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August 15, 2025
Sunrise — 5:59, 6:23, 6:23.
Talk about whatever you like in the comments. And please support the Althouse blog by doing your Amazon shopping going in through the Althouse Amazon link.
Posts
117 comments:
I saw "Winter Kills" 40 years ago when it first came out. Between that picture and "Cutter's Way" a few years later you can sort of see the roots of "The Big Lebowski": Conspiracy theories + slacker/hipster milieu + Jeff Bridges.
*
You can now get an AI tutor for foreign language study at a fraction of what a real live human tutor would charge. The tutor is cute but annoying. She keeps saying, "Are you trying to say that ..." and "Do you mean that ..." plus the intended phrase with the right grammar, syntax and pronunciation. I suppose she gives language learners a focus and a face for their frustration and rage. Still, you can't actually punch her. You probably could change the face and the voice, but you still can't punch any of the AI tutors.
The Daily Mail has doxxed Jen Psaki, showing readers her actual home in Arlington, Virginia.
It's a 6-bedroom McMansion palace worth $2.5 million dollars. She's married and has 2 kids, so it's quite shocking that she would have the extra funds to purchase a 6-bedroom home in one of the nation's safest cities.
The home's location is easily discoverable using Google now. You just have to plug in the photos they published and ask any of the AI programs around to match it to a location.
So now, you and I can do what Democrats frequently do: They show up to Republican's homes and hold demonstrations at 3 in the morning. Except now we can all do that to Jenn Psaki and scare the ever loving fuck out of her kids. Which, by the way, we can infer where they go to school based on their age and location to nearby schools. So it's not too hard to find them, either.
So it's quite cool to see one media organization declare WAR on another media organization this way.
The Daily Mail only did this because Jenn Psaki has been falsely telling her viewers on MSNBC that Washington, DC is perfectly safe and that Donald Trump is executing a fascist takeover of the police - Hitler style - in preparation for declaring himself the Dictator of America soon.
Except that Jenn Psaki doesn't LIVE in unsafe, crime-ridden Washington, DC. So they showed people where she actually lives. She lives in Arlington, Virginia. Very white. Very safe.
Now, we can go to Jenn Psaki's house, in the early morning hours when her kids feel safe all snuggled in their beds, and protest her. And we don't have to worry about being car-jacked to and from her house. We can spend all day and night protesting her at her home. Where her family lives.
Like Democrats do.
I am looking forward to a similar view all next week, just a bit further south. I'd share pics, but I don't want to create another social media account. Besides, Ann's and Meade's are perfect on their own.
Trump is a very stupid man taken to task by VVP who agreed to nothing. And if you didn't believe in "Russia, Russia, Russia" before, there is no doubt now that Russia owns him. Putin said not a single word about a deal but Trump is fundraising because nobody makes a deal like Trump.
Trump promised a call to President Zelensky about any progress on a deal. but went on Fox News with for an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity instead.
Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall, released 1961. I first head this album in1965 and loved it.
Big Boss Man - Jimmy Reed
Russia if your listening "Release the Epstein tapes and files" Donny you can leave here and head into space but when you return its the same old place. Prices rising, still fighting and killng in war zones, and EPSTEIN ain't going away. The biggest tax on Americans (tariffs ) ARE STARTING TO SHOW THE REAL NUMBERS,YOU BETTER FIRE ALL THEM PEOPLE AND GET YOUR CHRONIES IN.. And entertaining a war criminal on US soil is riduculous like this fake meeting that accomplished nothing but stop news cycle for 10 minutes anyway..
Putin was smirking and holding back actual laughter, especially when Trump brought up “Russia Russia Russia” during the so called press conference. How embarrassing for the US to have this fool of a president bring up his petty domestic grievances to Putin as if Putin were his daddy. Trump clapping for Putin on the red carpet, it was cringeworthy and debased the US presidency.
william50: The Grateful Dead did a great version of Big Boss Man as well.
https://youtu.be/v6hK9L42bvE?si=YR0aRkkEeNiXcNS0
RR
JSM
“Trump is fundraising”
Glad to hear it.
Putin is playing Trump like a Deliverance banjo. Putin is playing 3 dimensional chess. Trump is playing checkers. Putin knows that Trump has no standing, since he already promised the American voters that he would end the Russia/Ukraine War within 24 hours, which of course never happened. All talk and no show on Trump's part. Putin knows this.
War and death will continue. Lefties jump for joy.
Disgusting.
Inga wrote: "How embarrassing for the US to have this fool of a president ..."
Hillary Clinton said today that she will nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize if he is able to get Russia and Ukraine to stop their war. Hillary Clinton said this. Hillary. Clinton.
The thing about Donald Trump is that he puts himself in the arena - in the line of literal fire. Repeatedly. So that "people" like Inga can snipe at him and take their cheap shots.
Teddy Roosevelt knew about people like her. He said:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the woman who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who strives, who dares greatly, and who perseveres; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Inga doesn't understand that men spend themselves. She is a taker in life. But that's not what men do. Men spend themselves on these endeavors, knowing full well the risk of failure. Yet they persist.
