Will the veil finally be lifted on US-Ukraine corruption?

 

In mid-2022 I published an article titled "Corruption in Ukraine, and its links to Washington DC".  It looks as if the scale of the corruption we hinted at, two and a half years ago, may be very much larger.

Ukraine did not receive as much foreign aid as claimed by the administration of US President Joe Biden, and whatever help it did get was largely embezzled, a former Polish deputy minister has claimed. Up to a half of the funds that reached Kiev was stolen by Ukrainian officials, Piotr Kulpa has alleged.

The political commentator previously held several posts in the Polish government, serving as deputy labor minister in the mid-2000s, and is currently a regular contributor on Ukrainian online shows.

“Everyone understands that war-related corruption is linked not only with Ukraine, but also the supplier nation,” he said. “Who would ever believe that the US burned through $2 trillion in Afghanistan? It’s delusional!”

US aid programs are a mechanism to “write off large sums of money that finance shady systems under the Democratic Party’s control,” he alleged. The incoming Trump administration could review government finances and discover the truth that “Ukraine got very little” compared to the amounts mentioned in public statements, Kulpa claimed.

“But they will also find something else: that a huge portion of the funds was stolen in Ukraine. From 30% to 50%, regardless of the nature of the aid,” he added.

If Kiev were to recover all the embezzled money for the Ukrainian budget, the country would have enough for a year, Kulpa said.

There's more at the link.

Of course, US corrupt dealings with Ukraine go back further than the war, as President Biden effectively admitted when he short-circuited a prosecutor investigating the matter.  Remember this, from 2018, referring to events in 2016?

One does look forward to seeing what comes out in the wash, so to speak.  If money flows from Ukraine to US politicians can be proved, we may hope to see some of the most corrupt players in Washington D.C. get their come-uppance . . . but they wield great influence, and may be able to get the investigation derailed.  I guess time will tell.

Peter

Unspeakable tragedy - but it's not the first time

 

News of a police shooting in Missouri has shocked many readers.

Chilling body camera footage captures a Missouri mom holding her baby as she lunges with a huge kitchen knife at cops who then shoot them both dead.

The newly released footage shows officers — called to a reported family assault — initially talking calmly to mom Maria Pike, 34, as she holds her 2-month-old daughter Destinii Hope while standing inside a closet at her home in Independence.

Eleven minutes into the footage, Pike can be seen suddenly grabbing a large knife from a bedside table and lunging toward an officer.

There's more at the link, including video footage.

I'm sure the police officers are just as traumatized by what happened as the deceased lady's husband.  Sadly, they had no time to think, no time to plan - particularly for a situation like that.  They could only react, and defend their own lives.

It's not the first time I've come across something like that.  I've mentioned before on this blog an incident in South Africa, one where I was an eye-witness.

I was present when a vehicle-mounted patrol was passing through a very volatile area.  A woman rushed out from behind a hut, with a baby strapped to her chest in the typical African manner.  She charged the lead vehicle, holding a Molotov cocktail in either hand, their fuses lit.  The soldiers on the vehicle had a very simple binary choice.  Shoot her - which meant snap-shooting, probably through the baby on her chest, because there was no time to take careful aim and avoid it - or be immolated when the gasoline bombs exploded inside the load bed of the patrol vehicle.  You can imagine their feelings . . . but they were left with no other options.  She, and her baby, died.  Whose fault was that baby's death?  Not the soldiers', I would argue.

Again, more at the link.

What causes a mother to "snap" like that?  How can she even think of endangering her own child in order to attack others?  I don't know . . . for that matter, I don't suppose anyone knows.  For the deceased mother's sake, I can only hope that there was some sort of mental illness or aberration involved - because I can't imagine any mother making a sane, rational choice to act like that.  It's beyond comprehension.

Say a prayer, if you'll be so kind, for the souls of that mother and her child - and for the sanity of her husband, who had to watch that happen.  I don't know if he'll ever be the same man again.  Also, of course, pray for the officers involved, who have to be carrying all sorts of emotional guilt, even though they must know intellectually that she left them with no choice.  Believe me when I say that, even if one hasn't pulled a trigger, the emotional guilt of such an experience takes decades to subside, and is never completely forgotten.

Peter

The Biden pardon

 

As my readers are doubtless aware, yesterday President Biden pardoned his son Hunter for any and all offenses against US law from 2014 until 2024.  In case you were wondering about the ten-year period, that's when Ukraine became the focus of US money-laundering and jiggey-pokery by our politicians.  Effectively, Hunter Biden was the bagman for certain corrupt US interests (some would call it the Biden crime family) during the whole of that period.

The pardon comes after President Biden repeatedly promised he would not pardon his son for his crimes.  There again, promises seldom (if ever) mean anything to crooked politicians, so we need not be surprised that the President broke them yet again.

I'm curious about the timing of the pardon.  I'd expected it, but figured it would more likely come as President Biden's term of office ended in January 2025, a last-minute "up yours!" to his political opponents and the American people.  I suppose it was brought forward to forestall a guilty verdict in the charges Hunter Biden was facing over tax evasion and other crimes.  The message conveyed by the pardon to the American electorate is, of course, the same.

