A lot of assumptions. Not sure I agree with him on this.
Cough, bullshit, dogs were domesticated by selecting for individuals with the least aggression (neonaty).
If you breed two different species you get infertile offspring (mules). No canids have retractile claws, may be that is a thing? An early evolutionary fork or branch in the carnivore tree? Not even Norweigan Puffin Hounds, now they could use retracticle claws?
Interesting video, but I get the feeling the narrator is just a guy from Oklahoma or the Bronx who gets a thrill out of putting on a posh and plummy British accent.
On the question of high officials retaining classified documents, and which of them should be prosecuted: Many of us here have felt that the charges against Trump are, um, trumped up for political reasons. I remember Gen. Petraeus, who was prosecuted for taking some classified files home to share with his biographer, who also had a security clearance. This is what Biden was doing, apparently, and he made several million dollars after his vice presidency on a memoir using his diaries and these files. Biden’s ghost writer, with no clearance, is not being prosecuted, whereas a couple of Trump assistants who merely moved boxes are.
Second. There must not be any doubt as to WHY we went into Iraq. OIL, OIL, OIL I was there when the G7 oil accountants made the decision and Tony came into accept their decision. Been there, heard them, saw them. OIL, NOTING BUT OIL!
The Tablet article on the war notes that the IDF has only lost about 300 fighters in taking over half of Gaza. A huge military success. Not mentioned is that the success is likely to lead towards more Jews, as oppressors, deserve hatred.
Also not mentioned is that to finish, most Gazans in the South will need to be evacuated to the North, and under Israeli control, while the IDF finishes the job.
They should start implementing a temporary admin solution which could be suitable for longer term, 16 years?, governing and policing with very slow reduction in control over time. But lots & lots of Israeli directed rebuilding.
it’s more complicated then that, I mean if that was really the only element, than why not invade the Saudi oil fields, like Miles Ignotus (Edward Luttvak) suggested
back in the 70s, this was the backstory to three days of the condor, (there are logistical problems to that matter, as well as the nature of the societies within)
certainly in wolfowitz’s case, he really did subscribe to this democratization thesis,
and several others, richard perle as well, where neocons lost the ball, imho, was deciding that military force was the first instrument in carrying out policy when it’s the last resort, Bernard Lewis, who was not a neocon, in any real respect (I do recommend his memoir) was an influence on many of younger policy makers
the late Brent Scowcroft who had by the time of the invasion, been a strong pillar of the Saudi lobby, was strongly against, perhaps out of reasons of self interest, the Saudis
were not really keen on the matter because they have some notion of popular discontent,
Israel saw it as a second level threat as compared to Iran, even though Saddam through his security apparat had made some alliances with Islamists, and supported the payment of
rewards to suicide bombers,
Israel cannot ” fix ” the issue with Muslims. The West cannot ” fix ” Islam. All we can do is manage the issue. The issue cannot be ” fixed ” by humans. Democracy does not work in Islamic countries. At least not ” democracy” as the Western world perceives it.
And then there is the problem that western lefties no longer believe in Western Civilization or the concept of Nation States. At least , majority white ones.
It’s all a mess.
I am afraid that the longer Israel tries to ” destroy Hamas”, the more the World will turn against Israel. Hamas is an extension of the Palestinian people. The best Israel can do at this point, in an imperfect world, is negotiate a deal for the remaining hostages and reenforce their border and air defense security and leave open the option for retaliation for further attacks. Israel should wash their hands of Gaza. Tell the world it is up to them to deal with Gaza and shut the crossings from Israel down. Wash their hands of them.
no that was the status quo before October 7th, as you state Hamas is an arm of the Moslem Brotherhood from which Gamaa Islamiya, the GIA and the Taliban all sprout from, their front office is in Doha,
Prince Salman did try to kneecap some of the most militant islamists, but khashoggi, was the pretext to try to topple him, from power, who would leave us with one of the worst like Ahmad the nastier of Prince Nayefs offspring
Israel washed its hands of Gaza following its withdrawal in 2005. The result has been years and years of rocket attacks and terrorist attacks, culminating in the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023.
I had a learned western-leaning Egyptian friend who agreed with Jon Baker about “democracy” in Islamic countries. It doesn’t work there, he said. He felt Egypt should have a benign monarchy. It doesn’t have that now, but the new strong man, al Sisi, was required to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood which was elected. My Christian friends there, while recognizing their difficulties, are very grateful to be dealing with Sisi instead of Morsi.
It says Epicyons “were known as bone crushers”. Known by whom? There were no people in N America at that time.
Mittens defends Brandon? Shocked I am! And totally unexpected from the ex-severe conservative who will do anything to get back into the good graces of the progressive elites.
We always hear “denial isn’t a river in Egypt.” Now we know why — it’s a river in Mexico.
(Duck and cover.)
De Nial runs right next to Del Paso.
It separates Dem from De Plorables.
yes the best time was when Zaghoul was in charge in the 20s, it went sideways from there, there was some sufferance under farouk’s regime, nasser less so, mubarak maybe a little more,
the ideal was probably the Turkish military who rule sometimes openiy sometimes behind the scenes, although kurds nor armenians would agree on that point,
FWIW—and it probably ain’t worth much…simply because that poowa old demented man can’t even testify now. About anything.
(…which is a pretty “elegant” way of sweeping all that corruption, treason and betrayal under the rug!)
And Ben Hur is getting shellacked! BY THE DEMOCRATS!!…No, you can’t make this up…
Gosh, wonder who the next parent to be prosecuted will be!
