I highly recommend episode 591 (July 20, 2023) of “The Megyn Kelly Show.” She does a great, detailed, longform interview with the two, IRS whistleblowers; Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Both men remain highly professional and impartial despite a litany of facts that make it extraordinarily apparent that there is tremendous rot in the deep state.
Kelly is one of the best journalist/interviewers active today. She is intelligent and fearless. Her show is often very informative, but this episode, in particular, is well worth one’s time. You can find it on youtube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listening to the two IRS whistleblowers and their congressional testimony I was reminded of something that comes up time, and time again.
Most all politicians are loyal to their party above their constituents. I become more and more convinced that political parties, especially two and only two viable parties, is one of the biggest issues destroying our nation’s economy and jeopardizing human rights.
Much of the preface to a 1928 play by George Barnard Shaw is still applicable to the US today…
I am going to ask you to begin our study of Democracy by considering it first as a big balloon, filled with gas or hot air, and sent up so that you shall be kept looking up at the sky whilst other people are picking your pockets. When the balloon comes down to earth every five years or so you are invited to get into the basket if you can throw out one of the people who are sitting tightly in it; but as you can afford neither the time nor the money, and there are forty millions of you and hardly room for six hundred in the basket, the balloon goes up again with much the same lot in it and leaves you where you were before….
…if we cannot control our governors, can we not at least choose them and change them if they do not suit?
Let me invent a primitive example of democratic choice. It is always best to take imaginary examples: they offend nobody. Imagine then that we are the inhabitants of a village. We have to elect somebody for the office of postman. There are several candidates; but one stands out conspicuously… we elect him triumphantly; and he is duly installed, uniformed, provided with a red bicycle, and given a batch of letters to deliver. As his motive in seeking the post has been pure ambition, he has not thought much beforehand about his duties; and it now occurs to him for the first time that he cannot read. So he hires a boy to come round with him and read the addresses. The boy conceals himself in the lane whilst the postman delivers the letters at the house, takes the Christmas boxes, and gets the whole credit of the transaction. In course of time he dies with a high reputation for efficiency in the discharge of his duties; and we elect another equally illiterate successor on similar grounds. But by this time the boy has grown up and become an institution. He presents himself to the new postman as an established and indispensable feature of the postal system, and finally becomes recognized and paid by the village as such.
Here you have the perfect image of a popularly elected Cabinet Minister and the Civil Service department over which he presides. It may work very well; for our postman, though illiterate, may be a very capable fellow; and the boy who reads the addresses for him may be quite incapable of doing anything more. But this does not always happen. Whether it happens or not, the system is not a democratic reality: it is a democratic illusion. The boy, when he has ability to take advantage of the situation, is the master of the man. The person elected to do the work is not really doing it: he is a popular humbug who is merely doing what a permanent official tells him to do. That is how it comes about that we are now governed by a Civil Service which has such enormous power that its regulations are taking the place of the laws of England, though some of them are made for the convenience of the officials without the slightest regard to the convenience or even the rights of the public.
@Rufus T. Firefly:Most all politicians are loyal to their party above their constituents
If this actually were true, I think things would be less bad than they are now. Most of the politicians at a national level are loyal to each other in a non-transparent way that crosses party lines. If the Republicans in the House and Senate, for example, were always voting in a lockstepped bloc, conservative principles would have been much more advanced than they have been, and likewise for the Dems and their principles.
The parties’ leaderships, and a plurality of each party, is willing to work together to frustrate the will of all their constituents and to protect the system by which they buy influence for themselves using our money. The illusion of a two-party system is the tool that keeps each parties’ base engaged.
But it’s more of a three-party system, really. The largest party is the lizard people, hogs at the trough, whatever you want to call them, found in both parties but mostly Democrats. Then there’s the principled, or ideological if you prefer, wings of each party, who get bones thrown to them from time to time in exchange for their support on the appropriations.
Shaw was a dedicated Stalinist. He also spoke favorably of Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler. He set the modern template for a long line of Irish leftist big-mouth polemicists of which Bono is a recent example.
P.S. He was overrated as a playwright too.
English banks denied Farage access to the banking system because of his politics. In the US, Obama’s administration forced banks to shut down access to legal businesses that Democrats didn’t like. Just one small aspect of the way they seek to fundamentally transform America and the world.
These are nasty, vile people. It may not be possible for normal, sane people to imagine how anyone can think this is appropriate behavior. But we should make the effort. Because when we do, we can get at least a bit of understanding of just how severe the moral defect required for lefties to think the way they do.
No humility. No belief in equality or diversity. No ability to understand the golden rule. No recognition that they might be capable of error.
Do they think they are God? Seriously. What do they imagine gives them the moral superiority to abuse others as they do?
[or to demand that people who didn’t get the jab be imprisoned or have their children taken away? The examples keep piling higher.]
signature bank notably blocked trump, they went out of business,
trolloppe is a better guide than shaw,
the national health service, that shaw argued for, puts the government in control over every citizen, it is the 3rd largest organization in the world,
(7/21/23)
12 ALLEGATIONS AGAINST JOE BRIBEN (sic) IN FBI INFORMANT DOC
I sort-of agree with you regarding the two parties cooperating, but in recent years the Democrat party rarely bends to meet Republicans half-way.
Congressional hearings are a perfect example of the issue. Each one of the Congressmen in attendance were elected to represent the interests of their constituents and took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Yet they all nearly always behave like prosecution or defense attorneys in a hearing. If it’s a Republican tilted hearing the Democrats act like prosecuting attorneys. If it’s a Democrat tilted hearing the Republicans act like prosecuting attorneys.
There are endless examples over the past, several years, but COVID is very apt. It’s a non-political, unthinking virus and Congress, the entire Congress, should want to have as much accurate information as possible to aid their constituents. But the hearings all devolve into partisan politics. If mask wearing makes the other party look good, we’re against it. If opening schools make the other party look good, we’re against it.
It’s absolutely disgusting. Dangerous, and also results in them wasting incomprehensible amounts of money while devaluing the U.S. currency.
where it matters, they make sure certain priorities, are upheld, see pilots are not rehired in the faa reauthorization,
they vomited a flood of cash, that failed to go to the right people, and rewarded those that didn’t need it,
Matt Vespa over at Townhall has a great summary of what we all been saying about the virtually complete media blackout on the Biden whistleblowers.
I know we’ve beat this dead horse for years now, but unless this media dam can be busted, I don’t see much hope for the future.
“Both sides do it” is pointless. I can easily see who lies not only with practiced ease, but with gusto, and it informs my loyalties.
@Rufus T. Firefly:but in recent years the Democrat party rarely bends to meet Republicans half-way.
That’s ok, because the Republican leadership is usually willing to do what’s needed to meet the Dems at the 3/4 mark. The last two debt ceiling raises being only the most egregious examples.
@IrishOtter49:Shaw was a dedicated Stalinist. He also spoke favorably of Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler.
The true things he said are nonetheless true. And you may be disappointed by the list of historical figures who praised any or all of these three people in the 1920s and 1930s.
As between Rufus T. Firefly and Frederick, I stand primarily with Mr. Firefly. The issue is ideology. I think the left, including most elected Democrats, see modern United States politics as a battle between good and evil. It’s just a bonus that so many of them can do well by doing (what they perceive as) good.
A real uniparty trying to protect its own graft wouldn’t be trying to defund the police, or end cash bail, or pay reparations for slavery that ended nearly ten generations ago. The interest of the uniparty would be in stability, at least a minimal level of stability that would allow it to keep the trough full. I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing.
