Thursday, Jul 2 - Global Hot Spots

The views and opinions expressed on Talkback are not those of the staff management or advertisers. This is the Montana News Network's Talkback. Join the conversation at 721-1290 or 1-800-568-5309 with producer Nick Christensen and your host, Peter Christian. All right, good morning, everyone, and welcome. It is the Thursday, July 2nd edition of Talkback. Hi, I am Peter Christian. That is the fabulous Nick Christensen. Good morning, Mr. Nick. How you do it? Good morning. All right, and we have a half an hour of open phones, ladies and gentlemen, so take advantage of it. And then at 8.30, we have global hotspots with Dr. Michael Péter Magyar, joining us here in the studio, as he usually does. And then Dr. Mirdat-Kia will be on the phone, University of Montana History Professor. So it's going to be... a very, very fun and active day as we have tomorrow off. Is that right? Yeah, we do. All right. Well, there you go. So right now, though, it's open phones. If there's something on your mind, we'd love to hear from you at 406-721-1290 or 1-800-5-609. Understand we have Emmett already on the line. Emmett, good morning. You're up early, sir. What's up? Yeah, thanks for taking my call. I don't know why I got up early. Maybe was the Lord's wanting me to call on talk back. I don't know. I just said my morning prayers, but I was going to talk about some other things that were important, but I decided to turn on the Fox News. I don't know if this got on the radio news just at the top of the hour. It was very disturbing. I had to call in, what a thing to wake up to. You know what Governor Tim Walz just did yesterday or so? The governor of Minnesota has been under a lot of heat, yes. He pardoned a child sex offender who was convicted of raping a 10-year-old child. He pardoned him because he was an illegal alien, and he said if he pardons him, you know, he won't be able to be deported. I mean, this was on Fox News just now. Can you believe how seconding that is? I mean, I mean, I'm sure all of our listeners are just as appalled. We all hate child molesters, but I mean, just to make a political point against Trump that you would pardon a child rapist, what are these Democrats thinking? And I'm worried about the Democrat socialist in 27 states, not 27 states, but 27 states. Democratic Socialists have been elected, you know, to face off against Republicans in November, but we might be sending hardcore socialist to the Congress and the Senate. Now, if this isn't a wake up called to pray for our country and get involved, I don't know what is. Those same things that they're bringing in Minnesota, they would want to bring to the United States Congress. and I may just, you know, probably, I'm an independent, but I think I just want to vote Republican, straight Republican in November's election. I mean, what would happen if we all turn socialist? Would more horror stories like this continue to happen if there's not a time to pray for our country? And I know it's the Fourth of July weekend. I'm happy about that, too, but keep this nation in your prayers. It's really scary what's going on out there, you know?

All right. Well, thank you so much for the call. We appreciate it. And when we come back from the break, we have Boyd and Maryland both waiting. It is open phones, by the way. And what that means is if there's something on your mind, give us a call. And we'll talk about it. We can do that until 8.30, at which point we'll begin with global hotspots with Dr. Michael Péter Magyar, Dr. Mirdat-Kia. But right now, the floor is all yours. So if there's something on your mind, as Emma just spoke of, just give us a call. 406, 7211290, or 1-800-568-5309. And, of course, we eagerly anticipate, hopefully filling up the phone lines for this first half hour in time for global hotspots. And so we're looking forward to that as well. So Nick, any big plans for the 4th of July? Any for you? I'll be going up to the lake with family hanging out. Good deal. All right. And I'm hoping that everybody will... We'll have some really something fun and something significant going on on the 4th of July as we celebrate America's 250th birthday. And pretty soon America will catch up with me. So I'm not sure how long that's going to be. Anyway, we're going to take a quick break when we come right back. We have Boyd and Maryland standing by.

Talkbackers. Dennis Bragg, with your updated forecast, looking pretty good here heading into the 4th of July weekend, mostly sunny today, warmer with highs back to about 78 degrees, Thursday night partly cloudy with a low around 50. Then on Friday, sunshine, highs getting back up to about 80 degrees, a little bit of a westerly breeze in the afternoon. Friday night remains mostly clear with the low around 50. For the weekend, the Independence Day itself looks to be mainly sunny. A few clouds, there is a slight chance of showers in northwest Montana, but highs near 85. Smiles are powerful. A simple smile can light up a whole room. And for 25 years, smile train has been lighting up the world with smiles. And each smile marks a step towards a brighter future. As the world's largest cleft lip and palate charity, Smile Train has supported more than 2 million life-changing cleft surgeries in over 90 countries, leaving a legacy of resilience, joy, and beaming smiles for generations of children. To learn more about cleft lips and pallets and how Smile Train is supporting the cleft community all over the world, Please visit smiletrain.org slash learn. Smile Train. Lighting up the world with smiles for 25 years. If your community is affected by wildfires, contractors may approach you with incredible promises to help you recover. However, they may be dishonest individuals hoping to take advantage of your situation. Don't be a victim. If you suspect fraud, contact NICB at report insurance fraud.org. A public service message from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

We're rocking right along on Talkback. It's open phones on this Thursday, July the 2nd. Nick Christian said over there, taking your phone calls. I'm Peter Christian. And Boyd, thank you for holding on Talk Back, sir. What's on your mind? Well, in honor of our nation's 250th anniversary of its founding, I thought I would read just a few brief quotes from some of our founding fathers. Just their words, no comment from me. Okay. From Noah Webster, 1828. Literary power and statesmanship were combined in George Washington, the greatest political leader of his time and also the greatest intellectual and moral force of the revolutionary period. Everybody knows Washington is a quiet member of the Virginia Assembly, of the two Continental Congresses, and of the Constitutional Convention. Few people realize that he was also the most voluminous American writer of his period. and that his principles of government have had more influence on the development of the American Commonwealth than those of any other man. From George Washington's farewell address, of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens? Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition. that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. Thank you. Thank you for the call. We appreciate that, sir. Well, said. Marilyn is up next. Hey, Marilyn, good morning. It's good to hear your voice. What's on your mind, ma'am? Okay, well, first of all, I'd like to thank Boyd for that. It's very good. That's the type of stuff we need to be reading and hearing. But I'm coming with some bad news, and maybe you guys already have heard this and know this, but it was kind of news to me. My daughter, we were all from the Seattle area many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many years ago. Got out of there just in time. Anyways, she had an ex-boyfriend over there who became a security guard of a high-rise brand-new apartment building in the heart of Seattle. It was built for the homeless and the drug addicted. He was security guard for that place, and he had come off the streets himself and was trying to not be addicted to drugs anymore. Got hired a security guard. So he told her that... He was, so these people in their apartments there, they all had their own apartment, this high-rise beautiful, they had their own housekeepers to come and pick up the trash. Wow. They got delivered three meals a day, brought to their room. They got drugs delivered to them. In fact, this security guard guy, her ex-boyfriend, was the one that delivered the drugs to them. Wow. And loaded up needles and smoking crack or their drug of choice.

