Category: Current Events

August 2025 Update on Ukraine War

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I thought I’d do a short update on the Ukraine war.  Over the course of spring and summer 2025 the Russians seem to have increased troop strength significantly and adopted strategies and tactics that involve very slow encirclement of large cities like Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Kupiansk.  These tactics were aimed at limiting Russian casualties while attritting the Ukrainians during counterattacks.  The glacial speed of the Russian advance was mocked by Kiev.  They kept saying that it would take a hundred years for this type of warfare to reach Kiev.

But it appears to be working.  Trump recently shortened his window for the Russians to avoid additional sanctions by calling for a ceasefire.  And the reason is that the situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly for Ukraine.  Ukraine is finding it impossible to reach its conscription targets.  And the United States has fallen far behind on the originally promised weapons aid.  Even worse, the state of the art of Russian drone warfare has begun to cause the Ukraine army real problems.  Anti-drone drones have become very good at knocking out the large drones that Ukraine uses for dropping grenades on Russian troops.  And long-range Russian drones have wreaked havoc in the supposedly safe regions far behind the lines in places like Pakrovsk and Kostyantynivka.

And this week the Russians announced that they had finally taken complete control of the strategic high ground in the town of Chasiv Yar, to the west of Bakhmut.  Kiev denied this and claimed that their soldiers were still on the ground there but the geolocated photos showed Russians with their flags in front of the rubble that once were high-rise buildings in Chasiv Yar.

So, Trump has said that he’ll sanction Russia and the customers that buy oil and gas from them if a ceasefire isn’t called in eight more days.  But the Russians have already signaled that they aren’t interested in a ceasefire at this time and it will have to be the Ukrainians agreeing to their conditions that will stop the fighting.

What will actually happen?  If Trump adds more sanctions and nothing changes; then what?  The way things are going by the end of the fall fighting season so many troops may have been lost and so much territory ceded that Ukraine may decide that the Russian war objectives represent the facts on the ground. In which case ending the bloodshed might make sense to them.

Or maybe not.  The sunken cost fallacy is a pretty powerful rationale in a war.  Maybe they really will fight to the last Ukrainian soldier.  Who knows, maybe they can fight until Putin has had enough and goes for a Korean War permanent ceasefire approach.

I watch way too much information on this war.  It’s a depressing but mesmerizing spectacle.  The losses on both sides are horrific.  But based on what I’m hearing from both sides the Ukrainian attrition is becoming unsustainable.  Pokrovsk is a very important place for Ukraine to hold.  But it seems to be falling faster than Bakhmut or Avdiivka did.  If it doesn’t hold out till winter, I think it will have a very negative effect on Ukraine and its European allies.

Well, the madness continues.

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 01AUG2025 – Kamala “Come Back Kid” Harris

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After she burned a billion dollars and change in the like 3 month campaign she had I thought the Democrat party’s money providers were adamant it would be a cold day in hell before they ever gave Ms. Harris money again. She must have something on somebody big (not the Clintons, clearly 🙂 ) to even approach the presidential campaigns tangentially. Either that or all the white zinfandel killed off her few remaining sad brain cells.

What surprises me is that no one in the Democrat party has had the guts to tell Ms. Harris to take a long walk off a short pier. I understand that looking for someone rational or an adult in the room in the Democrat party is pointless. But even the most deluded Democrat hardliners (but I repeat myself) have to know that:

1) She hasn’t got a paper dog’s chance in hell of the presidency in 2028

2) If they let her get going she’ll “suck all the oxygen out of the room”.

The Democrats normally remind me of the Upper Party members in 1984 they’re in it for the power, nothing else. Apparently, I have massively overestimated them, because it seems to me that if they don’t get their act in gear, they’ll be almost as relevant as the Whig party is come 2032. Perhaps they hope she’ll tire of this if they just ignore her, but somehow I doubt she’ll give up before the start of the Primary season in 2027 or so. Particularly because given her 2020 primary (i.e. Zip Nada Zilch) showing she’s likely to quickly crash and burn, but you can bet in the process she’ll damage the other candidates. Instapundit always says don’t get cocky, but man, if this is the Democrats grand plan they’d best find advisors better than Harpo, Chico and Zeppo in Duck Soup .

