However you make your living is where your talent lies.
Ernest Hemingway
Month: February 2022
Tucker Showcases Kamala Harris Speaking Gibberish
Kamala Harris’s brain must be the scariest territory to try to navigate safely through. To say that she spouts nonsense is being superhumanly generous. Tucker Carlson has two quotes of her speech to the NATO allies about the Ukraine debacle. In the first one she manages to say absolutely nothing while gassing off for a few minutes. In the second she lectures the Europeans on the fact that they have been at peace for seventy years. Gee, I hope she didn’t give this speech in Belgrade.
Seriously, what must even the half-witted globalists think of America if we send this bimbo over during a disaster like the Ukraine collapse. Even dimwits like Macron are going to start thinking they better make friends with Putin right away.
If this woman is qualified to be President of the United States then anyone is. My alarm clock can be President. My car GPS can definitely be President. Either of my dogs can be President except right after they take their heartworm medicine. My car keys couldn’t be President, but maybe Vice President.
We’re in a lot of trouble.
Guest Contributor – TomD – 23FEB2022 – Thoughts on the Battle of Midway
I’ve spent a great deal of time throughout my life reading about WWII in general. I was born a few years after the end of the war and grew up in a society in which virtually everyone’s father took part in one way or another. My father was a 1943 West Point grad who was a company commander with the 101st Airborne when the Germans shot him up very badly at the Battle of the Bulge, crippling him physically for life, but not mentally as he later got a MS Degree in Chemical Engineering.
But for some reason, I’ve always been most fascinated with the Pacific war, and especially with Midway. I’ve lost count of the number of books I’ve read on the battle and can specifically recommend Shattered Sword, a history taken from the Japanese viewpoint.
Midway, the battle turned on the purest of luck and very easily could have gone the other way had 3 or 4 isolated throws of the dice gone otherwise. The US would have eventually won the war anyway but it would have been a longer and harder version of the already desperate and bloody struggle that it was.
Below, a photo of interest, it is the last actual aircraft still in existence to have taken part in the battle. This SBD Dauntless was based on Midway Island and wasn’t one of the 3 squadrons of SBDs from Enterprise (I think) that luckily found the Japanese fleet as all their fighter defenses were down at wave top height finishing off a squadron of torpedo bombers. The next 5 minutes proved decisive as those SBDs sank 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers.
The plane in the photo made it’s attack earlier but none of the Midway Island aircraft made any hits. After the battle, this plane was flown to the point of decrepitude and sent back to the US for use in training new pilots. Some US Navy Ensign pilot candidate managed to put this aircraft in the drink while trying to land on a training carrier in one of the great lakes where it remained until salvaged 50 years later. The wreck was taken to NAS Pensacola where it was restored and is currently on display at the US Naval Air Museum.
Here’s the Stupidest Guilt Trip for Americans Ever
As a child of the 1960’s Space Program I’ve always been very excited by the JPL robotic missions to Mars, Jupiter and beyond. Seeing closeup views of Jupiter and its moons or Saturn was mind-boggling for a science fiction junkie of my generation. Now the Mars Rover missions always seemed a little disappointing because the landscape just looked like Nevada without the gambling. But I had no idea at the time that I was witnessing a crime against the Cosmos.
You see we were guilty of planetary cross-contamination in the first degree! I didn’t know we were guilty until I read this ridiculous article. But now I’m hoping that somehow, we’ve already wiped out all the extraterrestrial lifeforms in the solar system solely because I know it would devastate Sofia Quaglia, the authoress of this drivel and all the space ecology weenies that she consulted on this fake crisis.
Now, understand. I highly doubt that any organisms that can’t trace their ancestry to Earth will be found elsewhere in the Solar System. But if I have to worry about them succumbing to the COVID virus then my take is they deserve extinction. These geniuses want to somehow ensure that the probes we send up are somehow 100.0000% sterilized of all biological organisms. This would probably end the space program. And if it didn’t, it would require enormous expense to add all these requirements to the missions.
But what makes it especially stupid is that Earth organisms have most probably found their way to other parts of the Solar System without our help. Not that any of them probably were able to thrive on Mars or the moons of Jupiter. But if they did are we supposed to be worried about it? And if these terrestrial descendants somehow outcompeted the native Martian or Jovian flora and fauna should this upset me for some reason? Well, if it’s supposed to then I have a bulletin; it’s not working. I don’t care. If these extra-terrestrials are such lame losers that they can’t survive e. coli, then they deserve to go extinct. Let them get on the ball and discover penicillin like we did. And anyway, seeing them all wiped out is the surest defense against them catching up with us on the evolutionary ladder and pushing us off. As the Legionnaires in Galaxy’s Edge put it KTF, kill them first.
Honestly, don’t these snowflakes have anything more important to do than fret about space paramecia being outcompeted by their terrestrial cousins? Lord help us.
