It has all the classic elements of a railroad car diner that the architect discusses.
We already knew that the highly political J6 Judge Tanya Chutkan is a partisan leftist. But how far to the left? Well, Robert Barnes revealed that she comes from a hard core COMMUNIST background.
Railroad dining cars were a phenomenal development. You had a kitchen that was capable of turning out delicious meals with seating for anywhere from 36 to 48 people, all in a 10′ x 85′ space. During the height of the streamliner era (roughly 1945 to 1955) trains such as Santa Fe’s Super Chief were thought to have dining every bit as good as high end restaurants. Dinner was served on distinctive china, with heavy silver tableware, finger bowls, and crisp linen. Not to mention an extensive wine list, and full bar service in the lounge car.
“Critics of the governor … have said that DeSantis is placing too much focus on culture wars instead of producing a strong economic plan.”
• It’s the economy stupid.
• Phrase coined by James Carville in 1992, when he was advising Bill Clinton in his successful run for the White House.
***
• My hunch is that many – if not most – of the people who comment here would describe themselves as “financially comfortable”.
• Which affords us the opportunity to take deep dives on other topics & issues – for some it is the “Culture Wars”.
• Trump excelled at two of the most important Presidential priorities: The Economy and Foreign Policy.
• And had one of the most successful and important Presidential Doctrines in our lifetimes: Economic Security is National Security.
• Strikes me that those Trump supporters who do not consider themselves “financially comfortable”, are loyal to Trump in part because he was truly interested in making an economic difference in their life.
• Telling those folks that they are wrong to reward Trump’ results with their loyalty – “Ever Trumpers/ Cultist/ TrumpBots” – does not make sense to me.
• Especially since they do not appear to want a handout, or forced redistribution, they just want a chance – something truly admirable.
• Lastly, I am a believer in the expression ‘Steel Sharpens Steel’; however, I suspect that many – financially comfortable or not – are discounting/ rejecting the input from citizens who act as if they are the arbitrators of: Reasonable, Rational, and Right.
• Right or Left has just become a distinction without a difference to many citizens – see Ruling Class.
Artfldgr:
Thanks! A feature, not a bug. Baked into the cake (like a weevil)?
that guy,
“Critics of the governor … have said that DeSantis is placing too much focus on culture wars instead of producing a strong economic plan.”
Critics of the governor … are intentionally placing too much focus on false claims about DeSantis’ record instead of producing a realistic account of the governor’s accomplishments and resume. Fixed it for you.
You may or may not agree with his plan, or his economic results in Florida, but you can at least address the facts rather than erecting false strawmen.
Architectural Digest is a great channel. My wife and I probably watch it more than any other channel. We have to sometimes turn it off during some of their features on vacuous celebrity homes, but it’s a fun, interesting channel.
that guy, to add to your case that the economy has skidded is that US fed borrowing costs consume 10% of spending, remain on track for 15% before 2030. This is unsustainable and ruinous.
More politically powerful is a new poll, SHOWING THAT three out of four people say the economy was better 5 years ago, under Trump.
Needless to say, the American people are fed up. According to a brand new Reuters/Ipsos survey that was just released, a whopping 73 percent of all Americans believe that the economy is in worse condition than it was five years ago…
Michael Snyder writes: “Americans have soured on Bidenomics, concluding that the U.S. economy is worse now than it was five years ago under former President Donald Trump’s leadership, a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found.”
From the Reuters story:
“The overall survey found that Americans view economic issues as some of the most “pressing problems” of the day. Overall, nearly half, 49 percent, of Americans view inflation as the most important issue facing the country.
“Further, nearly three-quarters of Americans, 73 percent, say the economy is worse off now than it was five years ago, under Trump’s leadership. A majority, 64 percent, also believe the economy is worse off than it was in 2020, when the coronavirus took a grip, forcing businesses to close.”
Apart from Covidian hysteria and 9/11, in normal times the economy drives US Presidential elections.
So. Is this next year a return to “normal times”? Not in our perceptions, it isn’t. But the mass of voters?
if chris rufo hadn’t focused on what educational establishment and corporations like disney were collaborating, we would never have known, and disney might have only had have their losses, and still have that special sinecure district, maybe
And who can forget the dining car scene between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in “North by Northwest”? Cloth napkins, pewter salt and pepper shakers, formal attire and sophisticated flirty dialog.
_________________________________
CG: Can you recommend anything?
EMS: The brook trout. A little trouty, but quite good.
Here is a counterfactual for you. Those less economically comfortable probablly care just as much about the cultural issue of trans-mogrification of children by public school aparachits. See Virginia voters. See Chico Valley, CA parents.
Politics is downstream of culture (Andrew Breitbart, RIP). You can stick a fork in Carville.
re The video and the architect’s breakdown of the American diner. He seems to have missed how the the humble “Waffle House” so ubiquitous throughout the South pews it’s design elements to the Diner Car.
It has indeed become an American icon, exported throughout the world. An example is May’s Diner in the tourist zone of Ensenada (Northwest Mexico, South of Tijuana). With roots from Albuquerque, New Mexico, I believe.
The original link to train travel for this style in Mexico, however, is ironic because Mexico, basically, doesn’t do passenger train travel. And only a few places did so in its past.
@ Rufus T. Firefly Appreciate the effort
1) “Oh, and after 1 second of searching on the Internet, here’s a recent article on his [Economic] plan:”
• Thank you for the article.
• It is true that that article refers to the Economic Plan that DeSantis spoke of on July 31 – two weeks ago.
• It is also true that that plan is both the first and last time DeSantis posted about the economy on his campaign website.
• To be fair, after kicking off his campaign in May, and only talking once about his Economic Plan; it is reasonable for many citizens to conclude that the economy is not a priority for DeSantis – some may disagree.
2) “You may or may not agree with his plan, or his economic results in Florida, but you can at least address the facts rather than erecting false strawmen.”
• It is true that I have not expressed an opinion on DeSantis’ Economic Plan or economic results in Florida – in this post or any other post.
• To be fair, many citizens would conclude that your statement is a “false strawman” – some may disagree.
3) “Fixed it for you.”
• Stikes me as an odd statement to make, since your “fix” appears to be to a statement that I did not write.
Again, appreciate the effort – and happy to review anything else you wish to provide on DeSantis addressing the economy.
File under ‘politics unusual’… or ‘about time’?
The Best Political Ad of the Season Has Just Been Released
To me it seems perhaps a bit nit picky to criticize DeSantis for focusing too much more on the culture war rather than the economy. My feeling is that given things like the recent and on going Bud Light imbroglio, what’s going on in culture is very much at the top of many Republican voters minds, many of whom are not necessarily “financially comfortable” either. So I wouldn’t say it’s a mistake for DeSantis to talk about such things rather than focusing on his economic plans at this stage anyway.
At any rate, it seems like Trump is currently way far ahead in polls against the other Republican candidates. So all this may well be moot anyway. As I’ve said several times here before, I expect Trump will win the nomination and lose the general.
Strikes me that those Trump supporters who do not consider themselves “financially comfortable”, are loyal to Trump in part because he was truly interested in making an economic difference in their life.
I think this goes to the Matt Taibbi argument that politics is now class focussed.
LET’s cry out Argentina! The outsider libertarian candidate economist Javier Miles won the Presidential Primary yesterday.
He wants to abolish large swathes of government in Argentina.
But why is he suddenly the favorite to win in October? The numbers.
Despite polling as low as 20%, he won 30% (and 69% voter turnout — impressive!). The insider establishment conservatives won 28%, while the Peronist candidate got even less.
In theory, 30 plus 28% means a 58% victory. But how many on the Right leaning side will embrace big cutting out of State control?
Interesting times in LatAm.
This mid-day, only three minor Rightside news outlets have a story, including Newsmax and the National File. (SOURCE http://www.newsammo.com)
No matter how many Americans are dissatisfied with the economy – or anything else for that matter – you can bet your house and bank account that traditional demokrat voters will vote for the dem candidate, even if the candidate is the senile crook Joke Bidet and the epitome of a dumb moron, Kamala Harris.
And given Trump’s personality “issues,” many (most?) independents will vote for the demokrat candidate even if it is Joke Bidet, and even if they are dissatisfied with the economy, crime, foreign policy, etc., etc.
For many (most?) who enter the voting booth, it’s like entering the twilight zone, a fourth dimension, foreign to the normal concept of 3D space and time, and totally removed from the realities of everyday life.
The rational, thinking part of their brain shuts down and the emotional part takes over completely.