CPB Shutting Down; Red Lobster Buried Under with Resumes

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Corporation for Public Broadcasting, funder of NPR and PBS, says it will end operations within months after federal budget cuts

Well, I’m guessing this doesn’t bode well for the rest of the folks downstream of CPB.  As I’ve hinted in my parody posts the folks at PBS and NPR will start feeling a little hungry very soon.  Lightening the ship by throwing the deadwood overboard will be tricky because they’re all deadwood.

But watching it happen should provide quite a bit of entertainment this fall.  Luckily Books and Capon were on the leading edge and managed to find positions before the crush got too heavy.  I’ll have to make a point of visiting my local Red Lobster and quiz my waiter on the latest in avant-garde lesbian performance art.

The Future of Kamala Harris

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Stop the presses!  Kamala Harris is not running for governor of California!  But she may run for president in 2028!

Remarkable.  It’s like everyone has to suspend disbelief and pretend that Kamala hasn’t outed herself as a toxic buffoon who couldn’t defeat a door stop in a battle of wits.  Didn’t we just watch her get trounced in a national election where her race, sex and age made her the runaway favorite to win the sympathy of the demographically changing American voters?  Now granted she was selected over Joe Biden by the Democratic National Committee but after his performance in the debate against Trump even a potted plant would have seemed an improvement.

But just for the sake of clarity let’s say it out loud.  Even the biggest Kool-Aid drinking progressive isn’t going to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2028 Democrat Presidential Primary.  The stink of loser on her is like that cadaver smell on a corpse that’s been locked in an overheated apartment for a week.  It would be absolutely impossible to even pretend to not notice it.

I guess my question is exactly how is this kind of information passed along to Harris so she doesn’t embarrass everyone by actually trying to run for office.  For instance, how was she told that she couldn’t run for California governor?  Did one of the Obamas call her up and make up some polite lie about saving herself for the 2028 race?  Or was a zip-lock bag with rotting halibut mailed to her with the words CA Governor’s Race scrawled on it in red magic marker?

Alright, so elective office is no longer an option.  But surely, she has options.  Maybe she can be the next Fred Rogers.  Ms. Harris’s Neighborhood?  She can show up every day at 1pm and get off the bright yellow electric school bus, put on her slippers and sweater and talk to the nation’s four-year-olds at only a slight mental disadvantage.

To be fair to the kids Kamala can’t be allowed to discuss, arithmetic or science or geography or history or human biology or counting to three or, come to think of it, almost anything.  But I’m sure if grown-ups provide her with a script and monitor her work there must be some topics that she can work her way through, like eating ice cream or taking a nap.  But it would be essential that the program not be shown live because she is really stupid and retakes will be a part of the routine.

But honestly, I really believe that Kamala should go back to her first career.  As Willie Brown’s side-piece she was put to her highest and best purpose and even though he is now 91 years old I don’t see why that should stand in the way of keeping her gainfully employed and minimizing her ability to speak.  Because speech is not her strong suit.  During the campaign they called it Kamala word salad.  But that was being kind.  It’s more like some kind of stream of consciousness if it was being produced by a mental patient.  Okay, that’s enough.

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 31JUL2025 – Sydney Sweeney Redux

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One angle about the whole “SS Hitler” affair is how weird it is to feign outrage at a clothing company over the perception that the ads are mainly targeting White people, yet examples abound of marketing aimed at other demographics for specific products. I mean, Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, American Eagle, and a slew of other clothing brands are mostly White-coded, so it’s not the 2nd coming of the Waffen-SS when their ads reflect that.

I didn’t know many non-melanated folks who were mad brands like Footlocker, FUBU, and Urban Outfitters didn’t overtly pander to their demographic. Furthermore, no one is stopping minorities from purchasing these styles of clothes if they so choose. Social media (and parts of mainstream media) pretend that people are posted up at the store entrance in the malls, keeping minorities out as if it’s 1954 Little Rock.

Just Leave the Bow Tie Home

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PBS Anchor/Carnival Barker – It’s Friday on the News Hour and that used to mean our weekly pilgrimage over to the desk of our resident sages David Books and Jonathan Capon.  But as you know budget cuts forced us to part ways with Jonathan.  And now the second round of layoffs has done the same to David.  But all is not lost.  We have arranged a teleconference with them at their new employer the Chevy Chase branch of the Red Lobster.  Gentlemen, can you hear me.

