pl
RSS- Iran Launches About 200 Ballistic Missiles at Israel
- “Hezbollah’s tunnels and flexible command weather Israel’s deadly blows”
- Nasrallah killed?
- “The flight to Mars is canceled — human kidneys can’t handle it.”
- Newspapers say that NY City Mayor Eric Adams is charged in a sealed federal criminal indictment
- “Without immigrants, America’s job growth would have stalled”
- Here Is The Bill That Kills Free Speech In Australia By Walrus.
- Without Comment….By Walrus.
- Elkern on the woes of our land
- A brief respite
Biden goes beyond even Trump, in saying in 1993 what is on everyone’s minds today – but dares not utter: https://vidmax.com/video/196355-oh-boy-make-sure-black-american-voters-don-t-see-this-joe-biden-video-from-1993
Black lies mattered in 1993 to Biden – why not now? But what is not a lie is how shambling Biden became during the following decades since 1993. He demonstrates the vigor Trump still displays today, but which Biden is now sorely lacking.
How did this 1993 Senate floor debate escape Obama’s vetting for VP process? Will the real Joe Biden stand up please? This younger Biden might have been a contender; but today we just get Old Joe.
https://twitter.com/jakeshieldsajj/status/1303032279501910016?s=21
MLK was right. Judge people by their character. BLM is about more social divisions. And the despicable politicians of both parties have been using divisions and distractions for decades in their pursuit of power to benefit narrow interests not national interests.
Unfortunately many American voters instead of seeing the forest from the trees have to their own detriment got caught up in the faux ideological and partisan battles.
San Francisco – where partisan hypocrisy is an essential life force – state closed down everything, unless you are a government elite – government employee gyms remain open in Nan’s San Fran, while all private fitness businesses forced to close or move outdoors: https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2020/09/07/not-just-hair-salons-san-fran-city-gyms-open-city-workers-not-public/
The Christopher Steele cross-ruff – no Woods file provided FISA because Steele as a confidential human source verified his own accusations:
From Conservative Tree House:
“♦ FIFTH – IG Horowitz Provides Cover for Institutional Issues: Within his December 2019, IG report on the four FISA applications, Inspector General Horowitz covers for the issue of missing supportive evidence by saying the customary procedure for the Woods File verification is not needed when the evidence involves a confidential human source (CHS):
This description is entirely consistent with the DOJ and FBI using the Chris Steele dossier as a replacement for the Woods File procedures. Under this sketchy justification Steele would be an FBI confidential human source (CHS).
Ergo, the dossier served as the underpinning and the only requirement would be for the application to “accurately reflect what [Steele] told the FBI”. That’s how they pulled this off.”
https://twitter.com/dailycaller/status/1303034314997858308?s=21
I find this incredibly disingenuous. Why didn’t he hire the right team? He was C-in-C for nearly 4 years. He pushed for even more defense spending that primarily benefited the big defense contractors.
I’m sure the counter-argument is that he’s the lesser evil and how could he hire a team that agreed with his philosophy since he had to hire from the Borg. He’s got no agency.
Escarlata
CJCS has stated that whatever the outcome the armed forces will play no role.. This is not Spain. Milley is not Franco. That is a sober analysis.
Scarlett, notice how many times recently Trump has said he had a good life before he ran for President; he didn’t need this job. Factor that into your idle conspiracy scenario.
Trump’s place in our nation’s history is secure; along with soundly defeating Nancy Pelosi’s bogus impeachment. History will not be kind to the Democrats craven and partisan treatment of this duly elected US President.
The US Constitution is being stress-tested right now. So far it keeps winning.
It is and was a remarkable document. Along with the intellect, wisdom and insights of our nation Founders. I only wish they could wake from their centuries old deep sleep and witness the impact of what they had crafted.
The Founders missed the biggest challenge we now face however – the rise of the large government administrative state – which every year demonstrates it is accountable to no one other than themselves. They did choose sides – they chose the Democrat party to be their carrier. But political parties still come and go. They are optional and can form and reform as the will of the people so chooses.
The Democrat party becoming solely the water carrier for this large government administrative state is up for an electoral challenge. The battle is not between socialism versus capitalism, But rather the large unelected government bureaucracy against the rest of us.
Which side are you rooting for, Scarlett? Red can mean two different things for you.
Deap
The Framers missed the loophole through which the Congress can admit new states without ratification.