Hate Trump’s personality…… well, that’s all you need to know.
The policies he wishes to promote are meaningless. What matters is his non-stop bragging, his goof ball hair style and his overall irritating personality. What he hopes to achieve if elected matters not one bit.
A representative democracy gets the government the voters elect.
See Venezuela.
TJ, the Wall St. Journal has published two stories on the Argentina primary election.
What that guy said at 1:10 pm said
Especially this…
“Telling those folks that they are wrong to reward Trump’ results with their loyalty – “Ever Trumpers/ Cultist/ TrumpBots” – does not make sense to me.”
Wendy Bar; that guy:
If someone says that if Trump is not the GOP nominee they will not vote for the eventual GOP nominee (a position I often see stated in comments on blogs) – thus facilitating Biden’s re-election, or the election of whichever Democrat replaces him as the Democrats’ nominee – I think that person has definitely qualified for the term EverTrumper. It’s a riff on the NeverTrumpers, and is the opposite of their position. NeverTrumpers said they would never vote for Trump if he was the nominee. Therefore their decision facilitated the election of Biden (or of Hillary before that, had she won). So calling the first group EverTrumpers and the second group NeverTrumpers makes perfect sense.
On the other hand, if someone merely supports Trump for the 2024 nomination but is willing to support another GOP nominee if someone else ends up with the nomination, that person is not an EverTrumper.
that guy,
I see a lot of odd attacks against Ron DeSantis from Trump supporters, including from Trump himself. I completely understand preferring Trump over DeSantis, or vice versa, or preferring neither. But let’s be grown-ups and discuss actual facts.
In 2017 Donald Trump began a four year term as President of the U.S.
In 2019 Ron DeSantis began a three year term as Governor of Florida.
Both men barely squeaked out a victory by incredibly slim margins.
Donald Trump lost his re-election bid.
Ron DeSantis won re-election in Florida by the largest margin in 40 years.
I know. You say the Dems cheated and Trump actually won. OK. Even you would have to admit Trump didn’t win by 20 points, like DeSantis. DeSantis changed the minds of a much larger percentage of his constituents than Trump.
So both men were elected (barely) to do a job. Both men faced fierce opposition. Both men faced similar issues; struggling economy, open borders, a pandemic, issues in public education, lawfare from those opposing them.
How did Trump do on those issues?
How did DeSantis do on those issues?
DeSantis convinced 20% of Floridians who didn’t vote for him the first time to change their minds because they were so impressed with how he managed those issues.
Trump supporters have a lot of excuses for why Trump couldn’t get a lot of things done, but the fact remains; he didn’t get a lot of things done.
DeSantis actually did a lot of real, actual, concrete things.
I can objectively give credit to DJT. He did a great job of keeping us out of unnecessary military conflicts. He was a great supporter of our men and women in the armed forces. He managed the middle east well. Huge kudos for the embassy in Jerusalem! Great job picking Supreme Court Justices! He has my undying gratitude for that last one, alone. He reduced regulations and had business humming prior to the pandemic.
I currently have no idea who I will vote for next November, but I can be honest about the candidates and their records. If you don’t like DeSantis, fine. State why. But don’t lie and say he has no policy platform on business or the economy. Don’t lie and say he doesn’t have a proven track record of improving Florida’s economy under his stewardship.
Nonapod,
DeSantis walks and chews gum at the same time. He gets a great deal of publicity from an unfavorable press regarding his cultural stances (it makes for popular media and easy reporting) and educational reforms but he does not shirk his stewardship over Florida’s economy and non-cultural issues. Is there any state that did better than Florida during the pandemic?
It’s such a strange analogy I feel odd even writing this, but sometimes Trump strikes me as a Moses figure. He was the leader who could show his people they did not have to live in bondage and he showed them how to be free, but, perhaps, he will not lead them into the promised land.
Some jobs require a Moses. Some jobs require a Joshua.
Who or what creates the fabled “food deserts.”
I find it very ironic that the people from these various, usually large minority population neighborhoods around the country, complain when the stores which sell them basic necessities–stores like Walmart, various Supermarkets, 7-11, CVS, and other stores–close up shop and flee their neighborhoods, when it has apparently been people from these same neighborhoods whose actions have driven these stores out.
Driven out because of a massive uptick in crime–which has decreased customer foot traffic (who wants to make what was once a frequent, safe, and routine trip to the store when by doing so you now risk getting attacked, robbed, possibly carjacked, likely injured, or even killed by some thief or whack job)—and because of the incredible rise of instances of major and frequent shoplifting–quite often in these cities essentially unprosecuted, or even the outright looting and wholesale destruction of stores by mobs of “youts”; grocery stores, in particular, reportedly with only a very slim profit margin of only a few percent, have to have these profits, which the losses from these thefts and/or product and property destruction eliminate.
If the store is part of a chain the system can absorb such losses for a time, but eventually the system can no longer cover all these losses, and the store has to close.
These companies–which exist, after all–to make a profit, pull out, and, “community activists” blame the big bad capitalist companies, and/or “racism,” rather than the thugs within their own neighborhoods whose actions drove out these stores, and who are really the ones creating more and more “food deserts.”
What JohnTyler said.
I see it with my MotR family members. Ever Trumpers just can’t get it through their skulls that the MAJORITY of the country hates him. They are so focused, rightly I might add, on the wrongs done to him, they can’t see the forest for the trees.
If Trump is the nominee, get ready for the “climate emergency ” declaration after the Democrat wins. Lockdowns, control of your energy usage and bank accounts.
They’ve already stated this is coming. Biden said they’ve done it in principle. Just need to win the election to put it full force.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Agreed about your Moses analogy – and Moses was presented as a flawed man, too.
I wrote this post about Trump being a tragic hero.
P.S. If you look on Youtube you can also see Videos–apparently proudly filmed by various “youts”–who think it great fun to go into a supermarket or a convenience store, open up a drink or other product, take a sip or a bite, spit it back into the container, or just spit into the container itself, and then, put it back.
From what I’ve read, if the people running the store find this out–and since they usually don’t have exact knowledge about which particular container or containers have been contaminated–to be safe they usually have to take all of a whole freezer or cold case of product out and destroy it.
This, I imagine, can be a considerable loss, especially if this happens over and over again.
The one with rail delivery reminds me of one of my favorites in K.C. on 18th.
Standard shape with a little extra room at one end. You sat yourself, ordered via a push button mic and enjoyed rock while you waited.
The owner was obviously a tinkerer. Once the food was ready, it came to you on a choo-choo track about 2′ from the ceiling, docked, choo-choo’ed at you and lowered the basket of food to you. You then closed the little gate and it went back up and to the kitchen.
A very fine first date.
Snow on Pine,
The people who live in those neighborhoods know why most retailers won’t build in their neighborhoods. They know they need more police and fewer gangs. They know they need education choice.
The only people I ever hear use the term “food desserts” with sincerity are wealthy folks who live nowhere near such neighborhoods.
Re: “It’s the economy stupid” / Culture war
These are tough to disentangle.
The clever thing the elites have done is to immunize themselves from the usual charges of greed and power by allying themselves with the radical left via culture issues.
The elites have always had some sympathy with the left, but this elite/left coaltiion really went into overdrive during the Obama 2008 campaign.
I don’t think it was planned, but emerged from the serendipity of Obama’s messianism, generational shift, Gramscian march and the Big Tech oligarchy.
Snow on Pine,
Do you have an opinion on the “Arecibo Answer?” I see many sites and search engines stating it’s a “hoax” and “debunked,” but I haven’t read any uncovered evidence or proof that it is a hoax. Should be very easy to disprove forensically, yet I find no reference to anyone doing that.
Odd that the most common reason I read given is, “If an alien civilization wanted to answer why wouldn’t they just get out of their ships and speak to us?” No one addresses the fact that the message may be transmitted, just as we transmitted the original. Perhaps they have a radiative technology that can manipulate plants? I know imagining some technology unknown to us is no proof of non-human creation, but it’s odd that those refuting it are using technology unknown to us (crafts that can travel great distances quickly) to disprove it.
Assuming it’s a hoax I’d love to meet the hoaxers. It’s a very clever response!
@ om Thank you for the input.
“Here is a counterfactual for you. Those less economically comfortable probablly care just as much about the cultural issue of trans-mogrification of children by public school aparachits. See Virginia voters. See Chico Valley, CA parents.”
• 100% agree – many parents care about cultural issues negatively impacting their children, especially in the public schools.