I’ve read some Egyptian novelists like Mahfouz Palace Series, Al Aswani the Yacoubian Building which was set in a similar way to Maupin’s Tales of the City some of Souiefs work which alternates between the past and the current day, Yacoubian is set in the time of the Gulf war, and the presence of militant islam is a strong under current,Al Aswany was born on 26 May 1957 in Cairo. His mother, Zainab, came from an aristocratic family; her uncle was a Pasha and Minister of Education before the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.[4] His father, Abbas Al Aswany, was from Aswan[3] (in Lower Nubia) and was a lawyer and writer who “is remembered as being a captivating and charismatic speaker with a broad following and loyalty within a cross-section of the Egyptian revolutionary intelligentsia”. Abbas Al Aswany wrote a regular back-page essay in the Egyptian weekly magazine Rose al-Y?suf entitled Aswaaniyat.[5] In 1972, he was “the recipient of the state award for literature”.[3] He died when Alaa was 19 years old.[4]
in 1980. He went on to pursue a master’s degree in dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1985.[6] He speaks Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.[7] He studied Spanish literature in Madrid.
strong anti Western and explicitly anti Semitic narratives, in the Times, like the stringer they fired after 10/7, Souief likewise, shes’ more of the older generation and Aswani the younger,
Souief, is Western educated, shes married to an Englishmen, Ian Hamilton supports commissar Corbyn
on the positive side, she did oppose the lockdowns, which counts in her favor,
Why Is U.S. China Policy So Foolish And Feckless?
In key areas like biotech, robotics, and anti-ship missiles, Goldman says China is leaving us in the dust. Strangely for a country that still calls itself communist, they are not burdened, as we are, with crippling ideologies like multiculturalism or race and sex denialism or climate-change fanaticism, nor with our elites’ world-saving missionary impulses.
Kate at 1:40 pm: Islam won’t allow democracy (my summarized extraction) leads me to comment:
Obama if not Muslim certainly is fond of them. Evidenced by bringing in many Muslim refugees while POTUS (“little Somalia” as 1 example), plus giving CAIR prestige & influence.
Seeing since Oct. how Muslims in America loudly & proudly hate Israel & Jews in general, people have noted & discussed how that group poses a problem for Biden in Nov.
In reality, that group poses a continued problem for all of America!! Having a growing population of anti- Israel/Jews (– Israel: the only democracy & western culture over there!) is more than any election problem.
I fear that growing influence, & wish we could shut off the immigration of anti-American peoples.
I’d include any people embracing a Theocratic system, which is anti- Constitutional.
Back to the video. There is a lot of wisdom in The Jungle Book, “The strength of the Wolf is the Pack and the strength of the Pack is the Wolf”.
The Heartland Institute and their Rasmussen survey data — showing that many people admit to casting illegal or unConstitutional ballots in the 2020 election — in the news again. And we will be seeing more of it on display by Congress, I’m sure.
What is the story? Epoch Times account is up as lead story at Zerohedge,
“Mail-In Ballot Fraud Study Finds Trump ‘Almost Certainly’ Won In 2020“
In addition to reassessing the likely overall degree of fraudulent mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, Heartland analysts calculated the potential impact that fraudulent mail-in ballots might have produced in the six key swing states that President Trump officially lost.
This, then, was used to determine the impact of potentially fraudulent mail-in ballots on the overall 2020 election result.
First, the researchers analyzed the electoral results for the six swing states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—under the 28.2 percent fraudulent mail-in ballot scenario that they estimated based on the raw survey data.
Then they calculated the electoral results in the six states under the different scenarios, each with a lower assumed percentage of fraudulent ballots, ranging from 28.2 percent all the way down to 1 percent.
For each of the 29 scenarios that they assesses, the researchers calculated the estimated number of fraudulent ballots, which were then subtracted from overall 2020 vote totals to generate a new estimate for vote totals.
Overall, of the 29 different scenarios presented in the study, the researchers concluded that President Trump would have won the 2020 election in all but three.
Specifically, they calculated that the only scenarios that would affirm the official 2020 election result, namely that candidate Biden won, were mail-in ballot fraud levels between 1 and 3 percent of ballots cast.
Mail-in ballot fraud rates higher than 3 percent would, according to the study, mean more fraudulent Biden votes that should be subtracted from the total, putting President Trump ahead.
For example, the adjustment to the vote tallies under fraud percentage rates between 13 and 6 percent would mean President Trump would have won Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, though he would have still lost in Michigan and Nevada.
Under such a scenario, President Trump would have won 289 Electoral College votes compared to candidate Biden’s 249.
Given what the IDF found, and showed to a group of journalists with cameras, there is no way that the UNRWA minions in Gaza didn’t know: they were supplying the Hamas data center with electricity from cables connected to their own center.
So, yeah: totally defund the UNRWA, fire everyone in Gaza, and ban them from any positions in any UN agency forever.
And get the US out of the UN, if it can’t be dismantled completely.
RE: China–
China tries to present itself as a glittering, high tech society, surging forward to displace the United States as the world’s preeminent country.
But, judging from some of the videos and commentary on Youtube, China is actually falling apart–
First and foremost, China is now entering the acute phase of an irreversible demographic collapse.
Huge numbers of foreign companies have and are pulling out of China, resulting in cumulatively likley many millions of layoffs and jobs lost.
Due to shoddy construction, structural failures in public buildings, high rise apartments, businesses, roadways, tunnels, and bridges–many of them catastrophic–are apparently pretty common.
Huge, empty ghost cities, and failed major projects, costing cumulatively billions of Yuan, scattered around China.
Meanwhile, much of China is still rural and poor.
Collapse of the real estate sector, in which a reported 70% of all Chinese investment capital is invested, and which contributes a reported 30% of China’s GDP.