I doubt we'll ever see President Biden and/or his family called to account for their crimes and misdemeanors while in office.  However, there are many politicians who "made hay while the sun shone", taking advantage of his protection to enrich themselves and get away with all sorts of shenanigans.  One hopes the incoming Trump administration will shine a light into the dark corners of American politics, uncovering those machinations and holding the guilty accountable.  That may be a pipe-dream - politicians tend to cover for each other, even their opponents, because so many of them are guilty of the same crimes - but we may hope.

Peter

Memes that made me laugh 238

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.

The original Thanksgiving proclamation

 

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

And so we do today.

Peter

Heh

 

From the Babylon Bee (who else?):

Peter

I think the Mormons would object to romping with brine shrimp in their back yard...

 

When someone tries to tell you that "the science is settled", ask them to define "science".  If they believe that something like this is "scientific" in any way, shape or form, I think you can safely ignore them from that point onward.

Behold:

The article's abstract is even more confusing:

The article aims to transform narratives surrounding Utah’s Great Salt Lake, often referred to as “America’s Dead Sea,” by reimagining how brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) are perceived in science, culture, and art. It introduces the concept of hydrosexuality to bridge these realms, thereby enriching feminist blue posthumanities and feminist biology through art-based practices and queer advocacy. By navigating the environmental narrative of the GSL, the hydrosexual perspective challenges settler science by exploring the connections between the reproductive system of brine shrimp and the economy, ecology and culture. The article provides a framework for integrative cultural analysis that bolsters arguments about the multilayered exploitation of the lake and amplifies voices that recognize the brine shrimp as vital to the survival of multiple species and to the GSL as a unique ecosystem. Furthermore, this cultural analysis draws inspiration from low trophic theory and Queer Death Studies. This multifaceted approach is exemplified by two case studies in the arts, which gradually alter white humans’ perceptions and understandings of the brine shrimp, helping to reimagine the GSL in the context of rapid climate change.

After reading that, I couldn't help but wonder whether this was another "prank the science journal" effort, where a fake article was so cleverly written as to confound the editorial staff and persuade them to publish it.  Alas, not, it isn't.  To confirm the authors' perspective, they even created a video showing themselves in a "Cyber wedding to the brine shrimp".

I absolutely, emphatically do NOT wish to know how the honeymoon played out!  I suspect crabs have nothing on brine shrimp when it comes to consummation . . . !

I rather suspect that any allegedly "reputable" and "scientific" journal publishing such utter crap has lost all claim to being either "reputable" or "scientific", and can henceforth be classified (in its print editions, at least) as birdcage liner and/or emergency TP.

Peter

Trump's Cabinet nominations: politics is the art of the possible, not the perfect

 

I'm both amused and annoyed by the screams of outrage from both Left and Right over President Trump's nominations of members of his future Cabinet.  On the Left, candidates such as Matt Gaetz or Pete Hegseth are denounced as sexual predators, gung-ho political fundamentalists and the like.  On the Right, candidates such as Pam Bondi or Scott Bessent are excoriated as RINO's, or deep-state sympathizers, or insufficiently conservative.

I wish both sides would take a deep breath, sit back, and let the political process work itself out.  President Trump is playing a balancing act.  He wants loyalists who will support his policies and not backstab him, as a number of his appointees did during his first term in office.  However, he also has to satisfy the demands of his base and take into account the attitude of his political opponents (who are within a handful of votes of overturning any of his legislative proposals and/or political appointments in both the House and the Senate, let it be remembered).  He can't just appoint a gaggle of fundamentalist right-wingers and dare the rest of the political establishment to do something about it.  He has to govern all of America, not just his own power base - and that means making at least some appointments that his opponents will (albeit grudgingly) accept as, at least, "not too bad".

All those complaining about his selections would do well to bear that in mind.  As the first German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck famously pointed out, "Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best".  President Trump is trying to do precisely that - achieve the possible, the attainable.  I wish him well in doing so.

(And let's not forget another famous quote from Otto von Bismarck:  "There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America".  I hope he's right!)

Peter

As Shakespeare would have put it: "Their salad days, when they were green in judgment"

 

The quote is, of course, from Shakespeare's play "Antony and Cleopatra".  It seems particularly appropriate for this report.

Come-hither cultivators vying for the title of North Carolina’s “sexiest collard farmer” are wilting with disappointment because they got down and dirty entering steamy pictures — only to be told they should have put some dressing on that salad.

“I’m a little disappointed that this year they did not post my picture,” said farmer and defending champion Lee Berry, referring to the contest organizer’s Facebook page.

Berry, 54, submitted a photo of himself wearing what he thought any true sex symbol of collard greenery should wear – nothing but collard greens themselves – and was sure he would clinch the crown again..

