At the 7:00 mark looks a fair amount like J.K. Rowling.
The Governing Party in Georgia won Saturday’s election as the opposition calls for protests. The Georgian Dream party won 54 percent of the vote despite the massive propaganda campaign directed against it by the EU and the USA. The same tactics that are now playing out in the USA election were used against the ruling party Georgia Dream. GD is led by the former Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Bidzina is a billionaire who made a good deal of his fortune in the former Soviet Union. He has been characterized as a Russian puppet who will deliver Georgia into the arms of the Russians despite 12 years in power leading Georgia closer to the EU while maintaining peaceful relations with Russia. The Georgian Dream party represent traditional Georgian values – love of God, country, and family. While favoring close ties to the west, GD is against the excesses of the European experiment e.g. they are against the LGBQ agenda, the near hysterical fear of climate change, and the overt secularization of a society that remains deeply religious.
Civil disturbances occurred last summer when the Parliament passed a law roughly based on the similar American FARA (Foreign Agents Reporting Act). The local American agents deviously call this the “Russian Law” based on similar Russian legislation to create hostility to the ruling GD government. The EU and USA now threaten to withhold aid as well as a path to membership into the EU and NATO if Georgian Dream remains in power. Tensions are running high with the opposition not accepting the results of the election.
Its worthwhile to keep an eye on events in Georgia as our Deep State could use developments in Georgia over the next few days as a playbook for Trumps likely victory in November.
Today is OXI (NO) Day Holiday in Greece. 84 years ago, Mussolini invaded Greece after Prime minister Metaxas refusal to capitulate to the Italians. Mussolini overplayed his hand with the tough Greeks and Hitler had to bail him out by a hastily organized invasion of the Balkans. The plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union were delayed until Greece was subjugated. The outcome of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union could very well have been different if not for Mussolini’s foolish actions.
A very good movie based on a true story of the German assault on Crete is linked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ahvCt9r4R4
FEAR THE LIGHT – ‘Israel announces launch of £413m LASER interceptor the ‘Iron Beam’ that downs terror rockets & drones with beam of light’
Looks like at least three versions of this “Iron Beam” – 150, 100, and 10 kW – and Israel is going with the miniature 10kW version in this purchase (2,000 meters range). It’s effective against UAVs and Loitering Munitions. The bigger ones can intercept UAVs, missiles, rockets, artillery (WOW!), and mortars.
Israel has had problems with the UAVs, so this 10kW miniature should solve that issue…
what accounts for the different portraits, the earlier ones look mummified, or like a statue, the darnley portrait looks a little better, the other ones have natural tones, there must have been portraits as a youth, when she looked more natural
Shaun Maguire, venture capitalist and former Democrat, has a good port and short video on his reasons for supporting Trump. Maybe share w friends who are in need of enlightenment.
(if you’re not on LinkedIn, you can still see the video by simply x-ing out the popup window)
So both Elizabeth and Beethoven poisoned themselves with lead (Pb), she with acne creams, he with a favored wine goblet. Two centuries apart!
The preference cascade towards Trump away from Harris seems like a waterfall at this point. Trump and his team have had a good month, but I think Harris, Walz and their teams’ approach is an even bigger cause of the shift. The Corporate media are a big part of that also.
It’s the man behind the curtain in “The Wizard of Oz,” with “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” with Karen from middle management.
Because of the pervasiveness, reach and volume of non-corporate media they no longer can lie us into voting for a ticket like Harris – Walz.
They can’t scold us into it; Obama calling out “black” (his word) males, appeals to race and gender, lack of compassion for homeless, illegal aliens, etc.
They can’t scare us into voting for Harris – Walz; Trump is Hitler, Trump is a fascist, Trump will use the military to impose martial law…
And, their policies are so bad and their performance as leaders so provably bad they cannot fool people into thinking they can do the job.
Interesting times.
Cicero,
You likely know the reason for lead’s chemical symbol. The Romans used lead for plumbing (“plumbium”). It’s ideally suited for the purpose; abundant, relatively easy to work, bend, form…, cheap, durable, long lasting…
It’s ideal, except for the fact that drinking water run through lead pipes leads to physical harm, as you wrote. (I think it can also be absorbed through the skin if used for bathing water?) It’s also not a good idea to add it to gasoline to prevent engine knock, resulting in aerosolizing it so people continually breathe in lead particulates.
Xylourgos,
Efkaristo for the link to “Ill Met By Moonlight.” Stirring derring-do, and fitting encomium to dashing Paddy Leigh Fermor, whose peerless travel books, as well as “Abducting A General”, his own recounting of that Cretan adventure, and Artemis Cooper’s biography of him, “A Life In Letters”, occupy honored space on my shelves. What a writer, what a life!
Re the Italian occupation: Despite the half-assed film based on it, no lover of rich, satisfying literature should be deterred from Louis de Berniere’s novel “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.”
also evelyn waugh had a segment in the war series, it does seem a remote target unless your endpoint if turkey, ok the harbors did provide bases for the British navy, and air bases could cover as far north as ploesti, without it, the bombers had to fly from as far as libya, if memory served thats not a short jump
I’m not seeing a preference cascade for Trump. Big anxiety is that he’s not past the margin of fraud.
Elizabeth I had enough portraiture done that how she looked doesn’t seem to be that much of a mystery.
As for harm from water in lead pipes, not having clean water in the first place is a lot more harmful, and there were plenty of other things killing off Romans before they got much harm from lead piping. But the Romans were aware that lead pipes were not the most healthy and often used ceramic or wood instead. The aqueducts were never “off” but were continually flowing and running into the sewers, so the lead concentration in their drinking water was measurable but not toxic, as the water never sat in the pipes.
Most Romans would not have had lead pipes to their homes in any case, they’d have carried their water from the fountains.
They’re small sample survey discussions, 11 Kamala, 12 Trump, with mirroring questions posed and answered (answered sort of, if you take my gist). Nothing earth-awakening, nothing at all.
Okay, how about some thoughts on this topic?