Millions of vacant apartments and, in addition, hundreds of thousands of uncompleted apartments whose “owners” still have to pay the mortgages on them.
Banks collapsing, and some refusing to let depositors withdraw their money.
Stock market in sharp decline.
As a result of all of these developments, a sharp decline in consumer traffic and spending.
Malls, shopping districts/streets and usually bustling center cites deserted.
Hundreds of thousands of restaurants and small businesses bankrupt and closed.
Deflation.
Unraveling of China’s Trillion Yuan Belt and Road Initiative.
Reports of embezzlement and incompetence in China’s armed forces, resulting in missiles without fuel, and lids of missile silos which don’t fit and cannot open; weapons which just don’t work.
China’s new aircraft carrier plagued with many problems, and apparently not really fit to set out to sea and fight.
Many long time resident expats in China leaving, this as a result of the CCP’s campaign to regard all foreigners with suspicion as potential spies.
Foreign tourist numbers down by 90% or more.
Recurring waves of various COVID-like respiratory infections overwhelming hospital resources.
To top it all off, a seemingly unusual number of natural disasters, such as the likely hundreds of thousands of Chinese New Year travelers stranded, for days, on highways due to unusually heavy snow.
Many Chinese, still familiar with China’s traditional Dynastic Cycle and it’s signs, have got to wonder if dictator Xi has lost “the Mandate of Heaven.”
In an era of information warfare, who knows if cumulatively these videos and commentaries paint an essentially accurate picture?
P.S. Analyst Peter Zeihan also points out that China imports 80% of the energy it needs, as well as importing 80% of the chemicals and other things which are essential to keep it’s agricultural sector going and feed it’s people.
Thus, China is extremely vulnerable to any disruption of maritime trade routes.
Open Thread Sunday: Xi Land’s Military Capabilities;
Chinese Military Capabilities – Strategy, Technology & The Changing PLA – Perun
00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:00:42 — What Am I Talking About?
00:02:00 — Strategy And Strategic Environment
00:13:11 — The Forces
00:13:35 — The Strategic Support Force
00:17:59 — The Space Systems Department
00:18:49 — Network Systems Department
00:21:10 — PLA Ground Forces
00:27:51 — PLAAF (Air Force)
00:36:15 — PLAN (Navy)
00:49:22 — The Rocket Force
00:53:09 — Shortfalls, Trends & Perspectives
01:05:48 — Channel Update
If there are big cows, why are there no big goats?
In looking at Biden’s eyes, his pupils are severely dilated. While he still has crystal blue eyes much of the time in candid photos, the pupils are so dilated in his speeches that they look black. Discounting the idea of him being possessed by a demon…
• Always read your comments on China, and have had limited exposure myself – travel in China outside of big cities – but it syncs up with what you share.
• Your comments and the comment from one of the Twitter accounts I follow – see below – reminds me of something a consultant I knew shared with me about China.
• Decades ago, when China was first opening up to westerners, her firm sent her to China to learn Mandarin by immersion – attended class during day, lived in city apartment – for 6 months. She was the only westerner in her building/ neighborhood, and had to figure out day-to-day living by herself (no expat community help, no one spoke English).
• She observed that no one trusted the other. They could shop at the same neighborhood shop/ stall for years, and the shop owner & customer treated each other with suspicion each time. And not because this shop or customer had a bad reputation. That applied to every shop & customer.
• Why? Because every shop & customer would cheat if they could. It was the Chinese way. And that is why construction, manufacturing, etc. in China has the issues you have noted – they are cheating on the materials, process, etc.
Thanks for sharing.
They come from cultures where the dominant sentiment from a morality standpoint is that if you can get away with it, then you do it.
I had numerous foreign national defendants — usually after cooperating once caught — say this comes from being raised in an environment where the ethos is that you screw over other people because you are always at risk for being screwed over yourself, and over time it all evens out. But if you don’t screw over other people, you are the perpetual victim which only encourages more efforts to target you.
There is no biden only zuul
Well that assumes he was ever level headed not any time in recent memory
Of course “he” does….
Turley:
“Biden hides his climate agenda—from Congress and voters”— https://nypost.com/2024/02/11/opinion/biden-hides-his-climate-agenda-from-congress-and-voters/
Opening grafs:
‘ With the departure of John Kerry as “climate czar,” President Biden has announced that he will be replaced by John Podesta, a Democratic powerbroker and Washington insider.
‘ Podesta, however, will take the power and not the title. He will be appointed as “coordinator,” thus sidestepping and confirmation by the Senate, which could have been brutal.
‘ Such action will shield Podesta from questions about Kerry’s work and expenses as climate czar. Before leaving office, Kerry refused to turn over information on his staff to Congress and the public. The Biden Administration is now being sued over the secrecy.
‘ It would also spare Podesta from answering questions over his own past work as well as his brother’s ties to Chinese companies. Likewise, senators, including Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, have criticized Podesta for comments favoring payments to Chinese companies in the energy sector….’
And so…just another coverup. Just another deception. Just another series of lies….
Just another glaring, blaring example of “Biden”‘s M.O.
Of course, if Mayorkas were the least bit HONEST, he would have said “We don’t bear responsibility for a system THAT WE BROKE (and enjoyed breaking, ever as we Democrats have benefited from it”…but it’s quite obvious why he could never say anything as truthful as that…
Re: China / trust
I remember a story that in the heyday of the Tang dynasty a beautiful woman with a sack of jewels could travel by horseback alone across China without being molested.