And that, frankly, is what I see to be the primary problem with Trump’s approach. Trump is, more or less, flipping all the tables over. That could be an effective approach if up against ordinary corruption – the kind that you would just need to shine a light on. But that’s not what we’re up against.
Shaw also contributed one of RFK’s favorite lines – “Some people look at what is and ask why, I look at what never was and ask why not?” Although in Shaw’s play, the line was uttered by the serpent in his attempt to tempt Adam and Eve. That’s very fitting, but RFK never bothered to mention it.
And you may be disappointed by the list of historical figures who praised any or all of these three people in the 1920s and 1930s.
Gee, really? There were others?
There’s “Party Loyalty”, which both parties practice. But the Democrats, due to their long time association with the Union movement, step it up a few notches with “Solidarity”, which is much more existential. Solidarity is much more coercive.
On a separate subject, I’m glad to see the uproar over _Small Town_, song and video. The song, and, more importantly, the backlash against the backlash, is a warning shot to the inhabitants of the Acela Corridor bubble, reminding them that there are more armed citizens than police and military combined. It will encourage them to reconsider going kinetic.
read hollander’s political pilgrims for a short list, among mussolini there was a smaller cohort,
no keep the foundations, but they are rotten to the core, in academia, in media in corporate america,
miguel, re”read hollander’s political pilgrims for a short list”:
I was being sarcastic.
@Bauxite:The interest of the uniparty would be in stability, at least a minimal level of stability that would allow it to keep the trough full. I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing.
I think that’s exactly what we’ve seen, in Congress. In places where one party completely dominates, such as California or Seattle, you do see the “defund the police” and “reparations”.
For example, in the last debt ceiling the Lefists Dems in Congress opposed the deal, as did the conservative Republicans. In the second to last debt ceiling deal, Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer worked together to nuke the Republican filibuster.
buddhaha:
With respect, I would advise conservatives not to underestimate the willingness and capabilities of leftists for engaging in kinetic action. They too are well armed, and have repeatedly used violence to further their aims. I always get nervous when I hear people on the right talk about the ease with which they will crush leftists in the event of a civil war, or something approximating a civil war. In fact, and disturbingly, it strikes me that the right talks like this a lot while it is the left that seems be walking the walk when it comes to violent action.
buddhaha and IrishOtter49 are discussing this song:
I think it’s a tremendous song on its own but also as a marker in the culture wars. I suggest giving it a listen on both counts.
I always get nervous when I hear people on the right talk about the ease with which they will crush leftists in the event of a civil war, or something approximating a civil war.
IrishOtter49:
Me too.
I don’t worry about the Antifa/BLM zombies so much. But if Der Biden or a successor calls out the military and law enforcement to put down the right, my forecast is 80% compliance or more.
Which would be a bloodbath.
Geez, what a tough song to call. My problem with “Small Town” is the refrain:
__________________________
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
‘Round here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town.
–Jason Aldean, “Try That In A Small Town”
__________________________
I believe I understand what Aldean is saying here, but for anyone who was around for the Civil Rights movement or was educated in the lore thereof, it’s hard not to get flashbacks
However, much like the case of Trump, I don’t require that Aldean tailor his lyrics to satisfy current hard left sensibilities.
huxley-
I worry about the 80% compliance also, but consider that the other 20% could render the 80% powerless with little difficulty. It would not be difficult for a few appropriately distributed of the 20% to take out the comms and vehicles of the 80%. It would also be easy to isolate the big cities where the strength of the 80% lies. After 3 days with no food and no power, the big blue cities would be begging for mercy.
I agree, it would be a bloodbath, and a tragedy, but my money would be on the 20% side coming out victorious (whatever that would mean).
huxley:
I agree.
I no longer trust our military to do the right thing. And I no longer believe that it is capable of winning wars at any level, big or small; but that it is quite capable of obeying orders to suppress internal dissent by force of arms.
I’d recommend we take a break from the Fedposting* about who’d take who in a fight; not only are none of us as anonymous as we think we are, neo isn’t anonymous at all, and her blog hosting will be delighted to tell the Feds anything they want to know, and banks are happy to lean on anyone the Feds tell them to…
*If you don’t know what this is look it up. I don’t recommend using Google though.
It would also be easy to isolate the big cities . . .
I think not.
After 3 days with no food and no power, the big blue cities would be begging for mercy.
People outside the big blue cities would soon face logistical difficulties equally dire in their scope and effect. Think about it. And consider that big city populations would not just be sitting on their collectives hands begging for mercy. They’ll probably decide to do something about their plight. Like, striking out at their enemies outside the cities.
Frederick:
No one is anonymous anymore. And the “Feds” already know all about me.
Anyone else noticing that the sleazy Bill Barr is getting sleazier and sleazier by the moment. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail. Along with hundreds of other traitors to their nation and their oaths.
Enemies of the people.
which is a real reach, we saw how the feds covered for this domestic insurgency,
the redux of sds and the black liberation army,
so if they had just used footage of north beirut, portland, being mortared for 90 days, that happened in this country, this is what is considered ‘mostly peaceful’ protests. whereas a mostly peaceful redress of grievances was called an ‘insurrection’ it’s like rubix cube level of standards,
he was loyal to his tribe, which is not ours,
it is rather staggering the depth of ignorance that reveals itself on twitter,
No one is anonymous anymore. And the “Feds” already know all about me.
–IrishOtter49
SSDD.
They knew about me when I was a troublemaker on the left….
Jordan Rivers says, “‘Barbie’ is played by a man.”
In other culture wars news, Dylan Mulvaney is looking for speaking gigs on college campuses: “University and College friends! I am booking speaking opportunities for the upcoming 23/24 school year and would love to come visit.” Mulvaney wrote, along with a link to Creative Arts Agency’s (CAA) email about speaking inquiries. CAA’s website described Mulvaney as a “Trans Actress and Content Creator” specializing in topics such as LGBTQIA+ advocacy, social media, women’s empowerment [!!!–ed.] and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
A salutary lesson on how cities can dominate and destroy rebellious rural populations is provided by the Soviet program to collectivize agriculture in the Ukraine in the early 1930s. The peasants in the countryside at first resisted collectivization by withholding grain from the cities, and the central government responded by deploying army and police units to seize the crops by force. The peasants fought back as best they could but were overpowered by the better equipped, better organized, and numerically superior government forces. The result was the Holodomor: the death by starvation and murder through military action of at least 5 million Ukrainians and perhaps as many as 10 million — all in the space of a couple of years.
Barbie is played by a man.
–Jordan Rivers
Not exactly. Barbieland is a world of Barbie (and Ken) variations. Dr. Barbie is only one:
______________________________
Margot Robbie as Stereotypical Barbie
Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie
Issa Rae as President Barbie
Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie
Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie
Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie
Sharon Rooney as Lawyer Barbie
Ana Cruz Kayne as Judge Barbie
Dua Lipa as the Mermaid Barbies
Nicola Coughlan as Diplomat Barbie
Ritu Arya as Journalist Barbie
Marisa Abela as Princess Barbie
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_(film)
I have no doubt that, at least for the first few weeks of kinetic action by the Army, FBI, armed IRS agents, and the Park Service swat team(s), they will be “sucessful” 90+% of the time. After that, it will not be cost free.
But that’s not where the danger to the left’s objectives will be; it will be in the large number of deer hunters who yearly take a human sized mammal at ranges over a hundred yards, and the availability of beer bottles, rags, and gasoline. The upper levels of the government may be immune, but a lot of mid-level bureaucrats who are the conduit of illegal orders will be removed. Those people recognize this, and, even if they’re in agreement with the objectives, they will act as a dampener on implementation.