A woman at X said that ‘female rage’ is so high that pollsters and pundits don’t have any idea how much of an effect it will have on the election. Someone in Boulder saw a flyer for “a “Women’s Rage Release” event where women pay $45 for a “Dark feminine journey for safely learning to somatically move through anger” https://x.com/L0m3z/status/1849960504862834987
Matt Walsh says:
“Kamala’s whole campaign strategy is to harness female rage and ride it to victory. This election is “revenge” for women. Revenge for what exactly? They can’t say. Women in this country are doing better than men by almost any metric. But they’re mad anyway and don’t know why.”
@WindDustStars attended a Taylor Swift concert in Miami a couple of weeks ago and observed a lot of anger at ‘the patriarchy’..said she felt a ‘dark, witchy energy.’ She also offers some thoughts here: https://x.com/WindDustStars/status/1850749541223448925
sdferr
The Lee Smith article is very good and expresses my dark thoughts that the election of Trump may just be the beginning of the most terrible time for the country since 1860.
sdferr, physicsguy…I haven’t read the whole thing, but this 2020 ‘war game’ by the ‘transition integrity project’ is interesting. See especially Game 3–Clear Trump Win, which by Turn 3 leads to the Democrats (the Biden campaign, in the game) calling for secession of the western states unless Republicans agree to a set of ‘reforms’ to ‘ensure majority rule.’
Every day there are new, prominent people professing their support for Trump in dollars and long, open posts on the Internet. The WaPo and L.A. Times endorsing no one is huge. People are not shy about showing their dislike of Biden-Harris-Walz, and, even more unusual compared to the last Presidential election, people are willing to openly show support for Trump. That Madison Square Garden rally was nuts! Right in the heart of Manhattan!
Except for the occasional farmer in fly over country painting his barn roof, Trump support was concealed in 2020.
Matt Walsh –
“Women in this country are doing better than men by almost any metric.”
Is there a term for the phenomenon of males transitioning from being generally female-supportive in their early adulthood, to more female-skeptic as they age? I am not referring to sexual attraction, but to a diminution of overall comfort level with women, specifically in respect to political affairs. Late-life political gynophobia?
Present company soundly excepted, of course!
David Foster-
The dems may be stupid enough to threaten succession of the western states. What will they do when the majority calls their bluff and says, “Your proposal is accepted.” Without CA, that would guarantee republican/conservative president/congress/scotus for the foreseeable future. Would the NE states join the western states in secession? What about IL, the only rabidly D state in between? There would likely be very large self-sorting migrations between the 2 new nations, and I think we would end up in a better place.
It would be great if we could all get along and get back to being the dominant player on the world stage, but the ship sailed when Clinton left office, if not earlier.
It’s hard not to recollect that the election of Lincoln in 1860 was not the end of the conflict between the states, but the opening of a much worse stage of the conflict.
I’m still pretty convinced Trump is going to be Fortified out of taking office. Besides ballot-harvesting and other election rule changes (like the reinstatement of non-citizen voters in Virginia), there’s Hawaiian judges, the rejection of Electoral College votes by Congress (presided over by one K. Harris) throwing the Presidential election to the House and the VP election to the Senate, and failing that there’s always political violence.
If they can stall the resolution of the election to Inauguration Day, Kamala Harris is then Acting President, and then only God knows what happens after that. Are they dumb enough to try this? These people work hard to get high on their own supply even when there’s nothing left but a few flakes at the bottom of the dime bag.
Big money entities prefer bad certainty to uncertainty. Trump at this stage no longer represents “uncertainty”, and Acting President Kamala Harris does simply by virtue of the suspension of regular order. That’s why I hope they will put their weight against any “By Any Means Necessary” shenanigans, but that’s a slender reed.
Joe Rogan Interview & What some learned about Trump – Quick Thoughts:
• Ability to consider and defer to another’s perspective and expertise, while maintaining “ownership” (see RFK).
• Ability to listen to and appreciate another person’s interest and knowledge – and respect other positions/ jobs – whether share same interest or not (see Rogan).
• Ability to draw on his experience and expertise – which is different than his political counterparts – to govern and set the USA “up-for-success” (see Deals)
Lastly, all of the above are traits of a successful Executive.
***
1) RFK
• Willingness to listen to Health issues/ concerns – RFK’ & others
• Willingness to act on Health issues/ concerns – when substantiated
• Understanding the need for boundaries when RFK’ concerns/ recommendations do not coincide with Trump’ – e.g., Health v. Energy
2) Rogan
• Encouraged and enjoyed Rogan’ knowledge of the UFC
• Spoke about topics that do not directly apply to this presidential campaign, but are of interest to others – e.g., UFOs
3) Deals
• Spoke plainly and convincingly about the need to avoid one-sided deals, and about the power/ leverage that the USA should use – e.g., Tariffs, Tax Policy, Natural Wealth
I found this as the game play progress in Scenario 3- Clear Trump Win
The Trump Team’s approach in turns two and three also emphasized creating the conditions to force the Biden Campaign into taking provocative, unprecedented actions—such as supporting California’s secession or sending a second slate of electors—that played into a broader narrative of the Democrats attempting to orchestrate an illegal coup. The team also tried to position President Trump as a “unifier”—working with top CEOs, holding a unifying event at the Lincoln Memorial, offering to establish a commission to review electoral rules—and as prioritizing safety and security in the face of radical groups supporting Joe Biden and trying to destroy America.
• One of the most consequential moves was that Team Biden on January 6 provoked a breakdown in the joint session of Congress by getting the House of Representatives to agree to award the presidency to Biden (based on the alternative pro-Biden submissions sent by pro-Biden governors). Pence and the GOP refused to accept this, declaring instead that Trump was reelected under the Constitution because of his Electoral College victory. This partisan division remained unresolved because neither side backed down, and January 20 arrived without a single president elect entitled to be Commander-in-Chief after noon that day. It was unclear what the military would do in this situation.
Explains why the Democrats were so adamant J6 was about overturning the election. It was there strategy if Trump were to convincingly win– under the guise that Biden won the popular vote, using a second set of electors sent by the governor of the swing states where there was divided government.
Imagine the gall to suggest Trump won the election because he won the electoral college.
I remember the governors of the three Westcoast states asserting they wouldn’t recognize the election of Trump, but according to the game scenario, it would be Biden that called for them to secede.
