One Million Reached - Thank You

The number of readers of my blog has reached more than one million over the past four years. And most of those readers have been visitors over the last two years. Readers come from all over the place, notably, Singapore, Brazil, USA, Hong Kong, France, Vietnam and Mexico. 

Don't forget to leave a comment below any of my posts.

Recently, I have been successful selling paperback copies of my books, with a resurgence in physical sales of my science fiction novel, Dana Point. If you enjoy visiting my site, then please consider buying the paperback of Dana Point. I don't allow advertising by third parties on this site, to make reading what I have to say easier.

You can buy Dana Point on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FP5DLJ1

Dana Point by Ken Horlor

Crash 2026?

We are due for a correction and there are a lot of overvalued stocks. AI is a bust, face it, it is often wrong. SpaceX doesn't make a profit, and may never make a profit but it is meant to be highly desirable. We've seen this before: the 1987 stock market crash and then the industrial property crash of the early 90's, the dotcom crash of the late 90's and early 2000's, then the GFC 2008, and now, 2026.

My issue is with the thinking that some companies are too big to fail. Constantly rescuing failed enterprises is a fool's errand. After 2008, all that happened was governments bailed out the chosen few and doubled down. We are living in a bubble. 

Elon Musk isn't a genius: according to some, he's an illegal migrant who should be deported to South Africa. His predictions turn out to be nonsense, and he's never invented anything. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are university dropouts we are expected to listen to. How did these individuals get to be super rich? My explanation is they're all the beneficiaries of taxpayer largesse, one way or the other. 

What I am describing is a situation where we're living on a leaky boat, and the people expected to keep us afloat are only interested in making the holes in the boat larger so it can sink faster. The politicians are owned by these same people, so they'll ignore the leaky boat. When the boat looks to be sinking and going under, they'll blame us. 

Funny - Royal Mail

I wonder if the UK's Royal Mail knows where New Zealand is? Today, I received an expo guide from the Quarrying Institute in Britain, promoting Hillhead 2026, a working quarry show held in Derbyshire every two years. I am a regular attendant, but did not plan on going this year. I received the guide after the show was held, 23-25 June 2026. The envelope was sellotaped together, it had broken in transit.

Normally I would receive such mail well in advance of the event. So I looked at the post mark - Sweden. The origin point was Nottingham, England; so I'm assuming this letter went from England to Sweden first. The mail system saw New Zealand, and thought, oh, Sweden (there is a Zealand in Denmark and the Netherlands, don't know about Sweden). It arrived there, and the Swedes nicely repaired the package and sent it on to the correct destination, New Zealand, on the other side of the world. 

Sweden can find New Zealand, but not the Royal Mail. Imagine the type of people they hire in mail sorting in England!

Prof Keen Explains Inflation

This is a good explanation of what is coming, and how those in charge lack the intellect to deal with it.

This is my way of explaining what he's describing: I want to cut down a tree in my backyard, but my axe handle is broken. I can choose to use the axe with the broken handle, and take a long time, or I can buy a new handle. The new handle costs $20 now, when it used to cost $10. Adjusting interest rates won't make the handle cheaper as energy is used to make all axe handles, and so no matter what I do, I am faced with paying more or going without and taking a long time to cut down that tree. Because all economic output consumes energy, if you restrict the flow of energy, prices rise and consumer behaviour has nothing to do with it.

Some will point out that we have had no shortages of fuel, the stock has always been there when needed. That is correct, but why the price of energy rose is due to the reserves being depleted. When Trump surrendered he appears to have done so after being told that the world had about 90 days of oil reserves left. The world had been running by topping up using reserves. Thus, we saw no empty tanks at gas stations, but in the background the feedstock was running low. 

Now we are faced with trying to rebuild refining capacity in the Gulf, and trying to get shipping back to normal. This may take a year or two. In the wake of that, we may be about to experience a major collapse, along with the AI bubble and all the other bubbles.

40% of Kids Cannot Read

It isn't just the US, this is a problem throughout the English speaking world. AI will make it worse. The children are not reading.

Nigel Farage Takes Victory Lap

Nigel Farage has been the most influential political figure of the twenty-first century in Britain. He was responsible for getting the UK out of the EU, and now he's effectively caused the end of the Labour prime minister. Labour has panicked and parachuted in the mayor of Greater Manchester. Such an undemocratic move just to avoid extinction.

The media are now relentlessly attacking Farage. Those swamp creatures are shameless, but when Reform UK do become part of a government they'd better look out, Farage doesn't strike me as a forgiving type. They've all got it coming.

The below interview is one of the few I could find that let Farage simply speak for himself.

Reinventing Starmer

Watch how the Labour luvvies now try to frame Keir Starmer as competent. For some odd reason, throughout his rise and reign, Starmer was given a free pass. 

Keir Starmer Resigns

Yes, it is happening, finally, the world's worst prime minister ever is calling it quits. Worse than Justin Trudeau, worse than Anthony Albanese, and worse even than Jacinda Ardern. Good riddance.