A salutary lesson on how cities can dominate and destroy rebellious rural populations
IrishOtter49:
“CoEvolution Quarterly,” a post-hippie-commune magazine, provided a similar analysis of how it might be a mistake to be rural instead of urban when the Whatever Hits the Fan.
that project ought to be a vienna and geneva convention violation, they really hate their audience that much,
buddhaha, re and the availability of beer bottles, rags, and gasoline.
How long do you think gasoline will be available, keeping in mind that it comes from refineries generally located in urban areas?
The notion of plucky rural partisans armed with deer rifles and store-bought semi-automatic AR-15 rifles conducting a successful resistance by hurling Molotov cocktails at M1 Main Battle Tanks is rather fantastical, to say the least.
buddhaha:
I’m not a war game, military history guy.
However, I am arguing that IMO many on the right are entirely too sanguine that “we’ve got the guns and we’ve got the numbers” if it comes down to civil war.
If it comes to that, it will be horrible and it probably won’t be settled easily either way. Though my money is on Washington.
The notion of plucky rural partisans armed with deer rifles and store-bought semi-automatic AR-15 rifles conducting a successful resistance by hurling Molotov cocktails at M1 Main Battle Tanks is rather fantastical, to say the least.
IrishOtter49:
It sounds like someone didn’t see “Red Dawn.” 🙂
______________________________
The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance of Soviet, Warsaw Pact and Latin American states. The story follows a group of teenaged guerillas, known as the Wolverines, in Soviet-occupied Colorado.
In “Red Dawn” the Wolverines were, in fact, defeated by the occupying forces. At the end all were dead, missing and presumed dead, or had fled to “Free America.” The occupiers still occupied their home town and, presumably, much of North America. And, finally, Milius is ambiguous concerning which side, if any, “won” the war, and on what terms.
so ultimately we lost the Cold War, an alien camarilla (to our customs our history, the basic precepts of science) took over, the details are almost beside the point,
I mean would the army of political officers, be doing anything different, like locusts they burn down corrupt everything that works,
IrishOtter49:
The ending didn’t seem ambiguous to me:
_________________________________
In the closing scene, a plaque is seen with Partisan Rock in the background. It is fenced off and an American flag flies nearby implying that the United States won the war. The plaque reads:
… In the early days of World War III, guerrillas – mostly children – placed the names of their lost upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives, so “that this nation shall not perish from the earth.
the terrorists immobilized major cities, they faced some local resistance,
huxley:
I recall the girl narrator saying words to the effect that “all wars end” without specifying that the U.S. was entirely victorious — an odd omission, it seems to me — or what victory entailed. This seems ambiguous to me. Was the invader driven wholly from our soil? Again, it seems odd — ambiguous if you will — that as bellicose an individual as Milius would nnot say that this was the outcome if in fact he thought that such outcome would not be realistic.
Bauxite writes, “As between Rufus T. Firefly and Frederick, I stand primarily with Mr. Firefly.”
In that case, I stand firmly opposed to this Firefly character. I refuse to belong to any club that would have me as a member. 😉
miguel:
Which terrorists?
IrishOtter49,
I get where you’re coming from, vis a vis Shaw’s politics, but I think he was one of the best English language playwright’s of the 20th century, the first half certainly.
And, Shaw said and wrote some crazy stuff, but if I were an adult in the early, 20th century it seems likely I would have seen a lot of good in what the socialists and communists were doing. I’m a staunch, anti-monarchist and there were Americans living in vile conditions. Men living in literal gilded towers while the men that were the cogs in the wheels of their industries were barely paid a living wage and cast aside if injured. Upton Sinclair’s, “Jungle” is a fairly accurate portrayal of conditions in Chicago’s stockyards.
To ascribe to those philosophies in 2023, with the data we have of how humans behave under such systems, is ignorant, at best. But GBS didn’t have the benefit of hindsight that we have.
In that case, I stand firmly opposed to this Firefly character.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Bauxite walked right into that one! 🙂
RE: Lying to your face
Watch as Biden looks down at the notes on his lap and mumbles and stumbles his way through his recent WH discussion with the Israeli President (note the Israeli President’s WTF look into the cameras)*
Then, see as Presidential spokesman John Kirby tells a bald-faced, flat-out lie about the quality of President Biden’s performance in his discussion with the Israeli President. **
I guess Kirby believes that few people actually saw a clip of Biden’s abysmal performance, that most people will take him at this word and, as for the few who saw the clip and who are actually informed, fork them.
As for his abilities as a playwright and man of letters: we’ll have to agree to disagree. I find him tediously didactic, hectoring, and obvious — hence, ultimately, a bore, and stupid to boot.
The Holodomor was the Communists following a long, historical practice of physical repression of the peasantry by the government, a large part of which was making sure said peasantry was unarmed.
In the last 3 years+, over 1 million AR-15s have been purchased, [b) per month![/] That’s more than 40M [b]new[/b].
Do the math: “Turn ’em in, or else!” MA has had an under 20% compliance rate, but let’s assume 80%. That leaves 5M in the wild. Let’s assume that the feds can assemble 10000 swat teams, which is highly exaggerated, and, also highly exaggerated, can execute 5 seizures a day. 100 days to get them assuming that every member of every team survives. The Resistance will have firmed up long before that.
huxley @ 3:39pm,
Such are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others. I will not be bought! (but I can be rented)
huxley,
Two questions:
A. I apologize if you or PA Cat have already discussed this on a prior thread, but have you seen the French film, “Petite Maman?” Several of the Fireflies did and said it is very well done. May be a nice way to practice francaise.
II) How is French learning coming along? Are you still an advocate of the read and don’t converse method?
IrishOtter49 and Huxley-
Yes it will be bloody, on both sides, every war is, but somebody “wins”.
I give you Yugoslavia, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. Talk to any Afghan or Iraq vet and ask them what they think of a “kick in the door” campaign.
IrishOtter49,
How do you feel about Arthur Miller? I think the “Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” are great plays despite Miller’s politics.
huxley:
I also think DC would have a huge advantage. They have changed the makeup of the military and skewed it further left. And the government would not hesitate to use all means at its disposal.
neo:
Bingo.
I believe I understand what Aldean is saying here, but for anyone who was around for the Civil Rights movement or was educated in the lore thereof, it’s hard not to get flashbacks–“Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner”
==
Yes it is hard. That’s as contrived an interpretation of that lyric as I can think of.
==
Counting some ambiguous cases, the $PLC’s padded list of ‘civil rights martyrs’ records 37 people murdered (10 in cities, 27 in small towns and rural areas) over a period of 14 years, in a part of the country where resided about 17 million people. Proportionately, the Quebec Liberation Front claimed more victims.
yes, thats a stretch, shannon watts who wants to disarm everyone, but apparently not the insurgency, this is how you have to look at 2020-2021, on every day except jan 6th,
Yes it is hard. That’s as contrived an interpretation of that lyric as I can think of.
Again, Pope Deco is entirely unable to handle the notion that other people don’t process information exactly as he does … and that’s often the way the world works.
He could offer to discuss, but as usual, he lays down his opinion as though it were Ex Cathedra (papal infallibility) and all must bow before him.
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
–Jason Aldean, “Try That In A Small Town”
__________________________
So, to speak slowly and in small words for the benefit of Pope Deco.
The civil rights workers, Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, were outside activists who came to a small Southern town to organize for voting rights. This displeased the local reactionaries who caught up with and murdered the organizers further “down the road.”
I’m not saying it’s a perfect interpretation, but it’s not hard to impute a threat to those lyrics, especially given history.
The notion that what I have said is “as contrived an interpretation of that lyric as I can think of” is standard Deco hyperbole.
