Wold’s No. 11
Optimism for Optimus
The race for releasing general-purpose robots for sale is on. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced that his Optimus robot “has the potential to be more significant than [Tesla’s] vehicle business over time.” In December 2023, the 5-foot-8, 125-pound Optimus 2.0 was shown to do perform complex tasks such as dancing and poaching an egg and was reported to be able to carry objects up to 45 pounds. Musk said he is planning a limited production of Optimus robots to be used first at Tesla facilities in 2025 and other companies in 2026. The robots price is estimated to be at around $30,000. The projected first tasks for Optimus are those that are “dangerous, repetitive and boring.” Tesla’s competitor in the field of humanoid robots is Boston Dynamics, funded by DARPA. Its Atlas robot is estimated to be sold for $150,000.
What after Iran?
Fall of Iran will not mean the end of wars in the Middle East. According to General Wesley Clark US military had plans for Iranian regime change as early as September 2001. “We’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” said Gen. Clark about being alerted to the plan. While it took 24 years to completely destroy Syria, Iran regime tippling is well underway. There are signals of plans for continuation of the region’s destabilization. When the Iran regime falls due to US, Israeli and likely Afghani efforts there are other countries that have been moved up on the regime change list. They are Qatar, Pakistan with its nuclear arsenal and Turkey with region’s largest military.
Coincidence of Drones
Operation Spiderweb and Israeli drone attacks on Iran had some striking similarities in never before seen, surprise military drone warfare operations, suggesting Israel involvement in the Ukraine Russian war. The June 1, 2025 Operation Spiderweb utilized quadrocopter drones with explosives that were smuggled in 40 foot containers to the vicinity of Russian long range air force bases. Five bases, some as far as Mongolian border, were targeted and Ukrainians destroyed around 20 Russian airplanes. As many as 117 first-person view drones were used using AI to overcome time delay from such long distances. While president Zelenskyy stated that the preparation took 18 months, only 12 days later, in the night of June 13, Israel’s Mossad launched assassination operations. The drones and quadrocopters launched inside Iran killed estimated 10 Iran senior military commanders and 16 Iranian nuclear scientists as they slept in their homes.
Habemus Papam
On May 8, 2025, Robert Francis Prevost, a cardinal with US and Peruvian passports, was elected pope and took the name Pope Leo XIV. The election took place on the fourth vote of the conclave to elect the pope after the death of Jorge Bergoglio. Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from North America, the first pope from the Order of Saint Augustine and the second one to speak English as a native. Prevost was born south of Chicago in 1955, and he is the first baby boomer pope. He has a bachelor of science degree in mathematics, a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Canon Law. Since the 1980s, he lived and served in Peru when and in 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Chiclayo. In 2023, Prevost was created a cardinal-deacon, and in February 2025, Francis promoted Prevost to be cardinal-bishop.bishop.