No doubt a story, but I’m sure that some times in China were better than others.
that guy–
Western vloggers on China– Serpentza and laowhy86–both of whom lived in and traveled around almost every part of China by motorcycle for ten or more years, speak and read Chinese, and have Chinese wives, children, and relatives, say that China is not a high “trust” society, as the U.S. historically used to be.
(But, such trust is now declining here in the U.S.
And what a great way to weaken the social cohesion and strength of the U.S.–the statements and actions of those on the left and in our government and foundational institutions, act to destroy the high levels of cultural and social cohesion, the consequent “trust,” of each American citizen vis-a-vis other American citizens, which used to characterize the U.S., in contrast to the low trust prevailing in almost all other countries.)
So, for instance, these vloggers have shown videos of scammers in China who will step in front of your car, fall down, claim that you hit them, and seek compensation.
Thus, if someone is say, injured or collapses on the street in China, virtually no one will come to their aid, people will pass on by, for fear of being sued by that person and having to not only pay their medical bills, but to also to have to pay them ongoing compensation, potentially for their entire lives.
This situation has also led to the bizarre Chinese development of “spit fighting” i.e. if you hit someone–even in self defense–you could end up being penalized by the courts, but, if you spit at or on someone, this is not considered assault.
So you have videos of grown up men and women repeatedly spitting on each other as a way of fighting and defending themselves.
P.S. Trust in China cont’d–
Thus, while you might trust the members of your immediate family, as you move further away from that blood relationship, to your in-laws, to your Clan, to your neighborhood, to your region or county, to the local, then regional, then national government, it would seem that your trust grows less and less.
Here is the U.S. I used to think that if, say, your car broke down, given that you were not in Deliverance country, you could walk to a nearby house, on the automatic assumption that you would likely be offered help, not be taken advantage of or robbed by the people in that house.
Wonder if low-trust society affects unit cohesion in the Chinese military.
About two days into orientation–the week before Basic starts–they had me doing some extra stuff taking much longer than it should have. I was not going to have time to get back to my quarters and pack my stuff up to make the bus to the Basic barracks. When I got there, guys I’d never met had packed my gear. Sort of thing happened all the time.
Wonder, now, about what would have happened if the recruits were from an extremely low-trust society.
When I got there, guys I’d never met had packed my gear. Sort of thing happened all the time.
On Friday, Will Cain hosted an important interview with investigative reporter Matt Taibbi about the Far Left-Deep State cabal to “save” Democracy by destroying it.
Yet again, the Left fascists are organising contingencies to stop Trump in addition to the ones seen in 2016, 2017, 2018, and before and after the last Presidential election.
Matt suggests the rise of this threatened Oligarchy likely has roots going back to the years after World War II. But before Trump, no true outsider besides Ross Perot in the 1990s, has succeeded in gaining the Presidency.
Who are Ruling Oligarchy? Media, both major parties, and the Big doners. At least.
THIS is worth bookmarking and sharing with others.
Still, neither has an answer to why the Oligarchy — instead of accepting temporary loss of power — evinces anaphylactic shock at a Trump Victory.
I’d suggest the answer lay in the enormous growth in funding and powers gained by the Intelligence Community after 911, together with Obama leading the Left into embracing the doctrines of the Far Left during his time in office. Matt is aghast at the weaponising of the law, serving partisan interests. It cannot be unseen what it exposes.
Per this Tweet from Charlie Kirk (video of Axelrod at the link):
Ex-Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod says Michelle Obama is NOT going to run for POTUS in 2024:
“She never was interested in a political life. Even when Barack Obama was a young politician, she really didn’t participate much in his campaigns. I was with him in a Senate campaign in 2004, I think she showed up twice in the whole campaign on election nights. So, you know, she is not someone who likes politics.”
“They feel that they gave 10 years of their life to this. And I’m sure she feels as Barbara Bush did when she said there has to be someone other than the Bush’s and the Clintons who could be President of the United States. My guess is that’s her attitude.”
“I have as much chance of dancing in the Bolshoi Ballet next year than that she would be President of the United States.”
A lot of assumptions. Not sure I agree with him on this.
Cough, bullshit, dogs were domesticated by selecting for individuals with the least aggression (neonaty).
If you breed two different species you get infertile offspring (mules). No canids have retractile claws, may be that is a thing? An early evolutionary fork or branch in the carnivore tree? Not even Norweigan Puffin Hounds, now they could use retracticle claws?
Interesting video, but I get the feeling the narrator is just a guy from Oklahoma or the Bronx who gets a thrill out of putting on a posh and plummy British accent.
On the question of high officials retaining classified documents, and which of them should be prosecuted: Many of us here have felt that the charges against Trump are, um, trumped up for political reasons. I remember Gen. Petraeus, who was prosecuted for taking some classified files home to share with his biographer, who also had a security clearance. This is what Biden was doing, apparently, and he made several million dollars after his vice presidency on a memoir using his diaries and these files. Biden’s ghost writer, with no clearance, is not being prosecuted, whereas a couple of Trump assistants who merely moved boxes are.
Mitt Romney defends Biden, attacks Hur.
I have heard several references here on this site to “neocons”. I decided to look up neo-conservatives and here is the wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism
Second. There must not be any doubt as to WHY we went into Iraq. OIL, OIL, OIL I was there when the G7 oil accountants made the decision and Tony came into accept their decision. Been there, heard them, saw them. OIL, NOTING BUT OIL!
https://www.tabletmag.com/collections/refuseniks
Tomorrow, 11 Feb, is the date that Nathan Sharansky first stepped in Israel.
The Tablet article on the war notes that the IDF has only lost about 300 fighters in taking over half of Gaza. A huge military success. Not mentioned is that the success is likely to lead towards more Jews, as oppressors, deserve hatred.
