Morning - hope you find today's OT thought provoking.

Long article by Martin Armstrong published this week explored the practice of Decapitation Strategy as a method to influence intended outcomes.

He ties the rise of Putin as leader of Russia to the 1998 assassination of Galina Starovoitova.

I believe Galina knew the nature and covert scheme of Primakov and the shifting sentiment to return to the USSR. I believe that, in fact, Galina’s assassination was to remove the head of the Democratic movement in the Duma that would have been the major obstacle to the rise of power of Primakov and the restoration of Communism under his vision of the USSR. Galina was gunned down in the entryway of her apartment building in St. Petersburg on November 20th, 1998. At first, the spin was she was really a puppet of a “Western financier,” who was supposed to be me simply because her son worked in my London office. She had checked my references with Margaret Thatcher before consenting to her son working in my firm. I had far more insight into Russia than most assumed.

The press refuses to reveal that they have been spreading the Berezovsky propaganda. On July 25th, 1998, Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin (born in 1952) as director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the primary intelligence agency of the Russian Federation. I believe this was done because of Galina Starovoitova’s criticism of the FSB and to prevent another FSB coup, as they had pulled off against Gorbachev. Putin had worked for the KGB from 1975 until August 20th, 1991. He left because the head of the KGB, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov (1924–2007), was behind the major coup of 1991, arresting Mikhail Gorbachev and trying to return Russia to the USSR, which Putin opposed. Putin resigned in 1991 and entered the civil service to support an old friend who was running for mayor of St Petersburg. However, more significantly, on October 1st, 1998, Vladimir Putin became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. This is why Yeltsin turned to Putin BECAUSE he knew he was against the communists and did NOT want to return Russia to the days of the USSR. He was against the coup and appointed Putin as head of the FSB to prevent another one. So much for Victoria Nuland’s propaganda because their plot to seize Russia, blackmailing Yeltsin, failed.

Hints at future assassinations planned by Western parties
Netanyahu threatens Iran new leader, says government collapse uncertain Reuters March 12, 2026

Oddly did not find this confirmed by a US source at the time this diary posted, only found mentions referencing back to reuters. Speculations have been popping up on various sites the last couple of days questioning Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a veiled threat to kill Iran's ​new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei even as he acknowledged that Israel's joint air war with ‌the U.S. may not lead to a collapse of Tehran's clerical government.

Orban in Ukraine ‘We know where he lives, where he sleeps’: Ex-Ukrainian general threatens Orban Russia Times March 12, 2026

Speaking to Pryamy TV, Ukrainian politician and retired SBU general Grigory Omelchenko cited the US-Israeli assassination of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his family, and warned that Orban must change his “anti-Ukrainian” position if he cares about his five children and six grandchildren.

The SBU – the successor to the Soviet KGB – knows “where he [Orban] lives, where he sleeps, where he drinks beer and wine, smokes shisha, strolls and meets people,” Omelchenko claimed, adding "he needs to think of his grandchildren."

Zelensky has been demanding a face to face meeting with Putin since nearly the beginning of Special Military Operation. Keep wondering why, since most of the time leaders meet when the paperwork is ready to sign. There have been multiple missile attacks over the past few years which could be considered failed decapitation strikes.

Assassinations and Iran Policy

US publicly embraced assassination as a primary method of influencing society behavior in Iran with the killing of General Soleimani. Last June's attack and the current attack initial strikes included decapitation of government and religious leadership.

Candace Owens, of Marcon's wife fame, is one of the voices suggesting Charlie Kirk's assassination was related to his views on a war with Iran.

The following article is the easiest to read summary of possible scenarios arising from interruption of the Strait of Hormuz over varying time periods I have come across. Craig Tindale's presentation is an easy read for a complicated subject. If you are one who likes to preposition oneself for a possible incoming hardships, or at least have a heads-up.

Systemic Risk: A 12-Order Cascading Analysis Of A Zero-Flow Strait Of Hormuz Closure ZeroHedge Craig Tindale March 5, 2026 (original article Link on Substack)

The modern world order, having organized itself around efficiency, cost minimization, and logistical precision, has created a machinery of dependence so extreme that the interruption of one narrow corridor can propagate outward into a general crisis of civilization.

What appears at first as a maritime blockade is in fact the exposure of the entire global system as a hierarchy of brittle interdependencies.

Oil and LNG fail as inputs into electricity, fertilizer, shipping, chemicals, mining, manufacturing, and state finance.
...
Here are 10 likely and immediate crises
Order 1: Maritime Flow Interruption (0–14 Days)...
Order 2: Refining & Industrial Chemicals (2–6 Weeks)...
Order 3: Mining & Metals Extraction (1–3 Months)...
Order 4: Grids & Power Hardware (3–12 Months)...
Order 5: Semiconductor Supply Chains (11–30 Days)...
Order 6: Compute & Data Centers (6–18 Months)...
Order 7: Capital Markets & Credit (1–6 Months)...
Order 8: State Response Layer (13–90 Days)...
Order 9: Trade Architecture (1–3 Years)...
Order 10: Social Stability (6–12 Months)...
Order 11: Industrial Structure Shifts (2–5 Years)...
Order 12: Civilizational Redesign (5+ Years)...

Military is no longer waiting for the public education system to produce the military scientists of the future.