So, to speak slowly and in small words for the benefit of Pope Deco.
==
Your analogy stinks.
@huxley:I’m not saying it’s a perfect interpretation, but it’s not hard to impute a threat to those lyrics, especially given history.
There are people for whom the word “picnic” implies a threat of lynching, given “history”. Those people have based that implication on a completely erroneous history, but nonetheless that is how they interpret the word. So do we give up using it? Do we disavow people who use it?
If so, we incentivize the behavior we complain of on the Left of their always getting to decide how the rest of us use words, and we have nothing to say about words like “cisgender” and “gender affirmation treatment”.
you look at the last two years where they find it acceptable to jail a law professor like john eastman, because he had a legal opinion, at odds with the narrative, as if he was comandante gonzalo (the head of the shining path) there is no comparable parallel,
Loose the “Pope Deco.”
It ain’t the early 1960’s by a long shot.
In 2020 Antifa and BLM came from the Puget Sound to Coer d’Lane ID, to be peaceful I’m sure, but were lawfully accompanied by well armed and vocal locals. The Puget Sounders left soon afterwards. Small town rules in this century.
Someone found out how far he could make it down the road.
Such a smart counterfactual. The 83rd anniversary of the legendary Sturgis, South Dakota, Motorcycle Rally is August 4-11.
Something to be aware of:
“Clearly, Biden and Garland are not free to hire any schlub wandering off the street. There is a vetting process, and that process is designed to involve an up-or-down vote by the Senate.”
If you are interested in these topics you might be interested in the scientific calculations, thoughts, theories, and conjectures presented it this interview with Physicist Dr. Kevin Knuth, a Professor of Physics at SUNY at Albany who has a long time interest in UFOs/UAPs.
Among other things, Knuth is the Editor in Chief of the Journal Entropy, he has worked for several years at NASA, is a member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Study, and is now a research associate with Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project.
Knuth has tried to actually apply scientific study and Physics to the UAP phenomenon, and has written papers in which he has tried to estimate and calculate some numbers with regard to some of the six observables which are exhibited by the 5% or so of UAPs which are truly unknown.
His calculations show that these object’s speeds, their accelerations, the electro-magnetic fields they apparently generate, the G-Forces generated and even, sometimes, their light outputs, require, among other things, truly enormous amounts of energy that we here on Earth today cannot even approach generating.
Conclusion: these are not human craft.
In this extended interview Dr. Knuth also explains his DRAKE Equation type calculations about how prevalent ET Civilizations might be, and how likely it is that, probably at some remote time in the past, one of the many star faring civilizations he calculates likely exist in the surrounding solar systems found Earth.*
Today I saw “I Saw the Light” (2015), a Hank Williams biopic.
I must admit I don’t know his work or his life well as I would like, but I know enough to know he is a deep source whose influence goes out in all directions, including to Leonard Cohen.
I thought Tom Huddleston was fine and committed in the role. He even sang well enough IMO. By God he had the look too.
The critics were tough on the film. They wanted some deep insight into Williams’ character and his problems, which the film didn’t supply.
I don’t think there is a Rosetta Stone to Hank Williams. He was a human being. He had a congenital back condition (spina bifida) which kept him in chronic pain. Then the pressures of ambition, fame and the road. He had problems with alcohol and pain killers and what we would later call groupies.
He was a human being and that’s what he sang about.
Turley’s take on the song controversy is predictable: he is against censoring anybody.
He also predicts that this may by CMT’s “Bud Light Moment” if they can’t reverse course quickly.
CMT may be closer to the NFL than Bud Light. There are few alternatives for country music listeners. However, there are some, from YouTube to direct purchases. The latter seems to be the choice of many, as the song skyrocketed to the top of the charts after CMT’s censorship.
For many, CMT (which has its headquarters in One Astor Plaza in New York City) is out of touch not only with the small town culture of Aldean, but also with its consumer base.
As consumers tank brands such as Bud Light, and as companies such as Disney experience significant drops in profits, shareholders may become vocal about these decisions. Even if they are agnostic about free speech, they tend to be devout when it comes to profits.
CMT is unlikely to be as defiant as Disney. While many families objected to Disney’s social agenda, the size of the corporation is so large and it is sufficiently diversified that it can take a market hit that would crush most other companies. CMT is neither diversified nor insulated to the same extent. It is closer to Bud Light. It sells country music, and consumers can find other outlets for their tastes.
By pulling the song, CMT tied its brand to censorship, even if only temporarily. What Bud Light showed is that companies cannot attempt nuanced half-measures. If it is going to avoid a “Bud Light moment,” it has to offer more than a “my bad.”
Two great weeks in Corfu, getting more tan every 31 degree C (88 F) day with cloudless blue sky, some humidity, and karaoke every night in the bar 10 min walk away. Was just listenin’ to Dance Me to the End of Love. He’s in my range but sounds much better somehow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTqoGu61IIs&list=PLTkojyiYtIBb60IoCivsKlHUrsNDnGiZa&index=11
In order to learn the songs I might want to sing, I’m usually looking at the lyrics.
I’m not as keen as my daughter on his last album, You Want It Darker, nor this one, Travelling Light, tho it’s quite listenable.
Fear of Dem-Left violence if Trump wins is going to push the Dem captured DC deep state to steal the election even more obviously – tho RFK Jr. and his being the Dem candidate cracks me up, quietly. Trump disliker Arnold Kling fears violence, and I guess most Rep political junkies do, some. But he’s wrong to decry the Deep Left – it’s Democrats. And each and every voter who votes Democrat gives the anti-freedom Dem deep state more power to NOT enforce the law against Dem criminals.
Funny that another Cohen song came up, which I didn’t much know, The Partisan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RYy_8u4blk
“I took my gun and vanished…
freedom soon will come, then we’ll come from the shadows”
I’m not sure the elites will be able to convince freedom loving non-college grads to kill other Americans, but I’m even less sure the anti-elite freedom lovers will be able to resist the other elite pressure, especially as it’s most likely to be heavily applied to only a few at a time. Shock and awe, against all Trump lawyers, for instance.
We need to defund elite colleges – those that have been illegally discriminating against hiring Republican professors, like HYPS and maybe all of the top 100 endowed elite colleges, should lose tax exempt status.
Ramaswamy’s 8 year term limits on unelected Fed bureaucrats should be supported and brought up as a good step towards better govt and reduced polarization.
I’m not so keen on “Try That In a Small Town”, not the musical song nor the idea that vigilantes will actually protect the town – I haven’t read of any cases in the last 30 years, maybe I’ve missed some. “In small towns, people help each other” the outro words (sort of?) say. That I’ve heard of, and seen, but fighting off police or Feds? There aren’t even massive protests against the (illegal? but who decides) jailing of the Jan 6 protestors, who were (illegally? nah…) libeled as “insurrectionists”.
I love Neo’s work – but the truths she shares are so depressing. Tonight, maybe I’ll sing “First, We Take Manhattan”
“I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons…”
Or maybe wilder, newer, alternative Yungblud, “Anarchist”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ts0YmAYgxY
for those who dislike Dems and Reps both, yet know socialism sucks.
And where cops are defunded, anarchist violent protests are more “fun”.
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I highly recommend episode 591 (July 20, 2023) of “The Megyn Kelly Show.” She does a great, detailed, longform interview with the two, IRS whistleblowers; Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Both men remain highly professional and impartial despite a litany of facts that make it extraordinarily apparent that there is tremendous rot in the deep state.
Kelly is one of the best journalist/interviewers active today. She is intelligent and fearless. Her show is often very informative, but this episode, in particular, is well worth one’s time. You can find it on youtube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listening to the two IRS whistleblowers and their congressional testimony I was reminded of something that comes up time, and time again.