Um, she urged him to document this. And instead, he fell back into drug addiction himself. And, um, so, you know, we keep hearing. I appreciate Walt Caro's, uh, fraud reports that he's giving us. We all know there's a whole bunch of fraud that needs to be exposed and needs to stop. And, um. And I know Benny Johnson has been reporting on this type of thing happening in L.A., and I'm, you know, who knows, probably happening in Missoula, and Billings and Bozeman, and who knows, Helen, I don't know, we're all over the country probably. But it's awful. And, you know, what, we're $40 trillion in debt now, and the rest of us, we're trying to work and make a living out here and pay our taxes and obey the laws, and yet this is going on. And the Marxists and the communists and the Socialists. politicians, they are reaping the benefits from this, and it's not helping the homeless or the drug addicted, I don't think. All right. Marilyn, keep your chin up. Thanks for the call. We appreciate it. Jeff is standing by. Jeff, good morning. You're on Talkback. Go ahead, please. Hey, good morning, Peter. Good morning, Nick. Good morning, Montana. I woke up this morning to an article, a tweet. that said that a member of the Wisconsin, let's see, exactly, then we say it exactly, Wisconsin Democrat staffer Tejad de la Rue falling on activists to kill your local Republican. She has a video with that in the background. Oh, my heavens. And she says, we are going to make this the moderate position for the state of Wisconsin. The moderate position. The moderate is to kill your local Republican. I guess this extreme would be to kill Republicans everywhere. I don't know. I just don't remember anybody on the Republican side saying kill your local Democrat. I don't know. You know, just... Silly me. But I wanted to actually, this is the last day will be on the radio before Independence Day. Yes, sir. I came across the story that was really cool. It was that both, and I knew this, but it reminded me that both, was it James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson died on the 4th of July 1826. exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And that's when the Declaration of Independence became actually a revered document. At that point, it was just pretty much accepted. So that's when the country pretty much took it in as a special document. And I just want to end with this, that... Donald Trump is the richest president ever, but do you know who the second richest president was? I'm sure you'll tell us. Was it George Washington? It was George. He had about $550 million of wealth in today's term. It was mostly locked up in land, so he was land rich and cash poor. And he did own slaves, too, so I'm not going to pass over that.

George and Don are the two richest presidents of the United States. So happy Independence Day, everyone. Good to know. Thanks for the call. We're going to come right back, and we have Dave standing by, and other phone lines are open until 8.30, of course, and then it'll be global hotspots with Mirdad and Michael from 830 until 10. So stay with us here on Talkback. Smiles are powerful. A simple smile can light up a whole room. And for 25 years, Smile Train has been lighting up the world with smiles. And each smile marks a step towards a brighter future. As the world's largest cleft lip and palate charity, Smile Train has supported more than 2 million life-changing cleft surgeries in over 90 countries, leaving a legacy of resilience, joy, and beaming smiles for generations of children. To learn more about cleft lips and pallets and how SmileTrain is supporting the cleft community all over the world, please visit Smiletrain.org slash learn. SmileTrain, lighting up the world with smiles for 25 years. Every act of change begins with a neighbor, with someone saying, We take care of each other here. In food banks and food pantries, neighbors pack fresh food and dignity into every box, moving food from farms to families through feeding America's nationwide network. So when that box reaches a home, it carries more than food. It carries a promise. that together we can end hunger. Feeding America, led by neighbors. Take action to end hunger now at feedingamerica.org.

Oh, yeah. We are back on talk back on this Thursday, July 2nd. Let's get right to the phones and say good morning to Dave. Dave, good morning, sir. Thanks for holding. Go ahead, please. Yes, about Donald Trump, first of all. Sure, he is a very wealthy man, but he's made $2 billion while he's been in office. And he has done that by his sons investing in Bitcoins. And he is known all along. He gets a statement every day on where his money is. and what it's doing. So he has full knowledge of it. He doesn't control it, but his sons do. And so before, he has pushed Bitcoins and he's made a lot of money off it. As far as... Republicans never trying to kill Democrats. Well, there was a big mob that tried, invaded the Capitol building and tried to hang Nancy Pelosi. So I question that premise. And finally, as far as, you know, I heard a story today that a nun. Honor away. to church was arrested and thrown in jail. And, you know, I am concerned about the radicalism on both sides. What was the charge, do you know? Well, there was questions about her... status as a citizen. Okay. All right. So she was picked up and thrown in jail. I mean, they could have done a lot of things. They could have given her a warning. She told her to show up for hearing or what have you, but no, they picked her up off the street while she was heading for church and threw her in jail. And let me ask you a question. Was she wearing her habit? At the time, or was she just dressed in civilian clothes or what? I'm not sure of it, but I assume she was dressed in her habit. I've seen nuns on the street before. They generally wear their habit all the time, but I can't guarantee that. But I am concerned about radicalism on both sides, not just the Democrats and what they do, but the Republicans that they... You know, we need moderation in this country. We need to listen to each other, and we need to... you know, reevaluate, you know, how we talk to people and try to come to some accommodations. I mean, this radicalist war between the conservatives and the liberals is just way out of hand. I think it's time for Dave to run for office. Thanks for the call. Appreciate it, Matt. All right, Francis from Big Fork is on the line. Francis, good morning, and thanks for holding. You're on top. Good morning. Go ahead, please, ma'am. Yes.

Well, I was talking, I was just reading about the Revolutionary War. And the biggest vicious attackers were the ministers. And they had even, they burned down churches. And there was one group called the Black Militia. And that was the Black Robe Mendelisha. And they had the British put rewards to kill them because they were, they were just keep going, just like Washington. And even if the things didn't have good uniforms, they didn't have nothing. They didn't even have enough food half the time. They kept fighting. And that's because they believed in God. I'm just looking at this online. It says the black robed regimen or the black regiment refers to influential 18th century American clergyman who supported the American Revolution. The British coined the term as a derisive nod to the black clerical robes the pastors wore, blaming them for inciting independence. Okay, what's your name? Yes. It's amazing. Well, thank you for the call. Yeah, it is. Thank you for the call, ma'am. All right, you got it. You're welcome. Thank you for the call, ma'am. Let's get Mark on the line. Mark, good morning. You're on Talkback. Go ahead, please. Hello, Mark. Are you there? Yeah, Mark, are you there? Yeah, you have a caller. It calls in daily two or three times a day. The spout is. hate for Trump and Israelis, you know, and he brags about being a professor or a student of history. But, you know, I was a student of math. I was a C-minus student. So think about that, Dave. All right. Okay, thanks for the call. All right. So shall we go take our break now? And what do you know? Well, we have a hard break coming up at about a minute and a half. Yeah, but joining us in the studio when we come back from the break at the bottom of the hour, it's going to be global hotspots. Dr. Michael Péter Magyar is already in the studio with us this morning. And Dr. Mirdadkia will be joining us from the University of Montana. So all that coming up. for you here in the next few minutes. So we're looking forward to that. And I think we're out of time for open phones right now. But as we begin to transition to global hotspots, we encourage you to give us a call. And especially you have a question for our two experts who, one in the studio, one on the phone, Mirdad, and Michael, looking forward to that we always do when they're here with us. You can pod mic on real quick. And Mike, if you want to tell us what we're going to be talking about today. Oh, yeah, Mike, please. I don't know. There's lots of stuff we could talk about. obviously business with Iran keeps going on their change of of leadership in Great Britain there's an election in Hungary that we haven't talked about on the air so there are a lot of things that we can talk about well I tell you sometimes we get fixated on one particular thing and then the the calls start coming in and we keep going along with it but that's the way it goes it's a big globe out there yes it is