• And in most ^^ cases – e.g., your VA and CA examples – those were/ are local and state issues.
• Most citizens are aware that defeating “woke polices/ actions” has been a priority for DeSantis.
^^ = cannot recall any examples of national cases
• For those who watched the recent WMUR DeSantis NH Town Hall, you would have heard DeSantis acknowledge/ explain: a) Woke needs to be defeated, b) Different states can have different priorities, and c) Difference between Federal, and State & Local approach to woke policies.
Again, thank you for the input.
Oligonicella,
About 3 years ago I ate in such a diner in KC. Food delivered via train. I think it was inside a mall, however.
physicsguy,
If you haven’t heard of it yet, do a search on Nigel Farage and British banks. Extremely alarming what is already happening there! And, of course, we have Supreme Commander Trudeau’s imperiousness and disregard of citizens’ personal wealth to our North.
the country is not red, probably purple but not blue either,
“LET’s cry out Argentina! The outsider libertarian candidate economist Javier Miles won the Presidential Primary yesterday. Interesting times in LatAm.”
• 100% agree – Shocking & Interesting Times.
• Personally found much to like about Argentina – Patagonia region, Parrillas – and was appalled by the 1998+ economic meltdown/ Great Depression.
• One of the tips an Argentinian contact told me, has stayed with me all these years: Stock up on gold jewelry for barter- but not the good stuff because the average person does not know the difference, so they will assume that it is not the good stuff when they are trading with you.
Assuming it’s a hoax I’d love to meet the [crop circle] hoaxers. It’s a very clever response!
Rufut T. Firefly:
I was once intrigued by crop circles, but then I read of a circle which was a dead-on representation of the Mandelbrot Set, within ten miles of Trinity College, Cambridge, I thought … hmm.
In 1992 Rupert Sheldrake and John Michell, both on the fringe side but open-minded, launched a Crop Circle Making Contest, which was so successful that it entirely shut down the claim the circles were beyond human efforts.
___________________________________
The experiment was conclusive. Humans could indeed make all the features of state-of-the-art crop formations at that time. Eleven of the twelve teams made more or less impressive formations that followed the set design. The contest was reported in most of the British newspapers and on radio and TV.
Which doesn’t prove all crop circles are made by humans, of course, but that’s how I’m betting.
It’s a guerrilla movement of underground artists, mostly in Southern England, creating beauty and cocking a snook at the world.
That guy, I agree that the economy is the major issue. I’m retired. My income is fixed. I have savings, but I hope to leave something to our offspring. Before Biden’s spending spree, coupled with attacking our fossil fuel industry, I was putting money away each month. And the Trump tax cut saved me $1200 dollars a year. Inflation was tame.
Birn’s attack on energy, his profligate spending, and a still snarled supply chain triggered an inflation that is very damaging. It isn’t just groceries and gasoline. It’s medical costs, insurance of all types, property taxes, local taxes, local tradesmen who repair plumbing/electric/HVAC/roofing/painting/landscaping/etc., dental, paint, fertilizer, anything made of metal, and on and on. We are running about $500/month behind on our expenses which we could handle nicely before Bidenomics.
Many people are feeling the same pain. They’re told by the news that it’s inflation, but don’t really understand that the ruinous Biden policies are the cause of their financial pain. Even when politicians talk about their plans for reducing inflation, they don’t really understand it. People I talk to throw up their hands and say it’s all a bunch of goobledy gook. They do remember that they weren’t in such dire straits under Trump, but they’re not sure why except that he had “good policies.”
I have enough savings that I could weather several years of this inflation but would really like to get things back to where they were five years ago. I’m pretty confident that Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Scott, or other primary candidates will have the policies to get our energy industry rolling, cut government spending, and get the supply chain working again. But it’s the candidate who can best convey the message to the voters of why they’re experiencing this painful inflation and how he will end it is, IMO, the one who will fare best.
There’s a long list of cultural issues that will drive votes. The border, the student loan bailout, the LGBTQXYZ issues, drugs, homelessness, crime, etc. are all important issues, but the Democrats will ride the abortion issue hard and drown out a lot of the other issues, as they did in 2022.
Unfortunately, many voters don’t get the connection between seeing homeless drug addicts on their streets or not being able to pay their bills and political policy. If they did, we wouldn’t be where we are.
huxley,
My hunch is they are all man made also, but even that is nearly as amazing as if they are of extraterrestrial origin. That so many different people around the world would participate in a clandestine prank often requiring elaborate techniques, many people and a fair amount of time… It renews my hope in humanity that may be true!
I’m not surprised at all that humans can replicate the techniques. The claims by those who believe they are of extraterrestrial origin that it is beyond human technology seem absurd to me. They are trampled crops! Pretty sure people could do that 100,000 years ago.
I’m just surprised to recently learn how much of the debunking isn’t really based in sound evidence. The two Brits who came forward years ago to claim they had done hundreds weren’t able to reproduce many of the things they claimed they had done. At least in the Arecibo Answer incidence the most pervasive evidentiary claim against seems to be, “it doesn’t make sense.” Yes. I agree. It doesn’t make sense. But it also doesn’t make sense a guy in Wisconsin would kill, dismember and eat 17 people, yet Jeffrey Dahmer did just that. People don’t always act rationally and maybe space aliens don’t either. Or, maybe they just have a marvelous sense of humor!
I really like the Arecibo Answer crop rectangle because it’s so clever. I would think by now someone would come forward and take credit.
Re; Argentine Great Depression 1998-2002
TJ, that guy:
Few Americans know it happened, much less how terrible it was.
Back then I was reading a survivalist blogger calling himself FerFAL and I was stunned. Here’s a sample.
__________________________
My brother visited Argentina a few weeks ago. He’s been living in Spain for a few years now. Within the first week, he got sick, some kind of strong flu, even though climate isn’t that cold and he took care of himself. Without a doubt he got sick because there are lots of new viruses in my country that can’t be found in 1st world countries. The misery and famine lead us to a situation where, even though you have food, shelter and health care, most of others don’t, and therefore they get sick and spread the diseases all over the region.
well the argentine collapse, was part of greenspans games, in stifling ‘irrational exuberance, the little downturn we had in 2001, was like pneumonia on the argentine foreign debt the previous prime minister, menem actually tried to keep national spending reasonable, but provincial governors spent lavishly, this toppled the radical (liberal) government led by shakiras manager father, and a decade of peronist one party rule, which was a respite, briefly with macri, an industrial baron,
Rufus,
Your three comments on DeSantis and Trump starting at 5:14 PM are excellent!
Rufus T. Firefly:
I finished the first Harry Potter in French today! I give myself an exclamation point.
It took about five months. I spent 2-6 minutes on each sentence, though I sped up considerably towards the end.
Not much happening on the output side. I took some time off to study for output, then when I got back, my language learning webservice had bugs in the tutor booking software which I have not yet been fixed. Hanging fire.
Per our earlier discussion of language acquisition, input vs output, I’d say I have acquired a basic level of reading French.
I still can’t “hear” French well at all. I had no idea how hard this part would be. My pronunciation, from what I can tell, follows the rules reasonably well.
So I have acquired some French with almost no output. I’m sure I could continue this way until I was reading Proust, if I wished.
However, I do want to speak French, so I will be making that happen one way or another.
cb,
That snow art is amazing! Up to nine hours, wow!
huxley,
Congratulations! That’s an amazing accomplishment!
Tres Magnifique!!!
Two of my favorite sunsets from series 2023. These are unlisted and unmonitized but YouTube will attach ads after 100 views.
RE: UFOs—Why would any Aliens be interested in us?
Well, I can think of a number of possible reasons.
First of all, though–to set the stage–from the reports, I believe that we may be dealing with a number of different species of Aliens, each of which may have it’s own set of approaches, motives, and needs.
If some Aliens are merely surveilling us, from their many decades of work, ubiquity, and operational tempo, they could have mapped our entire planet—every city, every military base, nuclear weapons storage and manufacturing site, chemical and biological weapons lab and storage site, every factory, every mineral deposit, every store, monument, archaeological site and ruin, house, and road many times over by now, so there must be other reasons for their constant–and apparently increasing—activity.
Perhaps the Earth, with all of its biological diversity and complexity, is unique in our Galaxy.
Perhaps we are entertainment for some jaded aliens, who are bored, and love to observe us comparatively primitive, shit-flinging monkeys screech, pick our noses, and beat our chests.