Most all politicians are loyal to their party above their constituents. I become more and more convinced that political parties, especially two and only two viable parties, is one of the biggest issues destroying our nation’s economy and jeopardizing human rights.
Much of the preface to a 1928 play by George Barnard Shaw is still applicable to the US today…
I am going to ask you to begin our study of Democracy by considering it first as a big balloon, filled with gas or hot air, and sent up so that you shall be kept looking up at the sky whilst other people are picking your pockets. When the balloon comes down to earth every five years or so you are invited to get into the basket if you can throw out one of the people who are sitting tightly in it; but as you can afford neither the time nor the money, and there are forty millions of you and hardly room for six hundred in the basket, the balloon goes up again with much the same lot in it and leaves you where you were before….
…if we cannot control our governors, can we not at least choose them and change them if they do not suit?
Let me invent a primitive example of democratic choice. It is always best to take imaginary examples: they offend nobody. Imagine then that we are the inhabitants of a village. We have to elect somebody for the office of postman. There are several candidates; but one stands out conspicuously… we elect him triumphantly; and he is duly installed, uniformed, provided with a red bicycle, and given a batch of letters to deliver. As his motive in seeking the post has been pure ambition, he has not thought much beforehand about his duties; and it now occurs to him for the first time that he cannot read. So he hires a boy to come round with him and read the addresses. The boy conceals himself in the lane whilst the postman delivers the letters at the house, takes the Christmas boxes, and gets the whole credit of the transaction. In course of time he dies with a high reputation for efficiency in the discharge of his duties; and we elect another equally illiterate successor on similar grounds. But by this time the boy has grown up and become an institution. He presents himself to the new postman as an established and indispensable feature of the postal system, and finally becomes recognized and paid by the village as such.
Here you have the perfect image of a popularly elected Cabinet Minister and the Civil Service department over which he presides. It may work very well; for our postman, though illiterate, may be a very capable fellow; and the boy who reads the addresses for him may be quite incapable of doing anything more. But this does not always happen. Whether it happens or not, the system is not a democratic reality: it is a democratic illusion. The boy, when he has ability to take advantage of the situation, is the master of the man. The person elected to do the work is not really doing it: he is a popular humbug who is merely doing what a permanent official tells him to do. That is how it comes about that we are now governed by a Civil Service which has such enormous power that its regulations are taking the place of the laws of England, though some of them are made for the convenience of the officials without the slightest regard to the convenience or even the rights of the public.
@Rufus T. Firefly:Most all politicians are loyal to their party above their constituents
If this actually were true, I think things would be less bad than they are now. Most of the politicians at a national level are loyal to each other in a non-transparent way that crosses party lines. If the Republicans in the House and Senate, for example, were always voting in a lockstepped bloc, conservative principles would have been much more advanced than they have been, and likewise for the Dems and their principles.
The parties’ leaderships, and a plurality of each party, is willing to work together to frustrate the will of all their constituents and to protect the system by which they buy influence for themselves using our money. The illusion of a two-party system is the tool that keeps each parties’ base engaged.
But it’s more of a three-party system, really. The largest party is the lizard people, hogs at the trough, whatever you want to call them, found in both parties but mostly Democrats. Then there’s the principled, or ideological if you prefer, wings of each party, who get bones thrown to them from time to time in exchange for their support on the appropriations.
Shaw was a dedicated Stalinist. He also spoke favorably of Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler. He set the modern template for a long line of Irish leftist big-mouth polemicists of which Bono is a recent example.
P.S. He was overrated as a playwright too.
English banks denied Farage access to the banking system because of his politics. In the US, Obama’s administration forced banks to shut down access to legal businesses that Democrats didn’t like. Just one small aspect of the way they seek to fundamentally transform America and the world.
These are nasty, vile people. It may not be possible for normal, sane people to imagine how anyone can think this is appropriate behavior. But we should make the effort. Because when we do, we can get at least a bit of understanding of just how severe the moral defect required for lefties to think the way they do.
No humility. No belief in equality or diversity. No ability to understand the golden rule. No recognition that they might be capable of error.
Do they think they are God? Seriously. What do they imagine gives them the moral superiority to abuse others as they do?
[or to demand that people who didn’t get the jab be imprisoned or have their children taken away? The examples keep piling higher.]
signature bank notably blocked trump, they went out of business,
trolloppe is a better guide than shaw,
the national health service, that shaw argued for, puts the government in control over every citizen, it is the 3rd largest organization in the world,
(7/21/23)
12 ALLEGATIONS AGAINST JOE BRIBEN (sic) IN FBI INFORMANT DOC
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/07/21/fbi-informant-record-contains-damning-allegations-for-joe-biden/
Frederick,
I sort-of agree with you regarding the two parties cooperating, but in recent years the Democrat party rarely bends to meet Republicans half-way.
Congressional hearings are a perfect example of the issue. Each one of the Congressmen in attendance were elected to represent the interests of their constituents and took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Yet they all nearly always behave like prosecution or defense attorneys in a hearing. If it’s a Republican tilted hearing the Democrats act like prosecuting attorneys. If it’s a Democrat tilted hearing the Republicans act like prosecuting attorneys.
There are endless examples over the past, several years, but COVID is very apt. It’s a non-political, unthinking virus and Congress, the entire Congress, should want to have as much accurate information as possible to aid their constituents. But the hearings all devolve into partisan politics. If mask wearing makes the other party look good, we’re against it. If opening schools make the other party look good, we’re against it.
It’s absolutely disgusting. Dangerous, and also results in them wasting incomprehensible amounts of money while devaluing the U.S. currency.
where it matters, they make sure certain priorities, are upheld, see pilots are not rehired in the faa reauthorization,
they vomited a flood of cash, that failed to go to the right people, and rewarded those that didn’t need it,
Matt Vespa over at Townhall has a great summary of what we all been saying about the virtually complete media blackout on the Biden whistleblowers.
I know we’ve beat this dead horse for years now, but unless this media dam can be busted, I don’t see much hope for the future.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2023/07/21/media-blackout-irs-whistleblowers-n2626007
“Both sides do it” is pointless. I can easily see who lies not only with practiced ease, but with gusto, and it informs my loyalties.
@Rufus T. Firefly:but in recent years the Democrat party rarely bends to meet Republicans half-way.
That’s ok, because the Republican leadership is usually willing to do what’s needed to meet the Dems at the 3/4 mark. The last two debt ceiling raises being only the most egregious examples.
@IrishOtter49:Shaw was a dedicated Stalinist. He also spoke favorably of Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler.
The true things he said are nonetheless true. And you may be disappointed by the list of historical figures who praised any or all of these three people in the 1920s and 1930s.
As between Rufus T. Firefly and Frederick, I stand primarily with Mr. Firefly. The issue is ideology. I think the left, including most elected Democrats, see modern United States politics as a battle between good and evil. It’s just a bonus that so many of them can do well by doing (what they perceive as) good.
A real uniparty trying to protect its own graft wouldn’t be trying to defund the police, or end cash bail, or pay reparations for slavery that ended nearly ten generations ago. The interest of the uniparty would be in stability, at least a minimal level of stability that would allow it to keep the trough full. I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing.
And that, frankly, is what I see to be the primary problem with Trump’s approach. Trump is, more or less, flipping all the tables over. That could be an effective approach if up against ordinary corruption – the kind that you would just need to shine a light on. But that’s not what we’re up against.
Shaw also contributed one of RFK’s favorite lines – “Some people look at what is and ask why, I look at what never was and ask why not?” Although in Shaw’s play, the line was uttered by the serpent in his attempt to tempt Adam and Eve. That’s very fitting, but RFK never bothered to mention it.