And there's lots, lots going on. So, again, we appreciate the fact that Mirdad and Michael are willing to share their expertise with us. And we're going to get into global hotspots when we return from our commercial break. 406-7211290 is our number, the Montana Talks Radio Network. We're going to come right back with global hotspots right after this. Just cream. Dennis Bragg with your updated forecast looking pretty good here heading into the 4th of July weekend mostly sunny today warmer with highs back to about 78 degrees Thursday night partly cloudy with a low around 50 then on Friday sunshine highs getting back up to about 80 degrees a little bit of a westerly breeze in the afternoon Friday night remains mostly clear with the low around 50 for the weekend the Independence Day itself looks to be mainly sunny a few clouds there is a slight chance of showers in northwest Montana but highs near 85 Smiles are powerful. A simple smile can light up a whole room. And for 25 years, smile train has been lighting up the world with smiles. And each smile marks a step towards a brighter future. As the world's largest cleft lip and palate charity, Smile Train has supported more than 2 million life-changing cleft surgeries in over 90 countries, leaving a legacy of resilience, joy, and beaming smiles for generations of children. To learn more about cleft lips and pallets and how SmileTrain is supporting the cleft community all over the world, please visit Smiletrain.org slash learn. SmileTrain, lighting up the world with smiles for 25 years. When faced with complex challenges, there are people who come together to solve problems and transform lives. That's us. We are Rotary. We work with community partners to build green spaces for all to connect with nature. and each other. We support local youth through mentorship and literacy programs. We're committed to causes that improve lives everywhere. Learn more at rotary.org slash action. On America's darkest day, 9-11, our nation vowed to never forget. Let's keep that promise through education, remembrance, and honoring America's heroes and the families they leave behind. Head to t2t.org to learn more.

We are back on Talkback. And it is time now, officially, for global hotspots. I want to say good morning to Dr. Mirdakia, joining us on the phone. Good morning. Dr. Kia, how are you, sir? Good morning, Peter. Good morning, Nick. Good morning. Professor Michael Péter Magyar, my good friend. Yeah, University of Montana Professor Emeritus, Dr. Michael Péter Magyar, joining us here in studio this morning. All right, gentlemen, let's set the table. What's going on? Go ahead, man. Well, I think we can start in a lot of places, but first, let me start with really a big heartfelt wish for the 4th of July, the upcoming 4th of July. We were originally scheduled for next week, but we switched to today because of the long week following Fourth of July. I want to wish all our listeners a very happy Fourth of July. It's really a special privilege to be a member of this American family and celebrate this wonderful day. the independence of the United States and of course all the festivities that will come with it because of a special year that it is but also as a fanatical soccer fan may also you mean you mean football right I can attest to that he even got me to watch some soccer I congratulate the amazing, I have to say, the amazing U.S. soccer team, which kept the World Cup dream alive with win over a great team, a great European team, Bosnia-Herzegovina. And yesterday, despite the fact that we got a red card, which was... You know, red cards are given mostly for fouls, and that was completely unintentional. The referee went with, you know, a kind of a call like that, but they kept a dream by winning two zero, and now for the first time they're entering the 16, round of 16, which is really the elite. So it shows that soccer is growing and establishing itself. And may we stop the... hotspot in the United States by saying that despite all the negative coverage in the European media, and even in other parts of the world, the people who are coming to cheer for their teams from South America, Central America, Africa, Asia, Europe, across the globe, Oceania, and so on and so forth. They are realizing what a great country it is. I'm hearing from all sorts of people how amazed they are about this country. The diversity of food, the hospitality of the people, the beauty of the cities and the places they have visited.

Because, you know, they hear one thing, all these horror stories from United States in their media, especially media outlets like BBC and so on and so forth. And they come and they see what a great country. The Scottish fans were very, very impressed by the number of bars. And so on. I'm a bit joking, of course. But it shows what an amazing place this country is. And Mirdah, don't forget the grocery stores. And don't forget ranch dressing. Apparently, Europeans really like that. A lot of people are discovering. This incredible diversity of American culinary, you know, practices. And really, but what amazes everyone, you know, the Dutch bring the orange bars, you know, tens of thousands of people come and they tour from one city to another, and their great team played, of course, unfortunately, for me, which, you know, I really love the style of soccer they play. They were eliminated by another amazing team, Morocco. But, you know, the Dutch visitors, the Dutch... fans. They were amazed by, if you read the accounts, by how kind the American people are and how amazing the various cities they visited had been from the scenery to the food and so on and so forth. So instead of being always down on our country, I think it's time to celebrate. How great it is. Absolutely. And we're just a few seconds away from a hard break, and we do have a caller waiting to visit. Catherine, I appreciate it if you hold during the break. And by the way, this is global hotspots with Dr. Michael Péter Magyar here in the studio, Dr. Meredith-Kia on the phone. And there's lots, lots and lots to talk about. Of course, your calls really add to the flavor of the program. So we're going to come right back after this quick time out. A number 406-72112-90, 1-8-6-8-5-6-8. 3309 here on the Montana Talks Radio Network. Busy bees cleaning.

Welcome back, everybody, to Global Hot Spots with Dr. Michael Péter Magyar here in the studio here at KGVO and Dr. Mirdat Kia joining us on the phone this morning. So, gentlemen, the floor is yours. Set the table. Oh, we have Catherine on the line. I'm sorry. Catherine, good morning. Thanks for holding. You're on Talkback. Go ahead, please. The morning. So I was wondering, is the IRGC actually starting to fracture a bit because of... the increase in fighting along the border with the Kurds. Is there an actual unification growing amongst the Iranian opposition? And also Iran has indicted Prince Reza Pahlavi Fulavi and others who are broadcasting internationally. They're trying to shut them down. Is this an indication that perhaps the regime is fracturing a bit more and possibility is increasing of an actual coup maybe sometime happening? Yeah, Catherine, thank you very much for your question. IRGC, of course, is Islamic Revolution regards the elite force that protects the Iranian regime, and now it has become inseparable from the regime. I mean, this present regime with its supreme leader, Khomeini, gone. Excuse me, it has become a military dictatorship. And IRGC basically has monopoly over power. The military coup doesn't seem to be an option because you don't stage a military coup against yourself. Basically, they run everything. So a military coup against the IRGC dominated government is highly unlikely. But you're absolutely correct. The fractures are there. The opposition has grown much stronger and much more unified. They are very concerned about that. So you will see this on your TV screens, especially because CNN has been allowed to cover it. They're going to throw a huge funeral for Khomeini in the coming days. And I want to give you a heads up that this is going to be the big... propaganda show. They're going to bring the body first to Tehran. And somebody asked me a very good question, by the way. What is left of that body? Nothing, basically. So what is in that coffin is probably, I don't know what. I think it's an empty coffin, basically. But they're going to bring it and they're going to use it to mobilize their forces. They have brought, I know, thousands of buses from the neighboring countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq. They have also brought folks from Lebanon. All their proxies are there in order to add to the participation numbers. And they have also required from all government staff officials.