About brotherhood of arms and physical courage : a Huti rebel, carrying a wounded comrade, running and walking during more than 2 minutes under fire…. Chapeau !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMKBLGDobVo
Truze
“Physical courage?” What is that? Courage is indivisible.
All
“Scarlett” is an idiot schoolgirl. She think Biden has a better character than Trumpy. How droll.
Deap
“The battle is not between socialism versus capitalism, But rather the large unelected government bureaucracy against the rest of us.” Greatly exaggerated. The late Frank Anderson, a major figure of the Deep State at CIA bet me $1K at dinner that the forces you fear would not allow a US invasion of Iraq. He lost but never paid.
Then Scarlett should watch the 1993 Biden message to Congress (see 2nd post) and add “I approve of this message”. Ironically, so do many others in 2020.
But it is not Biden’s character today to own up to his own words, because his party has now taken the opposite direction – blame the victim; not the criminal. What does that say about Biden’s character?
BTW Scarlett: both Biden and Kamala are flip-flopping all over each other on key issues, stepping over each other, as well as both not liking the negative push back they are now getting, once voters are finally getting to know who they both really are.
Keystone Cops Run for Public Office – starring that legendary fun couple – Joe and Kamala..
I am not worried about “socialism” or the so called “deep state”. What concerns me is the corporate takeover of our politicians via campaign money, K street and corporate jobs after they leave Congress, and honorariums/speeches for unseemly amounts of money. Get corporate money out of our politics or at least limit it and the US would be a hellva lot better.
In 2007 I was in London and decided to attend a Trafalgar Square rally. I had heard of them. Between taking a lot of pix, I talked to some people. One of these was a gaunt, intense, very articulate woman who I learned, to my surprise, was going to prison. She was out on bond and was due to return in a few days to Edinburgh for sentencing. She was part of the movement that is determined to remove nuclear weapons from the UK. She and her group were particularly determined to get the Tridents out of Scotland. To make her point, she and her fellow sorcerer’s apprentices had apparently concocted some kind of black paint, something like a high build bitumen coating, mixed with epoxy resin and penetrol–I admit I am having a little fun here– but whatever the mix it will seep into stone and quite possibly cannot be removed. They chose the handome exterior of an important superior court building in Edinburgh. I took good notice of her near snarling joy, she was even dancing around a little, and laughing savagely that “the judge was incandescent with rage.” She did not care in the least that she was going to jail. This was a serious activist.
My conclusion from this chance meeting has been that the whole, to me incredible, question of Scottish exit from the UK needs to be carefully watched in the context of just how far the US is willing to put pressure on Russia and possibly slip and slide into a naval nuclear confrontation. The risk is serious. An incident in the Arctic could cause shock waves in Scotland. The exit movement is already there. There could be blowback I don’t think neocon American policy makers are much thinking about.
It might be remembered that one of the greatest battles in history was the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII. My view is that Scotland was absolutely essential to the victory then, and Scotland is now absolutely essential to the security of the Atlantic peoples. There are two RAF bases in the UK that are the point of the spear protecting Britain. One is at RAF Coningsby in the south, and the other is RAF Lossiemouth in the north, near Moray, about one hundred and fifty miles to the east of the western isle of Lewis. It was from Lossiemouth, and two other Scottish bases, in 1944, that Operation Catechism (!) was launched. This was the remarkable raid by Lancaster bombers which destroyed the Tirpitz. There are now some four RAF Typhoon interceptor squadrons based there and also new very large, sophisticated antisubmarine patrol aircraft, capable, incidentally, I believe, of carrying nuclear weapons. There is also an RAF Regiment for security. Typhoons from Lossiemouth have been in the news recently, from time to time, countering the probes of Russian bombers.
Russian submarines have also been spotted recently off of Scotland. It might be remembered that American Polaris subs were stationed for years at Holy Loch. The peace was kept, somehow or the other, in the cold war, and after the Soviet Union broke up, tensions eased and they were removed.
Nowadays the most important base in the UK is at Faslane, as it is known in the Royal Navy. This is the old well-established submarine base off the River Clyde called HMNB Clyde. There must be ten thousand jobs in Argyll and Bute dependent on this base and the nearby naval supplies base.
Faslane, to put it bluntly, is the absolute center of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. It is critical to the security of the whole Atlantic alliance. In effect, it protects the east coast of the United States. Patrols from Faslane go safely and secretly out of the deep firths of the west –firth is simply the Scottish name for ‘fjord’– and by way of something called “the north passage” they can reach the naval equivalent of the Fulda Gap. This is the
Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap, or GIUK Gap. In past they have played deadly games with “Crazy Ivan”. But if Chinese subs now are going to intrude, into OUR Atlantic, then, as is said in Richmond, ‘Katie bar the door!’