David Books – Yes, I can.  As you can see, I’m the assistant manager here at Red Lobster and happy to have landed on my feet as it were.  And I’m relieved to say that Jonathan has escaped from the refrigerator box under the overpass and is one of my most promising new waiters.

Jonathan Capon – Well the jury is still out on this whole gig.  I was promised all the shrimp I could eat and generous tippers.  Well, the shrimp is tiny and the tips are sub-par.  But we’ll see.

PBS Anchor/Carnival Barker – Tonight we wanted to get your sense of the Trump economy.  Last quarter’s GDP was up 3% which is quite robust but we were hoping you could throw your usual cold water on the Trump parade for our viewers’ amusement.

David Books – Well normally I’d gleefully accommodate you.  But working in retail and in a very tenuous part of it I have to say I’m praying on my knees each night before bed that Trump pulls off all the miracles he can.  Now that I’m part of the great unwashed and have lost my sinecure at your underfunded hothouse media company my whole attitude has taken a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.  I’ve got kids in expensive private colleges and if I can’t come up with twenty grand this semester those kids will be coming home and taking over my rec-room.  So, as much as it pains me to say “God bless Donald Trump!”

PBS Anchor/Carnival Barker – How about you Jonathan?  Surely you must have some of your trademark snit for Trump and his economy.

Jonathan Capon – Look, I don’t have time for this.  There are fourteen orders of King Crab Legs and a giant crab cake that are starting to get cold.  If I don’t move my gay little butt pronto, I’ll be bouncing out the door on it without a paycheck.  So, make up whatever cute little anecdotes you want for your tote-bag fixated geriatric audience but for those of us below eighty we’ve got to make a living.  All I can say is thank Trump for deporting those five Congolese guys that showed up last week.  I could never have outworked them and one of them kept pinching my butt and I think he had monkey pox.

PBS Anchor/Carnival Barker – Well, there you have it.  Trump’s American hellscape has destroyed the intelligence and the objectivity of two former beacons of cultured intellect and turned them into knuckle-dragging Trump sycophants.  A truly discouraging side-effect of the 2025 defunding of PBS.

Security Agent – Okay pal, here’s your termination notice.  We’ve got your stuff in a box so just take off the microphone and head for that door.

PBS Anchor/Carnival Barker – David, David.  Is there room for me at the Red Lobster?

David Books – Sure Barry.  There’s always room for everyone in Donald Trump’s America.  Just leave the bow tie home.

Is Sydney Sweeney Actually Hitler

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Sydney Sweeney is an American actress.  Among other things she has blonde hair, blue eyes, a very pretty face and a figure that would be considered extremely attractive by most normal men.  She did a commercial for a clothing manufacturer called American Eagle that is for blue jeans.  So, the joke is that Sydney Sweeney has good jeans which sounds the same as “good genes.”

And because she is sort of the poster girl for attractive white women this has been deemed to be some kind of crime against humanity.  The usual suspects (feminists, anti-white bigots and ugly women) have declared this not only white supremacy and racism but also fascism.  In other words, Sydney Sweeney is an agent of the Nazi party trying to bring on the genocide of non-white, non-blonde and non-blue-eyed women everywhere.  Boy, that’s some trick.

I’ve watched a few of the angry videos.  The less unhinged ones are upset because young women and girls will be “harmed” because they don’t look like Sweeney and so they’ll have their self-esteem bruised.  It’s interesting.  I’ve watched a number of movies and commercials with guys like Brad Pitt and Robert Redford in his day and even though I lack some of their classic northwestern European charm I always managed to resist the urge to kill myself or hide under a rock.  And come to think of it, Camera Girl’s hair is brown and her eyes are hazel so how did she manage to survive the onslaught of the Swedish Bikini Team and other equally blonde and blue-eyed fashion stereotypes that filled the television screens in her youth?

Now, do I think that the jeans commercial is an obvious commercial use of sex to sell clothing?  Of course it is.  But in what way is that a new thing?  And hasn’t the last ten years of trying to use anything but young, fit, shapely, white blonde women as models been a pretty pathetic failure?  Even Victoria’s Secret tried to use overweight and non-white models to sell their lingerie and it almost bankrupted the company.