and all members of the armed forces to participate with their families, to basically project a sort of a million man, a million women, sort of a funeral for the supreme leader in order to generate some kind of unity and an impression of their power. And also, of course, discourage the people on the ground because the overwhelming majority of the population despise them. They want to send a message to the world that they're still there. They have popularity. They want to send a message to the population that despite our weakness and unpopularity, we still have enough muscle to stay in power. In other words, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Right. So you go ahead, Mike, please. Yeah, I was just going to say, I mean, I think that that's an important point because Meredith and I have said for those people who have been listening to us for a long time that one possibility might have been a military coup by the regular military. But as Meredith said, it looks less and less likely that the... the power seems to have been largely monopolized by the Revolutionary Guard. Yeah. And I think in the end what you will see is a military junta of some sort, a military council. And the person, I think, who is emerging as the top guy is this Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was the former member. of IRGC and is now supposedly the Speaker of the Parliament. I mean, the word Parliament doesn't make any sense because there hasn't been any election, but he is what he is. There are a couple others. I want our listeners to remember this name. Vahidi, V-A-H-I-D-I-D-I. Vah-I-D-I-D-I is a wanted terrorist because he was the planner for the attack on Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, I believe. And, you know, here is this guy. who is a wanted terrorist and he's emerging as a second man, you know, behind Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. So these are all IRGC commanders, and they're basically monopolizing. And there is no clergyman anymore, as Khomey was, who would play them against one another. This time it's basically a totalitarian militaristic regime. We have about a minute. Michael, go ahead, please. Yeah, well, assuming there aren't any calls, I mean, one of the things that I think we can talk about when we come back, we should talk about, is the British government, such as it is, because since we last talked about this, Labor lost local elections in massive numbers, and Labor basically deposed Keir Starmer.

and is uh putting andy burnham it looks like uh in his place um and you know we can talk about what what that might mean You bet. The phone lines are open. By the way, this is global hotspots. If you have a question or a comment for our guests, we would love to hear from you at 406, 7212.191, 1-800-5609. Joining us on the phone in case you just joined us, Dr. Mirdat-Kia, University of Montana History Professor, and Dr. Michael Friedrich Merz, University of Montana, Professor Emeritus. And we are going to continue, hopefully, with your phone calls as well, at 406-7-1-12-90 or 1-8-5-6. 8-5309. We're coming right back after this quick timeout here on the Montana Talks Radio Network.

Celebrate our... The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well-being at soundedouttogether.org. That's sounded outtogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal. Welcome back. It's global hotspots on Talkback, and we continue now with Dr. Michael Péter Magyar joining us here in the studio, Dr. Mirdat Kea on the phone, and we do have Emmett, who's been waiting through the break. Emmett, good morning. What's your question for our guests? Oh, thanks for taking my call again. Well, my question is about Iran, since we were talking about Iran briefly, I'm really confused about the war or the peace deal between Trump and leaders of Iran. American targets. Then we have backdoor channels of diplomacy, but Donald Trump is also saying, you know, if Iran strikes continue, we may have to obliterate Iran, but now their backdoor talks again. I think there's something more going on behind the scenes that we're not being told about because it's so on again, off again. Do you know anything more about what's going on in the mind of the Ayatollah? in the mind of Donald Trump, or is this a lot of classified stuff? It's something to do with an electioneer or all three. If you could answer any of those questions, reading the tea leaves, because I don't know if anyone of us knows what's really going on, but if you have any thoughts. Thanks for the call, Emmett. Gentlemen, go ahead, please. Yeah, I think that nobody, of course, knows what is going on in the minds of Iran's new supreme leader, the son of Adi Khomeini, who was killed. in the first strike against Iran in the recent war. We don't even know if this new so-called supreme leader is alive. They tell us he's alive, but he has been wounded, so he needs time to recover. But nobody has heard him. There is no audio. Nobody has seen him. We are told that he is in hiding and he's under a huge amount of security umbrella. Maybe he would show up now for the funeral of his father. But don't hold your breath because we don't know if this guy is even real or fictional. We are living in a different world these days. The other thing that is fascinating is, of course, Emmett's great point is really hitting the nail on the head. What's going on with this White House and this administration? To be very blunt with you, I think that we should not take whatever comes out of our president's mouth with regard to this issue, at least, very seriously.

At least the world is not taking it very seriously because he said he will obliterate them, then he was negotiating with them, and then when they started tracking shipping in the Persian Gulf, he still threatens them. I think that until November... We will have the same kind of cat and mouse game. They will try to violate the temporary peace agreement they have signed, and the United States might wage an attack here or there, but there will not be an all-out war for simple reasons. Elections are coming in this country. And the oil prices is a huge issue. Yes. And any war will cause, you know, a jump in oil prices. Oil prices have to do a lot with inflation. And that needs to be controlled, of course. And to be very blunt with you, at least the popular media on the liberal and the left side has portrayed this as a non-popular war. So I think the president is under pressure to play a kind of wait and see game until November. What will happen after November? I'm not sure. But as long as we have this kind of situation. that elections are prominent and important. Fourth of July is coming. We have a World Cup going. The president does not want an odd-out war during all these events. So for that reason, I think we have to wait and see. until after the November election. I would imagine that the president and all those involved in that area are happy about these distractions because it removes the telescopic, or the microscopic eye on what's happening in that area. Yeah, but excuse me, but only to an extent, obviously, people are still concerned, as Emmett's call indicates, they're concerned about what's going on, what's going to happen with this trade of Hormuz, and therefore oil prices. And as Meredith said, I mean, all of that plays into the election coming up in November. And I think the administration is kind of torn. They'd like to get this off. the agenda before the election, and yet the Iranians know this too, and they're not likely to let things settle in a very tidy manner before the elections. And so it really is, as Meredith said, a cat and mouse game that will probably continue for lack of a better option from Trump's perspective or the administration's perspective. And I think the other thing is that

Americans tend to make this mistake in negotiating particularly with sort of insanely tyrannical regimes. And that is they assume everybody else is like us. You know, we're all the same. And that they're rational and that they're making it. From our perspective and our sense of rationality, you can't project that onto this group of leaders. We are only half an hour into global hotspots that we have another hour yet to come. So if you'd like to get in the queue, when we come back at the top of the next hour, give us a call. 406-721-1290 or 1-800-6-8-5309. Again, thanks so much for joining us right here on Talkback on the Montana Talk. radio network coming back right after the top of the hour.

The views and opinions expressed on Talkback are not those of the staff management or advertisers. This is the Montana News Network's Talkback. Join the conversation at 721-1290 or 1-800-5609 with producer Nick Christensen and your host, Peter Christian. Welcome back, everybody. Hour number two of this Thursday, July 2nd edition of Talkback is rolling right along. Nick Christensen over there, taking your phone calls. I'm Peter Christian, and joining us on the phone this morning for Global Hot Spots. Our Dr. Michael Péter Magyar here at the studio and Dr. Mirdad Kia. And gentlemen, we have had folks waiting on the phone for the top of the hour break. Helena is standing by. Helena, good morning. You're on Talkback on Global Hot Spots. Go ahead, please. Yeah, thank you for taking my call. I had to step away for a minute. I'm not sure if these questions have been covered. I'm calling about the current situation in the Middle East in general, and specifically what's going on with the Gulf states in relation to the military intervention between the U.S. and Iran. I know some were getting attacked by Iran. What is the status of that currently? And also the Lebanon situation, I understand there was a peace agreement of some kind negotiated in Washington between Israel and Lebanon. And what's the status of that and how will that affect the larger situation over in the Gulf? Thank you. Two very good questions, gentlemen. Very good questions. Meredith, how about if I start with Lebanon? You start with the Gulf states. The question of Israel and Lebanon is an incredibly complicated one, obviously, but the issue is that Hezbollah... sends rockets and other sorts of attacks and drones and so on to attack Israel. Israel retaliates and Hezbollah is in Lebanon. This is a situation that's gone on for a very long time now. And the problem is that the Lebanese government has never had either the ability or the will to take on Hezbollah. and stop the cause of the Israeli retaliations and now occupation of southern Lebanon. So this is an interesting development. I mean, what these talks purport to do is to set up an arrangement by which Lebanon is going to take responsibility for ensuring security in these areas. How that's going to happen is going to be interesting. I mean, the Israelis are going to provide training and equipment as the United States? How is this going to come about? And if that does, is Lebanon willing to do it anyway? But if they can pull this off, it would be an amazing thing. But lots of people have tried in the past, and it's proved to be very difficult. Mirdab, we have about 90 seconds. Go ahead, please. Yeah, I think the issue with Lebanon has my...