This means that Faslane is more important than ever. And if the United States continues to push hard against Russia, and Russia pushes back, the Scots are not going to stand for it. If you have an incident in the Arctic between the US and Russia that slips into something with the possibility of there being a nuclear confrontation, there could be tremendous blowback in the UK.
And I think that Putin knows this.
Is it really labor unions against the rest of us? The labor dollars do fall on one side of the political equation, and not the other: https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=P
And labor today is primarily the public sector government unions – teachers unions, SEIU, etc or labor unions feeding mainly off government contracts. They know who butters their bread – and why having friends on both sides of the bargaining table is a good thing, particularly when well placed union dollars will put them on both sides when it comes to handing out tax dollars.
Do “corporations” only donate to Democrats like the listed labor (public sector) unions do? Just asking for awareness when you vote for your own local school boards – are the teachers unions dominating your local schools, and in turn dominating the local school board elections?
(Of course living in California, this is well-earned paranoia. Just make sure this does not happen to your own state.
Tidewater, “it protects the east coast of the United States”, from who and what exactly?
It seems to me that the US, NATO and fellow travelers in the FSUNP are intent on provoking a warcwith Russia.
Have people like you ever considered the fact that NATO’s “mission accomplished” occurred in 1991? The NATO monstrosity should be dismantled.
Trump’s leadership on this has been a great failure. We are all poorer and less secure as a result.
Colonel,
You are right. “Courage physique” is a typically french expression, but, after 5 seconds of reflexion, it is obviously meaningless : everything i happening in the brain/spirit.
Problem of translation. As said in italian : “traduttore, traditore”…
PhT
Informal neighborhood polling signs:
Trump 18
Biden 3
https://twitter.com/s_mikhailovich/status/1303368593711788033?s=21
This is where I’m at when my grandkids come over to the ranch! Several of them are passionately partisan. And Trump is a lightning rod both for & against. They’ll learn in due course that the duopoly is a root cause of the deep seated corruption. Trump is just as much a conman like the other politicians from both parties.
Tidewater
Not sure that I would describe the 737 based P-8 as a “very large….aircraft” and I doubt your claim that the RAF has its nuclear weapon capability via it.
The Russians have always patrolled off Scotland and USN submarines are regularly seen on the Clyde.
You seem to be puffing up the importance of Faslane. Whilst critically important for the UK it is neither here nor there for the most important NATO submarine fleet, that of the US. The US has had no operational need for a UK base since, as you said, it pulled out in 1992.
Should Scotland get its independence then it is probable that, over time, indeed maybe Faslane and definitely Coalport will close. This will concentrate the minds in the then England/Wales MoD as the whether it will be possible to continue with our ballistic nuclear submarines and if so where the local population would accept them being based, the attack submarines being much less of a political problem.
From NATO’s perspective its the latter that are important, they don’t need our SLBM to destroy Russia, the US has plenty enough to do that.
I doubt if the Russian High Command, let alone Putin, give a second thought to Scotland and our ballistic subs.
The State of the Fight Against COVID-19
excellent summary, somewhat technical,
far too much to attempt a summary, read for yourself
https://outline.com/q6wD8z
Someone asked, what’s the difference between a thief and Jerry Falwell Jr? They told me, one snatches watches, the other… well, you can figure out the rest.
Tidewater –
Gare Loch (i.e. now hosting HMNB Clyde at Faslane) was completely undeveloped and not in use by the RN when the USN built a destroyer base there in 1941/42.
Ditto for Loch Ryan which was also undeveloped until the USN built a Naval Air Station. Facilities were also built there to disembark troops and equipment for both the 8th AF and for divisions eventually headed to Normandy.
I know there is an election coming up nut this is not political in any way.
I recently learned of an author I had not read and have been happily devouring all of his work I can find. His name is Mick Herron and he is an English author of the suspense/mystery genre. His first four books are of a private investigator in Oxford. After about 2011 he switched over to the British Intelligence services, MI-5. I highly recommend his work, Those of you who prefer not to read will be interested to learn that his work has been picked up for television, I believe, and will feature Gary Oldham as the politically incorrect station chief of a group of failed agents in the London group Slough House. They are called the Slow Horses. Herron’s books are great for their smart-arse dialogue, such as, “You have a mind like a razor: disposable.” and “There is no I in team,” “Yes, but there is a U in C__t.” Well you get the idea. Check the library for the old titles.
