Now that entire belief system has been turned upside down and destroyed and that is of great concern to me. The elite, and I will call them that for lack of a better word, but hopefully you know what I mean by that term. The elite know that their power is also based on moral authority which they don’t even believe exists. Their goal is to keep us from learning of their complete moral depravity because that might mean the end of their privileged and protected lives.

The elites understand that once their complete amorality is understood by the masses, the West, and especially America, loses its façade of moral superiority that has always anchored our lives. Their fear is that if they have no moral authority and we know it why should we have any. When that cynicism flows downhill and infects the general population there is nothing left to hold us together.

The sad and destructive part of all this is that we know for certain that it is not just a few very sick individuals as we have been led to believe but it goes much deeper than that. No, this pedophilia, to use a polite word, is a systematic, organized, and ritualized practice. These networks could only exist when backed by deep institutional protection. Political, police, judicial, and media, all cover for and protect them on a global scale.

These recent revelations have led people to believe that the entire system is rigged against them. They see their lives as akin to a sporting event in which the refs play for the other side and the goalposts are constantly moved. They believe their country and the West have been stolen by a few super rich individuals who get further and further ahead because they have gamed the system while the rest of us fall further and further behind. This all paints the picture of a rupture between the ruling elite and the people.

People have seen the level of horror that the files have revealed so far and they know that is only about half of it. They know in their hearts that elections will no longer solve their problems if they ever would. The level of distrust and anger among the people is and should be bipartisan. I am not the only one to see this picture because the ruling elite understand it as I do and they are a little afraid right now.

Their reaction is foot dragging, redactions, and lies about the files. The other day Pam Bondi said that we have seen the final release and there won’t be anymore and so we are moving on from this. Well, no Pam we are not moving on from this no matter how much you would like to. If you are ordered to redact the files and keep them hidden then honor, if there is any left, requires you to resign. I also heard the DOJ say that if these files were released unredacted it might cause the collapse of the system. Well, that’s a chance I am willing to take to clean the system because allowing it to continue as is simply cannot happen.

The administration seems to be taking the approach of trying to say OK folks we’ve been transparent and there’s nothing else to see here so move on. This is just a few sick individuals but we know them so that’s it. Humpty Dumpty, in other words as in the old nursery rhyme. I don’t think it will work here any better than it did hundreds of years ago.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

No, this system is broken and everybody knows it. The distance between the ruling elite and the people grows wider each day. In recent decades the economy has been changed or rigged if you prefer toward a debt-based financialized economy at the expense of the American dream. This has happened across the West as the system after the fall of the Soviet Union believed the thousands of years of nation states was at an end. From 1991 on the world would be a globalized trading bloc based on commerce rather than war and defense.

It didn’t work and all it seemed to accomplish was to destroy the poor and hollow out the middle class who were the backbone of the American dream. Just base everything on debt and worry about the interest later but huge cracks appeared in that system. Off shoring of manufacturing left nations dependent for critical resources such as antibiotics in the complete control of adversaries. Now, after seeing the total depravity in the files we realize who our leaders really are.

How can we be really sure of anything anymore. What is so fantastic is or was the belief that it can’t be believed or so depraved would never have happened. Would you believe me if I told you that Epstein was murdered by the very people on whose behalf the blackmail was committed. What if I told you that he is still alive as a lot of evidence points too.

Jimmy Dore on his podcast the other day put forward a lot of evidence that he is still alive. Evidence such as a guard saying a transport van took him away on a day they normally didn’t move prisoners and a day before he supposedly died. What about the director of the FBI and his top assistant telling Congress that he committed suicide when there is a lot of video evidence that he didn’t. Is it hard to believe that people who would rape a six-year-old child and worse commit murder to cover it and to allow their sadistic and depraved circle to continue.

We have some important names worth mentioning such as Les Wexner, founder of Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works, Abercrombie and Fitch, and La senza among others. He is also suspected of connections with Massad. He gifted Epstein a $70 million mansion in Manhattan and a 7000 plus acre ranch in New Mexico among other things. He is now an unredacted co-conspirator but he said he was conned and just didn’t know.