stated very clearly. It's not about the issue of government of Lebanon versus Israel. It's the fact that Lebanon is being used by a foreign country, named the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a staging ground for attacks against Israel by its own proxy, Hezbollah. And as long as Hezbollah is operative. I think Israel will retaliate and will keep some of the territory that has occupied in southern Lebanon under its control because of the threats to its security. As far as the Persian Gulf states are concerned, we cannot put them all in one bag. They have different approaches. United Arab Emirates has been attacked more than Israel by Iran, and it has become a target of systematic attacks by the Iranian government. Whereas, for example, Qatar has been actually very much on the Iranian side. and trying to mediate between the United States and Iran. And with that, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we have Dave who's been waiting very patiently. We'll get him on. When we come back, all of our other phone lines are open, by the way, for global hotspots at 406-721290 or 1-800-5-309. Thanks for joining us on Talkback Statewide on the Montana Talks Radio Network.

The Sapphire Loop. Dennis Bragg, with your updated forecast, looking pretty good here heading into the 4th of July weekend, mostly sunny today, warmer with highs back to about 78 degrees, Thursday night partly cloudy with the low around 50. Then on Friday, sunshine, highs getting back up to about 80 degrees, a little bit of a westerly breeze in the afternoon. Friday night remains mostly clear with the low around 50. For the weekend, the Independence Day itself looks to be mainly sunny. A few clouds, there is a slight chance of showers in northwest Montana, but highs near 85. When I deploy. I didn't realize that even the air we were breathing was dangerous. Veterans like us are now eligible for new VA care and benefits based on when and where we served. Apply today. Visit VA.gov slash P-A-C-T.

Everyone listening across the state of Montana to global hotspots with Dr. Michael Péter Magyar, University of Montana Professor Emeritus and Dr. Mirdad Kea on the phone, a University of Montana History Professor. We do this at least once a month just to keep track of what's going on in the world. The program is called Global Hot Spots. And so we welcome all of our newer listeners to this program. We encourage you to give us a call. Sparks a question 406, 7211290s. Our number of 1805668-5309. And with that, Dr. Kia, Dr. Mayor, the floor is yours, please. Mayor, you wanted to talk. I want to go back to what Mike also mentioned, which is... The situation in Europe and the fact that we have at least one Prime Minister, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, being pushed out in anticipation of an upcoming election, probably. The Labour Party in England is in a crisis, and its popularity has basically... sunk, you know, and it is really in a very bad shape. So I think the Labor Party thought maybe by changing the decoration, they may be able to bounce back. But it doesn't seem to have that much of an impact. And we will see an election is bound to come soon. But that's not where it all stops. I think France is also going through the same, so the process. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, very unpopular in France, and everybody basically has given him either D minus or F as great for performance. The economy is in a very bad shape and inflation very high, and of course government spending skyrocketing. And if you take that across the continent, I think you have a few exceptions. For example, Italy is doing better, but you have a kind of a wind of change. blowing and I wanted to sort of also ask Mike if he wanted to comment on Hungary because that's a very important situation Viktor Orban who was on the right he lost to a candidate who is also moderately conservative but that's another sort of issue that we need to cover

Yeah, I think both of those, as we talked about a little earlier, are worth discussing. But starting with the British situation, in the elections for local government, the city councils and mayors and so on. The Labor Party had about 1,700 seats at the beginning of those elections. They now have about 700, about 750, I think it is. And in contrast, Reform, Nigel Farage's party started with just a handful of seats and now has about 1,200 seats. I mean, they won overwhelmingly. And that's reflected in the fact that... Poll after poll taking the last number of months shows that if the election were held on that particular day, not only would reform have the largest number of votes, but if you split it up by parliamentary districts, they would actually have a majority of parliament. The conservatives are a tiny, tiny rump of what they used to be, and labor is now... you know, not very popular, as Meridaud said. And they're hoping that Andy Burnham, who's the replacement for Keir Starmer, will be a more appealing figure. And in some ways, he probably is. He's not quite as stiff and unapproachable as Keir Starmer, and he's not as uncomfortable in his own skin. But he's basically the same, he's from the same wing of the party. The policies will be the same for those who aren't familiar with him because he's been. out of national politics for about a decade. He was in Parliament. He ran for the leader of labor a couple of times and lost once to Ed Miliband, once to Jeremy Corbyn. But he left Parliament to become mayor of Manchester in 2017 and just re-entered Parliament a few weeks ago in time to be able to be a member and challenge for the leadership. He... He's like so many of the other British leaders, educated at Cambridge, but he identifies himself as a socialist, and given the disastrous performance of labor in these last elections, it was obvious that Keir Starmer was going to be gone. Americans have to realize that it's not like our presidential elections. The chief executive, the prime minister, is a member of parliament. Right. And he's the leader of the majority, either the majority party or a party that can cobble a coalition together. I don't know that they'll have early elections because it's not to their advantage to do so. They can still wait a couple of years to hold an election. But labor is very unpopular at the moment, and they clearly did not want Keir Starmer to lead them into the next election. So they deposed him, and they're hoping that maybe things will smooth out a little bit before they actually have to call an election. But it's important to, again,

Burnham identifies himself as a socialist, probably at least as strongly as Keir Starmer did. And he's very much pro-Europe. He hasn't taken a position officially on whether... Britain should rejoin the European Union, but he says that they should, in the long term, it would be a good idea. And so he's pro-Europe, he's suspicious of America, more so I think even than Keir Starmer. And so Keir Starmer made an effort to try to get along with Trump and so on. So I think it's, as Meredith said, it's like changing the deck chairs on the Titanic. And we are coming up against a break. I want to encourage all the folks. who are just joining us across the state of Montana in case what is this program? Well, this is called Global Hot Spots. Dr. Michael Péter Magyar joining us here in the studio this morning, University of Montana Professor Emeritus, University of Montana History Professor Dr. Mirdad Kea joining us on the phone. And we are looking at the entire world. Things that are going on. That's why it's called Global Hot Spots. And we encourage you to give us a call if you have a question or comment for our two specialists. We'd love to have you get on the phone with us at 4.0. 7-1-1290 or 1-800-5609. Of course, now we're statewide on the Montana Talks Radio Network. Looking forward to hearing from all of you. And we come back from the break right after this quick timeout. So please stay with us.