Also not mentioned is that to finish, most Gazans in the South will need to be evacuated to the North, and under Israeli control, while the IDF finishes the job.
They should start implementing a temporary admin solution which could be suitable for longer term, 16 years?, governing and policing with very slow reduction in control over time. But lots & lots of Israeli directed rebuilding.
it’s more complicated then that, I mean if that was really the only element, than why not invade the Saudi oil fields, like Miles Ignotus (Edward Luttvak) suggested
back in the 70s, this was the backstory to three days of the condor, (there are logistical problems to that matter, as well as the nature of the societies within)
certainly in wolfowitz’s case, he really did subscribe to this democratization thesis,
and several others, richard perle as well, where neocons lost the ball, imho, was deciding that military force was the first instrument in carrying out policy when it’s the last resort, Bernard Lewis, who was not a neocon, in any real respect (I do recommend his memoir) was an influence on many of younger policy makers
the late Brent Scowcroft who had by the time of the invasion, been a strong pillar of the Saudi lobby, was strongly against, perhaps out of reasons of self interest, the Saudis
were not really keen on the matter because they have some notion of popular discontent,
Israel saw it as a second level threat as compared to Iran, even though Saddam through his security apparat had made some alliances with Islamists, and supported the payment of
rewards to suicide bombers,
Israel cannot ” fix ” the issue with Muslims. The West cannot ” fix ” Islam. All we can do is manage the issue. The issue cannot be ” fixed ” by humans. Democracy does not work in Islamic countries. At least not ” democracy” as the Western world perceives it.
And then there is the problem that western lefties no longer believe in Western Civilization or the concept of Nation States. At least , majority white ones.
It’s all a mess.
I am afraid that the longer Israel tries to ” destroy Hamas”, the more the World will turn against Israel. Hamas is an extension of the Palestinian people. The best Israel can do at this point, in an imperfect world, is negotiate a deal for the remaining hostages and reenforce their border and air defense security and leave open the option for retaliation for further attacks. Israel should wash their hands of Gaza. Tell the world it is up to them to deal with Gaza and shut the crossings from Israel down. Wash their hands of them.
no that was the status quo before October 7th, as you state Hamas is an arm of the Moslem Brotherhood from which Gamaa Islamiya, the GIA and the Taliban all sprout from, their front office is in Doha,
Prince Salman did try to kneecap some of the most militant islamists, but khashoggi, was the pretext to try to topple him, from power, who would leave us with one of the worst like Ahmad the nastier of Prince Nayefs offspring
Israel washed its hands of Gaza following its withdrawal in 2005. The result has been years and years of rocket attacks and terrorist attacks, culminating in the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023.
I had a learned western-leaning Egyptian friend who agreed with Jon Baker about “democracy” in Islamic countries. It doesn’t work there, he said. He felt Egypt should have a benign monarchy. It doesn’t have that now, but the new strong man, al Sisi, was required to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood which was elected. My Christian friends there, while recognizing their difficulties, are very grateful to be dealing with Sisi instead of Morsi.
It says Epicyons “were known as bone crushers”. Known by whom? There were no people in N America at that time.
Mittens defends Brandon? Shocked I am! And totally unexpected from the ex-severe conservative who will do anything to get back into the good graces of the progressive elites.
We always hear “denial isn’t a river in Egypt.” Now we know why — it’s a river in Mexico.
(Duck and cover.)
De Nial runs right next to Del Paso.
It separates Dem from De Plorables.
yes the best time was when Zaghoul was in charge in the 20s, it went sideways from there, there was some sufferance under farouk’s regime, nasser less so, mubarak maybe a little more,
the ideal was probably the Turkish military who rule sometimes openiy sometimes behind the scenes, although kurds nor armenians would agree on that point,
https://thecontinentalcongress.substack.com/p/it-doesnt-matter-anymore?utm_medium=web
Ho-hum…. Another day, another donut….
“Mail-In Ballot Fraud Study Finds Trump ‘Almost Certainly’ Won In 2020”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/mail-ballot-fraud-study-finds-trump-almost-certainly-won-2020
FWIW—and it probably ain’t worth much…simply because that poowa old demented man can’t even testify now. About anything.
(…which is a pretty “elegant” way of sweeping all that corruption, treason and betrayal under the rug!)
And Ben Hur is getting shellacked! BY THE DEMOCRATS!!…No, you can’t make this up…
Gosh, wonder who the next parent to be prosecuted will be!
I’ve read some Egyptian novelists like Mahfouz Palace Series, Al Aswani the Yacoubian Building which was set in a similar way to Maupin’s Tales of the City some of Souiefs work which alternates between the past and the current day, Yacoubian is set in the time of the Gulf war, and the presence of militant islam is a strong under current,Al Aswany was born on 26 May 1957 in Cairo. His mother, Zainab, came from an aristocratic family; her uncle was a Pasha and Minister of Education before the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.[4] His father, Abbas Al Aswany, was from Aswan[3] (in Lower Nubia) and was a lawyer and writer who “is remembered as being a captivating and charismatic speaker with a broad following and loyalty within a cross-section of the Egyptian revolutionary intelligentsia”. Abbas Al Aswany wrote a regular back-page essay in the Egyptian weekly magazine Rose al-Y?suf entitled Aswaaniyat.[5] In 1972, he was “the recipient of the state award for literature”.[3] He died when Alaa was 19 years old.[4]
in 1980. He went on to pursue a master’s degree in dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1985.[6] He speaks Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.[7] He studied Spanish literature in Madrid.
strong anti Western and explicitly anti Semitic narratives, in the Times, like the stringer they fired after 10/7, Souief likewise, shes’ more of the older generation and Aswani the younger,
Souief, is Western educated, shes married to an Englishmen, Ian Hamilton supports commissar Corbyn
on the positive side, she did oppose the lockdowns, which counts in her favor,
Why Is U.S. China Policy So Foolish And Feckless?
https://vdare.com/articles/on-chinese-new-year-s-eve-john-derbyshire-wonders-why-is-u-s-china-policy-so-foolish-and-feckless?scroll_to_paragraph=16
Related?