But the competition’s organizer – who holds voting for the contest on his Facebook page, “The State You’re In” – said he feared Berry’s photo might get flagged by Facebook’s censors and bring the entire contest crashing down.

There's more at the link, including several more examples of salad-acious pictures.

I have to smile at the thought of collard greens being considered "sexy" in any way, shape or form.  Boiled up with pepper vinegar, they're very tasty, but in digestive rather than coital terms.  As Sherlock Holmes might have put it:  "Alimentary, my dear Watson!"

Nevertheless, I can get behind the objective of the competition.  There are thousands of people in North Carolina who are struggling to get their lives back together after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene.  I wish the collard farmers well in their fund-raising efforts.  (I also have to giggle at the name of the Web site set up for the contest:  it's http://www.collardsonly.com/.  I don't think Onlyfans needs to worry about their competition!)

Peter

The intersection of "fatness" and "blackness"???

 

I'm a bit mind-boggled after reading about a new course offered by the University of Maryland.

"Intro to Fat Studies: Fatness, Blackness and Their Intersections," is being offered as a General Education course to students for the spring semester. The three-credit course can be taken to fulfill the university's Distributive Studies or Diversity course requirements to graduate, according to the university website.

The course description says it "examines fatness as an area of human difference subject to privilege and discrimination that intersects with other systems of oppression based on gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and ability."

"Though we will look at fatness as intersectional, this course will particularly highlight the relationship between fatness and Blackness," the description continues. "We approach this area of study through an interdisciplinary humanities and social-science lens which emphasizes fatness as a social justice issue. The course closes with an examination of fat liberation as liberation for all bodies with a particular emphasis on performing arts and activism as a vehicle for liberation and challenging fatmisia."

There's more at the link.

"Fat liberation"?  "Fatmisia"?  Ye Gods and little fishes . . .

This is so stupid it's almost beyond parody.  If fatness is "a vehicle for liberation", why not call it "eating your way to freedom"?  And, of course, we'll have to forbid courses on healthy eating and dieting, because by definition they would reduce the amount of fatness out there, thus discriminating against the "fatly enabled" (or should that be disabled?).  As for "blackness" and its association with "fatness" . . . isn't it automatically discriminatory to even think about linking them?  Next thing you know, Lizzo will be iconic for all the wrong reasons!

Of course, the students will have to be highly motivated - indefatigable, in fact . . .

As it happens, I'm fat, but I'm not black.  Am I merely melanin-challenged, or am I politically incorrect for being the wrong skin color for my avoirdupois?

Peter

To mask the murder, deny that it's murder

 

France's media regulation authority has just come up with a masterpiece of doublespeak.

In February 2024, presenter Aymeric Pourbaix, during the Catholic programme “En quête d’esprit,” broadcast every Sunday on the conservative channel CNews, showed an infographic on the causes of death, ranking abortion as the leading cause, with 73 million deaths each year worldwide. That translates to 52% of annual deaths, far ahead of cancer (10 million) and smoking (6.2 million).

The journalist’s comments sparked a wave of indignation in the mainstream press, on the grounds that abortion cannot be considered a “cause of death” because the foetus should not be considered a living being.

. . .

After several months of proceedings, the French media regulatory authority Arcom has fined CNews €100,000 for this episode. According to Arcom, the broadcaster failed in its “obligation of honesty and rigour in the presentation and processing of information.”

In the weekly magazine Valeurs Actuelles, Jean-Marie Le Méné, head of the Fondation Jérôme Lejeune, denounced the totalitarian nature of this decision, which proves the denial of reality that surrounds the practice of abortion in France:

Arcom writes: “Abortion cannot be presented as a cause of death.” Equating an aborted child with a dead person would make abortion a homicidal act. So that abortion can be carried out with a clear conscience, it is forbidden to say that abortion takes away life. Otherwise the keystone of the system collapses. But who believes this fiction?

He adds: “Abortion, the leading cause of death in the world, is unfortunately a fact, not an opinion.”

There's more at the link.

When I read that, I couldn't believe my eyes for a moment.  If abortion is not the killing of a human life, what is it?  No logical, rational person can deny that if the foetus/embryo/call-it-what-you-will is left alone to develop normally, a human being will arrive on the scene approximately nine months after conception.  It's mentally, logically and rationally impossible to pinpoint a single moment when the contents of the womb cease being "not-a-human-life" and become "a-human-life".  That being the case, one has to accept that the contents of the womb are human, regardless of the state of gestation, and that killing them is therefore to kill a human being.  Anything else is simply dishonest.

For a bureaucrat to split hairs like that is mind-bogglingly stupid, as well as plain downright evil.  Think about it.  If the contents of the womb are not human because they're not viable on their own (yet), then a person with severe mental or physical disability is also not human because he or she is also not viable on his/her own.  Does that mean we can casually kill them out of hand?  Sadly, there are those who would argue for that . . .  I wonder if they'll argue for it quite so vehemently when they grow old, and are no longer able to fully care for themselves, and the society they have warped and twisted through their arguments turns on them?