Perhaps some Aliens are here merely to observe, have only an academic interest in us, and a generally hands off approach—a la the “Prime Directive,” and won’t interfere no matter what happens to us and our planet.
Perhaps some Aliens are, indeed, benevolent and—from the evidence of their particular interest in nuclear weapons–are here to warn us about the dangers of possession and use of such nuclear weapons, and/or very dangerous environmental degradation.
Or, perhaps more generally, some benevolent Aliens are here to help shepherd us through the theorized “Great Filter”–a series of crises, one of which almost always destroys civilizations which reach the stage where they could develop real space travel and become a star faring civilization.
Or, perhaps we have something which some Aliens might want, need, or prize—biological material—plants or animals, some particular elements or minerals, agricultural products, cultural products or artifacts—Art, Literature, Music, Literature, etc.
Given the many reported Abductions, perhaps some Aliens need our genetic material.
Or, perhaps this is just the very thorough scouting which precedes the invasion.
If you believe the theories of very long time French UFO observer Jacques Vallee, perhaps UFOs, Aliens, and the “absurdities” of their appearances are a “psychological control mechanism,” one designed to push our ideas and societies in certain directions; to create a “mythology.”
On the other hand, perhaps some Aliens are just flat out looters, intent on stripping our solar system bare.
Why don’t any Aliens show themselves and land on the White House lawn, or take over TV and the Internet, world wide, and announce their presence?
What incentives do what may be extremely advanced and/or evolved Aliens have to communicate with what they may well regard as very violent and primitive beings, the equivalent of ants?
Perhaps they just don’t want to make the effort, or to be annoyed by us.
RE; Crop Circles–
While it may be that many crop circles are human made hoaxes, I find it very hard to believe that a few often drunken Brits, working over the course of one night, and using planks of wood and their feet, are responsible for creating some of the extremely complex crop circles I have seen pictured. *
Aliens being “aliens,” perhaps we would not–in any way–comprehend the reasons which might make us interesting to them.
RE: Skinwalker Ranch and the “high strangeness” events which occur there
Take a look at this very interesting, long, almost 4 hour interview with real estate magnate Brandan Fugal, owner of Skinwalker Ranch, and about half way through the start of his descriptions of some of the high strangeness things he has personally seen, and his researchers have discovered there.*
While it may be that many crop circles are human made hoaxes, I find it very hard to believe that a few often drunken Brits, working over the course of one night, and using planks of wood and their feet, are responsible for creating some of the extremely complex crop circles I have seen pictured. *
Snow on Pine:
We are way past Two Drunken Brits stomping around under the moonlight.
The Crop Circle Contest participants could do everything done in crop circles circa 1992. Today they could easily be augmenting those techniques with laser, GPS and whatever else technology.
Seriously, this is a loser bet for those hunting the UFO Moby Dick.
I am convinced there is something to UFOs, but crop circles ain’t part of that something.
Congratulations! That’s an amazing accomplishment!
Rufus T. Firefly:
Merci beaucoup!
I hope so. I mean, I’ve been pushing for months and today I’m kinda exhausted. I’m not giving up, but I’m not the guy who was burbling merrily about French for the first few months of the year.
That was the honeymoon, The real work of the marriage has begun.
French is now my Old Lady. There are still Mysteries, but now, more noticeably, there are Duties. That’s OK and even comfortable. It’s just different.
They are after our precious bodily fluids! or my Precious!
@oligoncella — When I was in college, I worked one summer at our small town’s Burger Train. The central building (kitchen, soda fountain, storage, cash register, etc.) was shaped like a roundhouse, and tracks on trestles extended from it like spokes of a wheel. The cars parked along the tracks, called in their order via the usual drive-in squawk boxes, and we sent the food out in enclosed miniature train cars (like boxcars), which then ran back the other way into the building.
It was more fun than a typical car-hopping gig, and we didn’t have to go outside, although there was an awning over the parking area, kind of like the top of a circus carousel.
My favorite story, because it shows the way that trademarked names become commonplace, was the one from the family that ordered, “Five cokes, and make two of the Dr. Peppers.”
Why yes, that was in Texas, why do you ask? 😉
We also served a great Frito pie.
Re UFOs
Cats Unveiled as Intergalactic Beings with Alien DNA
The cafe I mentioned was from when I was in high school – so, around ’67. Makes the guy’s creation & wiring more impressive.
Re UFOs:
I’ve been following this stuff since the 60s. Watched the changes in the reporting of the shapes, movements, alien crews, abductions, etc. Regardless of how apparently detailed anytning has been, there always seems missing a crucial link in the data. Everything’s a dot from a sufficient distance, which isn’t all that far on a day with any humidity. The clear shots always seem to be found afterward, not *during* when the photographer can hoot, holler and point.
I’ve spent a lot of time running down all I could and reading purported government docs (or copies of them), Blue Book included.
I remain unconvinced.
As for “why would”? I find that useless speculation. There are people who study a particular animal because they find them beautiful. Others study the same animal because they’re fascinated by its physiology. Others to try to place it in a taxonomic tree. Others to try to find ways to “deal” with them for some reason. One animal, four (so far) reasons to observe it.
If you entertain various species of aliens visiting, you’ve leapt beyond imagining an advanced alien race to imagining essentially Star Wars a-comin’ visit.
Much more likely someone got themselves some editing software.
An example of how easy it is to misidentify:
I was at a drive in back in high school days. Back out of K.C. proper by Wyandotte County Lake. Very dark with a sprinkling of meteorites.
One was falling straight doen. Then… it slowed, stopped for a moment and went right back up where it came from. I was awe struck.
Later I figured out if was a meteorite that skipped off the Earth’s atmosphere. Would have looked much cooler, although less awe inspiring if the angle had been different.
Skinwalker Ranch and Ancient Aliens have pretty much grown hand in hand from a single unsubstantiated sighting of something “supernatural” into a video industry.
Any time you see that wiry-haired bastard, you know it’s a sham video. If you’ve watched a number of those shows, you know who I mean.
Oligonicella–I agree about Mr. wiry-hair and a few other apparently self-described “ancient alien theorists,” the same few people who you routinely see on various shows like Ancient Aliens.
Shows which, in my opinion–after looking at a couple episodes of these shows—are not worth spending the time watching, or taking seriously, as they just make assertions with nothing to back them up, and as they perform a lot of intellectual trapeze work–as they fly from one piece of information to another, hoping that you don’t notice that there is nothing in between–as they try to stitch together the fabric of a “speculation,” a truth a la Von Daniken.
In the case of Skinwalker, though, from his performance and what he said in the long interview linked above, Brian Fugal seems like a very solid and accomplished guy, and hyped somewhat though the episodes of “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch” may be, it looks like there may actually be some unknown phenomena at work.
@ Rufus T. Firefly
• Thank you for the entertainment.
• My friends and I enjoyed your 05:14 replies to me.
• Not only for the ‘Math Is Hard’ aspect – but as one friend stated: At the end it was like watching a video of a ‘Cat Fighting Its Tail’.
• Again, thank you for the entertainment.
Being financially uncomfortable generates anxiety which can, in turn, generate free-floating resentment looking for a place to land.
Those pushing the progressive culture also seem to have the money.
No reason the financially uncomfortable will be out of the culture wars.
that guy,
Happy to be of service.
Chases Eagles,
Those videos are great. Thank you for sharing!
Leave a Reply
HTML tags allowed in your
comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>
Remember when it used to be called simply ‘eavesdropping’? “Google introduces its new global censorship tool.”
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4174891/posts
In my old home town of St. Paul, Mn is the classic Mickey’s Diner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey%27s_Diner
It has all the classic elements of a railroad car diner that the architect discusses.
We already knew that the highly political J6 Judge Tanya Chutkan is a partisan leftist. But how far to the left? Well, Robert Barnes revealed that she comes from a hard core COMMUNIST background.
Railroad dining cars were a phenomenal development. You had a kitchen that was capable of turning out delicious meals with seating for anywhere from 36 to 48 people, all in a 10′ x 85′ space. During the height of the streamliner era (roughly 1945 to 1955) trains such as Santa Fe’s Super Chief were thought to have dining every bit as good as high end restaurants. Dinner was served on distinctive china, with heavy silver tableware, finger bowls, and crisp linen. Not to mention an extensive wine list, and full bar service in the lounge car.
“Critics of the governor … have said that DeSantis is placing too much focus on culture wars instead of producing a strong economic plan.”
https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-gets-brutal-bad-news-gop-strategist-1819394
• It’s the economy stupid.