“Barbie” is played by a man.
https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/transgender-actor-plays-doctor-barbie-throughout-new-barbie-film/
And you may be disappointed by the list of historical figures who praised any or all of these three people in the 1920s and 1930s.
Gee, really? There were others?
There’s “Party Loyalty”, which both parties practice. But the Democrats, due to their long time association with the Union movement, step it up a few notches with “Solidarity”, which is much more existential. Solidarity is much more coercive.
On a separate subject, I’m glad to see the uproar over _Small Town_, song and video. The song, and, more importantly, the backlash against the backlash, is a warning shot to the inhabitants of the Acela Corridor bubble, reminding them that there are more armed citizens than police and military combined. It will encourage them to reconsider going kinetic.
read hollander’s political pilgrims for a short list, among mussolini there was a smaller cohort,
no keep the foundations, but they are rotten to the core, in academia, in media in corporate america,
miguel, re”read hollander’s political pilgrims for a short list”:
I was being sarcastic.
@Bauxite:The interest of the uniparty would be in stability, at least a minimal level of stability that would allow it to keep the trough full. I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing.
I think that’s exactly what we’ve seen, in Congress. In places where one party completely dominates, such as California or Seattle, you do see the “defund the police” and “reparations”.
For example, in the last debt ceiling the Lefists Dems in Congress opposed the deal, as did the conservative Republicans. In the second to last debt ceiling deal, Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer worked together to nuke the Republican filibuster.
buddhaha:
With respect, I would advise conservatives not to underestimate the willingness and capabilities of leftists for engaging in kinetic action. They too are well armed, and have repeatedly used violence to further their aims. I always get nervous when I hear people on the right talk about the ease with which they will crush leftists in the event of a civil war, or something approximating a civil war. In fact, and disturbingly, it strikes me that the right talks like this a lot while it is the left that seems be walking the walk when it comes to violent action.
buddhaha and IrishOtter49 are discussing this song:
–Jason Aldean, “Try That In A Small Town (Official Music Video)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_RKu-ESCY
I think it’s a tremendous song on its own but also as a marker in the culture wars. I suggest giving it a listen on both counts.
I always get nervous when I hear people on the right talk about the ease with which they will crush leftists in the event of a civil war, or something approximating a civil war.
IrishOtter49:
Me too.
I don’t worry about the Antifa/BLM zombies so much. But if Der Biden or a successor calls out the military and law enforcement to put down the right, my forecast is 80% compliance or more.
Which would be a bloodbath.
Geez, what a tough song to call. My problem with “Small Town” is the refrain:
__________________________
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
‘Round here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town.
–Jason Aldean, “Try That In A Small Town”
__________________________
I believe I understand what Aldean is saying here, but for anyone who was around for the Civil Rights movement or was educated in the lore thereof, it’s hard not to get flashbacks
–“Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Chaney,_Goodman,_and_Schwerner
However, much like the case of Trump, I don’t require that Aldean tailor his lyrics to satisfy current hard left sensibilities.
huxley-
I worry about the 80% compliance also, but consider that the other 20% could render the 80% powerless with little difficulty. It would not be difficult for a few appropriately distributed of the 20% to take out the comms and vehicles of the 80%. It would also be easy to isolate the big cities where the strength of the 80% lies. After 3 days with no food and no power, the big blue cities would be begging for mercy.
I agree, it would be a bloodbath, and a tragedy, but my money would be on the 20% side coming out victorious (whatever that would mean).
huxley:
I agree.
I no longer trust our military to do the right thing. And I no longer believe that it is capable of winning wars at any level, big or small; but that it is quite capable of obeying orders to suppress internal dissent by force of arms.
I’d recommend we take a break from the Fedposting* about who’d take who in a fight; not only are none of us as anonymous as we think we are, neo isn’t anonymous at all, and her blog hosting will be delighted to tell the Feds anything they want to know, and banks are happy to lean on anyone the Feds tell them to…
*If you don’t know what this is look it up. I don’t recommend using Google though.
It would also be easy to isolate the big cities . . .
I think not.
After 3 days with no food and no power, the big blue cities would be begging for mercy.
People outside the big blue cities would soon face logistical difficulties equally dire in their scope and effect. Think about it. And consider that big city populations would not just be sitting on their collectives hands begging for mercy. They’ll probably decide to do something about their plight. Like, striking out at their enemies outside the cities.
Frederick:
No one is anonymous anymore. And the “Feds” already know all about me.
Anyone else noticing that the sleazy Bill Barr is getting sleazier and sleazier by the moment. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail. Along with hundreds of other traitors to their nation and their oaths.
Enemies of the people.
which is a real reach, we saw how the feds covered for this domestic insurgency,
the redux of sds and the black liberation army,
so if they had just used footage of north beirut, portland, being mortared for 90 days, that happened in this country, this is what is considered ‘mostly peaceful’ protests. whereas a mostly peaceful redress of grievances was called an ‘insurrection’ it’s like rubix cube level of standards,
he was loyal to his tribe, which is not ours,
it is rather staggering the depth of ignorance that reveals itself on twitter,
No one is anonymous anymore. And the “Feds” already know all about me.
–IrishOtter49
SSDD.
They knew about me when I was a troublemaker on the left….
Jordan Rivers says, “‘Barbie’ is played by a man.”
In other culture wars news, Dylan Mulvaney is looking for speaking gigs on college campuses: “University and College friends! I am booking speaking opportunities for the upcoming 23/24 school year and would love to come visit.” Mulvaney wrote, along with a link to Creative Arts Agency’s (CAA) email about speaking inquiries. CAA’s website described Mulvaney as a “Trans Actress and Content Creator” specializing in topics such as LGBTQIA+ advocacy, social media, women’s empowerment [!!!–ed.] and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/07/dylan-mulvaney-now-looking-for-speaking-gigs-at-universities/
All xe has to do is show up for any such visit with a truck full of cases of Bud Light, and xer success is guaranteed!
whose side are they on
https://notthebee.com/article/the-republican-led-congress-just-voted-down-an-amendment-that-would-allow-airlines-to-re-hire-pilots-fired-over-the-vax-mandates
A salutary lesson on how cities can dominate and destroy rebellious rural populations is provided by the Soviet program to collectivize agriculture in the Ukraine in the early 1930s. The peasants in the countryside at first resisted collectivization by withholding grain from the cities, and the central government responded by deploying army and police units to seize the crops by force. The peasants fought back as best they could but were overpowered by the better equipped, better organized, and numerically superior government forces. The result was the Holodomor: the death by starvation and murder through military action of at least 5 million Ukrainians and perhaps as many as 10 million — all in the space of a couple of years.
Barbie is played by a man.
–Jordan Rivers
Not exactly. Barbieland is a world of Barbie (and Ken) variations. Dr. Barbie is only one:
______________________________
Margot Robbie as Stereotypical Barbie
Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie
Issa Rae as President Barbie
Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie
Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie
Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie
Sharon Rooney as Lawyer Barbie
Ana Cruz Kayne as Judge Barbie
Dua Lipa as the Mermaid Barbies
Nicola Coughlan as Diplomat Barbie
Ritu Arya as Journalist Barbie
Marisa Abela as Princess Barbie
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_(film)
I have no doubt that, at least for the first few weeks of kinetic action by the Army, FBI, armed IRS agents, and the Park Service swat team(s), they will be “sucessful” 90+% of the time. After that, it will not be cost free.