May Almighty God have mercy on us.  We're going to need it.

Peter

I wouldn't eat this if you paid me!

 

I was nauseated to read about a very weird Sardinian delicacy.

Costanzo Carta takes a big knife, cuts into a chunky wheel of tawny cheese and there they are, white and wriggling in a lively fashion: maggots.

“Try it, it won’t do you any harm,” he says, proffering a dollop of the stuff on the end of the blade.

This is casu marzu, a highly unusual delicacy from Sardinia that has earned a listing by Guinness World Records as “the world’s most dangerous cheese”.

To some, it is a proud symbol of Italy’s gastronomic heritage; to others, a stomach-churning abomination.

Either way, it is a tradition that is now in decline, to the regret of many Sardinians.

Shepherds deliberately allow a specific type of fly called piophila casei to enter the cracked rinds of the cheese wheels and lay their eggs.

The eggs hatch into maggots which slowly but avidly squirm and munch their way through the cheese.

Their secretions turn it into a creamy, pungent goo that is highly prized by aficionados. In the Sardinian language, casu marzu means “rotten” or “putrid” cheese.

There’s just one problem – it is illegal.

Casu marzu has been banned not only by Italian authorities but the European Union.

That has not stopped a thriving black market from developing. If you know where to go and who to ask in the mountain villages of Sardinia, you can get your hands on it.

There's more at the link.

I wonder who first looked at a maggot-riddled cheese and thought, "That might taste good.  I must try it!"  I suspect I'd be better off putting a clothes peg over my nose and reaching for the Limburger . . .

Peter

Memes that made me laugh 237

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.

Sunday morning music

 

A very short piece this morning, but one I found very moving.  There are many works titled "Lullaby for the Unborn", or something similar.  The earliest I know of is Michael Card's song from 1989.  However, this instrumental piece by Lyudmila Kononova, performed here by Alena Vykhovanets, somehow resonated with me.  I thought you might like it too.

Peaceful and relaxing, and I'm sure a baby in the womb will receive it that way.

Peter

Something else for President Trump to hammer into the ground

 

It looks as if environmental groups are actively seeking to convert the court system in the United States into a rubber-stamp machine for their aims and objectives.  RealClear Wire reports:

Over 30 lawsuits, modeled after the tobacco cases of the 1990s, have been filed by state, county, and city attorneys against energy companies seeking damages for the alleged effects of greenhouse gas emissions. An important factor in these lawsuits is the role of third-party funding and nonprofit activists working behind the scenes to shape the litigation and influence the courts.

One such organization that has taken center stage is the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project, which claims to educate judges on climate science and related legal issues. According to the ELI website, the project’s goal is to “provide neutral, objective information to the judiciary about the science of climate change as understood by experts.” Since 1990, the CJP says it has trained more than 3,000 judges across 28 countries.

But judges are supposed to be disinterested arbiters of the facts and the law – and critics point out that on climate issues, the CJP is anything but neutral. In a 12-page report, the American Energy Institute accuses the CJP of “teaching judges about debatable climate science” and compares it to “working over the referees before the game even starts.” AEI contends that the so-called “objective” materials used by the CJP are crafted by activists who either advise the plaintiffs in these cases or support their claims through legal briefs.

AEI also claims that the CJP has ties to many of the plaintiffs suing energy companies. The CJP denies these allegations, telling RealClearPolitics that it “does not participate in litigation, provide support for or coordinate with any parties in litigation, or advise judges on how they should rule in any case.”

Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Energy Alliance, also criticized the CJP’s efforts to influence judges before they rule on climate-related cases. She told RealClearPolitics that the connection between nonprofit groups, judges, and attorneys involved in these cases forms a “tangled web” of “foundation activist groups, law professors, and judges attempting to use lawsuits to enact climate change policy.”

“The Environmental Law Institute, through its Climate Judiciary Project, is trying to control the entire process – from who’s suing, what they’re suing for, to what judges think about it,” she continued.

There's more at the link.

This is a tried and tested method.  The EPA and other radicalized agencies of government have used it far too often, to implement legal and regulatory powers they could not get through Congress.  The process works something like this:

1.  The government agency makes a grant to one or more non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to do a particular thing.

2.  The NGO sues the government, claiming that it has to protect that thing (butterflies, or fish, or whatever).  Adding insult to injury, it uses the government grant money to do so.

3.  The (usually sympathetic) judge, sometimes "trained" in the subject through "courses" offered by an NGO, indicates that he's going to rule in the plaintiff's favor.

4.  A consent decree is agreed between NGO's and the government, and made an order of court by the judge, in effect forcing the government to do what the NGO wants (including budgeting whatever funds are needed to implement and monitor the consent decree).

5.  The government, and taxpayers, are now on the hook for that expense in perpetuity, unless the court order is modified or overturned.  At no time did lawmakers get the opportunity to debate the issue or pass laws about it:  they were completely sidestepped by the court process.