Makerfield By-Election

The UK Labour Party has a new member of parliament, Andy Burnham, the so-called 'King of the North'. Some pundits are saying Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, may step down almost immediately, effectively anointing Burnham as his successor.

Labour has to do something as, right now, Reform UK are eating their lunch. Reform consistently poll as the most popular, leaving Labour fighting over second place with the Conservatives, and both are distant second.

Reform didn't do too badly in the by-election that saw Burnham elected. The Makerfield seat is a Labour stronghold and yet Reform grew their vote from the last time in 2024. They went for the same candidate and he was relentlessly attacked, as you may expect. But, he proved to be quite popular and Burnham's victory was only possible due to the tactical voting carried out. Voters hate Starmer and so many voters of varying stripes simply voted for the candidate they knew could replace him. Consequently, the LibDem and Green vote collapsed. 

I note 'helpful' criticism of Reform coming from right-of-centre sources. They amount to nothing more than those wishing Reform join them in the swamp. Reform must stay the course and keep doing what they're doing, keep standing non-politicians as candidates and stay on message. With the thousands of local authority councillors they now have, they're well positioned to launch into a campaign for a General Election if one is called soon.

Clever Renewable Energy Idea

The movement of the seas provides a useful source of energy that is fairly consistent. It wouldn't be everything to all men, but this thinking is a start. An obvious problem is that when swells are too large, the energy flow would shut down, much the same way wind farms do. 

Iran Has the US in a Doom Loop

The 'deal' between the US and Iran hands Iran a huge win. Key in all this is the next 60 days. Over that time, while the final deal is being drafted, global oil reserves will be run down more and yet only a trickle of oil will leave the Persian Gulf. Moreover, oil that does get out will take time to process when it arrives at refineries. Iran can simply shut down the Strait of Hormuz again and completely crush its enemies.

Car Mechanics Speak Out

Car mechanics are leaving the industry. Cars are now too complicated, they're also junk, and the manufacturers don't want to pay a fair rate for repairs. 

Some Calling for NBA Finals Officiating to Be Examined

The claim being made is that the NBA Finals refereeing was heavily biased toward the San Antonio Spurs. Presumably, this was to ensure there was a game 6 and 7. If the series went to game 7, a lot of money would be generated. But, the New York Knicks won despite this bias, that's how superior they were (allegedly). What do you think?

France vs England

Was this the moment the San Antonio Spurs sealed their own demise? Victora Wembanyama was born in France, while OG Anunoby was born in England. Many are warning, do not celebrate too early, stay humble. But most seem to have overlooked that when a Frenchman goads an Englishman, things don't usually end well for the Frenchman. Students of history will know this very well.

US Lost the War - Confirmed

Iran did not get everything they were after, but they've clearly won the war that the US started. Before the war, the Strait of Hormuz was open, operating as an international waterway. Now, fees will be paid by commercial vessels transiting, and Israeli vessels can be excluded.

Iran do not get sanctions relief, but half of the money held overseas will be freed up. The Gulf States have guaranteed to pay, thus, if the US do not release the funds, then the Gulf States will pay regardless. Basically, Iran is going to be rolling in cash. That'll make Pakistan, China and Russia very happy as Iran will buy more from them.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/14/iranian-hardliners-in-vociferous-push-to-reject-proposed-peace-deal-with-us

Back to Back Mandated - Who Can Beat the Knicks?

Spike Lee and John Turturro reminisce; 53 years is a long wait.

Knicks Win NBA Title 4-1

Well, they did it, after a long drought. Well done the New York Knickerbockers, 2026 NBA Champions.

Elon Musk First Trillionaire?

I just don't accept that Elon Musk is a trillionaire ($1,000 billion). I figure that's because most of his wealth is derived from the US taxpayer, he's better described as the world's biggest welfare recipient.

Studying Musk, he's only associated with one venture that amounts to anything - Starlink. Starlink has been a game changer for people in remote locations and at sea. But, everything else of his simply doesn't add up.

Take his Tesla cars, they're rubbish and his truck is the worst vehicle ever produced. SpaceX always blows up, his rockets are no good. The Russians are still the only people manufacturing a reliable space vehicle carrying people to the space station. 

Comparing Musk to the likes of Jeff Bezos; the latter actually provides value, a real business. Musk, I predict, will go down in history as the biggest bullshit artist of all time. 

Knicks One Win Away

It looks like the Trump jinx has been lifted with the New York Knickerbockers winning game 4 of the NBA Finals, to go 3-1 up. Many alive today have never seen the Knicks win an NBA title. Now, they're one win away. In the final seconds, OG Anunoby, for the Knicks, pulled off a crucial block to prevent the Spurs from scoring, then at the other end, he made a spectacular tip-in to seal the win.

Kirsten Dodgen

Kirsten Dodgen has gone from being that young woman wearing the green top while dancing in Justin Bieber's video 'Sorry', to travelling the world teaching others how to dance. Many K-Pop groups now use her style.

Ms Dodgen is based in Auckland, New Zealand.