• Phrase coined by James Carville in 1992, when he was advising Bill Clinton in his successful run for the White House.
***
• My hunch is that many – if not most – of the people who comment here would describe themselves as “financially comfortable”.
• Which affords us the opportunity to take deep dives on other topics & issues – for some it is the “Culture Wars”.
• Trump excelled at two of the most important Presidential priorities: The Economy and Foreign Policy.
• And had one of the most successful and important Presidential Doctrines in our lifetimes: Economic Security is National Security.
• Strikes me that those Trump supporters who do not consider themselves “financially comfortable”, are loyal to Trump in part because he was truly interested in making an economic difference in their life.
• Telling those folks that they are wrong to reward Trump’ results with their loyalty – “Ever Trumpers/ Cultist/ TrumpBots” – does not make sense to me.
• Especially since they do not appear to want a handout, or forced redistribution, they just want a chance – something truly admirable.
• Lastly, I am a believer in the expression ‘Steel Sharpens Steel’; however, I suspect that many – financially comfortable or not – are discounting/ rejecting the input from citizens who act as if they are the arbitrators of: Reasonable, Rational, and Right.
• Right or Left has just become a distinction without a difference to many citizens – see Ruling Class.
Artfldgr:
Thanks! A feature, not a bug. Baked into the cake (like a weevil)?
that guy,
“Critics of the governor … have said that DeSantis is placing too much focus on culture wars instead of producing a strong economic plan.”
Critics of the governor … are intentionally placing too much focus on false claims about DeSantis’ record instead of producing a realistic account of the governor’s accomplishments and resume. Fixed it for you.
Oh, and after 1 second of searching on the Internet, here’s a recent article on his plan:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/here-s-what-s-in-desantis-economic-plan/ar-AA1eDBTv
You may or may not agree with his plan, or his economic results in Florida, but you can at least address the facts rather than erecting false strawmen.
Architectural Digest is a great channel. My wife and I probably watch it more than any other channel. We have to sometimes turn it off during some of their features on vacuous celebrity homes, but it’s a fun, interesting channel.
that guy, to add to your case that the economy has skidded is that US fed borrowing costs consume 10% of spending, remain on track for 15% before 2030. This is unsustainable and ruinous.
More politically powerful is a new poll, SHOWING THAT three out of four people say the economy was better 5 years ago, under Trump.
Needless to say, the American people are fed up. According to a brand new Reuters/Ipsos survey that was just released, a whopping 73 percent of all Americans believe that the economy is in worse condition than it was five years ago…
Michael Snyder writes: “Americans have soured on Bidenomics, concluding that the U.S. economy is worse now than it was five years ago under former President Donald Trump’s leadership, a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found.”
From the Reuters story:
“The overall survey found that Americans view economic issues as some of the most “pressing problems” of the day. Overall, nearly half, 49 percent, of Americans view inflation as the most important issue facing the country.
“Further, nearly three-quarters of Americans, 73 percent, say the economy is worse off now than it was five years ago, under Trump’s leadership. A majority, 64 percent, also believe the economy is worse off than it was in 2020, when the coronavirus took a grip, forcing businesses to close.”
Apart from Covidian hysteria and 9/11, in normal times the economy drives US Presidential elections.
So. Is this next year a return to “normal times”? Not in our perceptions, it isn’t. But the mass of voters?
if chris rufo hadn’t focused on what educational establishment and corporations like disney were collaborating, we would never have known, and disney might have only had have their losses, and still have that special sinecure district, maybe
And who can forget the dining car scene between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in “North by Northwest”? Cloth napkins, pewter salt and pepper shakers, formal attire and sophisticated flirty dialog.
_________________________________
CG: Can you recommend anything?
EMS: The brook trout. A little trouty, but quite good.
–“North by Northwest” (1959)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GcBBnPJEzo
that guy:
Here is a counterfactual for you. Those less economically comfortable probablly care just as much about the cultural issue of trans-mogrification of children by public school aparachits. See Virginia voters. See Chico Valley, CA parents.
Politics is downstream of culture (Andrew Breitbart, RIP). You can stick a fork in Carville.
re The video and the architect’s breakdown of the American diner. He seems to have missed how the the humble “Waffle House” so ubiquitous throughout the South pews it’s design elements to the Diner Car.
It has indeed become an American icon, exported throughout the world. An example is May’s Diner in the tourist zone of Ensenada (Northwest Mexico, South of Tijuana). With roots from Albuquerque, New Mexico, I believe.
The original link to train travel for this style in Mexico, however, is ironic because Mexico, basically, doesn’t do passenger train travel. And only a few places did so in its past.
@ Rufus T. Firefly Appreciate the effort
1) “Oh, and after 1 second of searching on the Internet, here’s a recent article on his [Economic] plan:”
• Thank you for the article.
• It is true that that article refers to the Economic Plan that DeSantis spoke of on July 31 – two weeks ago.
• It is also true that that plan is both the first and last time DeSantis posted about the economy on his campaign website.
• To be fair, after kicking off his campaign in May, and only talking once about his Economic Plan; it is reasonable for many citizens to conclude that the economy is not a priority for DeSantis – some may disagree.
https://rondesantis.com/
2) “You may or may not agree with his plan, or his economic results in Florida, but you can at least address the facts rather than erecting false strawmen.”
• It is true that I have not expressed an opinion on DeSantis’ Economic Plan or economic results in Florida – in this post or any other post.
• To be fair, many citizens would conclude that your statement is a “false strawman” – some may disagree.
3) “Fixed it for you.”
• Stikes me as an odd statement to make, since your “fix” appears to be to a statement that I did not write.
Again, appreciate the effort – and happy to review anything else you wish to provide on DeSantis addressing the economy.
File under ‘politics unusual’… or ‘about time’?
The Best Political Ad of the Season Has Just Been Released
https://rumble.com/v30tk0m-the-best-political-ad-of-the-season-has-just-been-released.html
To me it seems perhaps a bit nit picky to criticize DeSantis for focusing too much more on the culture war rather than the economy. My feeling is that given things like the recent and on going Bud Light imbroglio, what’s going on in culture is very much at the top of many Republican voters minds, many of whom are not necessarily “financially comfortable” either. So I wouldn’t say it’s a mistake for DeSantis to talk about such things rather than focusing on his economic plans at this stage anyway.
At any rate, it seems like Trump is currently way far ahead in polls against the other Republican candidates. So all this may well be moot anyway. As I’ve said several times here before, I expect Trump will win the nomination and lose the general.
Strikes me that those Trump supporters who do not consider themselves “financially comfortable”, are loyal to Trump in part because he was truly interested in making an economic difference in their life.
I think this goes to the Matt Taibbi argument that politics is now class focussed.
https://www.allsides.com/blog/matt-taibbi-and-shifting-american-liberalism
LET’s cry out Argentina! The outsider libertarian candidate economist Javier Miles won the Presidential Primary yesterday.
He wants to abolish large swathes of government in Argentina.
But why is he suddenly the favorite to win in October? The numbers.
Despite polling as low as 20%, he won 30% (and 69% voter turnout — impressive!). The insider establishment conservatives won 28%, while the Peronist candidate got even less.
In theory, 30 plus 28% means a 58% victory. But how many on the Right leaning side will embrace big cutting out of State control?
Interesting times in LatAm.
This mid-day, only three minor Rightside news outlets have a story, including Newsmax and the National File. (SOURCE http://www.newsammo.com)
But a fourth site, Zerohedge, has the best early story:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/libertarian-outsiders-shock-win-argentinas-presidential-primary-sparks-selloff-peso
No matter how many Americans are dissatisfied with the economy – or anything else for that matter – you can bet your house and bank account that traditional demokrat voters will vote for the dem candidate, even if the candidate is the senile crook Joke Bidet and the epitome of a dumb moron, Kamala Harris.
And given Trump’s personality “issues,” many (most?) independents will vote for the demokrat candidate even if it is Joke Bidet, and even if they are dissatisfied with the economy, crime, foreign policy, etc., etc.
For many (most?) who enter the voting booth, it’s like entering the twilight zone, a fourth dimension, foreign to the normal concept of 3D space and time, and totally removed from the realities of everyday life.
The rational, thinking part of their brain shuts down and the emotional part takes over completely.
Hate Trump’s personality…… well, that’s all you need to know.
The policies he wishes to promote are meaningless. What matters is his non-stop bragging, his goof ball hair style and his overall irritating personality. What he hopes to achieve if elected matters not one bit.