(…from the extraordinary Rudyard Kipling…)
“Red Dog”—
https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/tale/red-dog.htm
https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/readers-guide/rg_reddog1.htm
Neither “Foolish” nor “Feckless”….
Just another crisis “BY DESIGN”.
oh really
https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1756324228259856574
And…the “Changer” story of the day…
(or the decade)…from the paper of record!
“I was a dominatrix who used to spank men with Bibles – Now I’m a celibate Sunday school teacher”—
https://nypost.com/2024/02/10/lifestyle/i-was-a-dominatrix-who-used-to-spank-men-with-bibles-now-im-a-celibate-sunday-school-teacher/
+ Bonus?
“US porn actor who advocates for Palestinians visits Iran on trip unacknowledged by Tehran”—
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-porn-actor-whitney-wright-israel-hamas-war-1977f95c09b808602e6d137da35462a7
Big cat?
BIG GUY….
‘ LARRY KUDLOW: The Biden presidency is broken;
‘ Kudlow breaks down the Biden’s “untruth” ‘—
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/larry-kudlow-biden-presidency-broken
To be sure, the “Biden” “presidency” was ALWAYS broken.
Always bent.
Always corrupt.
File under: “Destruction, thy name is Biden”.
only from a certain point of view
https://twitter.com/0x49fa98/status/1755585850916659235
Kate at 1:40 pm: Islam won’t allow democracy (my summarized extraction) leads me to comment:
Obama if not Muslim certainly is fond of them. Evidenced by bringing in many Muslim refugees while POTUS (“little Somalia” as 1 example), plus giving CAIR prestige & influence.
Seeing since Oct. how Muslims in America loudly & proudly hate Israel & Jews in general, people have noted & discussed how that group poses a problem for Biden in Nov.
In reality, that group poses a continued problem for all of America!! Having a growing population of anti- Israel/Jews (– Israel: the only democracy & western culture over there!) is more than any election problem.
I fear that growing influence, & wish we could shut off the immigration of anti-American peoples.
I’d include any people embracing a Theocratic system, which is anti- Constitutional.
Back to the video. There is a lot of wisdom in The Jungle Book, “The strength of the Wolf is the Pack and the strength of the Pack is the Wolf”.
The Heartland Institute and their Rasmussen survey data — showing that many people admit to casting illegal or unConstitutional ballots in the 2020 election — in the news again. And we will be seeing more of it on display by Congress, I’m sure.
What is the story? Epoch Times account is up as lead story at Zerohedge,
“Mail-In Ballot Fraud Study Finds Trump ‘Almost Certainly’ Won In 2020“
The study maps the survey’s results into the six swing states voting in order to reach this conclusion.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/mail-ballot-fraud-study-finds-trump-almost-certainly-won-2020
Here is an excerpt that explains these details:
In addition to reassessing the likely overall degree of fraudulent mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, Heartland analysts calculated the potential impact that fraudulent mail-in ballots might have produced in the six key swing states that President Trump officially lost.
This, then, was used to determine the impact of potentially fraudulent mail-in ballots on the overall 2020 election result.
First, the researchers analyzed the electoral results for the six swing states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—under the 28.2 percent fraudulent mail-in ballot scenario that they estimated based on the raw survey data.
Then they calculated the electoral results in the six states under the different scenarios, each with a lower assumed percentage of fraudulent ballots, ranging from 28.2 percent all the way down to 1 percent.
For each of the 29 scenarios that they assesses, the researchers calculated the estimated number of fraudulent ballots, which were then subtracted from overall 2020 vote totals to generate a new estimate for vote totals.
Overall, of the 29 different scenarios presented in the study, the researchers concluded that President Trump would have won the 2020 election in all but three.
Specifically, they calculated that the only scenarios that would affirm the official 2020 election result, namely that candidate Biden won, were mail-in ballot fraud levels between 1 and 3 percent of ballots cast.
Mail-in ballot fraud rates higher than 3 percent would, according to the study, mean more fraudulent Biden votes that should be subtracted from the total, putting President Trump ahead.
For example, the adjustment to the vote tallies under fraud percentage rates between 13 and 6 percent would mean President Trump would have won Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, though he would have still lost in Michigan and Nevada.
Under such a scenario, President Trump would have won 289 Electoral College votes compared to candidate Biden’s 249.
Important news from Israel – first the Powerline commentary, then two news reports from the field.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/02/this-just-in-underneath-unrwa.php
https://www.timesofisrael.com/directly-beneath-unrwas-gaza-headquarters-idf-uncovers-top-secret-hamas-data-center/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/unrwa-head-says-agency-was-in-dark-about-hamas-center-under-gaza-hq-israel-you-knew/
Given what the IDF found, and showed to a group of journalists with cameras, there is no way that the UNRWA minions in Gaza didn’t know: they were supplying the Hamas data center with electricity from cables connected to their own center.
So, yeah: totally defund the UNRWA, fire everyone in Gaza, and ban them from any positions in any UN agency forever.
And get the US out of the UN, if it can’t be dismantled completely.