I would be remiss if I failed to credit the people who recommended him in the first place. Michael Connelly and Mark Billingham spoke highly of him. Connelly is well known as author of the Harry Bosch
and Lincoln Lawyer series, but Billingham is less well known. Mark Billingham has a new novel out that is a prequel to his detective Tom Thorne series called Cry Baby. I have it on order and haven’t yet read it, but it would be a good introduction to his work as it is an introduction to the series. Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat were his first two books in the series and were made into films but they weren’t as good as the books. BBC made a mini-series based on his In The Dark in 2017 and his Rush Of Blood is supposedly being ‘adapted’ for U.S.television. These are both stand alone novels.
At this end of the comment thread, I doubt there is any chance that my comment will reach many eyes. However, that concern is also appropriate because of the point of my comment.
Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby the Scrivener: A story of Wall Street” came into my mind after having not really thought of it since my undergrad years as an English major.
It actually has been considered a masterpiece. I believe Melville was the best of our writers during his time.
His story came to mind after I began experiencing trouble while trying to communicate through mail, using the USPS. I’ve never had trouble using the USPS before in my long life. But simply trying to mail something important to me from northern Colorado to Long Island, NY recently has now caused me to feel that Trump is absolutely correct to warn against mail-in ballots.
I am not concerned about fraud in this case. I am concerned that the USPS has become totally disorganized recently and would absolutely be unable to handle the mail in voting process.
I first became concerned when the USPS could not get a letter from the northeast side of my small town to the southwest side of my small town. That letter is still missing after two months.
And now a more important mailing that I sent on August 12 to an insurance company on Long Island, NY is missing somewhere in the system for almost a month.
At this point, I have given up hope. It’s all I can do to avoid driving myself to the same fate of poor Bartleby in Melville’s story. If that letter never arrives, I will be out of a large sum (for me). But “I prefer not to” allow myself to die as Bartleby did in the story.
I plan to take my ballot to my county’s Clerk and Recorder’s office to deliver it in person
“The hardening of the GOP into a toxic conglomeration of hucksters, quislings, racists, theocrats, and cultists is already happening,”
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/put-the-gop-out-of-its-misery-conservative-calls-for-destruction-of-trumps-republican-party/
I concur completely. The institutionalized political party industry must be disassembled. Both major parties… either is welcome to self-destruct first.
Diana, I always look forward to what you post so happy to see your name in the side bar to continue with this thread.
Speaking of which DH just got a Christmas card returned he had sent to a friend last December 2019 – how does a 9 month UPSP turn around delay sound?
Too bad the postal workers union came out publicly for Biden – that is unnerving considering they are the buffer between mail in votes and the elections offices and that adds to the growing concerns.
Election Day and in person polling places worked for years. Nothing they are now doing is increasing voter participation in California – it is going down every where after every “reform”.
The Democrat machine was able to control elections with every “reform” so it has become useless for anyone to bother to vote. Even Democrats, becasue they know thwy “win” anyway – to the point independents or other party persuasions do not even bother to field candidates.
Last elections, many candidates had no opposition so they just got appointed being the only one running. A little more balanced interest this year, but the machine politics of personal destruction has gone in to high gear that it is unlikely any of these actually good people will win anyway.
So lost ballots or sabotaged ballots will just make Calif deeper blue. They really gamed the system out here – in the name of “voter participation” Pains me to say this, but they won the PR campaign and I expect no surprises for this state come November. Thank goodness enough other states cancel the damage California will inflict.
Some more interesting rocketry news. A drag-sail design to bring second stages into a decaying orbit rather than leave them as debris. I think SpaceX has the better path forward, but maybe this will turn into a light-sail concept at some point?
https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/article/21140022/purdue-drag-sail-pulls-rocket-back-to-earth
Colonel, a personal question:
You are about six years older than I.
The oldest television shows I recall watching are “Kukla, Fran, and Ollie” and the “Howdy Doodie Show”, circa 1950.
What are the earliest TV shows you can recall watching?
Just wondering about what was going on in those earliest years of television programming, even before 1950.
Keith Harbaugh
My parents bought a very small screen TeeVee in California around 1950 and I remember those programs as well as Betty White doing knock-knock jokes in the afternoon as well as a lot of silent movie comedies.