But that’s not where the danger to the left’s objectives will be; it will be in the large number of deer hunters who yearly take a human sized mammal at ranges over a hundred yards, and the availability of beer bottles, rags, and gasoline. The upper levels of the government may be immune, but a lot of mid-level bureaucrats who are the conduit of illegal orders will be removed. Those people recognize this, and, even if they’re in agreement with the objectives, they will act as a dampener on implementation.
A salutary lesson on how cities can dominate and destroy rebellious rural populations
IrishOtter49:
“CoEvolution Quarterly,” a post-hippie-commune magazine, provided a similar analysis of how it might be a mistake to be rural instead of urban when the Whatever Hits the Fan.
that project ought to be a vienna and geneva convention violation, they really hate their audience that much,
buddhaha, re and the availability of beer bottles, rags, and gasoline.
How long do you think gasoline will be available, keeping in mind that it comes from refineries generally located in urban areas?
The notion of plucky rural partisans armed with deer rifles and store-bought semi-automatic AR-15 rifles conducting a successful resistance by hurling Molotov cocktails at M1 Main Battle Tanks is rather fantastical, to say the least.
buddhaha:
I’m not a war game, military history guy.
However, I am arguing that IMO many on the right are entirely too sanguine that “we’ve got the guns and we’ve got the numbers” if it comes down to civil war.
If it comes to that, it will be horrible and it probably won’t be settled easily either way. Though my money is on Washington.
The notion of plucky rural partisans armed with deer rifles and store-bought semi-automatic AR-15 rifles conducting a successful resistance by hurling Molotov cocktails at M1 Main Battle Tanks is rather fantastical, to say the least.
IrishOtter49:
It sounds like someone didn’t see “Red Dawn.” 🙂
______________________________
The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance of Soviet, Warsaw Pact and Latin American states. The story follows a group of teenaged guerillas, known as the Wolverines, in Soviet-occupied Colorado.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dawn
huxley:
In “Red Dawn” the Wolverines were, in fact, defeated by the occupying forces. At the end all were dead, missing and presumed dead, or had fled to “Free America.” The occupiers still occupied their home town and, presumably, much of North America. And, finally, Milius is ambiguous concerning which side, if any, “won” the war, and on what terms.
so ultimately we lost the Cold War, an alien camarilla (to our customs our history, the basic precepts of science) took over, the details are almost beside the point,
I mean would the army of political officers, be doing anything different, like locusts they burn down corrupt everything that works,
IrishOtter49:
The ending didn’t seem ambiguous to me:
_________________________________
In the closing scene, a plaque is seen with Partisan Rock in the background. It is fenced off and an American flag flies nearby implying that the United States won the war. The plaque reads:
… In the early days of World War III, guerrillas – mostly children – placed the names of their lost upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives, so “that this nation shall not perish from the earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dawn
the terrorists immobilized major cities, they faced some local resistance,
huxley:
I recall the girl narrator saying words to the effect that “all wars end” without specifying that the U.S. was entirely victorious — an odd omission, it seems to me — or what victory entailed. This seems ambiguous to me. Was the invader driven wholly from our soil? Again, it seems odd — ambiguous if you will — that as bellicose an individual as Milius would nnot say that this was the outcome if in fact he thought that such outcome would not be realistic.
Bauxite writes, “As between Rufus T. Firefly and Frederick, I stand primarily with Mr. Firefly.”
In that case, I stand firmly opposed to this Firefly character. I refuse to belong to any club that would have me as a member. 😉
miguel:
Which terrorists?
IrishOtter49,
I get where you’re coming from, vis a vis Shaw’s politics, but I think he was one of the best English language playwright’s of the 20th century, the first half certainly.
And, Shaw said and wrote some crazy stuff, but if I were an adult in the early, 20th century it seems likely I would have seen a lot of good in what the socialists and communists were doing. I’m a staunch, anti-monarchist and there were Americans living in vile conditions. Men living in literal gilded towers while the men that were the cogs in the wheels of their industries were barely paid a living wage and cast aside if injured. Upton Sinclair’s, “Jungle” is a fairly accurate portrayal of conditions in Chicago’s stockyards.
To ascribe to those philosophies in 2023, with the data we have of how humans behave under such systems, is ignorant, at best. But GBS didn’t have the benefit of hindsight that we have.
In that case, I stand firmly opposed to this Firefly character.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Bauxite walked right into that one! 🙂
RE: Lying to your face
Watch as Biden looks down at the notes on his lap and mumbles and stumbles his way through his recent WH discussion with the Israeli President (note the Israeli President’s WTF look into the cameras)*
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/biden-mumbles-during-his-address-to-israeli-preisdent/vi-AA1e3JRz?t=0
Then, see as Presidential spokesman John Kirby tells a bald-faced, flat-out lie about the quality of President Biden’s performance in his discussion with the Israeli President. **
I guess Kirby believes that few people actually saw a clip of Biden’s abysmal performance, that most people will take him at this word and, as for the few who saw the clip and who are actually informed, fork them.
** See https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/kirby-biden-hunched-mumbling-incoherently-israeli-president-he/
Rufus:
Shaw wasn’t speaking and writing in ignorance of conditions in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and fascist Italy. He knew full well what was going on in those countries and, in every case, he approved of what was going on. See, e.g., “George Bernard Shaw Was so Enamored with Socialism He Advocated Genocide to Advance It” at https://fee.org/articles/george-bernard-shaw-was-so-enamored-with-socialism-he-advocated-genocide-to-advance-it/
As for his abilities as a playwright and man of letters: we’ll have to agree to disagree. I find him tediously didactic, hectoring, and obvious — hence, ultimately, a bore, and stupid to boot.
The Holodomor was the Communists following a long, historical practice of physical repression of the peasantry by the government, a large part of which was making sure said peasantry was unarmed.
In the last 3 years+, over 1 million AR-15s have been purchased, [b) per month![/] That’s more than 40M [b]new[/b].
Do the math: “Turn ’em in, or else!” MA has had an under 20% compliance rate, but let’s assume 80%. That leaves 5M in the wild. Let’s assume that the feds can assemble 10000 swat teams, which is highly exaggerated, and, also highly exaggerated, can execute 5 seizures a day. 100 days to get them assuming that every member of every team survives. The Resistance will have firmed up long before that.
huxley @ 3:39pm,
Such are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others. I will not be bought! (but I can be rented)
huxley,
Two questions:
A. I apologize if you or PA Cat have already discussed this on a prior thread, but have you seen the French film, “Petite Maman?” Several of the Fireflies did and said it is very well done. May be a nice way to practice francaise.
II) How is French learning coming along? Are you still an advocate of the read and don’t converse method?
IrishOtter49 and Huxley-
Yes it will be bloody, on both sides, every war is, but somebody “wins”.
I give you Yugoslavia, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. Talk to any Afghan or Iraq vet and ask them what they think of a “kick in the door” campaign.
IrishOtter49,
How do you feel about Arthur Miller? I think the “Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” are great plays despite Miller’s politics.
huxley:
I also think DC would have a huge advantage. They have changed the makeup of the military and skewed it further left. And the government would not hesitate to use all means at its disposal.
neo:
Bingo.
I believe I understand what Aldean is saying here, but for anyone who was around for the Civil Rights movement or was educated in the lore thereof, it’s hard not to get flashbacks–“Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner”
==
Yes it is hard. That’s as contrived an interpretation of that lyric as I can think of.
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Counting some ambiguous cases, the $PLC’s padded list of ‘civil rights martyrs’ records 37 people murdered (10 in cities, 27 in small towns and rural areas) over a period of 14 years, in a part of the country where resided about 17 million people. Proportionately, the Quebec Liberation Front claimed more victims.
yes, thats a stretch, shannon watts who wants to disarm everyone, but apparently not the insurgency, this is how you have to look at 2020-2021, on every day except jan 6th,
Yes it is hard. That’s as contrived an interpretation of that lyric as I can think of.