RE: China–
China tries to present itself as a glittering, high tech society, surging forward to displace the United States as the world’s preeminent country.
But, judging from some of the videos and commentary on Youtube, China is actually falling apart–
First and foremost, China is now entering the acute phase of an irreversible demographic collapse.
Huge numbers of foreign companies have and are pulling out of China, resulting in cumulatively likley many millions of layoffs and jobs lost.
Due to shoddy construction, structural failures in public buildings, high rise apartments, businesses, roadways, tunnels, and bridges–many of them catastrophic–are apparently pretty common.
Huge, empty ghost cities, and failed major projects, costing cumulatively billions of Yuan, scattered around China.
Meanwhile, much of China is still rural and poor.
Collapse of the real estate sector, in which a reported 70% of all Chinese investment capital is invested, and which contributes a reported 30% of China’s GDP.
Millions of vacant apartments and, in addition, hundreds of thousands of uncompleted apartments whose “owners” still have to pay the mortgages on them.
Banks collapsing, and some refusing to let depositors withdraw their money.
Stock market in sharp decline.
As a result of all of these developments, a sharp decline in consumer traffic and spending.
Malls, shopping districts/streets and usually bustling center cites deserted.
Hundreds of thousands of restaurants and small businesses bankrupt and closed.
Deflation.
Unraveling of China’s Trillion Yuan Belt and Road Initiative.
Reports of embezzlement and incompetence in China’s armed forces, resulting in missiles without fuel, and lids of missile silos which don’t fit and cannot open; weapons which just don’t work.
China’s new aircraft carrier plagued with many problems, and apparently not really fit to set out to sea and fight.
Many long time resident expats in China leaving, this as a result of the CCP’s campaign to regard all foreigners with suspicion as potential spies.
Foreign tourist numbers down by 90% or more.
Recurring waves of various COVID-like respiratory infections overwhelming hospital resources.
To top it all off, a seemingly unusual number of natural disasters, such as the likely hundreds of thousands of Chinese New Year travelers stranded, for days, on highways due to unusually heavy snow.
Many Chinese, still familiar with China’s traditional Dynastic Cycle and it’s signs, have got to wonder if dictator Xi has lost “the Mandate of Heaven.”
In an era of information warfare, who knows if cumulatively these videos and commentaries paint an essentially accurate picture?
P.S. Analyst Peter Zeihan also points out that China imports 80% of the energy it needs, as well as importing 80% of the chemicals and other things which are essential to keep it’s agricultural sector going and feed it’s people.
Thus, China is extremely vulnerable to any disruption of maritime trade routes.
Open Thread Sunday: Xi Land’s Military Capabilities;
Chinese Military Capabilities – Strategy, Technology & The Changing PLA – Perun
https://youtu.be/ckouoTDkrtQ
If there are big cows, why are there no big goats?
In looking at Biden’s eyes, his pupils are severely dilated. While he still has crystal blue eyes much of the time in candid photos, the pupils are so dilated in his speeches that they look black. Discounting the idea of him being possessed by a demon…
–Rabbi Michael Barclay, “Has Joe Biden Become Possessed, Or Is He Just High as a Kite?”
https://pjmedia.com/rabbi-michael-barclay/2024/02/10/has-joe-biden-become-possessed-or-is-he-just-high-as-a-kite-n4926335
_______________________________________
I prefer to keep my options open.
@ Snow on Pine
• Always read your comments on China, and have had limited exposure myself – travel in China outside of big cities – but it syncs up with what you share.
• Your comments and the comment from one of the Twitter accounts I follow – see below – reminds me of something a consultant I knew shared with me about China.
• Decades ago, when China was first opening up to westerners, her firm sent her to China to learn Mandarin by immersion – attended class during day, lived in city apartment – for 6 months. She was the only westerner in her building/ neighborhood, and had to figure out day-to-day living by herself (no expat community help, no one spoke English).
• She observed that no one trusted the other. They could shop at the same neighborhood shop/ stall for years, and the shop owner & customer treated each other with suspicion each time. And not because this shop or customer had a bad reputation. That applied to every shop & customer.
• Why? Because every shop & customer would cheat if they could. It was the Chinese way. And that is why construction, manufacturing, etc. in China has the issues you have noted – they are cheating on the materials, process, etc.
Thanks for sharing.
There is no biden only zuul
Well that assumes he was ever level headed not any time in recent memory
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/02/double_exposure.html
Of course “he” does….
Turley:
“Biden hides his climate agenda—from Congress and voters”—
https://nypost.com/2024/02/11/opinion/biden-hides-his-climate-agenda-from-congress-and-voters/
Opening grafs:
‘ With the departure of John Kerry as “climate czar,” President Biden has announced that he will be replaced by John Podesta, a Democratic powerbroker and Washington insider.
‘ Podesta, however, will take the power and not the title. He will be appointed as “coordinator,” thus sidestepping and confirmation by the Senate, which could have been brutal.
‘ Such action will shield Podesta from questions about Kerry’s work and expenses as climate czar. Before leaving office, Kerry refused to turn over information on his staff to Congress and the public. The Biden Administration is now being sued over the secrecy.
‘ It would also spare Podesta from answering questions over his own past work as well as his brother’s ties to Chinese companies. Likewise, senators, including Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, have criticized Podesta for comments favoring payments to Chinese companies in the energy sector….’
And so…just another coverup. Just another deception. Just another series of lies….
Just another glaring, blaring example of “Biden”‘s M.O.