Interesting to revisit what might have happened.
Ray Van Dune-
The vast majority of women, and probably a majority of men, forget that every bit of “progress” that women have made since men allowed them to vote, then own property, and take advantage of all of the legal protections that have given them a leg up in modern society, is entirely at the whim of men, and can be ended without notice. That would involve a significant breakdown of contemporary civil society, but at the end of the day, SCOTUS and the Democratic Party have the same number of Divisions as the pope.
There are a few men that would be willing to fight and die to preserve the role that women have in modern Western society, but they are quantitatively and qualitatively pitiful compared to the the majority of men who, when the SHTF, will come to their senses and understand that female soldiers, cops, CEOs, and surgeons are a luxury good that our civilization may not be able to afford.
It’s not gynophobia, any more than than the belief that adult homosexual men should not be Boy Scout leaders is homophobia. Nothing irrational about it.
Secession is bullshit. It means the collapse of American military power. Secession should result the conquest of the blue states and the hanging of all secessionists.
West Texas, how’s the meds?
David Foster:
That 2020 war game is indeed interesting, albeit leaves out a couple of possible scenarios:
One they missed was the possibility that selected Democrat governors would use the Covid pandemic as an excuse to flood their state with ballots that would allow voters to cast their ballot without leaving home. As part of this scenario, the governors would also allow ballots that were incurable because they were unsigned/undated or arrived too late to qualify to be counted anyway. This indeed happened in states we are calling too close to call this year, such as Pennsylvania and Nevada, where ballots flooded the scene. One result of this was that the total number of votes counted was far above any previous elections. This made it easier to believe the vote had been affected and Trump was the victim.
Another possibility they missed was that a cabal of super-wealthy Democrats would dump a large amount of money into Get Out The Vote and Vote Counting efforts. This did, in fact, happen, and was acknowledged and written up in Time magazine after the fact.
This effort, like other purportedly “non partisan” movements like “No Labels,” does not really appear non partisan. It looks like a Democrat effort to grab the intellectual high ground, not entirely successfully.
As for getting western states to secede, this would not be the first time Democrats backed such an effort, and I suspect the results would end up about the same: a tense reintegration (reconstruction) with a lot of sore losers on the side of the western states. A significant difference, of course, is that the industrial/agrarian roles (and relative wealth) would be more or less reversed.
I did not read it carefully, but my quick reaction is that this was not really a good-faith effort. Interesting, nonetheless.
Anger at ” the patriarchy” is mostly anger at white Judeo- Christian men. Somehow it escapes these women that of all races and religions , white religious men have generally been the most agreeable and beneficial to women. Whatever exceptions you may find.
Look at the ” Guiding Principles” of ” BLM at schools.” Promotes LGBTQ and matriarchy and disses ” the patriarchy”. It seems to be almost anti straight fatherhood.
Women in this country are doing better than men by almost any metric. But they’re mad anyway and don’t know why.”
I can think of three reasons: Abortion, abortion, abortion. Even though it’s no longer a federal issue. They are angry about Dobbs, and want a Democrat who can pack the Supreme Court.
I know that these are just blog comments typed in a hurry, and I know that I make more than my fair share of mistakes. But, oh no, it can’t be Art Deco! Two errors in three words! I need an alcoholic beverage and a nap.
Art said “There current line up … ”
Art meant “Their current lineup … “
Ray Van Dune,
Not sure if it’s precisely what you reference, but there is the MGTOW movement, Men Going Their Own Way.
MSNBC covers the rally. It takes a strong constitution to watch it.
Ref Rufus T. Firefly’s ‘MGTOW movement, Men Going Their Own Way.’
In Jr. High we sometimes had a course taught by Coaches. How qualified were they? I have no clue. Anyway, this Coach taught history or something like it – teaching about Spartan History one day, and got into their practice of infanticide.
Said the Spartan women got tired of the practice, and formed a Sex Union (not Coach’s word) – ‘No sex until infanticide stopped!’ Spartan men said fine – ‘No sex for women then!’
Time passes, and the Spartan women caved…
Ditto on the I have no clue—and a quick search didn’t show anything about it.
physics guy may have cataracts to account for his “dark vision”. Lacks faith in his fellow citizens.
If it is 1860 again, this time we win.
Niketas Choniates on October 28, 2024 at 1:47 pm said:
“I’m still pretty convinced Trump is going to be Fortified out of taking office. … ”
_________________________________________________________
I completely agree with Niketas Choniates. Since early in this election cycle, even before Kamala became the candidate, I said that Trump would need a landslide to beat the new system. Lately, here and there, I’ve read excited predictions of just that. Of course, I have hopes, but I don’t see the evidence. For example, at 270towin.com, the consensus electoral college vote map displays all seven swing states as toss-ups. That’s worrisome.
Yes, I’m a pessimist, but I’d happily embrace evidence supporting a defeat for the Marxists.
P.S. The seven swing states are Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada.
MGTOW…lol..my aviation oriented mind immediately went to maximum gross take off weight.
I lack faith in about 50% of my fellow citizens. They haven’t exactly shown themselves to be trustworthy, especially when being lead by evil that is now the Democrats.
Cornflour:
I share your concern. Trump has done a better job this time of gaining a wide range of red-pilled endorsements (e.g. RFK Jr, Tulsi), and I think he has done a more energetic job of campaigning, but there are a lot of people on the other side who think this is the moment to pack the Supreme Court, admit D.C. and PR as states, and make abortion a federal right. And then what’s the chance Republicans will ever win another election?
Thanks neo – maybe Coach shouldn’t have been teaching history, but he was sorta close on his version.
On a side note – as the election gets closer, some men are wishing that American women should have their voting right removed—I confess at times during this election that same thought has crossed my mind.
Spartan women were famous in ancient Greece for seemingly having more freedom than women elsewhere in the Greek world .. Spartan women could legally own and inherit property, and they were usually better educated than their Athenian counterparts.
Compare those ancient days to what Afghan women were suffering under the Taliban not too long ago – expressed in the Afghan movie: Osama (film).
That movie keeps popping into my mind when thinking women shouldn’t be voting this year…
F; Cornflour:
I have the same anxiety.