A representative democracy gets the government the voters elect.
See Venezuela.
TJ, the Wall St. Journal has published two stories on the Argentina primary election.
What that guy said at 1:10 pm said
Especially this…
“Telling those folks that they are wrong to reward Trump’ results with their loyalty – “Ever Trumpers/ Cultist/ TrumpBots” – does not make sense to me.”
Wendy Bar; that guy:
If someone says that if Trump is not the GOP nominee they will not vote for the eventual GOP nominee (a position I often see stated in comments on blogs) – thus facilitating Biden’s re-election, or the election of whichever Democrat replaces him as the Democrats’ nominee – I think that person has definitely qualified for the term EverTrumper. It’s a riff on the NeverTrumpers, and is the opposite of their position. NeverTrumpers said they would never vote for Trump if he was the nominee. Therefore their decision facilitated the election of Biden (or of Hillary before that, had she won). So calling the first group EverTrumpers and the second group NeverTrumpers makes perfect sense.
On the other hand, if someone merely supports Trump for the 2024 nomination but is willing to support another GOP nominee if someone else ends up with the nomination, that person is not an EverTrumper.
that guy,
I see a lot of odd attacks against Ron DeSantis from Trump supporters, including from Trump himself. I completely understand preferring Trump over DeSantis, or vice versa, or preferring neither. But let’s be grown-ups and discuss actual facts.
In 2017 Donald Trump began a four year term as President of the U.S.
In 2019 Ron DeSantis began a three year term as Governor of Florida.
Both men barely squeaked out a victory by incredibly slim margins.
Donald Trump lost his re-election bid.
Ron DeSantis won re-election in Florida by the largest margin in 40 years.
I know. You say the Dems cheated and Trump actually won. OK. Even you would have to admit Trump didn’t win by 20 points, like DeSantis. DeSantis changed the minds of a much larger percentage of his constituents than Trump.
So both men were elected (barely) to do a job. Both men faced fierce opposition. Both men faced similar issues; struggling economy, open borders, a pandemic, issues in public education, lawfare from those opposing them.
How did Trump do on those issues?
How did DeSantis do on those issues?
DeSantis convinced 20% of Floridians who didn’t vote for him the first time to change their minds because they were so impressed with how he managed those issues.
Trump supporters have a lot of excuses for why Trump couldn’t get a lot of things done, but the fact remains; he didn’t get a lot of things done.
DeSantis actually did a lot of real, actual, concrete things.
I can objectively give credit to DJT. He did a great job of keeping us out of unnecessary military conflicts. He was a great supporter of our men and women in the armed forces. He managed the middle east well. Huge kudos for the embassy in Jerusalem! Great job picking Supreme Court Justices! He has my undying gratitude for that last one, alone. He reduced regulations and had business humming prior to the pandemic.
I currently have no idea who I will vote for next November, but I can be honest about the candidates and their records. If you don’t like DeSantis, fine. State why. But don’t lie and say he has no policy platform on business or the economy. Don’t lie and say he doesn’t have a proven track record of improving Florida’s economy under his stewardship.
Nonapod,
DeSantis walks and chews gum at the same time. He gets a great deal of publicity from an unfavorable press regarding his cultural stances (it makes for popular media and easy reporting) and educational reforms but he does not shirk his stewardship over Florida’s economy and non-cultural issues. Is there any state that did better than Florida during the pandemic?
It’s such a strange analogy I feel odd even writing this, but sometimes Trump strikes me as a Moses figure. He was the leader who could show his people they did not have to live in bondage and he showed them how to be free, but, perhaps, he will not lead them into the promised land.
Some jobs require a Moses. Some jobs require a Joshua.
Who or what creates the fabled “food deserts.”
I find it very ironic that the people from these various, usually large minority population neighborhoods around the country, complain when the stores which sell them basic necessities–stores like Walmart, various Supermarkets, 7-11, CVS, and other stores–close up shop and flee their neighborhoods, when it has apparently been people from these same neighborhoods whose actions have driven these stores out.
Driven out because of a massive uptick in crime–which has decreased customer foot traffic (who wants to make what was once a frequent, safe, and routine trip to the store when by doing so you now risk getting attacked, robbed, possibly carjacked, likely injured, or even killed by some thief or whack job)—and because of the incredible rise of instances of major and frequent shoplifting–quite often in these cities essentially unprosecuted, or even the outright looting and wholesale destruction of stores by mobs of “youts”; grocery stores, in particular, reportedly with only a very slim profit margin of only a few percent, have to have these profits, which the losses from these thefts and/or product and property destruction eliminate.
If the store is part of a chain the system can absorb such losses for a time, but eventually the system can no longer cover all these losses, and the store has to close.
These companies–which exist, after all–to make a profit, pull out, and, “community activists” blame the big bad capitalist companies, and/or “racism,” rather than the thugs within their own neighborhoods whose actions drove out these stores, and who are really the ones creating more and more “food deserts.”
What JohnTyler said.
I see it with my MotR family members. Ever Trumpers just can’t get it through their skulls that the MAJORITY of the country hates him. They are so focused, rightly I might add, on the wrongs done to him, they can’t see the forest for the trees.
If Trump is the nominee, get ready for the “climate emergency ” declaration after the Democrat wins. Lockdowns, control of your energy usage and bank accounts.
They’ve already stated this is coming. Biden said they’ve done it in principle. Just need to win the election to put it full force.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Agreed about your Moses analogy – and Moses was presented as a flawed man, too.
I wrote this post about Trump being a tragic hero.
P.S. If you look on Youtube you can also see Videos–apparently proudly filmed by various “youts”–who think it great fun to go into a supermarket or a convenience store, open up a drink or other product, take a sip or a bite, spit it back into the container, or just spit into the container itself, and then, put it back.
From what I’ve read, if the people running the store find this out–and since they usually don’t have exact knowledge about which particular container or containers have been contaminated–to be safe they usually have to take all of a whole freezer or cold case of product out and destroy it.
This, I imagine, can be a considerable loss, especially if this happens over and over again.
The one with rail delivery reminds me of one of my favorites in K.C. on 18th.
Standard shape with a little extra room at one end. You sat yourself, ordered via a push button mic and enjoyed rock while you waited.
The owner was obviously a tinkerer. Once the food was ready, it came to you on a choo-choo track about 2′ from the ceiling, docked, choo-choo’ed at you and lowered the basket of food to you. You then closed the little gate and it went back up and to the kitchen.
A very fine first date.
Snow on Pine,
The people who live in those neighborhoods know why most retailers won’t build in their neighborhoods. They know they need more police and fewer gangs. They know they need education choice.
The only people I ever hear use the term “food desserts” with sincerity are wealthy folks who live nowhere near such neighborhoods.
Re: “It’s the economy stupid” / Culture war
These are tough to disentangle.
The clever thing the elites have done is to immunize themselves from the usual charges of greed and power by allying themselves with the radical left via culture issues.
The elites have always had some sympathy with the left, but this elite/left coaltiion really went into overdrive during the Obama 2008 campaign.
I don’t think it was planned, but emerged from the serendipity of Obama’s messianism, generational shift, Gramscian march and the Big Tech oligarchy.
Snow on Pine,
Do you have an opinion on the “Arecibo Answer?” I see many sites and search engines stating it’s a “hoax” and “debunked,” but I haven’t read any uncovered evidence or proof that it is a hoax. Should be very easy to disprove forensically, yet I find no reference to anyone doing that.
Odd that the most common reason I read given is, “If an alien civilization wanted to answer why wouldn’t they just get out of their ships and speak to us?” No one addresses the fact that the message may be transmitted, just as we transmitted the original. Perhaps they have a radiative technology that can manipulate plants? I know imagining some technology unknown to us is no proof of non-human creation, but it’s odd that those refuting it are using technology unknown to us (crafts that can travel great distances quickly) to disprove it.
Assuming it’s a hoax I’d love to meet the hoaxers. It’s a very clever response!
@ om Thank you for the input.
“Here is a counterfactual for you. Those less economically comfortable probablly care just as much about the cultural issue of trans-mogrification of children by public school aparachits. See Virginia voters. See Chico Valley, CA parents.”
• 100% agree – many parents care about cultural issues negatively impacting their children, especially in the public schools.
• And in most ^^ cases – e.g., your VA and CA examples – those were/ are local and state issues.
• Most citizens are aware that defeating “woke polices/ actions” has been a priority for DeSantis.
