Talk about euphemisms: Biden’s cognitive decline was under-reported

The New Neo Posted on by

I think it was really rather simple.

In 2020, the Democrats decided Biden was their most “electable” candidate, and that his cognitive challenges could be successfully covered up. COVID restrictions made that even more possible.

The did it more or less successfully for years, although the right certainly noticed. But the view of Biden from the right was dismissed as a partisan conspiracy theory, with the MSM backing that “debunking” up. You can get away with a lot when the MSM backs you up.

The reason they kept Joe in there for so long was also that his cognitive challenges made it easier for other party operatives to control him and be the powers behind the throne.

But in 2024 it became impossible to successfully cover it up anymore. So the house of cards collapsed, and all the cards regrouped to build another house for the new candidate, Harris. It wasn’t a very sturdy one, however.

What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

The New Neo Posted on by

And me? Glad you asked.

This year I’m visiting relatives and there’s actually a party tonight. So I’ll be attending.

Staying up till midnight is no problem for me, since I’m a night owl and always have been. Actually, even when young, I had somewhat of an aversion to New Year’s Eve. To the idea of a night when you were supposed to have fun or else. A reminder of the speedy passage of time. With alcohol drinking. And the obligatory midnight kiss, which wasn’t a fun moment if you didn’t like your date.

Once or twice I went to Times Square to see the ball go down in person and not just on TV. Curiously, those were some of my better New Year’s Eves. Maybe it was the people I was with those nights. We ate at Tad’s Steaks, just for laughs, but Tad’s wasn’t bad at all.

And five years ago the very last Tad’s in New York City closed down. I had no idea any of them had lasted that long.

So let’s drink to Tad’s:

The cafeteria-style chophouse is known for hawking inexpensive meat-and-potato dinners on red trays — meals that cost little more than $1 each when the first one opened in 1957. A steak lunch today can be had for as little as $9.

At its height, Tad’s had eight New York locations out of 28 nationwide. But come Jan. 5, 2020, the red neon sign in the window advertising “broiled” steaks at 761 Seventh Ave. will go dark — as will the vast grill that played host to smoky “steak shows,” where dozens of cuts could be grilled at once during the thick of lunch hour.

Happy New Year, everyone! I’m very grateful for all of you. Here’s to a wonderful 2025, full of love, joy, and good health!

[NOTE: Some of this appeared in previous posts.]

Saying goodbye to 2024

The New Neo Posted on by

The years go by way too quickly these days. So there’s that.

But 2024 has been a year of great surprises and reversals, many of them unexpectedly good.

These surprises and reversals started approximately at the year’s midway point. I date the very first as the Trump/Biden debate on June 27. It’s not that I expected Biden to do well, but I didn’t expect him to do so abysmally. And I didn’t expect the MSM to admit it, but the fact that they did admit it indicated that perhaps the plan always had been to ditch him after the debate. But plan or no plan, the ditching is what occurred – on July 21 – which was the third surprise.

You might think I skipped surprise number two. But no, that happened on July 13 in Butler, PA: the near-assassination of Trump. It was no surprise that someone would want to kill him. But it was a surprise that the Secret Service was so negligent (or worse) at protecting him, and an incredible surprise how close the would-be assassin came to achieving his aim but how a serendipitous turn of the head at the last minute meant that Trump only got wounded in the ear. If you saw that in a movie, it would seem highly improbable. And yet it’s what happened, and it made people even more sympathetic towards him.

Surprise number four was concurrent with number three: the anointment of Kamala Harris as nominee, without an open convention. She didn’t seem like the best candidate and certainly not the most popular at the time, although in retrospect I can’t say there was another good alternative.

Surprise number five was how truly terrible she was as a candidate. Again, I didn’t expect much, but I expected her to be able to be fairly coherent in interviews. She was not – although it didn’t matter to tried-and-true Democrat voters. Interesting to me is that fact that, among the Harris voters I know of whom I asked the question “did you watch any of her interviews?”, the answer was “no.” Why bother? They knew they weren’t voting for Trump.