Montana State News Network. I'm Dennis Brank. There is some good news as we head into the July 4th weekend. According to preliminary crash data from the Montana Highway Patrol, there have been 65 fatalities on Montana highways as we hit the midway point of 2026. That's through July 1st. For the same period in 2025, there have been 86 fatalities recorded. The Montana Department of Transportation notes that those figures are based on ongoing investigations and should be considered preliminary and subject to change. Montana remains free of invasive muscles, but the threat is moving closer. As we move into the heart of the summer boating season, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is reporting today on that case we mentioned a few days ago that invasive quagga mussels have been detected in Oregon's Prineville reservoir. Meanwhile, officials in North Dakota and South Dakota have now confirmed new zebra muscle infestations in several regional lakes. FWP's aquatic invasive species bureau chief, Tom Wolfe, says the situation makes it more important now than... ever that boaters in Montana follow the clean drain and dry protocol before entering Montana waters. So far this year, inspectors have checked over 42,000 watercraft across the state, uncovering 16 vessels carrying invasive hitchhikers. Remember, you can learn more about protecting Montana's waterways at fwp.mt.com. And remember, it is the law to stop at those check stations with your boats. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks is seeking public comment on a unique proposal in Fergus County. The department is looking to purchase a 99-year conservation easement on the 3,600-acre Hanna Ranch, which is located on the western foothills of the big snowy mountains. The project aims to protect critical deer and elk habitat while significantly increasing public access to the far western edge of the 120,000-acre big snowy National Forest Range. If approved, this would be the first easement of its kind for FWP, potentially serving as a new model for future habitat and access projects. This is the Montana State News Network. The Motor Vehicle Division is helping Montana's celebrate America's 250th birthday by waiving many driver license and ID fees in July, including renewals, replacement real IDs, and CDL credentials to give Montanaans the opportunity to add the new citizenship marker to their license. It's an opportunity to renew expired cards, update your information, and celebrate America's hard-fought freedom. Celebrate America's 250th with the Montana MBD. Go to MVMT.gov for all the... Are you ready to take back Montana's future? Americans for Prosperity is building a grassroots movement to restore Montana's prosperity. We're fighting to cut property taxes, expand school choice, and eliminate job-killing regulations, but we can't do it without you. Join us today. Take action, knock on doors, make calls, influence lawmakers, be a part of the movement that's putting power back in the hands of Montanans. Sign up now at AmericansforProsperity.org, paid for by Americans for... prosperity. Hey, welcome back to talk back. Glad to have you along on this edition of Global Hot Spots. Dr. Mirdad Kea joining us on the phone, Dr. Michael Mayor, here in the studio this morning, and folks have been waiting on the phone to talk with you, gentlemen. Dave is first. Dave, good morning. Please go ahead.

Yes, first of all, I have a question at the end, but there was an interview a while back by John Bolton. And he, in that interview, he said that he, when he came into office, he tried to convince Donald Trump to send military-style weapons to the opposition people in. in Iran and maybe in Lebanon too, to fight the Itola regime. And Trump shut that down. Now, now on to the bomb. You know, from the experts I have heard from, that Iran had at the time enough nuclear material 60%. great nuclear material to make a bomb. But the bomb would have been a big bomb, like the one that was dropped in Hiroshima. But it was a bomb. But it would have to be delivered maybe by a ship or something. And as such, the Itola kept shooting it down, saying no, that he refused to let them have a bomb. And I'm just curious what you have to say about that. All right. Thanks for the call. If you're depending on the last Ayatollah to make sure that Iran wasn't going to have or use a bomb, I'll talk to you about some land in Florida after the show. Okay. But in terms, first of all, there's a jumble of stuff there in what Dave said. Iran had enough. uranium enriched at 60%, which is not quite weapons grade. Is that what's true as fissionable material? Yeah, but it's not, it's not. It's not quite weapons grade, which is 90%, but the jump from 60 to 90 is not a large one. It's very small. It can be done very quickly. They had a lot of centrifuges spinning away. And so they weren't that far. And so while the Ayatollah could say, you know, we're not going to have a bomb, they were working on, they were very close to building when they had enough material for apparently about 11 bombs. And so they were developing. nuclear weapons. And just to think about, you don't need 60% uranium if you're not going to build a bomb. About 3.5% or 4% is what is needed for civilian use to make electricity or something. So you don't go to 30%, which is a big jump unless you're thinking about weapons. And you certainly don't jump to the next level, which is around 60% without being very serious about it, which in fact they were. And so I think, again, you know, when you're looking at this stuff, facts actually do matter. And you need to pay attention to the realities of these things. I mean, they had enough.

weapons, and they were very close, to be able to convert that into weapons. Now, enough are about 11 bombs, and that would have been absolutely devastating, and you combine that with the development that had been going on for a decade of their missile program. This is not a nation that has no intent ever of using a bomb or developing a bomb or whatever, and think how dangerous some things like October 7th would have been if Iran had had a nuclear. your umbrella. So those are all things that you need to consider. Merida, you can take it, I think, from there. Yeah, I think, I mean, Dave's point is well taken in terms of, is it real? Is it that they really want it? Or were they kind of playing with it as a card? And I think the answer is very simple. Though they have said, that the former leader, Khomey, had issued a fatwa, a religious edict, a religious declaration, that they should not go toward the bomb. They can say that as long as much as they want, but in reality, their policies show that all along they wanted a bomb. They said that they wanted it as a substitute for oil. Because when oil runs out, they need alternative energy and so on and so forth. But they haven't done anything with nuclear power plants. other than working on the bomb. I mean, this is the problem. Weaponization and all these sort of processes have been underway for years now, and they have brought some of the most advanced technology in order to make it a reality. When, you know, you have a government that basically says, We want to destroy a member of the United Nations in the region, namely in this case, Israel. We want to arm Hamas, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, and in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen, and that we support the attacks on this particular country, namely Israel. You know that if they had the bomb, they would use it. And I don't think there is any mystery there at all. And I think, as Mike mentioned, from 60 to 90s, a very quick jump. And weaponization was very much in their plans. Well, gentlemen, we are coming up against a break, and the phone lines are pretty full. We've got Chris from Columbia Falls standing by. Rick and Jeff are also waiting to comment. And in case you just joined us, this is global hotspots, ladies and gentlemen, and we are discussing some of the meteor subjects that are going on around the world specifically right now in the Middle East. And if you have a question or a comment, please feel free to give us a call. 406-7211290 or 1-800.

5658-5309. We're looking forward to coming back and getting all these folks on and you as well. So please give us a call as Talkback will continue right here on the Montana Talks Radio Network. Don't be... Smiles are powerful. A simple smile can light up a whole room. And for 25 years, smile train has been lighting up the world with smiles. And each smile marks a step towards a brighter future. As the world's largest cleft lip and palate charity, Smile Train has supported more than 2 million life-changing cleft surgeries in over 90 countries, leaving a legacy of resilience, joy, and beaming smiles for generations of children. To learn more about cleft lips and pallets and how SmileTrain is supporting the cleft community all over the world, please visit Smiletrain.org slash learn. SmileTrain, lighting up the world with smiles for 25 years. Small businesses are the heart of America. Like you. These entrepreneurs started out with a dream and a drive to build a better life. If you have a small business idea to grow or challenge to face, you don't have to go it alone. Since 1964, SCOR has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses. Today, they are the nation's largest nonprofit source of expert mentoring, resources, and education. Whether you're starting out, building back, or have worked at it for years. Score will match you with specialized mentors. Our thousands of volunteers provide the guidance and connections you need for free. Your success is waiting. Score is ready to help. Find a mentor today at score.org. Maybe it was a family vacation. or a school field trip. But there you were, standing in awe at a National Park. We are the National Park Foundation, and together with you, we're creating a future where every person, every generation, gets their chance at an unforgettable moment. Today, tomorrow, forever. Donate at national parks.org slash foundation.