Richard Branson of Virgin Group (catchy name huh) which has Virgin Records, airlines, trains and other things. He once emailed Epstein and said he could be there if Epstein brought his harem. Too many other horrific things to mention but a lot and I mean hundreds of emails with code words such as beef Jerky, pizza and grape soda, Tinkerbell which is the name Jes Staley former CEO of Barclay’s Group used for one of his victim. Oh, and I forgot Snow White, another big one. U.S. prosecutors are looking at Staley for rape and causing great bodily harm.

Andrew Windsor, the former prince was arrested yesterday so perhaps those who are facing prison will talk about the rest, we’ll see.

Finally, folks, we know some of who they are and some of what they have done and they know that we know but they also believe they are protected in their satanic ritual attacks on our children. From Hollywood to boardrooms to the great capitals, they seem to be corrupt, demonic, and satanic in ways we just couldn’t comprehend until now.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

Transcription / Notes

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday, the 13th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. Friday the 13th and it is apparently a very unlucky day for some of those caught up in the Epstein files. Who is caught up in the files, just about everybody who is anybody it seems, all the rich and powerful, but as I said in the title the devil literally is in the details.

Yes, folks it is rather shocking to find that the whole world is run by satanic pedophiles but that is what the recent release of over 3 million documents that constitute about half of the Epstein files seem to be telling the world. Royal families torn apart, heads of state, cabinet secretaries, titans of banking and industry, owners of sports teams, ex-commissioners of sports leagues, but most of all billionaires were all very connected to Jeffrey Epstein. He connected them apparently through blackmail, greed, and money to his satanic pedophile circle of the most disgusting.

It is indeed unusual to find a politician of national status who was not enamored with Epstein and what he had to offer but not him. No, not the one man that many put all their hopes of catching in this net. The man they all wanted to be guilty, even demanded be guilty came out smelling like a rose. Orange Man Bad, President Donald J. Trump it seems was the whistle blower who called the police and said this woman is evil and Epstein is disgusting, get them out of here.

Last Monday, the DOJ unsealed a document which revealed that in 2006 Donald Trump called the police to report Epstein’s behavior. This woman, Ghislaine Maxwell is his procurer and an evil person you should look into her and I saw the way Epstein reacted around the teenage children of some of my guests so I threw him out. Well, good on you Mr. President, you are a lot of things, but apparently satanic pedophile is not one of them.

There are so many names in these files and it is all so sordid I won’t go over the whole mess which I’m sure you are familiar with by now. However, I have to mention a few names who are particularly bad. Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly known as Prince Andrew), and perhaps the worst of all Bill Gates. Mr. Gates, with a net worth of hundreds of billions came out of this with his reputation shattered. For five consecutive years ending in 2019 I think, but maybe 2018 he was the most admired man on the planet. He was Time Magazine’s man of the year primarily because he was spending 10’s of billions pushing his vaccines around the world.

I saw him give a TED talk in the early 2000’s in which he openly said that his real goal was population reduction. I’m not talking about slowing the birthrate folks I’m talking about killing people. He said we could reduce the world’s population by 15% through vaccines but that was a drop in the bucket compared to what needed to be done. He built and sold vaccines around the world, in particular Africa, disguised as life savers but in reality life takers. He is therefore a mass murderer and guilty of crimes against humanity. When you really think about it he is one of the worst criminals in human history. His toady here in America, Tony Fauci, destroyed many lives, killed many people, injured many people, destroyed business and commerce, and they should be treated accordingly by the Justice system.

The system will pursue you to the ends of the earth for a $100 tax bill so we will see what it does with mass murderers. Now, Mr. Gates has already been punished to some degree by the loss of his reputation. I knew there was something going on when I heard him start fishtailing on the climate change is going to destroy the world scenario. He said he was mistaken and it is actually not catastrophic at all. I suppose he could have truthfully said climate change will not destroy the world because that’s my job.