^^ = cannot recall any examples of national cases
• For those who watched the recent WMUR DeSantis NH Town Hall, you would have heard DeSantis acknowledge/ explain: a) Woke needs to be defeated, b) Different states can have different priorities, and c) Difference between Federal, and State & Local approach to woke policies.
Again, thank you for the input.
Oligonicella,
About 3 years ago I ate in such a diner in KC. Food delivered via train. I think it was inside a mall, however.
physicsguy,
If you haven’t heard of it yet, do a search on Nigel Farage and British banks. Extremely alarming what is already happening there! And, of course, we have Supreme Commander Trudeau’s imperiousness and disregard of citizens’ personal wealth to our North.
the country is not red, probably purple but not blue either,
https://twitter.com/EpochTimes/status/1691203797777866752
there is enough proper outrage
https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1691081506482016256
1950 menu from the Santa Fe Grand Canyon Limited.
http://streamlinermemories.info/SF/GC50dinner.pdf
Hasn’t labour been out of power for more than a decade? How is this kind of crap still happening?
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66304002
All very depressing.
@ TJ
“LET’s cry out Argentina! The outsider libertarian candidate economist Javier Miles won the Presidential Primary yesterday. Interesting times in LatAm.”
• 100% agree – Shocking & Interesting Times.
• Personally found much to like about Argentina – Patagonia region, Parrillas – and was appalled by the 1998+ economic meltdown/ Great Depression.
• One of the tips an Argentinian contact told me, has stayed with me all these years: Stock up on gold jewelry for barter- but not the good stuff because the average person does not know the difference, so they will assume that it is not the good stuff when they are trading with you.
Assuming it’s a hoax I’d love to meet the [crop circle] hoaxers. It’s a very clever response!
Rufut T. Firefly:
I was once intrigued by crop circles, but then I read of a circle which was a dead-on representation of the Mandelbrot Set, within ten miles of Trinity College, Cambridge, I thought … hmm.
In 1992 Rupert Sheldrake and John Michell, both on the fringe side but open-minded, launched a Crop Circle Making Contest, which was so successful that it entirely shut down the claim the circles were beyond human efforts.
___________________________________
The experiment was conclusive. Humans could indeed make all the features of state-of-the-art crop formations at that time. Eleven of the twelve teams made more or less impressive formations that followed the set design. The contest was reported in most of the British newspapers and on radio and TV.
https://www.sheldrake.org/essays/the-crop-circle-making-competition
___________________________________
Which doesn’t prove all crop circles are made by humans, of course, but that’s how I’m betting.
It’s a guerrilla movement of underground artists, mostly in Southern England, creating beauty and cocking a snook at the world.
That guy, I agree that the economy is the major issue. I’m retired. My income is fixed. I have savings, but I hope to leave something to our offspring. Before Biden’s spending spree, coupled with attacking our fossil fuel industry, I was putting money away each month. And the Trump tax cut saved me $1200 dollars a year. Inflation was tame.
Birn’s attack on energy, his profligate spending, and a still snarled supply chain triggered an inflation that is very damaging. It isn’t just groceries and gasoline. It’s medical costs, insurance of all types, property taxes, local taxes, local tradesmen who repair plumbing/electric/HVAC/roofing/painting/landscaping/etc., dental, paint, fertilizer, anything made of metal, and on and on. We are running about $500/month behind on our expenses which we could handle nicely before Bidenomics.
Many people are feeling the same pain. They’re told by the news that it’s inflation, but don’t really understand that the ruinous Biden policies are the cause of their financial pain. Even when politicians talk about their plans for reducing inflation, they don’t really understand it. People I talk to throw up their hands and say it’s all a bunch of goobledy gook. They do remember that they weren’t in such dire straits under Trump, but they’re not sure why except that he had “good policies.”
I have enough savings that I could weather several years of this inflation but would really like to get things back to where they were five years ago. I’m pretty confident that Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Scott, or other primary candidates will have the policies to get our energy industry rolling, cut government spending, and get the supply chain working again. But it’s the candidate who can best convey the message to the voters of why they’re experiencing this painful inflation and how he will end it is, IMO, the one who will fare best.
There’s a long list of cultural issues that will drive votes. The border, the student loan bailout, the LGBTQXYZ issues, drugs, homelessness, crime, etc. are all important issues, but the Democrats will ride the abortion issue hard and drown out a lot of the other issues, as they did in 2022.
Unfortunately, many voters don’t get the connection between seeing homeless drug addicts on their streets or not being able to pay their bills and political policy. If they did, we wouldn’t be where we are.
huxley,
My hunch is they are all man made also, but even that is nearly as amazing as if they are of extraterrestrial origin. That so many different people around the world would participate in a clandestine prank often requiring elaborate techniques, many people and a fair amount of time… It renews my hope in humanity that may be true!
I’m not surprised at all that humans can replicate the techniques. The claims by those who believe they are of extraterrestrial origin that it is beyond human technology seem absurd to me. They are trampled crops! Pretty sure people could do that 100,000 years ago.
I’m just surprised to recently learn how much of the debunking isn’t really based in sound evidence. The two Brits who came forward years ago to claim they had done hundreds weren’t able to reproduce many of the things they claimed they had done. At least in the Arecibo Answer incidence the most pervasive evidentiary claim against seems to be, “it doesn’t make sense.” Yes. I agree. It doesn’t make sense. But it also doesn’t make sense a guy in Wisconsin would kill, dismember and eat 17 people, yet Jeffrey Dahmer did just that. People don’t always act rationally and maybe space aliens don’t either. Or, maybe they just have a marvelous sense of humor!
I really like the Arecibo Answer crop rectangle because it’s so clever. I would think by now someone would come forward and take credit.
Re; Argentine Great Depression 1998-2002
TJ, that guy:
Few Americans know it happened, much less how terrible it was.
Back then I was reading a survivalist blogger calling himself FerFAL and I was stunned. Here’s a sample.
__________________________
My brother visited Argentina a few weeks ago. He’s been living in Spain for a few years now. Within the first week, he got sick, some kind of strong flu, even though climate isn’t that cold and he took care of himself. Without a doubt he got sick because there are lots of new viruses in my country that can’t be found in 1st world countries. The misery and famine lead us to a situation where, even though you have food, shelter and health care, most of others don’t, and therefore they get sick and spread the diseases all over the region.
–“Thoughts on Urban Survival” (2005)
https://ferfal.blogspot.com/2008/10/thoughts-on-urban-survival-2005.html
__________________________
His posts were always interesting, but I stopped reading for mental health reasons.
Rufus & huxley, ‘Snow circles’
https://inhabitat.com/artist-makes-giant-wintry-crop-circles-just-by-walking-in-the-snow/
well the argentine collapse, was part of greenspans games, in stifling ‘irrational exuberance, the little downturn we had in 2001, was like pneumonia on the argentine foreign debt the previous prime minister, menem actually tried to keep national spending reasonable, but provincial governors spent lavishly, this toppled the radical (liberal) government led by shakiras manager father, and a decade of peronist one party rule, which was a respite, briefly with macri, an industrial baron,
Rufus,
Your three comments on DeSantis and Trump starting at 5:14 PM are excellent!
Rufus T. Firefly:
I finished the first Harry Potter in French today! I give myself an exclamation point.
It took about five months. I spent 2-6 minutes on each sentence, though I sped up considerably towards the end.
Not much happening on the output side. I took some time off to study for output, then when I got back, my language learning webservice had bugs in the tutor booking software which I have not yet been fixed. Hanging fire.
Per our earlier discussion of language acquisition, input vs output, I’d say I have acquired a basic level of reading French.
I still can’t “hear” French well at all. I had no idea how hard this part would be. My pronunciation, from what I can tell, follows the rules reasonably well.
So I have acquired some French with almost no output. I’m sure I could continue this way until I was reading Proust, if I wished.
However, I do want to speak French, so I will be making that happen one way or another.
cb,
That snow art is amazing! Up to nine hours, wow!
huxley,
Congratulations! That’s an amazing accomplishment!
Tres Magnifique!!!
Two of my favorite sunsets from series 2023. These are unlisted and unmonitized but YouTube will attach ads after 100 views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPhGx4rclNU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8LpdRIwWy8
RE: UFOs—Why would any Aliens be interested in us?
Well, I can think of a number of possible reasons.
First of all, though–to set the stage–from the reports, I believe that we may be dealing with a number of different species of Aliens, each of which may have it’s own set of approaches, motives, and needs.