The US Air Force Is Setting Aside Land For A 'First-Of-Its-Kind' $38 Million Facility Read More: https://www.bgr.com/2112343/us-air-force-wright-patterson-stem-center/ BGR Feb 28, 2026

One U.S. Air Force development looks to cultivate the next generation of leaders in these spaces, as a 16-acre plot at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, is now reserved to build a first-of-its-kind educational facility. Dubbed the STEM Talent Development Complex, the project will deliver high-end STEM education for local grade-schoolers through a 90,750 square-foot complex that'll include research labs, classrooms, community areas, dorms, and event spaces. According to the project's leaders, the massive facility near the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force will aim to deliver the next generation of scientists, technicians, and engineers.
...
As it stands, the Air Force has signed its out-grant license, committing the branch to allocating the 16-acre plot of land for the project. The STEM Talent Development Complex aims to be completed by 2031.
...
As Jessica Short, CEO of DO STEM, said at the agreement "We need to start at the earliest age, at three years old. They need to see themselves with a STEM identity. They're engineers. They're problem solvers. They're working toward these types of critical technologies and skills that need to happen in order to be successful in these STEM fields later in the future"

Another twist to the Kirk saga.

Erika Kirk And The Air Force Academy Board: What The Appointment Reveals About The Panel Military march 12, 2012

Appointments to service academy oversight boards have always reflected a mix of expertise, politics, and public visibility. Congress structured the boards to include presidential appointees alongside members selected by congressional leadership, meaning the panels inevitably reflect the political coalitions in power at a given moment.

Kirk’s appointment fits within that tradition in one respect: presidents have frequently selected individuals with political ties or public prominence. At the same time, the board’s statutory duties of evaluating discipline systems, academic standards, officer development, and institutional culture place a premium on experience closely connected to the professional military education system.

When a new member’s résumé diverges from that typical background, the contrast naturally raises questions about how the board balances political representation with subject-matter familiarity.

The higher national profile is drawing some interesting deeper looks into Erika's background.

EXPLOSIVE! What Erika Kirk Was Doing In Epstein's Orbit… | Candace Ep 310 March 11, 2026 (discussion for 16 minutes from where video starts)

A couple of articles on China.

Wish them well on this endeavor. It is very important for the planet.

How China Plans to Tackle Its Massive Solar Panel Waste Problem Oil Price March 8, 2026

Solar waste is a huge issue in the global renewables market, expected to amount to a staggering 88 million tons by 2050. At present, virtually all spent solar panels go directly to landfill, presenting a massive-scale issue for the environment as well as for resource loss. The scale of this issue is set to explode, as low- and middle-income countries experience a boom of small-scale solar using panels with relatively short lifespans. While utility-scale solar operations use panels with a lifespan of approximately 22 years, many of the solar panels supporting solar booms in emerging economies last just four or five years before they have to be decommissioned or, ideally, recycled or repaired.
...
A 2021 article from the Havard Business Review states that recycling a single panel costs an estimated $20–$30, whereas sending that panel to the landfill costs just $1–$2.

As such, recycling photovoltaic solar panels is “a money-losing enterprise” according to MIT. Addressing the global solar waste issue will require a coordinated and cross-sectoral effort to make the venture economically viable.
...
But now, China is making bold claims that it is going to begin recycling solar panels in huge numbers. Beijing is attempting to lead the charge on various scrapping methods as China prepares to contend with 1.5 million tons of solar panels that will need to be recycled or otherwise scrapped by the end of the decade. A recent notice from six Chinese government agencies states that the nation intends to recycle 250,000 tons of solar panels by just 2027. The government also says that it will encourage manufacturers to use recycled materials in the production of new products.

Part of the story of rare earth metals is reshoring industry. Often sold to the public as future manufacturing jobs. What we will probably see is highly automated facilities with minimal workers as described below. One of the risks for Social Security program is a reduction of required workers as a new industrial base is rebuilt.

No Magnets, No Drones: How China Controls the Future of Warfare

The drone has changed the face of war. Nothing has disrupted the battlefield so drastically since the introduction of the machine gun in World War I. Military experts describe the shift as transformative…a fundamental rewiring of how conflicts are fought, won, and lost.
...
Every drone motor, every missile guidance system, every fighter jet turbine starter…all of them depend on rare earth magnets that trace back to Chinese processing. That’s a vulnerability most people haven’t even begun to understand.
...
In fact, China is so incredibly dominant in this space that virtually every rare earth magnet used in Western defense systems, vehicles, electronics, and industrial equipment traces back to Chinese processing.

And China maintains an incredibly strict control over its advantage, as it issues rare earth export licenses on a monthly basis. That means Beijing can throttle supply to any country at any time.

When President Trump threatened 100% tariffs on China, Beijing’s counter was a threat to cut off rare earth exports.
...
That Euclid facility is a critical asset. It is currently the only facility in North America with a proven track record of delivering heavy rare earth metals, alloys, and magnets to government and commercial partners. The team behind it goes back over 40 years, including eight years of hands-on collaboration with U.S. national laboratories and the Defense Logistics Agency.

And the processing technology that feeds it is just as impressive. Where a comparable Chinese facility requires roughly 80 workers running manual operations around the clock, the SRC’s AI-driven system runs the entire separation process with six people. The AI ingests approximately 5,000 data points on a millisecond basis, producing higher-purity metals with greater efficiency than conventional methods. And it does so without any reliance on Chinese technology.
...
By early 2027, the combined platform is expected to produce approximately 525 tonnes per year of neodymium-praseodymium metal, roughly 30 tonnes of dysprosium oxide, and 15 tonnes of terbium oxide. At that scale, the SRC facility would be the largest source of heavy rare earth oxides outside China, sitting right in North America’s backyard.