Back on Pedo Island for a moment, Gates spent a lot of time with Epstein and even more time at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion.  There was a constant stream of “schoolgirls” passing through the Manhattan home because countless emails described them as such. There is perhaps the most telling email of the millions in which Epstein emails himself about a request by Bill Gates, boy genius, founder of Microsoft, for antibiotics so he could secretly give them to his wife Melinda because he was afraid he would infect her with a sexually transmitted disease he caught from “those Russian girls.”

His personal assistant for many years, a man who had been the Gates right hand for decades said yes, he helped his boss deceive his wife Melinda, helped him set up liaisons with married women, but when the requests went criminal he resigned. If anything, good comes from this sordid mess perhaps it will be the destruction of this evil, mass murderer. I feel sorry for Melinda though. I am obviously completely opposite her politics but I ha to see her humiliated in such a way.

Melinda worked at Microsoft when it was young and he really was a boy genius. The story goes that she rejected him many times but he was relentless and finally they were married. When she finally couldn’t tolerate the humiliation anymore she divorced him and ended up with many billions out of the separation. I’ve seen a couple of interviews with her since this started and to her credit she neither covers for him nor throws him under the bus. Instead, she just says that’s something you will need to ask my ex-husband about.

Here in America Representatives Thomas Massie, Republican, and Ro Khanna, Democrat are responsible for the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act. They said the secrecy and redactions are still unacceptable and they will continue to pursue release of the rest. Redaction is illegal to protect reputation and only legal to protect national security, child identity, etc. The two representatives have said that the files reveal children as young as 9 years old so it is more than likely far worse than I can tell you at this point. The release of these files has caused a widespread look at child abuse, i.e. rape, in and out of satanic rituals that apparently have nothing to do with Epstein. I saw an interview with a woman who is now an adult and in a position to help what she called survivors and she recalled being sexually raped at age six through nine when it entered the satanic phase and got worse. I found her believable especially in light of what has been revealed.

Our British friends have been especially hard hit by all of this. In fact, it is so bad that it could bring down the British government. Ro Khanna said the King and Queen should answer questions because this is not a good look for the monarchy and in fact if the investigation doesn’t proceed it could be the end of the monarchy. Massie and Khanna seem to be different from most members of congress. Maybe they are just celebrating not being mentioned in the files who knows.

They do not grant the respect for noblesse oblige granted by many Americans to the British royalty. Khanna, in particular sounds at times a little like Patrick Henry rebelling against the colonial crown.

“I don’t think the appropriate punishment is you no longer get to be prince, there’s got to be more than that. I don’t understand the British custom that someone’s asking the queen a question and the Queen is offended that she’s being asked a question.” Personally, I think where Massie and Kahanna are headed with all this hyperbole is that they are sure that this problem is a lot more widespread in the Royal family than just Andrew. If so, this could be an extremely dangerous moment for the Windsors. The King maintains a lot of sympathy at this point for his swift removal of his brother but we will see what comes next. What will be uncovered next probably has them on pins and needles.

The story is pretty clear about one thing and that is that Jeffrey Epstein was a low life grifter but he had something that attracted the rich and powerful like flies to a portable toilet. The news stories focus on sex because I suppose they think that is what we want to hear but the real story apart from the rape of children is one of power, greed, corruption, and treason. Epstein filmed heads of state and other powerful, rich, and influential people raping little children and then blackmailed them with the films. Many didn’t seem to mind and they came back again and again for more.

There is a series of emails from Epstein to his urologist, a licensed physician, whereby Epstein asked for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction and the dr. gave him the prescription and then said when you take them I look forward to pizza and grape soda. Now is that a conversation two men who are close to normal or sane have. Pizza and grape soda are mentioned time and again in the files. Maybe we should rethink that Pizza-gate non-story. Just when you think it can’t get anymore horrifying it has a way of doing so.

Now there is very convincing evidence that Epstein did not commit suicide but was murdered or perhaps is still alive. Murder seems to be the most likely end of the man to me and there are never before released videos of shadowy figures moving to his cell the night of his death. The most telling is a death announcement released by the authorities announcing his death the day before he apparently died. Yes folks, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman announced Epstein’s death a day before he supposedly died.