Karmi:
Not teaching history – teaching drama.
If Trump wins Pennsylvania and Michigan, he wins.
I’ve said previously he will win Michigan and it looks like he will win Pennsylvania.
Biden, it’s been pointed out, was “Pennsylvania’s third senator”. He had a connection which Harris doesn’t have. Her flip/flop on fracking and restrictions on LNG work against her. It beats any election malfeasance.
When I went to Youtube to search for him singing it that is the first video it suggested and when it came up I realized I saw that on live television when it aired.
And now, 39 years later I accessed it in a matter of seconds and am watching it on a tiny, flat screen. It’s ordinary these days, but still kind of amazing.
Since it is an Open Thread:
Nuclear weapons and security guarantees for Ukraine – Anders Puck Nielsen
Nuclear weapons and security guarantees for Ukraine
Anders Puck Nielsen
Oct 28, 2024
It is becoming increasingly clear that the West and Ukraine disagree about the end game of the war. Western leaders do not seem to understand the importance of security guarantees if they want the war to end, and potentially it can lead to proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian plan for victory has also been largely misunderstood.
0:00 Intro
0:42 Disagreement between Ukraine and the West
1:33 The Western perspective
2:26 Ukraine’s perspective on territory
3:40 Security guarantees
5:35 Two types of deterrence
7:37 Ukraine and nuclear weapons
9:25 The plan for victory
14:41 The end game
15:45 Ukrainian agency
I listened to om’s link to Anders Puck Nielsen and I’m frankly confused.
At around 2:30 Nielsen says:
If we take the point about territorial integrity, then I think the Ukrainian perspective is less rigid than people in the West assume. So when you hear Ukrainian officials talking about this question of getting their territory back, then increasingly they do not discuss that as a requirement for ending the fighting here and now. More and more they’re saying that this is a question that can be resolved later, even many years later by future generations.
But this is what Ukraine officials are saying from a Kyiv Post story:
Zelensky’s aide, Andriy Yermak, also signaled Ukraine’s readiness for negotiations on the condition that Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty is respected in a Monday interview with Finnish media….Zelensky’s statement can be interpreted as a signal to peace talks ahead of the second peace summit, which aimed to establish conditions to end the war with international support.
However, Kyiv’s key condition of retaining sovereignty over territories occupied by Russia is unlikely to be agreed upon by the Kremlin as the latter continues to make creeping gains in eastern Ukraine.
It seems like a rather large obstacle/contradiction in positions.
well Ukraine does have the problem of an invading army and daily bombing by an adversary committed to the destruction of them as an independent nation. That whole Special Military Operation.
But lets not quibble about who invaded who or the glory of Russia, and the evil west. All is well in Kursk.
And of course one must consider that Russia though ousted from Kerson still considers it Russian not Ukrainian since Russia annexed it in 2023? Before they fled across the Denipro River, and blew up the dam, and generally rampaged and pillaged.
@ Rufus > “The WaPo and L.A. Times endorsing no one is huge.”
Had said I wasn’t going to pay attention to polls and focus just on Betting Odds. Then I voted against Harris & DEMs and am getting a little anxious as voting day approaches…
Why the race isn’t as close as you think: With one week to go, analyst CRAIG KESHISHIAN predicts the polls are missing a hidden voter surge – Craig Keshishian was a project director on President Reagan’s polling team and later served in Reagan’s Presidential Speechwriting and Research Office
In the final week of this ‘dead heat’ presidential election, I am reminded of Ronald Reagan’s landslide 1980 victory.
Then as now, President Jimmy Carter was polling neck-and-neck with his Republican challenger.
A Gallup poll showed Carter up one percentage point nationally in late October.
Then the bottom dropped out of Carter’s campaign – and Reagan won by nearly 10 points in the popular vote, and a staggering 489 to 49 in the Electoral College.
@ Karmi – odds are good that the Democrats will claim Kamala had one of those hidden voter surges, after they decide how many ballots they need to add to her pile.
Seriously: we know of the elections where Republican voters don’t answer polls, don’t post signs, and don’t talk about their preferences in public, where the GOP candidate wins like Reagan’s first term, maybe Nixon (first and second terms different), and Trump 45.
Are there any cases of the Democrats NOT publicly revealing their preferences, having low numbers in the pre-election polling, and then winning?
Is that what happened with Truman – behind in the polls before voting.
They expect Harris to lose.
AesopFan:
Yes.
For some unfathomable reason they are ignoring Art Deco’s certainty that this election is within the margin of error.
@ David Foster > “this 2020 ‘war game’ by the ‘transition integrity project’ is interesting”
@ F > “That 2020 war game is indeed interesting, albeit leaves out a couple of possible scenarios:”
You can say that again.
However, the main consideration they missed, as shown by your comment, is that, just as a map is not the terrain, a game is not the actual events.
I can’t cut-and-paste from David’s link, but a downloaded PDF of the document was more amenable, and, just for the fun of it, I have a fisking in process.
That could take awhile.
I see that Lee Smith has already gone down the same path in re the TIP war game, aka “the plan for the war we intend to foment.” (h/t sdferr)
@ physicsguy > “The Lee Smith article is very good and expresses my dark thoughts that the election of Trump may just be the beginning of the most terrible time for the country since 1860.”
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
One more thought on the Game Plan: the Left works out their strategies as if they were Europeans. It is important to note that the Plan must be read with Acme Secret Message Glasses: anytime they say “Trump” will or might do something, read that as “We” will or should do that thing.
Here’s why their plan cannot be implemented as smoothly as they anticipate (nothing here is new, but it never hurts to repeat the basics).
Most importantly, Hitler’s rise in Germany involved a governmental system that does not exist in the United States, although the Democrats are working to overcome that disadvantage. However, there are other differences as well:
(1) He manipulated and then dominated a nation that is smaller than Texas — one of 50 states, not all of which are happy with the imposition of tyranny from the Left or the Right.
(2) Germans were deprived of personal weapons as an early order of business.
(3) The National Socialists (to give them their proper name) were supported by many prominent academics, jurists, politicians, and business leaders. — Okay, they got me on this one.