If some Aliens are merely surveilling us, from their many decades of work, ubiquity, and operational tempo, they could have mapped our entire planet—every city, every military base, nuclear weapons storage and manufacturing site, chemical and biological weapons lab and storage site, every factory, every mineral deposit, every store, monument, archaeological site and ruin, house, and road many times over by now, so there must be other reasons for their constant–and apparently increasing—activity.
Perhaps the Earth, with all of its biological diversity and complexity, is unique in our Galaxy.
Perhaps we are entertainment for some jaded aliens, who are bored, and love to observe us comparatively primitive, shit-flinging monkeys screech, pick our noses, and beat our chests.
Perhaps some Aliens are here merely to observe, have only an academic interest in us, and a generally hands off approach—a la the “Prime Directive,” and won’t interfere no matter what happens to us and our planet.
Perhaps some Aliens are, indeed, benevolent and—from the evidence of their particular interest in nuclear weapons–are here to warn us about the dangers of possession and use of such nuclear weapons, and/or very dangerous environmental degradation.
Or, perhaps more generally, some benevolent Aliens are here to help shepherd us through the theorized “Great Filter”–a series of crises, one of which almost always destroys civilizations which reach the stage where they could develop real space travel and become a star faring civilization.
Or, perhaps we have something which some Aliens might want, need, or prize—biological material—plants or animals, some particular elements or minerals, agricultural products, cultural products or artifacts—Art, Literature, Music, Literature, etc.
Given the many reported Abductions, perhaps some Aliens need our genetic material.
Or, perhaps this is just the very thorough scouting which precedes the invasion.
If you believe the theories of very long time French UFO observer Jacques Vallee, perhaps UFOs, Aliens, and the “absurdities” of their appearances are a “psychological control mechanism,” one designed to push our ideas and societies in certain directions; to create a “mythology.”
On the other hand, perhaps some Aliens are just flat out looters, intent on stripping our solar system bare.
Why don’t any Aliens show themselves and land on the White House lawn, or take over TV and the Internet, world wide, and announce their presence?
What incentives do what may be extremely advanced and/or evolved Aliens have to communicate with what they may well regard as very violent and primitive beings, the equivalent of ants?
Perhaps they just don’t want to make the effort, or to be annoyed by us.
RE; Crop Circles–
While it may be that many crop circles are human made hoaxes, I find it very hard to believe that a few often drunken Brits, working over the course of one night, and using planks of wood and their feet, are responsible for creating some of the extremely complex crop circles I have seen pictured. *
* See https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1e/b7/3d/1eb73d6f1aa6e11d2238e6d872ca1913.jpg
or https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f9/86/6e/f9866eefe9ea15e3929796256a9ac5bd.jpg
or https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6Txy1AKqiSE/maxresdefault.jpg
or https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iq2vQY1Jeaw/TCjg0bNIwgI/AAAAAAAAUfQ/mGjF0DGpCXo/s400/cropcircle5.jpg
P.S. Why would Aliens be interested in us?
Aliens being “aliens,” perhaps we would not–in any way–comprehend the reasons which might make us interesting to them.
RE: Skinwalker Ranch and the “high strangeness” events which occur there
Take a look at this very interesting, long, almost 4 hour interview with real estate magnate Brandan Fugal, owner of Skinwalker Ranch, and about half way through the start of his descriptions of some of the high strangeness things he has personally seen, and his researchers have discovered there.*
* See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QfzcjIdcJ0
While it may be that many crop circles are human made hoaxes, I find it very hard to believe that a few often drunken Brits, working over the course of one night, and using planks of wood and their feet, are responsible for creating some of the extremely complex crop circles I have seen pictured. *
Snow on Pine:
We are way past Two Drunken Brits stomping around under the moonlight.
The Crop Circle Contest participants could do everything done in crop circles circa 1992. Today they could easily be augmenting those techniques with laser, GPS and whatever else technology.
Seriously, this is a loser bet for those hunting the UFO Moby Dick.
I am convinced there is something to UFOs, but crop circles ain’t part of that something.
Congratulations! That’s an amazing accomplishment!
Rufus T. Firefly:
Merci beaucoup!
I hope so. I mean, I’ve been pushing for months and today I’m kinda exhausted. I’m not giving up, but I’m not the guy who was burbling merrily about French for the first few months of the year.
That was the honeymoon, The real work of the marriage has begun.
French is now my Old Lady. There are still Mysteries, but now, more noticeably, there are Duties. That’s OK and even comfortable. It’s just different.
They are after our precious bodily fluids! or my Precious!
@oligoncella — When I was in college, I worked one summer at our small town’s Burger Train. The central building (kitchen, soda fountain, storage, cash register, etc.) was shaped like a roundhouse, and tracks on trestles extended from it like spokes of a wheel. The cars parked along the tracks, called in their order via the usual drive-in squawk boxes, and we sent the food out in enclosed miniature train cars (like boxcars), which then ran back the other way into the building.
It was more fun than a typical car-hopping gig, and we didn’t have to go outside, although there was an awning over the parking area, kind of like the top of a circus carousel.
My favorite story, because it shows the way that trademarked names become commonplace, was the one from the family that ordered, “Five cokes, and make two of the Dr. Peppers.”
Why yes, that was in Texas, why do you ask? 😉
We also served a great Frito pie.
Re UFOs
Cats Unveiled as Intergalactic Beings with Alien DNA
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/4174868/posts
@Rufus T. Firefly and others:
The cafe I mentioned was from when I was in high school – so, around ’67. Makes the guy’s creation & wiring more impressive.
Re UFOs:
I’ve been following this stuff since the 60s. Watched the changes in the reporting of the shapes, movements, alien crews, abductions, etc. Regardless of how apparently detailed anytning has been, there always seems missing a crucial link in the data. Everything’s a dot from a sufficient distance, which isn’t all that far on a day with any humidity. The clear shots always seem to be found afterward, not *during* when the photographer can hoot, holler and point.
I’ve spent a lot of time running down all I could and reading purported government docs (or copies of them), Blue Book included.
I remain unconvinced.
As for “why would”? I find that useless speculation. There are people who study a particular animal because they find them beautiful. Others study the same animal because they’re fascinated by its physiology. Others to try to place it in a taxonomic tree. Others to try to find ways to “deal” with them for some reason. One animal, four (so far) reasons to observe it.
If you entertain various species of aliens visiting, you’ve leapt beyond imagining an advanced alien race to imagining essentially Star Wars a-comin’ visit.
Much more likely someone got themselves some editing software.
An example of how easy it is to misidentify:
I was at a drive in back in high school days. Back out of K.C. proper by Wyandotte County Lake. Very dark with a sprinkling of meteorites.
One was falling straight doen. Then… it slowed, stopped for a moment and went right back up where it came from. I was awe struck.
Later I figured out if was a meteorite that skipped off the Earth’s atmosphere. Would have looked much cooler, although less awe inspiring if the angle had been different.
Skinwalker Ranch and Ancient Aliens have pretty much grown hand in hand from a single unsubstantiated sighting of something “supernatural” into a video industry.
Any time you see that wiry-haired bastard, you know it’s a sham video. If you’ve watched a number of those shows, you know who I mean.
Oligonicella–I agree about Mr. wiry-hair and a few other apparently self-described “ancient alien theorists,” the same few people who you routinely see on various shows like Ancient Aliens.
Shows which, in my opinion–after looking at a couple episodes of these shows—are not worth spending the time watching, or taking seriously, as they just make assertions with nothing to back them up, and as they perform a lot of intellectual trapeze work–as they fly from one piece of information to another, hoping that you don’t notice that there is nothing in between–as they try to stitch together the fabric of a “speculation,” a truth a la Von Daniken.
In the case of Skinwalker, though, from his performance and what he said in the long interview linked above, Brian Fugal seems like a very solid and accomplished guy, and hyped somewhat though the episodes of “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch” may be, it looks like there may actually be some unknown phenomena at work.
@ Rufus T. Firefly
• Thank you for the entertainment.
• My friends and I enjoyed your 05:14 replies to me.
• Not only for the ‘Math Is Hard’ aspect – but as one friend stated: At the end it was like watching a video of a ‘Cat Fighting Its Tail’.
• Again, thank you for the entertainment.
Being financially uncomfortable generates anxiety which can, in turn, generate free-floating resentment looking for a place to land.
Those pushing the progressive culture also seem to have the money.
No reason the financially uncomfortable will be out of the culture wars.
that guy,
Happy to be of service.
Chases Eagles,
Those videos are great. Thank you for sharing!