Very strange indeed but not if you consider the total impact of all this information. The world is run by satanic pedophiles it seems, but why the fascin...]]> 0:12:57 false https://podcast.show/castlereport/episode/152052741/ 152052741 https://www.castlereport.us/?p=5970 Darrell Castle Fri, 06 Feb 2026 10:52:51 -0500 Darrell Castle talks about what is going on in Minneapolis as well as the state of Minnesota — what is going on there, does anyone care, and what about fraud.

Transcription / Notes

MINNESOTA IS A STRANGE PLACE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. Although I am a little late for the party I will be talking about what is going on in Minneapolis as well as the state of Minnesota. What in the world is going on there and does anyone care about the violence and death, and also what about the fraud.

Was a 37-year-old ICU nurse really a threat to the ICE agents in Minnesota? Do Americans who film such agents as they try to do their jobs belong on government lists. Should the presence of ICE agents in Minnesota be eliminated since the politicians and the people apparently are violently opposed to their presence. The answers to these questions, unfortunately, almost always depend on one’s political party affiliation. Republicans back ICE in its deportation efforts while Democrats stand with Alex Pretti. Sometimes these positions require members of both parties to abandon the principles they once held dear.

The struggle this time around has often centered on the real culprit, the ruling class. Everything seems like a diversion or distraction. When you see the Minnesota politicians parading around talking about the demonization of the Somali community one might wonder if they are just trying to distract attention away from the billions in fraud from which they allegedly received hefty amounts.

When the administration doubles down on its hardline response by sending in more and more agents even after people have been killed one wonders if this is in reality an effort to distract us from the coming stupid pointless war against Iran. Yes the U.S. sent another carrier battle group into the Persian Gulf as an obvious threat to attack at the moment of Trump’s or Netanyahu’s choosing. Yes, Bibi has or soon will be coming to America for the 6th time in the Trump presidency perhaps to deliver to the president his strike options for the coming attack on Iran. A diversion for our attention is therefore a welcome side benefit thanks to the violence of the protesters in Minneapolis.

I can’t help but wonder why the president has made no effort to explain to the American people why an attack on Iran is in their best interest. He seems to go from one reason to another as one justification is erased, another takes its place. He first gave us the nuclear threat or weapons of mass destruction we have heard many times before. Then, we are told the nuclear enrichment sites were obliterated in a previous American attack. Then CIA, Mossad, and who knows how many others, allegedly launched a violent protest movement directed at regime change. When the Iranian regime put down the uprising with extreme violence that became another excuse for an attack.

The sides are talking now about a way to avoid war but I get the impression it is simply a brief delay for some reason or another. A similar delay is going on in Minnesota as the sides are talking and Mr. Homan has agreed to withdraw 700 agents. Could the agreement be this, look Governor Waltz if you will stop inciting this violence and let us at least arrest the murderers and rapists among you then you can keep the millions you stole from the American people. I don’t know if that is true but it sounds plausible to me.

What about fraud? Let’s talk about that for a moment. The fraud conducted by the “Somali community” escorted into the country by Barack Obama and Joe Biden and grouped together in Minnesota so they could have political power and even elect their members to congress to lecture us about racism. We are expected to concentrate on the seeming insanity of the ICE protesters and ICE agents instead of the money and where it goes.

The last figures I have seen reveal that Somali welfare fraud in Minnesota is estimated at $9 billion. That is $9 billion of Medicaid and other welfare stolen from people who work and from people who need the help and shuffled off to various fraudulent enterprises run by the Somali community. That is just the amount found to have been stolen in Minnesota. It’s predicted to be even worse in California, Illinois, Maine, New York, and perhaps other Democrat states.

Who knows how many billions of dollars of your labor have been stolen. Well, Elon Musk says he knows the various forms of fraudulent payments given away by the federal government amount to $1.5 and $2 trillion per year which is about 25% of annual government spending and which coincides almost exactly with the deficit. In other words, if these figures are correct that $2 trillion the government spends over what it takes in is all fraud. Almost all this fraud goes to perpetuate various deep state programs and to line the pockets of Democrat voters and especially their politicians. That’s why they fight so hard to make us ignore it and to detract us from investigating it.