Then there was another failed Trump assassination attempt on September 15 which was foiled. Shall we call that number six? And then, on September 17 we had number seven, the exploding Hezbollah pagers, followed closely by number seven and a half, the exploding walkie-talkies. Both were followed by a series of amazing Israeli feats which I’ll lump together as number eight: the destruction of most of Hezbollah’s armaments, the assassination of Nasrallah and of Sinwar, and the destruction of many of Iran’s armaments. Whether or not I have the order of things right, that was the general direction: again, right out of a very fanciful movie.

Later on we had two great PR stunts by Trump: his stint at McDonald’s and his time as a garbage man. We’ll call those number nine.

Followed by number ten: the Trump victory in the election. The surprise was the scope and clarity of it, plus the fact that the results were known on election night itself.

So tonight, let’s make a toast to an even better 2025!

More oopsies about job creation under the Biden administration

The New Neo Posted on by

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright

The New Neo Posted on by

I felt a catch in my throat when I heard that Olivia Hussey had died at 73. She will always be Juliet to me, a role I saw her play in a movie theater in 1968 when the Zefferelli film first came out.

I was already very familiar with “Romeo and Juliet,” because we had studied it in depth in junior high school, acting out every scene in classroom readings. I described the process in this 2007 post:

[Our teacher] Mr. Jones tackled the whole thing by making us read every single word aloud. He called on some students to act out each part for a few pages, then switched to other students, and on and on, right to the last line. It took months. No matter how embarrassed we were, or what poor actors we were, or how we stumbled and faltered, we had to read those words. And he was big on non-traditional casting, too; he’d sometimes call on the boys to read the female parts and vice-versa. Talk about embarrassment!

One boy, Carl Anderson, who had the platinum hair and fair skin of his Norwegian forebearers, blushed scarlet every time he was called on to read. Then he’d blush even more startlingly scarlet as embarrassing words were revealed (“Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast! Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!”). But read he did.

Some read in monotones, some gave it pizazz. And then, after every couple of lines, Mr. Jones would have them pause and try to explain the meaning. If they couldn’t guess, the class would tackle it. If all else failed, Mr. Jones would tell us. But, line by line, the wonderful and sorrowful story emerged, and we slowly got better at deciphering it.

As the characters came alive for us, line by line, Shakespeare (and Mr. Jones) managed that feat at which the writers of so many modern movies fail abysmally: making us care about the characters, and making us believe the lovers actually love each other, and showing us why. We loved Romeo and Juliet, too; and we could see that they were exceptionally well-suited to one another, each able to express emotions in ways no other teenagers ever have or ever will.

But when I saw the 1968 movie I was stunned at how beautiful both Hussey and her Romeo, Leonard Whiting, were. They were good actors, too, and the movie was heartrending at conveying the desperate intensity and joy of young love. I cried a great deal when I watched it, and you know what? I still cry when I watch it. Zefferelli cut some of the lines to make the movie’s pace quicker, but it’s a brilliant movie and the casting of Hussey and Whiting was especially so.

Here’s the scene where Romeo and Juliet first see each other:

And of course there’s the death scene. I can’t find a video that shows all the parts I want, so I’ll post this in two segments:

RIP, Olivia Hussey.

Jimmy Carter dies at 100

The New Neo Posted on by

I’ll start with RIP, as well as the observation that I voted for him twice.

And yet I think he did a lot of harm as president. The harm was not driven by animus towards America, however; it was just poor judgment.

I’ve written a great deal about Carter and Iran, which was probably his most serious and long-lasting mistake. You can find most of those posts here, as well as many others about Carter. Here’s a post from 2021 that features a comparison Trump made back then, comparing Carter to Biden:

“I see that everybody is comparing Joe Biden to Jimmy Carter,” Trump noted. “It would seem to me that is very unfair to Jimmy Carter. Jimmy mishandled crisis after crisis, but Biden has CREATED crisis after crisis.”