Compare and Contrast
I listened to Putin’s speech and then I listened to Dementia Joe’s mumblings. I know I’m prejudiced against Biden but it wasn’t even close. Putin spoke almost off the cuff. He related the history of Russia as honestly as it can be put. He complained about the outrageous tactics that Lenin and Stalin used to create the various “ethnic” states. The wholesale mixing and matching territories to prevent any threat to the central authority by ethnic groups. It’s the speech of a pragmatic and confident ruler telling the outside world why he’s making the moves he is and why he feels justified in making them. He’s not asking permission. He’s explaining why no one had better get in his way.
Listening to Joe is painful. Watching him try to read off the teleprompter but still stumble every few minutes is annoying as all hell. Plus, it’s all bluster. He’s going to impose sanctions that sound like mostly refusing to loan Russia money. From what I’ve read Russia isn’t in debt. We on the other hand are in debt to China for trillions of dollars. Somehow, I think Russia can underwrite its growth out of the boundless oil and gas revenues it receives. A real leader would try to find some modus vivendi with Russia. Theoretically, we should have an easier time dealing with Russia than China. Also, the realities of Russia’s relationship with Europe would warrant careful consideration of the practical aspects of maintaining mutually beneficial policies. But not Joe. He’s probably more worried about how Burisma will be affected by these changes. After all, if Hunter stops getting paid how can the “big guy” get his twenty percent.
Now let’s talk about morality. Vladimir Putin is a ruthless autocrat. He uses whatever tactics get him what he wants. The cruelty of the tactics that were used against the Chechen rebels were horrific. The fact that Putin used Chechens to destroy their fellow Chechens in no way excuses the hideousness of the policies. But it does indicate the intelligence that Putin brought to his actions. He fought fire with fire. Putin is someone to be feared and respected because he is competent.
What exactly are the moral advantages that Joe Biden brings to the table? He is an inveterate liar. He lies about his personal life. He lies about his official actions. He seems to lie without any thought to how transparent the lies are. He plagiarizes the words of other men. There is credible testimony that he sexually assaulted a woman on the streets of Washington D.C. And as for his financial dealings, he’s been peddling his government influence for as long as he’s been in public office. And when he became Vice President, he became an international influence peddler. He was able to collect millions of dollars in China and the Ukraine through the help of his bag man; his junkie, pervert son Hunter. And all of this is documented on a laptop that Hunter idiotically left in a computer repair shop and ended up published in the pages of the New York City tabloid the New York Post. And finally, just watching video of the man as he interacts with women and children is repulsive. He sidles up behind women and grabs their shoulder and sniffs their hair. He’s like Suetonius’s description of the depraved behavior of Tiberius.
Say what you will about Putin’s ruthlessness, at least the things he has championed for his country are essentially wholesome. He defends Christian religion and Russian culture against such outside influences as LGBTQ organizers and globalist NGO agitators. Compare this to Biden who has opened the US borders to criminal aliens and defended the murderous rioters, looters and arsonists who ran amok during the 2020 George Floyd insurrection.
Looking at these two men it’s hard not to see an imbalance. Biden is an empty suit. He’s just the chair warmer for a ruling elite that controls all the levers of power so the puppet doesn’t have to be very impressive. Putin is a leader, not a democratic leader, more of a dictator but still a popular leader. Regardless of the differences in circumstances and world opinion it’s hard not to be impressed by Putin and hard not to be disgusted by Biden. Just my impressions.
Update
TomD’s comments
It’s like a horror story, the Dims are failing so badly and obviously at everything that seemingly any rational person on earth would think they need a basic reappraisal of their goals and methodology. But not this group, No Sir!
One of the many horrors of the Biden “Administration” is there is no way out for at least 3 years. Look at the attached “order of succession”. To quote the Lady, “It’s turtles all the way down.”
23FEB2022 – Quote of the Day
The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin.
Ernest Hemingway
23FEB2022 – Photo of the Day
Midway (2019) – A Movie Review
This 2019 film attempts to provide an accurate modern version of the story of the pivotal WW II naval battle at Midway. The only actors whose names I recognized were Woody Harrelson as Admiral Nimitz, Dennis Quaid as Admiral Halsey and Mandy Moore as Ann Best, the wife of the hero of the movie Dick Best. Since this is an historical drama, I won’t add a spoiler warning but if you actually don’t know what happened at Midway then go to the last paragraph for my recommendation.
The movie begins with a scene in pre-war Japan where Edwin Layton is an American naval attaché and intelligence officer. His Japanese counterpart Isoroku Yamamoto warns him that Japan will eventually attack America as part of its plan to dominate East Asia.
In December 1941 we meet Lieutenant Dick Best a naval aviator on the aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise. He is a hotshot dive bomber and he is being sent on leave to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But when his plane nears Pearl Harbor, he comes under attack from the Japanese aircraft that have just destroyed the US naval fleet. Best’s plane is shot down but he escapes alive.
This devastating attack leaves Japan with an enormous advantage over the American fleet. Specifically, the Japanese have six aircraft carriers to America’s two. The War Department assigns Admiral Nimitz to do whatever is necessary to prosecute the war against the Japanese until replacement aircraft carriers can be built. The plan they fix on is to surprise the Japanese at Midway and destroy as many of their aircraft carriers as possible.