(4) After taking power, he was able to “legally” eradicate all other political parties, organizations, and labor unions within three months. I’m not sure that’s possible in the US.
There are probably more points, and the argument has been developed in many places, but the main thing is to remember that the Left learned from Hitler, and that they do not actually fear that Trump & Republicans will do any of the things they propose, as Lee demonstrates in his post.
At the 7:00 mark looks a fair amount like J.K. Rowling.
The Governing Party in Georgia won Saturday’s election as the opposition calls for protests. The Georgian Dream party won 54 percent of the vote despite the massive propaganda campaign directed against it by the EU and the USA. The same tactics that are now playing out in the USA election were used against the ruling party Georgia Dream. GD is led by the former Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Bidzina is a billionaire who made a good deal of his fortune in the former Soviet Union. He has been characterized as a Russian puppet who will deliver Georgia into the arms of the Russians despite 12 years in power leading Georgia closer to the EU while maintaining peaceful relations with Russia. The Georgian Dream party represent traditional Georgian values – love of God, country, and family. While favoring close ties to the west, GD is against the excesses of the European experiment e.g. they are against the LGBQ agenda, the near hysterical fear of climate change, and the overt secularization of a society that remains deeply religious.
Civil disturbances occurred last summer when the Parliament passed a law roughly based on the similar American FARA (Foreign Agents Reporting Act). The local American agents deviously call this the “Russian Law” based on similar Russian legislation to create hostility to the ruling GD government. The EU and USA now threaten to withhold aid as well as a path to membership into the EU and NATO if Georgian Dream remains in power. Tensions are running high with the opposition not accepting the results of the election.
Its worthwhile to keep an eye on events in Georgia as our Deep State could use developments in Georgia over the next few days as a playbook for Trumps likely victory in November.
Today is OXI (NO) Day Holiday in Greece. 84 years ago, Mussolini invaded Greece after Prime minister Metaxas refusal to capitulate to the Italians. Mussolini overplayed his hand with the tough Greeks and Hitler had to bail him out by a hastily organized invasion of the Balkans. The plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union were delayed until Greece was subjugated. The outcome of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union could very well have been different if not for Mussolini’s foolish actions.
A very good movie based on a true story of the German assault on Crete is linked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ahvCt9r4R4
FEAR THE LIGHT – ‘Israel announces launch of £413m LASER interceptor the ‘Iron Beam’ that downs terror rockets & drones with beam of light’
Looks like at least three versions of this “Iron Beam” – 150, 100, and 10 kW – and Israel is going with the miniature 10kW version in this purchase (2,000 meters range). It’s effective against UAVs and Loitering Munitions. The bigger ones can intercept UAVs, missiles, rockets, artillery (WOW!), and mortars.
Israel has had problems with the UAVs, so this 10kW miniature should solve that issue…
what accounts for the different portraits, the earlier ones look mummified, or like a statue, the darnley portrait looks a little better, the other ones have natural tones, there must have been portraits as a youth, when she looked more natural
Shaun Maguire, venture capitalist and former Democrat, has a good port and short video on his reasons for supporting Trump. Maybe share w friends who are in need of enlightenment.
https://x.com/shaunmmaguire/status/1796293774794268747
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thesilentpartner_thinblueline-lawenforcement-activity-7252664767050321920-2LRJ/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
(if you’re not on LinkedIn, you can still see the video by simply x-ing out the popup window)
So both Elizabeth and Beethoven poisoned themselves with lead (Pb), she with acne creams, he with a favored wine goblet. Two centuries apart!
The preference cascade towards Trump away from Harris seems like a waterfall at this point. Trump and his team have had a good month, but I think Harris, Walz and their teams’ approach is an even bigger cause of the shift. The Corporate media are a big part of that also.
It’s the man behind the curtain in “The Wizard of Oz,” with “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” with Karen from middle management.
Because of the pervasiveness, reach and volume of non-corporate media they no longer can lie us into voting for a ticket like Harris – Walz.
They can’t scold us into it; Obama calling out “black” (his word) males, appeals to race and gender, lack of compassion for homeless, illegal aliens, etc.
They can’t scare us into voting for Harris – Walz; Trump is Hitler, Trump is a fascist, Trump will use the military to impose martial law…
And, their policies are so bad and their performance as leaders so provably bad they cannot fool people into thinking they can do the job.
Interesting times.
Cicero,
You likely know the reason for lead’s chemical symbol. The Romans used lead for plumbing (“plumbium”). It’s ideally suited for the purpose; abundant, relatively easy to work, bend, form…, cheap, durable, long lasting…
It’s ideal, except for the fact that drinking water run through lead pipes leads to physical harm, as you wrote. (I think it can also be absorbed through the skin if used for bathing water?) It’s also not a good idea to add it to gasoline to prevent engine knock, resulting in aerosolizing it so people continually breathe in lead particulates.
Xylourgos,
Efkaristo for the link to “Ill Met By Moonlight.” Stirring derring-do, and fitting encomium to dashing Paddy Leigh Fermor, whose peerless travel books, as well as “Abducting A General”, his own recounting of that Cretan adventure, and Artemis Cooper’s biography of him, “A Life In Letters”, occupy honored space on my shelves. What a writer, what a life!
Re the Italian occupation: Despite the half-assed film based on it, no lover of rich, satisfying literature should be deterred from Louis de Berniere’s novel “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.”
also evelyn waugh had a segment in the war series, it does seem a remote target unless your endpoint if turkey, ok the harbors did provide bases for the British navy, and air bases could cover as far north as ploesti, without it, the bombers had to fly from as far as libya, if memory served thats not a short jump
I’m not seeing a preference cascade for Trump. Big anxiety is that he’s not past the margin of fraud.
Lee Smith writes “Is the Left Preparing for War If Trump Wins?“:
https://tomklingenstein.com/is-the-left-preparing-for-war-if-trump-wins/
Elizabeth I had enough portraiture done that how she looked doesn’t seem to be that much of a mystery.
As for harm from water in lead pipes, not having clean water in the first place is a lot more harmful, and there were plenty of other things killing off Romans before they got much harm from lead piping. But the Romans were aware that lead pipes were not the most healthy and often used ceramic or wood instead. The aqueducts were never “off” but were continually flowing and running into the sewers, so the lead concentration in their drinking water was measurable but not toxic, as the water never sat in the pipes.