If environmental groups can't get their way democratically, they'll do it through lawfare, using the courts to force the rest of us to toe their line.  I think President Trump is going to have to crack down hard on this - but what about existing court orders?  Can they be overturned?  That's a head-scratcher.

Peter

The joys of cattle - NOT!

 

Miguel Gonzales has closed down his Gun Free Zone blog and moved to Substack.  He recently put up a video clip titled "Raising cattle is so relaxing...".  Warning:  IT IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR CHILDREN!  If profanity upsets you, do not watch it!

The clip is rude, crude and profane, but military veterans will recognize the attitude of the speaker, and probably roar with laughter, just as I did.  Even though this is a family-friendly blog, I simply can't resist pointing you in that direction.  Enjoy!

Peter

Behind the scenes at an airport control tower

 

With all the reports in recent months about aircraft being directed to use the same runway at the same time, and other near-tragedies, I thought it might be worthwhile to allow Bob Newhart to remind us of the challenges facing air traffic controllers.

I don't know whether this qualifies or not as the lighter side of air travel, but we can always use a smile or two.

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #1,122

 

Today's award goes to a dubiously artistic "cryptocurrency entrepreneur".  The BBC reports:

Maurizio Cattelan's provocative artwork of a banana duct-taped to a wall has fetched $6.2m (£4.9m) at Sotheby's in New York - four times higher than pre-sale estimates.

The auction house says Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun outbid six other rivals to get the "Comedian" installation of the Italian visual artist on Wednesday.

"In the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience," Mr Sun was quoted as saying.

The taped banana - now perhaps one of the most expensive fruits ever sold - was actually bought earlier in the day for a mere $0.35, according to the New York Times.

There's more at the link.

If eating a banana is a "unique artistic experience", then I daresay my next steak dinner is going to be a carnivorous Aztec ritual dismemberment!  And as for paying over $6 million for it . . . words fail me.

How anyone can claim that a banana taped to a wall is "art", is utterly beyond me.  It's like saying the scribbles on the wall by a three-year-old with a box of crayons is art, instead of meaningless disfigurement.  What about a cabbage instead?  Or a rutabaga?  Or (shudder) arugula?

Oy gevalt . . .

Peter

An upbeat assessment

 

Austin Bay assesses President Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense.

Pete Hegseth has a very fine mind -- a mind strategically informed by a superb military combat record and some 20 years of active duty and reserve Army service. Dodging bullets and crawling through mud at 0200 hours are physically grueling and mentally sobering experiences. A soldier learns firsthand spinmeisters in Congress and the faculty lounge usually know zero to zip about real-world military challenges.

Based on what he's done in battle as well as said on the record, Hegseth understands the Pentagon's Job One is fielding an American military that is stronger, better prepared and deadlier than any other military on the planet. That means recruiting and training disciplined military personnel who can operate everything from submarines to space craft. That means buying and deploying weapons that not only work but outclass all adversaries, current and future.

Moreover, Hegseth strikes me as having reformist moxie, the confidence, focus and energy required to overhaul the bureaucrat-ossified, morale-degraded and recruit-starved Department of Defense the Biden administration has left the American people.

Hegseth's Bronze Star medals and moxie make him a natural enemy of the Beltway Clerks that infest Washington, the sallow political menials like Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who never had time to wear a military uniform but excel at looking serious while lying about the Afghanistan withdrawal.

So, yes, he's a fine choice for Donald Trump's secretary of defense.

There's more at the link, including suggestions as to what Secretary Hegseth should tackle as his first priorities.

My take on it is that Hegseth is a combat veteran, decorated for valor in action.  That, right there, gives him a perspective on defense that no civilian or bureaucrat lacking it could possibly possess.  He won't just be looking at structures and systems from an organization point of view, but asking "How does this help the fighting man at the point of the spear?"  That's exactly the perspective we need, IMHO.

Furthermore, my assessment of President Trump's cabinet choices is heavily weighted towards left-wing progressive opposition to them.  The more the left is outraged, the more they scream about the unsuitability of each candidate, the stronger that candidate becomes in my mind.  The Biblical perspective is "By their fruits ye shall know them";  but their enemies (and their friends) also say a great deal about them.  By that standard, Hegseth looks better and better . . .

Peter

When gourmet chocolate... isn't

 

Lindt chocolates have long marketed themselves as a high-class, upper-crust sort of confection.  Unfortunately, they've just shot their own marketing in the foot.

Lindt, a gourmet chocolate brand, said its delectable goodies are not “expertly crafted with the finest ingredients,” as the packaging suggests.

The Swiss company confessed in an attempt to get a lawsuit against it dismissed, but it backfired when the Eastern District of New York court denied the effort.

Lindt found itself in a sticky situation in 2023 after a US consumer organization reported alleged high levels of lead in its dark chocolate bars.

. . .

Although Lindt isn’t the only brand with lead inside its goods, consumers were frustrated that they were paying significantly more for the chocolate, which promised “quality and safe dark chocolate.”

To combat the accusations, Lindt’s lawyers clarified that some of the product’s components were exaggerated, such as the “excellence” in quality and experts’ involvement in fusing the ingredients.