Now, let me say a few words about the killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis. Mr. Pretti apparently was killed when the agents first disarmed him of his legally possessed handgun, then threw him to the ground and shot him in the back many times. The object he was waving in his hand was a cell phone and to say they thought it was a gun made no sense because he had been disarmed by them. It does remind one a little of the bad old days of Democrat presidents when conservatives feared the Feds rather than supporting them.

I’m thinking specifically of the incident in which Vicki Weaver had her head blown off by an FBI sniper named Lon Horiuchi while she stood in her cabin door holding her child. Agents also killed the Weaver’s 14-year-old son by shooting him in the back. I knew Randy Weaver quite well back then as we had met at many speaking engagements and he was often at gun shows where I campaigned for office. The government today says there is no comparison with Vickie and Alex Pretti because she was unarmed. The truth is that Vickie had a .380 handgun in a holster under her dress just as Pretti had a legal gun in his possession. Once again they, the ruling elite that is, distract us from the real enemy.

I’ve seen and heard Mr. Pretti described as a beloved ICU nurse and a peaceful man. I have no argument with the beloved description since I have no evidence to dispute that but the peaceful part I definitely dispute. To me, he appeared to be a man so fanatical in his system of beliefs that he was out of control and violently so. He was a nurse, which is a profession of the most noble among all if it is practiced correctly. Who can’t tell stories of heroic nurses sitting with the dying or helping one through some of the most trying moments of life.

Well, there was another nurse whose name goes unmentioned, but not for me. I say her name and I hope her parents are not offended by that but I feel compelled to speak for her because she really was peaceful. Her name was Laken Riley and she was peacefully jogging on her Georgia college campus when she was assaulted, raped, and murdered by an illegal criminal invited into this country by Joe Biden. Why, I ask, do none of the protesters care about Laken. She goes unmentioned by Democrat politicians and their protesters because I guess she just doesn’t fit their political agenda.

Laken’s benevolence, her altruistic pursuits, her many accomplishments, her hopes and dreams count for nothing because she did not meet the Democrat politician’s definition of someone they should care about. Sadly, Laken went out for a jog and she didn’t come back the same fate has happened to literally dozens of women and girls at the hands of criminals whose cages were opened by Joe Biden. Just to name a few Sarah Root, Rachel Morin, Jocelyn Nungaray but there have been countless others.

Jocelyn is of particular importance to me but I don’t say much about her because she was a 12 year of child when she was very brutally murdered by five of Joe Biden’s criminal invaders. No one speaks for her I suppose she is an embarrassment to the entire spectrum of what the ruling elite are trying to accomplish in this country and this world. That’s probably enough about the women who have been murdered but there is one more and very recently.

In Illinois recently a man named Joe Abraham has gained attention because he has had the audacity to speak for his 20-year-old daughter Katie, killed while stopped at a traffic light by a drunk illegal named Julio Cucol-Bol. Mr. Bol fled the scene but Katie was killed instantly. At least she didn’t have to endure the torture that Jocelyn did. This case reminds me of that most appealing argument that to deport criminals would be forced separation of families. Well, the Abraham, Riley, and Nungaray families among countless others were certainly separated.

None of these women are ever spoken of by Democrats and there have been no protests or demonstrations objecting to the government’s policy of inviting violent criminals to walk among us. I suggest that when we see and hear the violent protests about ICE we try to remember the real victims who for Democrat politicians and their supporters remain nameless but for their families the loss is never ending.

In Conclusion, I want to conclude by recommending a book that was just released and which I had to get an early copy to read. Peter Schweizer’s “The Invisible Coup, How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Migration as a Weapon.” That book opens for you the war that has been prosecuted against us by people who hate us and intend to destroy us, and unfortunately that often includes our leaders.

Finally, folks, what in the world does this all mean? That’s a topic for another day perhaps next wee...]]> 0:11:51 false