Most Romans would not have had lead pipes to their homes in any case, they’d have carried their water from the fountains.
Two pieces in Tablet Mag today of interest to those still wondering on specifically Jewish voting preferences: Why Jews Are Voting for Donald Trump ( https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/why-voting-donald-trump-minyan-roundtable )/Why Jews Are Voting for Kamala Harris ( https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/why-voting-kamala-harris-minyan-roundtable )
They’re small sample survey discussions, 11 Kamala, 12 Trump, with mirroring questions posed and answered (answered sort of, if you take my gist). Nothing earth-awakening, nothing at all.
Okay, how about some thoughts on this topic?
A woman at X said that ‘female rage’ is so high that pollsters and pundits don’t have any idea how much of an effect it will have on the election. Someone in Boulder saw a flyer for “a “Women’s Rage Release” event where women pay $45 for a “Dark feminine journey for safely learning to somatically move through anger”
https://x.com/L0m3z/status/1849960504862834987
Matt Walsh says:
“Kamala’s whole campaign strategy is to harness female rage and ride it to victory. This election is “revenge” for women. Revenge for what exactly? They can’t say. Women in this country are doing better than men by almost any metric. But they’re mad anyway and don’t know why.”
@WindDustStars attended a Taylor Swift concert in Miami a couple of weeks ago and observed a lot of anger at ‘the patriarchy’..said she felt a ‘dark, witchy energy.’ She also offers some thoughts here:
https://x.com/WindDustStars/status/1850749541223448925
sdferr
The Lee Smith article is very good and expresses my dark thoughts that the election of Trump may just be the beginning of the most terrible time for the country since 1860.
sdferr, physicsguy…I haven’t read the whole thing, but this 2020 ‘war game’ by the ‘transition integrity project’ is interesting. See especially Game 3–Clear Trump Win, which by Turn 3 leads to the Democrats (the Biden campaign, in the game) calling for secession of the western states unless Republicans agree to a set of ‘reforms’ to ‘ensure majority rule.’
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7013152-Preventing-a-Disrupted-Presidential-Election-and.html#document/p1
Art Deco,
Every day there are new, prominent people professing their support for Trump in dollars and long, open posts on the Internet. The WaPo and L.A. Times endorsing no one is huge. People are not shy about showing their dislike of Biden-Harris-Walz, and, even more unusual compared to the last Presidential election, people are willing to openly show support for Trump. That Madison Square Garden rally was nuts! Right in the heart of Manhattan!
Except for the occasional farmer in fly over country painting his barn roof, Trump support was concealed in 2020.
Matt Walsh –
“Women in this country are doing better than men by almost any metric.”
Is there a term for the phenomenon of males transitioning from being generally female-supportive in their early adulthood, to more female-skeptic as they age? I am not referring to sexual attraction, but to a diminution of overall comfort level with women, specifically in respect to political affairs. Late-life political gynophobia?
Present company soundly excepted, of course!
David Foster-
The dems may be stupid enough to threaten succession of the western states. What will they do when the majority calls their bluff and says, “Your proposal is accepted.” Without CA, that would guarantee republican/conservative president/congress/scotus for the foreseeable future. Would the NE states join the western states in secession? What about IL, the only rabidly D state in between? There would likely be very large self-sorting migrations between the 2 new nations, and I think we would end up in a better place.
It would be great if we could all get along and get back to being the dominant player on the world stage, but the ship sailed when Clinton left office, if not earlier.
It’s hard not to recollect that the election of Lincoln in 1860 was not the end of the conflict between the states, but the opening of a much worse stage of the conflict.
I’m still pretty convinced Trump is going to be Fortified out of taking office. Besides ballot-harvesting and other election rule changes (like the reinstatement of non-citizen voters in Virginia), there’s Hawaiian judges, the rejection of Electoral College votes by Congress (presided over by one K. Harris) throwing the Presidential election to the House and the VP election to the Senate, and failing that there’s always political violence.
If they can stall the resolution of the election to Inauguration Day, Kamala Harris is then Acting President, and then only God knows what happens after that. Are they dumb enough to try this? These people work hard to get high on their own supply even when there’s nothing left but a few flakes at the bottom of the dime bag.
Big money entities prefer bad certainty to uncertainty. Trump at this stage no longer represents “uncertainty”, and Acting President Kamala Harris does simply by virtue of the suspension of regular order. That’s why I hope they will put their weight against any “By Any Means Necessary” shenanigans, but that’s a slender reed.
Joe Rogan Interview & What some learned about Trump – Quick Thoughts:
• Ability to consider and defer to another’s perspective and expertise, while maintaining “ownership” (see RFK).
• Ability to listen to and appreciate another person’s interest and knowledge – and respect other positions/ jobs – whether share same interest or not (see Rogan).
• Ability to draw on his experience and expertise – which is different than his political counterparts – to govern and set the USA “up-for-success” (see Deals)
Lastly, all of the above are traits of a successful Executive.
***
1) RFK
• Willingness to listen to Health issues/ concerns – RFK’ & others
• Willingness to act on Health issues/ concerns – when substantiated
• Understanding the need for boundaries when RFK’ concerns/ recommendations do not coincide with Trump’ – e.g., Health v. Energy
2) Rogan
• Encouraged and enjoyed Rogan’ knowledge of the UFC
• Spoke about topics that do not directly apply to this presidential campaign, but are of interest to others – e.g., UFOs
3) Deals
• Spoke plainly and convincingly about the need to avoid one-sided deals, and about the power/ leverage that the USA should use – e.g., Tariffs, Tax Policy, Natural Wealth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMoPUAeLnY
Re: Transition Integrity Project
I found this as the game play progress in Scenario 3- Clear Trump Win
Explains why the Democrats were so adamant J6 was about overturning the election. It was there strategy if Trump were to convincingly win– under the guise that Biden won the popular vote, using a second set of electors sent by the governor of the swing states where there was divided government.
Imagine the gall to suggest Trump won the election because he won the electoral college.