+ Bonus (We’ll throw in a huge dose of arrogance, hubris and stupidity—ordinarily a toxic mixture…but not, apparently, if you’re “Biden”…where it’s actually de rigeur…)
“Mayorkas rejects impeachment push: ‘We don’t bear responsibility for a broken system’”—
https://nypost.com/2024/02/11/news/mayorkas-we-dont-bear-responsibility-for-a-broken-system-rejects-impeachment-push/
Of course, if Mayorkas were the least bit HONEST, he would have said “We don’t bear responsibility for a system THAT WE BROKE (and enjoyed breaking, ever as we Democrats have benefited from it”…but it’s quite obvious why he could never say anything as truthful as that…
Re: China / trust
I remember a story that in the heyday of the Tang dynasty a beautiful woman with a sack of jewels could travel by horseback alone across China without being molested.
No doubt a story, but I’m sure that some times in China were better than others.
that guy–
Western vloggers on China– Serpentza and laowhy86–both of whom lived in and traveled around almost every part of China by motorcycle for ten or more years, speak and read Chinese, and have Chinese wives, children, and relatives, say that China is not a high “trust” society, as the U.S. historically used to be.
(But, such trust is now declining here in the U.S.
And what a great way to weaken the social cohesion and strength of the U.S.–the statements and actions of those on the left and in our government and foundational institutions, act to destroy the high levels of cultural and social cohesion, the consequent “trust,” of each American citizen vis-a-vis other American citizens, which used to characterize the U.S., in contrast to the low trust prevailing in almost all other countries.)
So, for instance, these vloggers have shown videos of scammers in China who will step in front of your car, fall down, claim that you hit them, and seek compensation.
Thus, if someone is say, injured or collapses on the street in China, virtually no one will come to their aid, people will pass on by, for fear of being sued by that person and having to not only pay their medical bills, but to also to have to pay them ongoing compensation, potentially for their entire lives.
This situation has also led to the bizarre Chinese development of “spit fighting” i.e. if you hit someone–even in self defense–you could end up being penalized by the courts, but, if you spit at or on someone, this is not considered assault.
So you have videos of grown up men and women repeatedly spitting on each other as a way of fighting and defending themselves.
P.S. Trust in China cont’d–
Thus, while you might trust the members of your immediate family, as you move further away from that blood relationship, to your in-laws, to your Clan, to your neighborhood, to your region or county, to the local, then regional, then national government, it would seem that your trust grows less and less.
Here is the U.S. I used to think that if, say, your car broke down, given that you were not in Deliverance country, you could walk to a nearby house, on the automatic assumption that you would likely be offered help, not be taken advantage of or robbed by the people in that house.
Nowadays?
https://nypost.com/2024/02/10/metro/anti-israel-organization-deleted-from-instagram-as-nyc-protesters-vow-to-be-louder/
Wonder if low-trust society affects unit cohesion in the Chinese military.
About two days into orientation–the week before Basic starts–they had me doing some extra stuff taking much longer than it should have. I was not going to have time to get back to my quarters and pack my stuff up to make the bus to the Basic barracks. When I got there, guys I’d never met had packed my gear. Sort of thing happened all the time.
Wonder, now, about what would have happened if the recruits were from an extremely low-trust society.
When I got there, guys I’d never met had packed my gear. Sort of thing happened all the time.
Richard Aubrey:
Lovely!
very legit journalism
https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1756735773829664918
Al Jezerria infested with Hamashites? Shocked I am. Inconceivable. Almost what to expect from AP and the other “press” agencies.
@ huxley on February 11, 2024 at 2:08 pm said:
If there are big cows, why are there no big goats?
Cows don’t climb up the sides of mountains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppKQz8I93oA
Or dams. Or palm trees.
On Friday, Will Cain hosted an important interview with investigative reporter Matt Taibbi about the Far Left-Deep State cabal to “save” Democracy by destroying it.
Yet again, the Left fascists are organising contingencies to stop Trump in addition to the ones seen in 2016, 2017, 2018, and before and after the last Presidential election.
“We know it will involve censorship…” one of the two says, and the other agrees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv1fGGbK-90
Matt suggests the rise of this threatened Oligarchy likely has roots going back to the years after World War II. But before Trump, no true outsider besides Ross Perot in the 1990s, has succeeded in gaining the Presidency.
Who are Ruling Oligarchy? Media, both major parties, and the Big doners. At least.
THIS is worth bookmarking and sharing with others.
Still, neither has an answer to why the Oligarchy — instead of accepting temporary loss of power — evinces anaphylactic shock at a Trump Victory.
I’d suggest the answer lay in the enormous growth in funding and powers gained by the Intelligence Community after 911, together with Obama leading the Left into embracing the doctrines of the Far Left during his time in office. Matt is aghast at the weaponising of the law, serving partisan interests. It cannot be unseen what it exposes.
Per this Tweet from Charlie Kirk (video of Axelrod at the link):
https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1756793796510224732
Ex-Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod says Michelle Obama is NOT going to run for POTUS in 2024:
“She never was interested in a political life. Even when Barack Obama was a young politician, she really didn’t participate much in his campaigns. I was with him in a Senate campaign in 2004, I think she showed up twice in the whole campaign on election nights. So, you know, she is not someone who likes politics.”
“They feel that they gave 10 years of their life to this. And I’m sure she feels as Barbara Bush did when she said there has to be someone other than the Bush’s and the Clintons who could be President of the United States. My guess is that’s her attitude.”
“I have as much chance of dancing in the Bolshoi Ballet next year than that she would be President of the United States.”
https://thespectator.com/book-and-art/dune-monument-cultural-appropriation-frank-herbert/?utm_source=Spectator%20World%20Signup&utm_campaign=d2c60b7231-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_02_12_01_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d2c60b7231-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D