Disappointed by the company’s actions, the Eastern District court deemed the product to have “exaggerated advertising, blustering and boasting upon which no reasonable buyer would rely.”

There's more at the link.

In a highly competitive market such as gourmet chocolates, that's a pretty damning admission.  I won't be surprised if competitors use it in their own advertising, comparing their products favorably to their Lindt competition.  They can't be accused of negative campaigning, after all, since Lindt has publicly admitted to their own faults and errors.

I'm all for truth in advertising.  Next thing you know, Godiva Chocolatier will be forced to admit that their confectionery wasn't actually paraded naked on horseback through the streets of Coventry!

Peter

This sounds like a very worthwhile effort

 

Recently, while browsing about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, I came across an organization called Emergency RV.  They describe their mission as follows:

EmergencyRV is a charitable organization initially established in response to the massive and deadly November 2018 Campfire, which decimated the entire town of Paradise, California and left more than 50,000 residents traumatized and displaced. 

For founder Woody Faircloth and his then six-year-old daughter Luna, watching events unfold on television from Denver was not enough. Determined to help, the father and daughter set out to raise funds to purchase an RV and deliver it by Thanksgiving to a family in need.

Word of their kind act spread quickly and within days, press requests, RV donations, offers of legal services, and funds poured in. Before the Faircloth’s knew it, they were delivering another RV and then another. Since then, EmergencyRV has helped hundreds of victims and expanded its mission to help many more victims of wildfire and other natural disasters.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Emergency RV has placed a number of travel trailers at sites where the owners' homes were severely damaged or destroyed, leaving them nowhere to live.  You'll find details of some of them at the organization's X.com feed.

I'm going to donate to them - not an RV or travel trailer (because I don't own one), but money to help buy one and/or pay for their other expenses.  I'd like to suggest to you, dear readers, that this might be a cause well worth our support.

Peter

Get woke, go broke - automotive edition

 

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy highlights an interesting financial conundrum.

The entirety of Ford’s normal vehicle profits was undone by its losses on electric vehicles.

Ford’s 2024 Q3 Earnings Presentation delivers the details: The year-to-date losses on Ford’s EV business (what the company calls “Ford Model e”) totaled $3.7 billion. Profits from Ford’s “Model Blue” division, which sells traditional internal combustion vehicles, also happened to be $3.7 billion.

This past quarter, Ford reported losses of $1.2 billion on its EV business. Energy reporter Robert Bryce calculated that Ford likely lost almost $60,000 for every electric vehicle it sold this past quarter. “Ford has been hemorrhaging cash on EVs for the past two years,” Bryce wrote. “It lost $4.7 billion on EVs in 2023 and $2.2 billion on EVs in 2022.”

General Motors and Stellantis are having their own problems with EV's, of course.  Only massive government subsidies are enabling automakers to avoid the reality of the US market.  As the Mackinac report points out:

A Gallup poll from March found that 48% of respondents would not consider buying an electric vehicle– a number up 7% from the year prior. while a McKinsey reported in June that 46% of Americans who owned electric vehicles were very likely to buy a gas-powered vehicle next time.

There's more at the link.

Without government tax incentives and subsidies, electric vehicles would be dead on arrival.  They can't be produced at a low enough price to persuade people to buy them - let alone their problems with sufficient range, extraordinarily expensive battery replacements, and the like.

Give me an EV that has a practical range of 400-500 miles between recharges (further would be better), while carrying a full load of passengers and/or cargo, in high summer in Texas or deep winter in Montana, with the A/C or heater running full blast, while towing a trailer.  Also, let there be an abundance of high-speed recharging stations to allow for long road trips.  If EV's can handle that load and those conditions, I'll take a long, hard look at them.  Anything less than that, and it's no dice.

Peter

Conspicuous Christmas consumption?

 

Those who are foodies will know of Fortnum & Mason, the upper-crust department store in England.  So-called "hampers" of food and celebratory goodies have been their staple for more than three centuries.  I've never been able to afford one of my own, but I've helped friends eat theirs from time to time.

On an idle whim I figured I'd look at F&M's super-deluxe top-of-the-line Imperial Christmas hamper, only to find out that it's not one hamper, but five.  Talk about sticker shock - it costs just under $9,000!  Click the image below for a larger view.

You'll find all of the products photographed and listed in loving detail at the hamper's Web page.  It's interesting to read it from a Christian Christmas perspective;  Christ has been taken completely out of their Christmas, replaced by conspicuous consumption and indigestion!  Oh, well . . . if that's their thing, so be it.  I'm going to enjoy a much more relaxed Christmas with my lady and our friends - without bankrupting any of us!

Still, it was fun to see how the top half of one per cent of the population lives.

Peter

This! Exactly this!

 

The left's age-old tactic of smearing, vilifying and targeting those they consider potentially dangerous is getting very old.  Too many people are shaking their heads and saying "Where there's smoke, there's fire", ignoring the fact that precisely the same attacks have been made against anyone and everyone the progressive left (not to mention RINO's) don't like.