I remember the governors of the three Westcoast states asserting they wouldn’t recognize the election of Trump, but according to the game scenario, it would be Biden that called for them to secede.
Interesting to revisit what might have happened.
Ray Van Dune-
The vast majority of women, and probably a majority of men, forget that every bit of “progress” that women have made since men allowed them to vote, then own property, and take advantage of all of the legal protections that have given them a leg up in modern society, is entirely at the whim of men, and can be ended without notice. That would involve a significant breakdown of contemporary civil society, but at the end of the day, SCOTUS and the Democratic Party have the same number of Divisions as the pope.
There are a few men that would be willing to fight and die to preserve the role that women have in modern Western society, but they are quantitatively and qualitatively pitiful compared to the the majority of men who, when the SHTF, will come to their senses and understand that female soldiers, cops, CEOs, and surgeons are a luxury good that our civilization may not be able to afford.
It’s not gynophobia, any more than than the belief that adult homosexual men should not be Boy Scout leaders is homophobia. Nothing irrational about it.
Secession is bullshit. It means the collapse of American military power. Secession should result the conquest of the blue states and the hanging of all secessionists.
West Texas, how’s the meds?
David Foster:
That 2020 war game is indeed interesting, albeit leaves out a couple of possible scenarios:
One they missed was the possibility that selected Democrat governors would use the Covid pandemic as an excuse to flood their state with ballots that would allow voters to cast their ballot without leaving home. As part of this scenario, the governors would also allow ballots that were incurable because they were unsigned/undated or arrived too late to qualify to be counted anyway. This indeed happened in states we are calling too close to call this year, such as Pennsylvania and Nevada, where ballots flooded the scene. One result of this was that the total number of votes counted was far above any previous elections. This made it easier to believe the vote had been affected and Trump was the victim.
Another possibility they missed was that a cabal of super-wealthy Democrats would dump a large amount of money into Get Out The Vote and Vote Counting efforts. This did, in fact, happen, and was acknowledged and written up in Time magazine after the fact.
This effort, like other purportedly “non partisan” movements like “No Labels,” does not really appear non partisan. It looks like a Democrat effort to grab the intellectual high ground, not entirely successfully.
As for getting western states to secede, this would not be the first time Democrats backed such an effort, and I suspect the results would end up about the same: a tense reintegration (reconstruction) with a lot of sore losers on the side of the western states. A significant difference, of course, is that the industrial/agrarian roles (and relative wealth) would be more or less reversed.
I did not read it carefully, but my quick reaction is that this was not really a good-faith effort. Interesting, nonetheless.
https://nypost.com/2024/10/28/media/washington-post-owner-jeff-bezos-wants-conservative-writers/
==
There current line up of ‘conservatives’ includes Jennifer Rubin, George Will, Kathleen Parker, and Anne Applebaum.
Anger at ” the patriarchy” is mostly anger at white Judeo- Christian men. Somehow it escapes these women that of all races and religions , white religious men have generally been the most agreeable and beneficial to women. Whatever exceptions you may find.
Look at the ” Guiding Principles” of ” BLM at schools.” Promotes LGBTQ and matriarchy and disses ” the patriarchy”. It seems to be almost anti straight fatherhood.
https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/guiding-principles.html
Women in this country are doing better than men by almost any metric. But they’re mad anyway and don’t know why.”
I can think of three reasons: Abortion, abortion, abortion. Even though it’s no longer a federal issue. They are angry about Dobbs, and want a Democrat who can pack the Supreme Court.
I know that these are just blog comments typed in a hurry, and I know that I make more than my fair share of mistakes. But, oh no, it can’t be Art Deco! Two errors in three words! I need an alcoholic beverage and a nap.
Art said “There current line up … ”
Art meant “Their current lineup … “
Ray Van Dune,
Not sure if it’s precisely what you reference, but there is the MGTOW movement, Men Going Their Own Way.
MSNBC covers the rally. It takes a strong constitution to watch it.
Trump’s MSG rally draws comparisons to 1939 Pro-Nazi rally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YMZFjJy0Ks
Ref Rufus T. Firefly’s ‘MGTOW movement, Men Going Their Own Way.’
In Jr. High we sometimes had a course taught by Coaches. How qualified were they? I have no clue. Anyway, this Coach taught history or something like it – teaching about Spartan History one day, and got into their practice of infanticide.
Said the Spartan women got tired of the practice, and formed a Sex Union (not Coach’s word) – ‘No sex until infanticide stopped!’ Spartan men said fine – ‘No sex for women then!’
Time passes, and the Spartan women caved…
Ditto on the I have no clue—and a quick search didn’t show anything about it.
physics guy may have cataracts to account for his “dark vision”. Lacks faith in his fellow citizens.
If it is 1860 again, this time we win.
Niketas Choniates on October 28, 2024 at 1:47 pm said:
“I’m still pretty convinced Trump is going to be Fortified out of taking office. … ”
_________________________________________________________
I completely agree with Niketas Choniates. Since early in this election cycle, even before Kamala became the candidate, I said that Trump would need a landslide to beat the new system. Lately, here and there, I’ve read excited predictions of just that. Of course, I have hopes, but I don’t see the evidence. For example, at 270towin.com, the consensus electoral college vote map displays all seven swing states as toss-ups. That’s worrisome.
Yes, I’m a pessimist, but I’d happily embrace evidence supporting a defeat for the Marxists.
P.S. The seven swing states are Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada.
MGTOW…lol..my aviation oriented mind immediately went to maximum gross take off weight.
Karmi:
Related topic: see Lysistrata
Cicero,
I lack faith in about 50% of my fellow citizens. They haven’t exactly shown themselves to be trustworthy, especially when being lead by evil that is now the Democrats.
Cornflour:
I share your concern. Trump has done a better job this time of gaining a wide range of red-pilled endorsements (e.g. RFK Jr, Tulsi), and I think he has done a more energetic job of campaigning, but there are a lot of people on the other side who think this is the moment to pack the Supreme Court, admit D.C. and PR as states, and make abortion a federal right. And then what’s the chance Republicans will ever win another election?
Thanks neo – maybe Coach shouldn’t have been teaching history, but he was sorta close on his version.