Layton is put in charge of the effort to decode Japanese messages and use them to locate the Japanese fleet and lay the trap. On the day of the battle the Enterprise sends out its planes along with bombers from Midway but they have trouble locating the fleet. And they lose a number of planes to the Japanese aircraft. But eventually they find the fleet and attack. Most of the American flyers are shot down but the Japanese fleet is only damaged but not destroyed. Best and his squadron return to the Enterprise and head out again for a last desperate attempt to finish off the carriers. And they succeed. Best sinks two of the carriers himself. By the end of the day all four of the Japanese carriers have been sunk and Admiral Yamamoto orders the rest of his fleet to retreat. The defeat gives the Americans the time they need to rebuild their fleet.
The makers of this movie made an effort to make it historically accurate. The names of the protagonists are real. Obviously, some license was taken for dramatic purposes but the story has not been made politically correct or overly propagandistic. I enjoyed watching it. The acting was decent, the special effects are very good and it maintains a pro-American viewpoint throughout. One touch I especially liked was the quote by Admiral Yamamoto after hearing Roosevelt’s speech after Pearl Harbor, “”I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” I recommend this movie to patriotic Americans. Everybody else can fend for himself.
Putin, Europe and Biden
Vladimir Putin looks to be taking a couple of more bites out of the Ukraine. First, he reclaimed the Crimean Peninsula along with its warm water harbor for his navy. Then he supported his Russian allies in Eastern Ukraine to give them autonomy. Now he’s declaring those eastern areas independent. They’ll have two separate names, Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, but the reality will be that for all practical purposes they will be part of Russia. As far as Western Ukraine goes, I assume what Putin will do is declare NATO membership as a flash point that would trigger invasion and occupation of the rest of the Ukraine.
I don’t think anyone in NATO who is being honest with himself is at all surprised with this outcome. With the United States in disarray and Western Europe a laughing stock militarily I don’t see how Putin would hesitate to use the excuse of NATO encroachment to reclaim hegemony over the Ukraine and Belarus. Some people are probably wondering about the status of the Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These countries have significant Russian ethnic populations and it wouldn’t be shocking to hear these groups might start making noises about being oppressed. The difference is these countries joined NATO back in 2004. If the Russians rolled into any of them this would be grounds for NATO military action which theoretically extends all the way up to nuclear war between Russia and the United States. Now there’s a highly interesting point! Would the Russians attack the Baltics and would we go to nuclear war if they did? According to the book, we would. But would we? You know, we might. I think Putin isn’t looking at the Baltics right now. I think he realizes that occupying the Baltics would be like invading Poland; a step too far.
But he won’t let the Ukraine or Belarus go. And he doesn’t have to. The balance of power in Europe is shifting because of the weakness of the West and the improving economic position of Russia because of its oil and gas revenues. Germany and Eastern Europe need Russian energy supplies. They’ll develop closer relations with Russia and hope to “civilize” Russia as they hoped to with China. But I’m not sure it will work that way.
When the Soviet Union imploded in 1991 and Russia reached a low ebb, I remember thinking that all of the newly independent states like the Ukraine and Belarus would one day take their place as parts of Europe. They would be free and prosperous nations and chart their own destinies. But the reality of these places is an entirely different thing. The political dysfunction on display is shocking and characterizing these places as gangster states is not an exaggeration. The Russians have an intimate knowledge of the power centers and major players in these corrupt states and they can manipulate public opinion and bring enormous military and economic pressure to bear on any group that works against their interests. These states may have been declared independent but they are for the most part puppets of the Russian government.
Knowing this to be true, I think it is naïve to think we can detach these places from Russian hegemony. We’re not going to send troops into the Ukraine or Belarus. We’re not going to fight a nuclear war with Russia over these areas that we have no commitment toward. And the Russians know it.
So, we’ll threaten sanctions. Maybe we’ll enact sanctions and then the Russians will use that as an excuse to take the rest of the Ukraine. Then they’ll cut off the natural gas to Germany and Eastern Europe. Then Europe will end the sanctions.
Now we get to the philosophical stuff. Back when it was the Soviet Union versus the West there was a very clear distinction morally between the oppressive communist regime that held all of Eastern Europe in virtual slavery and the relative freedom of the West. Here in the United States, we had our problems but in the 1980’s we were a truly free people who enjoyed our lives and did as we pleased. But looking at the West today, especially after the COVID lockdowns, BLM riots, 2020 election fraud, CRT school propaganda and all the restriction on free speech and other freedoms by the surveillance state it’s extremely hard to pretend we have any moral superiority over Putin. If Putin is a thug, then what is Biden? Is the successor to the KGB any worse than the FBI and the Justice Department as they run gulags for the victims of their January 6th false flag exercise? In fact, if you look at Putin’s stance on LGBTQ, I have to give him the advantage of being on the side of religion and family and against celebrating depravity and mental disorder.
I think Putin will have his way with the Ukraine. Biden will make a lot of noise and then do not very much. But it will be his chance to try to distract Americans from the disaster he has created at home. Somehow, I doubt it will accomplish very much. The cost of chicken is a little more important than the status of Kiev.
22FEB2022 – Photo of the Day