Enough!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green puts it in a nutshell:

That's precisely what we need to do, for every Congressional representative and every Senator.  What did now-Senator Schiff cover up about his "activities" with an unconscious black youth who subsequently died?  Why have so many of our political leaders paid off accusers, rather than allow us to find out what really went on?

Let the sunshine in.  Publish the entire Epstein visitor list, plus every video he took.  Publish the entire list of P. Diddy's sex party guests, along with every video showing what they were doing.  Expose every allegation of illegal or unethical behavior by any and every politician, and let the people of this country decide who they want to represent them.

Unless and until that happens, disregard any and every unproven allegation that doesn't have solid, substantive evidence to support it.  They're no more than propaganda.

Peter

I did not know that

 

Larry Lambert, writing at Virtual Mirage, explains why Big Pharma is so upset at the prospect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being appointed as the Secretary of Health & Human Services.

Why are there so many pharma ads on TV? A TV news president admitted to RFK Jr. that any host allowing him to speak negatively about Big Pharma on air would be FIRED because “this is where our advertisers are.”

Jaws dropped when former pharma insider @CalleyMeans told Tucker Carlson on his show, “The news ad spending from pharma is a public relations lobbying tactic, essentially to BUY OFF the news… The media plays referee because they’re funded by so on all levels.”

Only two countries allow pharmaceutical ads on TV: the United States and New Zealand. And those ads make a big chunk of money. RFK Jr. was told by a network executive that “during non-election years, during some months, up to 70% of his news division revenues are coming from pharma.”

When evidence about the dangers of smoking began to emerge in the 1950s and 1960s, news organizations hesitated to expose Big Tobacco because they depended on the industry for its ad revenue. The same conflict exists today with the pharmaceutical industry and TV news. This is why the mainstream media is in full-blown panic over RFK Jr.’s HHS appointment. They know that once he gets in, he is going to end pharma ads on TV, which will be a devastating blow to their wallets.

That makes sense when one thinks about how often we're bombarded with advertisements for the latest and greatest drugs and medical treatments.  In my younger days I wasn't exposed to that, except for advertisements for over-the-counter nostrums to deal with coughs, colds and flu.  It was a culture shock to arrive in the USA and find advertisements for rather more intimate medications to treat anything from ingrown toenails to terminal Stage 4 cancer in various organs.

So, if Mr. Kennedy can kill off pharmaceutical advertising, he can also kill off most of our annoying, overbearing, self-obsessed, incestuous television news and entertainment media?  Sounds like a win all round to me!

Peter

Where is our relationship with China going?

 

In a very interesting speech at the National Conservatism 4 Conference in Washington, D.C., Asia Times Business Editor David P. Goldman had quite a lot to say about China's plans, progress and possibilities.  I'll embed the 15-minute video below, followed by an excerpt from an abridged transcript of his speech.  I very strongly recommend that you read/watch at least one, if not both.

From the transcript:

The world’s scarcest resource is young people who can work in a modern economy. Empires of the past fought over territory. China’s goal is to control people. 

In 1979 China took a nation of farmers and turned them into industrial workers, and multiplied GDP per capita 30 times. Now it plans to turn a nation of factory workers into a nation of engineers — think of South Korea. That’s a messy and costly transition. But China is doing it.

In 2020 I wrote of China’s plan to Sino-form the Global South. It knows a lot about getting people who make $3 a day to make $10 or $20 a day.

China’s population has been in decline, but its highly educated population is growing:

Ten and a half million university graduates, up 60% in 10 years, 2X our total – and a third are engineers. That’s more engineering graduates than the rest of the world combined. 

South Korea quintupled industrial production between 1990 and 2010 while its factory workforce fell by a fifth.

Will China collapse? Compare the US and China aggregate debt burden: the US is 262% of GDP, and China is 278% of GDP –

But China lends the world a trillion dollars a year and we borrow a trillion dollars a year. Countries with positive growth and big current account surpluses don’t have financial crises.

. . .

The other big thing China got right is the transformation of the Global South. It doubled exports to the Global South since Covid – now exports more to the Global South than to all developed markets. Assimilates billions of people into its economic sphere. It did this with 200 soldiers deployed outside China versus our 230,000. 

We spent $7 trillion on forever wars. China spent $1 trillion on Belt and Road Initiative investments. Who got more influence?

Forty countries have applied to join the BRICS group.

This isn’t about authoritarianism versus democracy. China’s exports to democracies like India grew as fast as exports to Russia. The Chinese are incurious about how barbarians govern themselves. They want to make the world dependent on Chinese technology and supply chains.

There's much more at the link.  It's essential reading to understand how strong China has become in the world economy, and how much ground we have to make up to catch up.  Of course, China faces internal problems of its own, including a shrinking workforce, debt crises and others - but it's built up an economic "cushion" that's enabling it to tackle those problems step by step, rather than having to deal with them all at once.