On a side note – as the election gets closer, some men are wishing that American women should have their voting right removed—I confess at times during this election that same thought has crossed my mind.
Women in ancient Sparta
Compare those ancient days to what Afghan women were suffering under the Taliban not too long ago – expressed in the Afghan movie: Osama (film).
That movie keeps popping into my mind when thinking women shouldn’t be voting this year…
F; Cornflour:
I have the same anxiety.
Karmi:
Not teaching history – teaching drama.
If Trump wins Pennsylvania and Michigan, he wins.
I’ve said previously he will win Michigan and it looks like he will win Pennsylvania.
Biden, it’s been pointed out, was “Pennsylvania’s third senator”. He had a connection which Harris doesn’t have. Her flip/flop on fracking and restrictions on LNG work against her. It beats any election malfeasance.
Trump vs Harris: It’s All About Pennsylvania | 2WAY TONIGHT | Thursday, 10/24/24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-5EgAOCAoI&t=260s
Todd Rundgren wrote a nice pop song about the Lysistrata story, https://youtu.be/oNs2uoFT_u4?si=exIEqIdBlbS6kG4t
When I went to Youtube to search for him singing it that is the first video it suggested and when it came up I realized I saw that on live television when it aired.
And now, 39 years later I accessed it in a matter of seconds and am watching it on a tiny, flat screen. It’s ordinary these days, but still kind of amazing.
Since it is an Open Thread:
Nuclear weapons and security guarantees for Ukraine – Anders Puck Nielsen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTiunvocl5c
I listened to om’s link to Anders Puck Nielsen and I’m frankly confused.
At around 2:30 Nielsen says:
But this is what Ukraine officials are saying from a Kyiv Post story:
It seems like a rather large obstacle/contradiction in positions.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/40975
well Ukraine does have the problem of an invading army and daily bombing by an adversary committed to the destruction of them as an independent nation. That whole Special Military Operation.
But lets not quibble about who invaded who or the glory of Russia, and the evil west. All is well in Kursk.
And of course one must consider that Russia though ousted from Kerson still considers it Russian not Ukrainian since Russia annexed it in 2023? Before they fled across the Denipro River, and blew up the dam, and generally rampaged and pillaged.
@ Rufus > “The WaPo and L.A. Times endorsing no one is huge.”
Third time is enemy action.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/10/28/usa-today-latest-publication-snub-kamala-harris-non-endorsement/
They expect Harris to lose.
Had said I wasn’t going to pay attention to polls and focus just on Betting Odds. Then I voted against Harris & DEMs and am getting a little anxious as voting day approaches…
polls are missing a hidden voter surge
@ Karmi – odds are good that the Democrats will claim Kamala had one of those hidden voter surges, after they decide how many ballots they need to add to her pile.
Seriously: we know of the elections where Republican voters don’t answer polls, don’t post signs, and don’t talk about their preferences in public, where the GOP candidate wins like Reagan’s first term, maybe Nixon (first and second terms different), and Trump 45.
Are there any cases of the Democrats NOT publicly revealing their preferences, having low numbers in the pre-election polling, and then winning?
Is that what happened with Truman – behind in the polls before voting.
They expect Harris to lose.
AesopFan:
Yes.
For some unfathomable reason they are ignoring Art Deco’s certainty that this election is within the margin of error.
@ David Foster > “this 2020 ‘war game’ by the ‘transition integrity project’ is interesting”
@ F > “That 2020 war game is indeed interesting, albeit leaves out a couple of possible scenarios:”
You can say that again.
However, the main consideration they missed, as shown by your comment, is that, just as a map is not the terrain, a game is not the actual events.
I can’t cut-and-paste from David’s link, but a downloaded PDF of the document was more amenable, and, just for the fun of it, I have a fisking in process.
That could take awhile.
I see that Lee Smith has already gone down the same path in re the TIP war game, aka “the plan for the war we intend to foment.” (h/t sdferr)
https://tomklingenstein.com/is-the-left-preparing-for-war-if-trump-wins/
@ physicsguy > “The Lee Smith article is very good and expresses my dark thoughts that the election of Trump may just be the beginning of the most terrible time for the country since 1860.”
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/war-leader/1940-1942/autumn-1942-age-68/
One more thought on the Game Plan: the Left works out their strategies as if they were Europeans. It is important to note that the Plan must be read with Acme Secret Message Glasses: anytime they say “Trump” will or might do something, read that as “We” will or should do that thing.
Here’s why their plan cannot be implemented as smoothly as they anticipate (nothing here is new, but it never hurts to repeat the basics).
Most importantly, Hitler’s rise in Germany involved a governmental system that does not exist in the United States, although the Democrats are working to overcome that disadvantage. However, there are other differences as well:
(1) He manipulated and then dominated a nation that is smaller than Texas — one of 50 states, not all of which are happy with the imposition of tyranny from the Left or the Right.
(2) Germans were deprived of personal weapons as an early order of business.
(3) The National Socialists (to give them their proper name) were supported by many prominent academics, jurists, politicians, and business leaders. — Okay, they got me on this one.
(4) After taking power, he was able to “legally” eradicate all other political parties, organizations, and labor unions within three months. I’m not sure that’s possible in the US.
There are probably more points, and the argument has been developed in many places, but the main thing is to remember that the Left learned from Hitler, and that they do not actually fear that Trump & Republicans will do any of the things they propose, as Lee demonstrates in his post.
(1) https://s3.amazonaws.com/thetruesize.com/mockup.html#?borders=1~!MTY2NDcxODM.ODczNDczNw*MzIzOTQyOTI(NTY5MzEyMA~!CONTIGUOUS_US*MTAwMjQwNzU.MjUwMjM1MTc(MTc1)Mg~!IN*NTI2NDA1MQ.Nzg2MzQyMQ)MA~!CN*OTkyMTY5Nw.NzMxNDcwNQ(MjI1)MQ~!DE*ODUzMzE5Nw.MTI1MDIxNTQ)Mw
(2) https://www.nationalreview.com/2013/12/how-nazis-used-gun-control-stephen-p-halbrook/
(3) Browse the internet at your leisure.
(4) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler/Dictator-1933-39