All right, welcome back to talk back. It's global hotspots here in the studio. It's Dr. Michael Péter Magyar on the phone, Dr. Mirdad Kea. And folks have been waiting very patiently on the phone to chime in. So Chris from Columbia Falls, good morning. Thanks for holding, sir. Good morning. I hope you guys are having a good time. You bet. I'm going to give you a good time. You know, I wonder far too much with how much of this Americanism we've given up. You know, maybe we need Paul. to give the rest of the story. An issue that came up last week and, I guess, in last month, was basically, you know, that if people come into this country, not as immigrants, but as law-abiding people that come in here, they're allowed to have, if they're having a baby to be a citizen of the United States. But they keep saying. It's the truth. It is not the truth entirely. And why aren't the news media reporting this?

So if they want to be the President of the United States because they have been given the right, you know, the right of this country to be a citizen, which just sounds like it's just a nice thing, you know, they don't have a right because the Constitution says they have to, you know, they have to, you know, when they become president or anything else, they have to become a citizen, but they have to swear by the oath. And those who come in lawfully have to do the same thing. Even as a Boy Scout, you have to, you know, on my honor, I will do my best to give my duty to God my country. So what is this thing going on? I mean, how far do you want to carry this? in your country that you can't allow this kind of tyranny to come in here, tablodge, you know, that it's not true.

Right. Thank you for the call, sir. We appreciate a gentleman. Thanks. Chris raised a couple of important issues, and I think he is referring to the recent Supreme Court decision about birthright citizenship and also Zohran Mamdani's refusal to follow the direction of the federal government. And he's got a point on both. The question of birthright citizenship is a little complicated. The 14th Amendment says very explicitly, all persons born or naturalized in the United States. And it was, it also says in subject to the jurisdiction thereof. It was intended to make citizens of former slaves and their children. They never anticipated the situation that we face now with this, and particularly in the last several years with this mass wave of illegal immigration. They certainly didn't anticipate that, and it doesn't cover that. On the other hand, the language of the 14th Amendment is clear, at least up to a point. When they say subject to the jurisdiction thereof, they mean, for example, The children of diplomats would not be covered because they're subject to the jurisdiction of their country. They're not subject to American laws. If you come into the country, you are covered by American law. You're bound to follow the law. So both sides tend to take sort of exaggerated positions on this. Keep in mind that the Constitution was written by common lawyers, people who, you know, lawyers who practiced British common law. About two-thirds of the signers of the Constitution were that. And when you interpret a law or a statute or the Constitution in traditional British common law, you look first to the plain language of the statute, then to the intent of the legislature. And the plain language of the statute is that. That's what the Supreme Court basically was saying and dealing with. They weren't saying it was a good idea. They weren't saying that, you know, to let everybody in and make, you know, have birth tourism and all these other things. But they're saying that the Constitution, the language of the Constitution is clear. All right. We're going to, we're up against a break. We're going to go right back. And we have Rick, Jeff, Catherine, and, of course, Dr. Mirdad Kea on the phone here in the studio, Dr. Michael Péter Magyar. In case you just joined us, we are, this is global hotspots. We do this once a month and kick around things that are happening all over the world. So we'd love to hear from you. 4.06, 721, 12, 90. We'll be right back. After this quick time out on the Montana Talks Radio Network.

blowing out your birthday candles should be easy but if you have undiagnosed COPD you may find yourself short of breath early diagnosis and treatment can add years to your life if you have symptoms like wheezing or chronic cough Talk to your doctor and visit COPDFoundation.org today. The impact of a meal goes well beyond feeding our bodies. Because when people are fed, futures are nourished. And with your help, together we can end hunger. Join the movement at feedingamerica.org slash act now. Brought to you by Feeding America and the Ad Council. Welcome back to talk back, everybody. And I'm Peter Christian, Mr. Nick Christensen, taking your phone calls this morning. And global hotspots underway with Dr. Mirdad Kea on the phone. And Dr. Michael Péter Magyar joining us here in the studio this morning. And, oh, please, you want to do. Yeah. One quick point before we, because we got a lot of callers. Thank you. But going back to Chris's question about federalism, you know, about whether. mayors are bound by federal law. Yes, they are. If the Constitution didn't settle that, the Civil War did, and we certainly resettled that issue in the 1950s when local authorities, governors, mayors, and so on defied the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate schools and the federal government enforced federal law. All right, there you go. Rick is standing by. Rick, good morning. Thanks for holding. Go ahead, please. Yes, I have a question for mainly Dr. Kia. I listen to Tusi TV every night on TV, and I was wondering, in your opinion, is he a reliable source for information inside Iran? And if he is, who is he financed by? And he reported that seven, like two days ago, seven more? High-ranking officials of the Iranian government were killed. Two officers in intelligence by the Kurds. The officers that they killed were the ones in charge of killing all the protesters. a few months back, and then there was a military officer killed, and all this has both been done inside Iran. Do your sources know anything about that, and is this 2CTV guy a reliable source? Thank you. Thanks for the call. Thanks for holding so long. Please go ahead. Beer, Dad. Thank you very much for your excellent question. 2CTV, I've listened to him. many times. You know, no one, I have to tell you, no one who covers Iran is 100% truthful proof.

But he comes close to it. He runs a good show. He tries to cover as much information as there is out there, and some of it is not shared in the popular media. What he's referring to is the number of IRGC Revolutionary Guards, commanders, and officers who have died recently. Now, it's very interesting because... A couple of them actually died in what the government claimed to be car accidents. But in Iran, you know, car accidents can be car accidents or can be, you know, attacks, basically, by the opposition. So he believes that these are actually more planned attacks, whereas the government insists that there may have been accidents. But so many accidents in such a short period of time is pretty suspicious, and that's why. It kind of messes up with the actuarial tables, doesn't it? Yeah, I think that you will see, what I can tell you is that you will see many more armed attacks. individual attacks on government officials and commanders, as this regime has made it impossible for peaceful protests to have any impact because they crushed them. And I think the Kurds will play an important role. But now, if you want to kind of put this down, this is important, the opposition has created what is called in Persian, Gordon I Javidon, which is... Eternal guards, you know, eternal guards, as some of you have studied ancient history, know who have read Herodotus' histories, no, eternal gods were the special gods of the ancient Persian kings. They never went down below 10,000. If one died, somebody would replace them immediately, and they were the most elite gods. This eternal gods... is basically an internal Iranian organization created by the opposition to target governmental and IRGC targets. And we are receiving more reports of such attacks against government targets. And I wouldn't be surprised if they intensify an increase. All right. Let's get another call in. This is Jeff. Jeff, thanks for holding. You're on global hotspots. Go ahead, please. Hey, good morning again. Good morning, Mirad. Good morning, Mike. Several questions. First of all, a comment. Commercial reactors, mostly use is a fuel called HALU, which is high-assayed, low-enriched uranium, and that is 3% to 5%. The only folks who use highly enriched uranium in nuclear reactors are the U.S. Navy. And that's because they're on submarines. They need a lot of power in a small bunch and a small source. So their reactors are designed to be small and highly enriched. But commercial, 3 to 5%. A couple of questions for you. I look at Lebanon, and I'm wondering what keeps Hezboa?