You might say, however, that in a way Carter helped to create the Iran crisis. This is what I’m talking about:

The Shah lived in what’s known as a “rough neighborhood.” This meant that, in order to implement the modernization of Iran, he felt he needed to be harsh in dealing with the opposition. Jimmy Carter was dedicated to the cause of spreading human rights throughout the world, and he decided to put pressure to bear on the Shah to expand civil liberties and relax his policies towards those in his country who were against him.

Carter threatened the Shah with cutting arms shipments, and in response:

“The Shah…released 357 political prisoners in February, 1977. But lifting the lid of repression even slightly encouraged the Shah’s opponents. An organization of writers and publishers called for freedom of thought, and 64 lawyers called for the abolition of military tribunals. Merchants wrote letters requesting more freedom from government controls. Some people took to the streets, perhaps less fearful of being shot to death, and they clashed with police. A group of 120 lawyers joined together to publicize SAVAK torture and to monitor prison conditions. Dissident academics formed a group called the National Organization of University Teachers, and they joined students in demanding academic freedom. Political dissidents started disseminating more openly their semi-clandestine publications.”

As events spiraled out of control, there were demonstrations throughout Iran. Police reacted harshly, and many protesters were killed, which led to more demonstrations and more deaths, which led to–well, you get the idea.

A genie of dissent had been unleashed–a valid one, because there was much to protest. But as things escalated, and the Shah eventually lost the support of the army and the police (a turning point), few seemed to be prescient enough to predict what forces would replace his regime–not what was hoped for, but what was likely to do so. There were only three choices, and two of them–the mullahs and the Marxists–could reasonably be expected to be far more repressive than the Shah.

Jimmy Carter was probably sincere in wishing that his pressure on the Shah would lead to greater civil liberties, not fewer. But if so, it was one of the gravest miscalculations in history. Be careful what you wish for.

And then there’s Israel. A great deal of the damage Carter did to Israel occurred after he was president, in particular around the time he wrote the book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, and called the wall Israel built to defend itself an “imprisonment wall” (the link and the following quotes are from a post I wrote in 2006) What a way with words Carter had:

Jimmy Carter, peacemaker extraordinaire, has called the wall Israel has built an “imprisonment wall.”

A strange notion of imprisonment, indeed. How can a wall designed to keep murderers out of a single small country (Israel), and yet allowing them freedom of movement elsewhere, be considered a prison?

I wonder if Jimmy locks his doors. Because if he does, isn’t he imprisoning someone? Locking out those who might want to steal from him, or murder him? Isn’t that the main reason we all lock our doors (although I have to say, in New England, I know quite a few people who don’t)?

Did Carter even notice the number of suicide bombers blowing Israelis to bits before the wall was erected, and has he compared it to the number of such bombings since?

But no. Carter is almost as demented as Gandhi was when he counseled the Jews to allow Hitler to murder them so that they might claim the moral high ground and set an example of peace/love. Ah, these wonderful peace advocates, always wanting the Jews to sacrifice themselves for the cause! Jimmy, likewise, would like Jews to die in order to give Palestinians freedom of movement within Israel–the freedom to come there and slaughter Jews with impunity.

I haven’t read Carter’s book, but according to this review in the Washington Post, he managed to write the entire thing–which focuses on the topic of the wall–without once conceding that it was built to prevent the murder of Jews.

Astounding. But not surprising.

[NOTE: on the topic of the inflammatory title of Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, read Michael Kinsley in Slate.]

There’s plenty more, but I’ll leave it at that.

ADDENDUM: More details here.

Those fouettés

The New Neo Posted on by

You might say that the turns in ballet known as fouettés are a sort of parlor trick. They’re neither beautiful nor interesting – at least, not to me – and are mostly a physical feat that requires great skill. In that sense, I admire modern-day ballet dancers who not only can do them in abundance but casually throw in doubles and triples, something you never used to see when I was a child. Now they are almost routine.