As to the race, hair and eye colors of the models, I’m sure in today’s multi-ethnic society a cross-section of beautiful women will surely help maximize the appeal for advertisers.  But it seems that the decade long experiment of excluding white women from modelling is being abandoned and Sydney Sweeney is just a shot across the bow to announce that America likes pretty blondes again.  Gee, what a surprise.

But this is a free country.  The other jeans manufacturers are free to use overweight models of any and all ethnicities.  They can even use trans-women and extol the tuckable nature of their pants for this special demographic.  They can have the women looking especially unfeminine with their heads shaved or half shaved, with piercings and nose rings and tattoos and as flat chested as boys.  Whatever makes them happy.  But one thing is definitely true.  Billions of people are looking at the American Eagle ad and they’re gonna sell a lot of jeans.

Guest Contributor – Neil Dunn – 29JUL2025 – Guadelupe River Flood

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A few weeks ago, you asked for some input about the Guadalupe flood in Texas and I think you were interested in some of the possible political shenanigans.

Well, we live in Kerr Co. on the Guadalupe and lost at least 3/4 of the trees on the river. It looks like a war zone. Our home and other buildings are on the top of a rise 30+ feet above the river. The debris line crested just over the top but all our buildings were fine.
Over the next two weeks after 7/4 we had over 300+ search and recovery people (many from in and out of state; all were dedicated, hard-working, serious, polite, courteous, respectful) searching through massive amounts of debris (one pile was 75 ft x 25 ft x over 5 ft high) with excavators, skid-steers, a SHERP, many-many chain saws, 2 scuba divers, multiple cadaver dog teams (to include two ladies from NYC-one of whom participated post 9-11) and horseback riders on our stretch of river (about 1500 ft)–>tragically, they found 6 victims over that time which will provide closure to loved ones. I wish that no one has to go through something like this.

Politics: Discussions have begun at the state level but seem pretty nebulous at this time.
I have seen a couple of articles tracing the history of what has been done about statewide flood control and relative to the Hill Country, I am not impressed.

Locally, I obviously don’t know what has been going on behind the scenes, but things have just started at the City Council in Kerrville and at the County Commissioners of Kerr County. There is a public hearing this Thursday at 9:30am at the Ag Barn (properly known as the Hill Country Youth Event Center in Kerrville) on disaster preparedness and flooding put on by The Texas Legislature’s Joint Committee to hear testimony from officials with the City of Kerrville and Kerr County relative to the emergency response to the July 4 flood.

The Mayor, City Manager, and Kerr County Judge are scheduled to speak. Citizens who sign up will each be allowed to speak for 3 minutes.  I plan on attending, and if there is any interest, I can try to provide a follow up. I envision this disaster response and responsibility assessment to go on for some time.
If interested: there is a 37 min Utube video of the 30+ rise of the G.River at the Center Point bridge about 12 miles east of Kerrville. The last 2 minutes/so show a house floating down the river and lodging at the bridge. The water crests over the bridge with sizeable debris being deposited. That water is what all of us on the river were exposed to. It is being described as a “thousand year” flood.

Lesson Painfully Learned

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So, what have we learned?  What have I learned?  After fifty years as an adult living in the United States I have learned one thing.

The only thing that counts from leaders is results.

In addition to that are all the other things you learn by living in the madhouse that was the last quarter of the twentieth century and the first quarter of the twenty first:

  • Talk, of all kinds, is cheap and almost meaningless.
  • Good intentions by themselves achieve nothing.
  • Action that is not informed by intelligence and purpose can sometimes be worse than inaction.
  • Most politicians are liars and crooks.
  • Those that aren’t, often are insane.
  • Everyone has ulterior motives. The trick is to align with those whose motives are compatible with yours.
  • There are no angels out there, only men. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
  • Allies can come from the most unexpected corners.
  • Stay far away from really stupid people. They’ll get you killed.
  • Lots of conspiracy theories have turned out to be true. Be careful whom you talk to.
  • Just because you’re the only one in a dozen people who think something is a bad idea doesn’t mean you’re wrong. It might mean they’re feds.
  • Someone can be really smart and have all the facts and still come to the wrong conclusions. Use common sense.
  • There are nuts on both sides of the political divide. Use common sense.
  • Don’t let political differences destroy your family. Tread gently here.
  • Keep a sense of humor. You’ll need it.
  • Don’t let hate eat you up. Most of the people on the other side aren’t monsters.  A few are but don’t transfer that status to everyone.  Unless you live in some kind of red bubble you will meet up with the Left.  Don’t become unhinged.
  • Don’t become manic or depressed. There will always be victories and defeats.  Learn how to live in the real world not a wonderland that will never be.
  • No one is God except God. Trump is a man.  He’s just as imperfect and prone to error as everyone else.  He will not save us and one day he won’t be in charge.  Remember the big picture.
  • Figure out your actual convictions. What do you truly believe in?  What is unimportant?
  • Figure out what you want to achieve in your life and decide if this is likely under the current political regime.
  • Align your goals with the world as it really is. For example, cable news anchorman may no longer be a reasonable career path.  Whereas news influencer has some currency.
  • Don’t waste too much time agonizing over things you have absolutely no control over.
  • Spend the time prioritizing the actions you can achieve according to how much they will benefit you.
  • Spend as much time as you possibly can with people you like.
  • Learn how to communicate with people who hold extremely differing views from you. For instance, learn how to disagree with someone in a conversation without insulting him.
  • Find some friends out there and laugh with them when you can.

There, that was fun.

Books Without Capon

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Pitchman/Host – Well, that was a fascinating two-hour in-depth discussion on how a tote-bag ended its life as a cat sarcophagus for Mr. Fluffy Pants.  And now it’s time for us once again to receive our daily dose of wisdom from Books and Capon.  Well, of course only David Books is still on the set.  Jonathan Capon had to be let go due to “H.R. 4 – The Rescission Bill of 2025” stripping us of $1.1 billion of funding and reducing us to this endless round of begathons and hawking those lousy tote bags and crumby umbrellas.  Well, anyway hello David.

David Books – Hello Barry.  Actually, I will have Jonathan Capon on this episode.  We have a camera crew out on the street and they ran into him plying his new trade.  Hello Jonathan, how is your new career working out for you.

Jonathan Capon – Hello David, hello Barry.  Career?  Currently I’m living under an overpass in a refrigerator box and I have become the property of Big Bob and his “posse.”  It’s not great.  However there has been some talk about me taking classes to become a sidewalk mime.  Apparently, this would increase my status and Bob might be able to trade me to Carl who has two refrigerator boxes and rules over a corner that has a working fire hydrant.  Now that’s hope and change.  And how is the fund-raising going back there at the old place?

David Books – Well, not so good.  I thought I had my mother and sister committed on a tote-bag sale but at the last moment those cheap old bags reneged.  Now I’m reduced to cold-calling from the Manhattan reverse directory and avoiding the station manager in the hallways and elevators.  And last night when I went to get my car in the parking lot, someone scratched, “ALWAYS BE CLOSING” on the driver door.  They checked the security camera and I swear the guy looked like Donald Trump.  I’m a nervous wreck!

Jonathan Capon – Yeah, well, compared to keeping Big Bob satisfied I’d say you’re complaining about some real “first world problems” Davy boy.  Has there been any progress on having H.R. 4 rescinded and restoring us to the good old days.

David Books – No, not so much.  In fact, last week CBS cancelled Stephen Colbert and the whole Late Show.  There’s even talk about Kimmel and Fallon getting canned too.

Jonathan Capon – No!!!  How is that possible?  CBS is the Tifanny Network.  They speak truth to power and hold Trump accountable.

Pitchman/Host – Yeah, well it turns out Tifanny was losing forty-six big ones a year and Daddy’s gotta eat too.  So, we all have to do our part around here David.  Starting tomorrow we’re gonna have a little sales contest.  First prize is a corner office.  Second prize is a set of steak knives.  Third prize is you join Jonathan and Big Bob in the refrigerator box.  And another thing.  No more coffee until you sell a tote bag.  Coffee is for winners.  Losers clean the men’s room after hours.  And today is your turn, loser.

Jonathan Capon – Well David, maybe I’ll be seeing you around.  Better stock up on lifesavers.  Big Bob favors wintergreen.