operating there. What is it the poverty of the rest of Lebanon and they provide money to people and that's where the loyalty comes from? And or is it something else? And then also, do you know of any plans? One of my hopes had been for Iran is that there was a covert plan using the CIA to bring in weapons through a poorest border and arm the populace. And do you know if any of that has happened or, I mean, I don't know if you have any special sources mere dad, but I wish I did still, but can you talk to that at all? Well, I'll tell you what, we have a little less than a minute in this hard time segment. So we're going to come right back and we'll have Mirdad and Michael answer that. And in case you just joined us all across the Montana Talks Radio Network, this is Global Hot Spots. And Dr. Michael Mayor, University of Montana Professor Emeritus, and Dr. Mirdad Kea, University of Montana History Professor, very generously donating their time to talk about these things and help to inform. all of Montana now about what's going on all across the world, specifically in the global hotspots. They also host a show called the KGVO Book Club, which is, you know, we'll talk about that later on in the show. So if you have a question or a comment, we hope that you'll call us at 406-721290 or 1-8005-609. And again, a big thank you to Dr. Mayor and Dr. Keir for sharing their time. When we come back, we have Catherine waiting to visit with you, gentlemen. other phone lines are open at 406-721219 or 1-800-5-609. We're going to answer Jeff's questions when we come back after the break. Talk backers. Donors choose. Support a classroom. Did you know that every year public school teachers spend nearly $500 of their own money for student supplies? Let's do the math. That comes out to over $1.2 billion a year. And that's just not right. At Donors Choose, we want students and teachers to have the tools they need for a great education. And now, more than ever, they need your help. Here's what you can do. Go to DonorsChoose.org and choose from teachers' requests that support reading, math, science, history, and more. Once a request is funded, we'll take care of shipping everything directly to the teacher. It's that easy. You'll receive thank you letters and photos from students and teachers and a report of how every dollar was spent. Teachers' needs have never been greater. Learn more at donorschew.org. Donors choose. Support a classroom. Build the future. My name is Emma. After a car accident left me paralyzed, Canine Companions teamed me up with my service dog Garcia. For 50 years, Canine Companions has been teaming dogs together with those who need them the most. Visit canine.org to change lives.

All right, welcome back to talk back, global hotspots in our final segment now. And Jeff had some very interesting things to talk about. So Michael and Mirdat, please, if you could address that. Well, with respect to Hesbel and Lebanon, what keeps them going is really one word, which is Iran. And Mardad can elaborate on that probably better than I can. Yeah, so in terms of Islam, of course, they were created by Iran as an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards of Iran. You know, that's a great question. What really motivates them is because Lebanon is going through severe economic crisis. And here comes a country, a government, I should say, the Iranian government, which basically, even when you go to war with Israel, Israel came and attacked Islamullah targets, buildings, homes were destroyed. And within nine months, Iran had rebuilt. an entire, you know, new town, basically, with very, I would say, chic apartments, two, three bedrooms, two bats, two sort of garage. And who has that in Lebanon? No one. And Hezbollah gets it because of the Iranian, you know, financial investment. And of course, monthly payments are almost like salary if you go and fight in the name of Shia Islam, which is the brand of Islam, that the Iranian government and Hezbollah belong to. And so, yeah, it's, you know, terrorism, basically, I've been saying this. I think Mike has been saying is the same. Terrorism is a thing. Terrorism is a big business. And Hezbollah has made tons of money. I urge you to look at Hassan Nasrullah, the former head of Hezbollah, who was killed by the Israelis, saying, and I'm basically paraphrasing, but very close. from our undergarments, which means underwear, whatever T-shirt, whatever, all the way to our homes, our guns, and our explosives are provided by the Islamic regime in Iran, and we have no existence separate from that government in Tehran. Well, let's try to get one more call in. This is Catherine's been holding a while. Catherine, thank you for your patience. Go ahead. Okay, good morning. Again. So I wanted to ask you what you thought of the rise of the DSA in America. You know, they've already run a seat in Colorado in addition to the New York contingent there.

And Democrats are welcoming the Socialists into the party. And the DSA platform includes abolishing police, emptying prisons, decriminalizing, drug, sex, and homelessness, and squatting, rewriting the Constitution to abolish the Senate and Electoral College, replace President's Supreme Court, and replace them with an executive and a judiciary subordinate and chosen by Congress. For non-citizens, abolish the ice, open borders, abolish capitalism, nationalized banks, insurance, real estate, finance, utilities, et cetera. Abolish fossil fuels, socialized agriculture. Catherine, we're running out of time. Yeah, okay. That is on their website. That is their platform. What do you think? Thank you for the call. About two minutes, gentlemen. Yeah, well, just real briefly, they're winning seats that are heavily in areas that are heavily Democratic, congressional districts that are heavily Democratic, which means they'll be elected, whether they can win in... you know, statewide is a different question. They will be a headache for whoever is speaker or the Democratic leader in the House in particular. And since we're just about out of time, we want to let the book club, people know that the next book club, which will be the third Monday of the month, is a book by Elise Stefanik, S-T-E-F-A-N-I-K. Some of you may remember her. She was in Congress, and she questioned some of the leaders of Kay Ivey League schools. And the book is titled Poisoned Kay Ivey's. And it's a critical look at the political and other situation in the Kay Ivey Leagues. It's published by Threshold Editions, which is a division of Simon & Schuster. I'm surprised nobody's thought of that title for a book previously. I mean, that's pretty clever. That's pretty smart. Myrida, any final thoughts from you, sir, before we let you go? No, it's just, I have to say this, it's really fun. to be with you and Nick, Peter, and to have this 90 minutes sharing our thoughts and our limited knowledge of things with our wonderful listeners. So once again, happy 4th of July to all of our listeners. And I hope that it's a very enjoyable one. Wonderful. Michael. Same thing. I wish everybody a happy Fourth of July. Go out, enjoy it. Give some thought to what it actually means. You bet. Mr. Nick, please. Yeah, so tomorrow we will not be here. So we'll have a best of show. The first hour eight to nine will be our interview with. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudson, and then 9 to 10, it'll be our interview with State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner James Brown from earlier. We'll be back live on Monday. And then on that morning, 8 to 9, we'll do open phones. And then from 9 to 10, it'll be Rob Nadelson.

our constitutional scholar. All right. So again, thanks to everyone. And I hope that everybody has a safe and happy 4th of July. Just remember what it's all about, ladies and gentlemen. We live in a free country and we need to do everything we can to keep it going. So again, to Mirdad and Michael, thank you so much for being with us. And thanks to all of you and thanks to Nick as well. For putting this together. We're going to have tomorrow off and we'll see you again on Monday. Have a great weekend at God Bless America.