I hope the Trump administration is aware of these issues, because they're going to drive US foreign policy for years to come, whether we like it or not.  We may have different priorities, but we're going to have to spend so much time reacting to China's priorities that we may not have much available to act on our own.

Peter

Heh!

 

Chris Muir's Day By Day cartoon strip is not one of my favorites.  It's often crude and raunchy, rather than funny.  However, sometimes crude can be very funny, too.

Witness his cartoon for November 7th this year, discussing President Trump and the possibility of his face being added to the Mount Rushmore memorial.  It's not family-friendly, so I won't embed it here, but if you don't mind his rather raw humor, click over there and take a look for yourself.  I have to admit, it made me laugh, too!

Now, who to hire as the sculptor?

Peter

Just a reminder...

 

... courtesy of Francis Porretto at Liberty's Torch.  Click the image for a larger view.

That hyperbolic trajectory of our national debt means that unless our government manages to halt, then reverse, its trajectory, it won't really matter who's in power, or which political party is in charge.  The result will be the same:  economic collapse.

That's what President Trump has to fix if any of his policies are to succeed.

Peter

Memes that made me laugh 236

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.

Sunday morning music

 

And now for something completely different . . .

As regular readers will know, I underwent a surgical procedure on my kidney earlier this week.  Progress appears OK so far.  At any rate, on a whim, I went to YouTube and searched for "kidney music".  To my utter astonishment, there's quite a lot of it!  Here are four kidney songs, in no particular order.

First, here's comedian Tim Hawkins with "One Is The Loneliest Kidney", sung in honor of his friend Mark Hall, who had just lost a kidney to cancer.

Next, from the satirical TV series 30 Rock, here's "Kidney Now".

For jazz fans, back in 1947 Eddie Vinson wrote "Old Kidney Stew".  Here it's performed by the George Van Wagner Blues Band.

And for country music aficionados, here's Billy Ray Osborne with "You Ain't Nothin' But A Kidney Stone".

After hearing those, I'm going to have to make a steak and kidney pie, just for nostalgia's sake!

Peter

True dat

 

From Ashley St. Clair on X:

Whether or not one supports President Trump, it's hard to argue with that!

Peter

Post-surgery, Niagara Falls is in full spate

 

Well, I can say for sure that the surgery on Wednesday accomplished quite a lot.

Prior to the procedure, the urologist had indicated that there were still blockages preventing my kidney from draining.  The constant pressure of fluid inside the organ had produced what's called hydronephrosis:  the kidney had swelled and contorted, putting a lot of stress on it, and preventing that half of the urinary tract from working properly.  She drove a camera up the ureter, the tube transporting urine from the kidney to the bladder, and found that kidney stone fragments were actually embedded in its walls.  She thinks they'd been broken up by earlier procedures, but had not been properly removed or flushed out, so as they ground their way down the ureter they'd become caught up in scar tissue (also the fruit of those earlier procedures) and attached themselves, becoming ureteral stones.  Due to their number and position, they had continued to partly block the ureter and prevent kidney drainage, thus perpetuating the problem.  (I'll be having words with the local urologist who performed those earlier procedures, and didn't do a very good job, to put it mildly!)

She took a laser to them, and up into the kidney as well, "dusting" every stone and blockage she could find.  She also installed an extra-large ureteric stent, to allow any remaining fragments to drain down the ureter into the bladder without attaching themselves to anything.  For the first twelve hours or so after I woke up, it did indeed feel like sand or fine gravel was coming out along with the urine, but by midday yesterday that had (thankfully!) almost completely passed.

I'm here to tell you, things are sure draining now!  I wrote earlier about the absorbent underwear I use after such procedures (because with a ureteric stent, one has no control over urine flow - when it comes, it comes, and you normally don't have time to get to a bathroom).  They have a maximum absorption capacity of about a quart.  Well, in the first 24 hours after the procedure, I went through six of them!  Even if not all were filled to capacity, that's still a lot of liquid, and it's had a dramatic effect on my pain levels.  I hadn't realized just how much stress a contorted, swollen kidney puts on any and every physical movement involving the abdomen.  I'd say it added at least 25% to my permanent pain level, caused by my spinal injury and nerve damage all those years ago.  With the sudden decrease in pressure, I'm finding it much easier and less painful to lift my legs, maneuver my body into a car seat, and that sort of thing.  I'm also regaining my appetite.  I took my wife out for a steak last night, to celebrate the improvement.  She says she hasn't seen me eat so much at one sitting for at least six months.

So, I've still got a ways to go, but this latest procedure has already greatly improved my situation.  I'll be going in again in about four weeks' time to have the stent removed, and also to undergo more tests to determine whether the drainage has done the job, or whether further intervention will be needed.  Needless to say, I'm hoping it won't;  but if it is, I think I'll be in very good hands to get it done.

Blogging will be irregular today, because I'm kinda worn out, and will catch up on sleep as and when I can.  However, so far, so good.  Thank you all very much for your prayers and good wishes.  I greatly value them.

Peter