In this clip of many segments of fouettés done by different dancers, you can not only see the doubles and triples, but variations on the arms, some of which make the whole operation more and more difficult. The closer to the body the arms are held, the easier the turns are; not that they’re ever easy. But whenever you raise the arms or place them away from the body, it slows down momentum and becomes even more difficult. There is also one dancer who varies the direction in which she looks or “spots” as she turns, and some dancers turn faster than others.

Enjoy:

Roundup

The New Neo Posted on by

(1) Biden met with Hunter’s Chinese business associates, and it’s being treated as news – at least by media on the right, although I really think we already knew this. On the left, as far as I can see, it’s being pretty much ignored.

(2) The MSM is happy to report that there’s a “feud” or a “war” between DOGE and MAGA on the subject of H-1B visas. There’s certainly a heated disagreement:

-President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday sided with key supporter and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters.

Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who vowed late Friday to go to “war” to defend the visa program for foreign tech workers.

Trump, who moved to limit the visas’ use during his first presidency, told The New York Post on Saturday he was likewise in favor of the visa program.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he was quoted as saying.

Musk, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South Africa, has held an H-1B visa, and his electric-car company Tesla obtained 724 of the visas this year. H-1B visas are typically for three-year periods, though holders can extend them or apply for green cards.

(3) Another person on fire in NYC, this time in Grand Central Station. This time the person was burned but is still alive. In this case, the man is believed to have set himself on fire.

(4) Meanwhile, the illegal alien who is believed to be the person who set a woman on fire in the NYC subway has been indicted for her death.

(5) Dave Barry’s year in review.

Biden’s Christmas message

The New Neo Posted on by

I very much doubt that this message, which purports to come from Biden, actually was written by him. But whoever composed it has no sense of irony. Here’s the section to which I’m referring [emphasis mine]:

Yes, even after 2000 years, Christmas still has the power to lift us up, to bring us together, to change lives, to change the world. It speaks to all of us as human beings who are here on this earth, to care for one another, to love one another.

And too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, not as fellow Americans. So my hope this Christmas season is that we take a few moments of quiet reflection, find that stillness in the heart of Christmas and look at each other as who we really are, fellow Americans, fellow human beings, worthy of being treated with dignity and respect, because there’s so much that unites us as Americans, so much more that unites us than divides us.

Biden’s campaign and Harris’ campaign conveyed the antithesis of that sentiment.

Hamas won’t give Israel a list of living hostages

The New Neo Posted on by

You would think it was the very least Hamas could do: provide a list of living hostages who might be freed in any deal with Israel. But apparently even that is too much, according to Hamas:

On Wednesday, Israeli officials charged that Hamas had backed away from a softened stance that could have enabled a deal, and instead returned to a position that is holding up progress. The allegation came after the terror group accused Israel of making new demands in the negotiations and causing a delay.

An unnamed Hamas official told the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed outlet on Thursday that Hamas has provided a partial list of living hostages to negotiators, but is unable to communicate with all the groups holding captives.

The terror group will be in a better position to provide information on the hostages once a ceasefire has begun and communication in Gaza becomes easier, he said.

What complete garbage. “Oh, just let’s have a ceasefire and we’ll find out for you, because your nasty little war is all that’s holding us back from perfect communication with our minions holding people captive.”

Of course, Hamas knows that it works to blame Israel for everything that goes wrong. It works both on the international stage and also with Israel’s left, and with many of the hostage families who have suffered terribly all this time. They want answers and they want their loved ones back, and who can blame them?

But at what cost? That has always been the question. Hamas wants the cost to Israel to be exponentially high. The hostages are their final trump card and they are playing it for all it’s worth.

Do they actually not know where all the hostages are and who is alive and who is dead? I think that is probably one case in which they are telling the truth – there are some hostage-taking freelancers and there is also some disorganization. That does not excuse Hamas in any way. They are 100% to blame for every casualty and injury in this war that began with mass murder on 10/7.

And then of course there is the ever-present question of how many hostages remain alive. I do not think the answer is zero, but the true figure is completely unknown. If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere in the thirties, but that is a complete guess.