Again, Pope Deco is entirely unable to handle the notion that other people don’t process information exactly as he does … and that’s often the way the world works.
He could offer to discuss, but as usual, he lays down his opinion as though it were Ex Cathedra (papal infallibility) and all must bow before him.
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
–Jason Aldean, “Try That In A Small Town”
__________________________
So, to speak slowly and in small words for the benefit of Pope Deco.
The civil rights workers, Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, were outside activists who came to a small Southern town to organize for voting rights. This displeased the local reactionaries who caught up with and murdered the organizers further “down the road.”
I’m not saying it’s a perfect interpretation, but it’s not hard to impute a threat to those lyrics, especially given history.
The notion that what I have said is “as contrived an interpretation of that lyric as I can think of” is standard Deco hyperbole.
So, to speak slowly and in small words for the benefit of Pope Deco.
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Your analogy stinks.
@huxley:I’m not saying it’s a perfect interpretation, but it’s not hard to impute a threat to those lyrics, especially given history.
There are people for whom the word “picnic” implies a threat of lynching, given “history”. Those people have based that implication on a completely erroneous history, but nonetheless that is how they interpret the word. So do we give up using it? Do we disavow people who use it?
If so, we incentivize the behavior we complain of on the Left of their always getting to decide how the rest of us use words, and we have nothing to say about words like “cisgender” and “gender affirmation treatment”.
you look at the last two years where they find it acceptable to jail a law professor like john eastman, because he had a legal opinion, at odds with the narrative, as if he was comandante gonzalo (the head of the shining path) there is no comparable parallel,
Loose the “Pope Deco.”
It ain’t the early 1960’s by a long shot.
In 2020 Antifa and BLM came from the Puget Sound to Coer d’Lane ID, to be peaceful I’m sure, but were lawfully accompanied by well armed and vocal locals. The Puget Sounders left soon afterwards. Small town rules in this century.
Someone found out how far he could make it down the road.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/north-dakota-muslim-terrorist-planned-to-kill-thousands/
Re om’s post at 6:01.
Such a smart counterfactual. The 83rd anniversary of the legendary Sturgis, South Dakota, Motorcycle Rally is August 4-11.
Something to be aware of:
“Clearly, Biden and Garland are not free to hire any schlub wandering off the street. There is a vetting process, and that process is designed to involve an up-or-down vote by the Senate.”
https://lidblog.com/question-about-jack-smith-could-collapse-the-whole-trump-prosecution/
RE: UAPs and ET Civilizations
If you are interested in these topics you might be interested in the scientific calculations, thoughts, theories, and conjectures presented it this interview with Physicist Dr. Kevin Knuth, a Professor of Physics at SUNY at Albany who has a long time interest in UFOs/UAPs.
Among other things, Knuth is the Editor in Chief of the Journal Entropy, he has worked for several years at NASA, is a member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Study, and is now a research associate with Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project.
Knuth has tried to actually apply scientific study and Physics to the UAP phenomenon, and has written papers in which he has tried to estimate and calculate some numbers with regard to some of the six observables which are exhibited by the 5% or so of UAPs which are truly unknown.
His calculations show that these object’s speeds, their accelerations, the electro-magnetic fields they apparently generate, the G-Forces generated and even, sometimes, their light outputs, require, among other things, truly enormous amounts of energy that we here on Earth today cannot even approach generating.
Conclusion: these are not human craft.
In this extended interview Dr. Knuth also explains his DRAKE Equation type calculations about how prevalent ET Civilizations might be, and how likely it is that, probably at some remote time in the past, one of the many star faring civilizations he calculates likely exist in the surrounding solar systems found Earth.*
* See https://www.reddit.com/r/ufo/comments/1564n7m/kevin_knuth_uap_et_civilizations/
Today I saw “I Saw the Light” (2015), a Hank Williams biopic.
I must admit I don’t know his work or his life well as I would like, but I know enough to know he is a deep source whose influence goes out in all directions, including to Leonard Cohen.
I thought Tom Huddleston was fine and committed in the role. He even sang well enough IMO. By God he had the look too.
The critics were tough on the film. They wanted some deep insight into Williams’ character and his problems, which the film didn’t supply.
I don’t think there is a Rosetta Stone to Hank Williams. He was a human being. He had a congenital back condition (spina bifida) which kept him in chronic pain. Then the pressures of ambition, fame and the road. He had problems with alcohol and pain killers and what we would later call groupies.
He was a human being and that’s what he sang about.
–Hank Williams, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WXYjm74WFI
The other thing about Hank Williams … dead at 29.
Can you believe that?
Turley’s take on the song controversy is predictable: he is against censoring anybody.
He also predicts that this may by CMT’s “Bud Light Moment” if they can’t reverse course quickly.
https://jonathanturley.org/2023/07/21/try-that-in-a-small-town-cmts-tone-deaf-censorship-of-jason-aldean-cannot-stand/
Two great weeks in Corfu, getting more tan every 31 degree C (88 F) day with cloudless blue sky, some humidity, and karaoke every night in the bar 10 min walk away. Was just listenin’ to Dance Me to the End of Love. He’s in my range but sounds much better somehow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTqoGu61IIs&list=PLTkojyiYtIBb60IoCivsKlHUrsNDnGiZa&index=11
In order to learn the songs I might want to sing, I’m usually looking at the lyrics.
I’m not as keen as my daughter on his last album, You Want It Darker, nor this one, Travelling Light, tho it’s quite listenable.
Fear of Dem-Left violence if Trump wins is going to push the Dem captured DC deep state to steal the election even more obviously – tho RFK Jr. and his being the Dem candidate cracks me up, quietly. Trump disliker Arnold Kling fears violence, and I guess most Rep political junkies do, some. But he’s wrong to decry the Deep Left – it’s Democrats. And each and every voter who votes Democrat gives the anti-freedom Dem deep state more power to NOT enforce the law against Dem criminals.
Funny that another Cohen song came up, which I didn’t much know, The Partisan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RYy_8u4blk
“I took my gun and vanished…
freedom soon will come, then we’ll come from the shadows”
I’m not sure the elites will be able to convince freedom loving non-college grads to kill other Americans, but I’m even less sure the anti-elite freedom lovers will be able to resist the other elite pressure, especially as it’s most likely to be heavily applied to only a few at a time. Shock and awe, against all Trump lawyers, for instance.
We need to defund elite colleges – those that have been illegally discriminating against hiring Republican professors, like HYPS and maybe all of the top 100 endowed elite colleges, should lose tax exempt status.
Ramaswamy’s 8 year term limits on unelected Fed bureaucrats should be supported and brought up as a good step towards better govt and reduced polarization.
I’m not so keen on “Try That In a Small Town”, not the musical song nor the idea that vigilantes will actually protect the town – I haven’t read of any cases in the last 30 years, maybe I’ve missed some. “In small towns, people help each other” the outro words (sort of?) say. That I’ve heard of, and seen, but fighting off police or Feds? There aren’t even massive protests against the (illegal? but who decides) jailing of the Jan 6 protestors, who were (illegally? nah…) libeled as “insurrectionists”.
I love Neo’s work – but the truths she shares are so depressing. Tonight, maybe I’ll sing “First, We Take Manhattan”
“I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons…”
Or maybe wilder, newer, alternative Yungblud, “Anarchist”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ts0YmAYgxY
for those who dislike Dems and Reps both, yet know socialism sucks.
And where cops are defunded, anarchist violent protests are more “fun”.