I really feel sorry for Inga, living such a shallow, safe, protected life. Never once knowing the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat.
Europe should deploy the weapon systems and forces to the eastern border and those logistical and support forces inside Ukraine that will constitute the overall future deterrent force to face Russia. Containing Russia is going to be a long-term mission requiring the deployment of significant hard power on an extended basis. The goal will be to establish a Cold War-like ceasefire in place along the entire eastern border.
The current barbed-wire border in eastern Ukraine is just one border among many along the entire eastern European border with Russia. It is an integrated problem regardless of the formality of which treaty or agreement covers which border. Russia is sure to test all of them.
Europe should put significant air forces and artillery capabilities that could quickly intervene in Ukraine--particularly air defense and air offensive capabilities--into eastern Nato countries while concurrently putting a large logistics force inside Ukraine that would free up troops for active deployment on the contested border. The logistic force itself would have something of a trip wire presence.
America has gone wobbly. European leaders should further explain this to voters while explaining that a prosperous economy and secure living spaces require a permanent and robust security presence along the entire eastern border. The challenge is wider than just the Ukraine.
It is also time for European leaders to back away from happy talk about cheap expansion and to start talking about the real costs of securing borders and consolidating the cohesion and integration of the existing EU and European community.
Europeans do not want to be part of Trump's America even if they could be. So they need to go about finishing the European Project which was always going to ultimately involve finishing a European defense and security architecture that was European led and not American-led. That time has arrived.
The comments here sound like they were cribbed from the BBC, NSNBC, or a Democrat Politician. Its embarrassing the way the MSM (including Fox news) is quoting hillary Clinton, or john bolten, or any of the other fucking losers.
We don't serious media and we don't have serious country. And we have the Democrats and their dumbshit followers just using this as an attempt to attack Trump. But then they're amoral scum. They don't care about Genocide in Gaza, they don't care about ending the Ukraine war which has killed hundreds of thousands. They don't even care about fucking WW III!
Nope, its all Orange man bad. And let me follow the party line. Putin bad. Cause, Stephen Colbert said so. Most them can't even tell you what country Kursk is in! Nuclear weapons? What are those? NPR didn't tell me. LOL.
Goddamn, Trump isn't perfect but compared to Scum like Biden and Hillary, he's a Goddamn George Washington. At least he tries to do what's right.
I see the lefty mincing has begun in earnest. Must be Friday evening.
..["Trump isn't perfect but compared to Scum like Biden and Hillary, he's a Goddamn George Washington. At least he tries to do what's right."
Trump has long preferred the company of Vladimir Putin to that of most leaders of US allies. This preference is not due to Putin having secret leverage over Trump, but rather because Trump perceives that leaders from Europe, Canada, Australia, and other democratic nations neither like nor respect him.
This dynamic is similar to Trump’s close relationships with Mohammed bin Salman and other Gulf leaders. Additionally, Trump admires their ability to govern without the checks and balances that constrain his own leadership.
“I really feel sorry for Inga, living such a shallow, safe, protected life. Never once knowing the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat.”
Unlike former law clerks…
@FormerLawClerk, Clinton doesn’t mean it. She lies reflexively, like most people breathe.
This happened three weeks ago, sorry I did not see it earlier, but coverage has been scarce (geee, I wonder why....) (except for the obligatory simp story from the Tom Barrett bought and paid for Milwaukee Urinal Sentinal):
Up at the UW Eau Claire, piece of $hI+ leftist faculty scumbag, José Phillipe Alvergue, has been suspended for one year without pay, denied full professorship, and wrote a non-apology apology for his unhinged violent attack against the campus student Republicans.
To our esteemed hostess, a legal question: nolo contendere pleas vary by state. Does WI allow a litigant to use no contest pleas in lawsuits?
That was the Fyre Festival of summit meetings...
Kurt Schlichter
@KurtSchlichter
Remember, they’re not afraid that Trump will fail to negotiate a peace. They’re terrified that he will.
Trump had the Stealth Bomber buzz Vlad with a flyover. You know that jet. The one that bombed Iran's nuke facility.
Trump is a genius. A highly stable genius.
Personally, I wasnt surprised no deal was concluded. NATO and Zelensky want forever war. Their position is "No land concessions to Russia". The Russia-Ukraine border of 2000 cant be change.
Except, Russia has control of Crimea, and the breakaway Republics and these places are now part of Russia. Not just Putin, but the Russian people aren't giving those places back. Period.
Amoral freaks like Hillary, biden, and Lindsey Graham, just want the killing to continue. As Miss lindsey chortled "We're killing Ruskiees and at bargin Prices".
Ultimately, the war will end when the Ukrainian people rise up get rid of Dictator Zelensky. Or Russian tanks roll into the outskirts of Kiev and impose regime change. Because the strongman with 3 passports and a zillion dollars socked away, is determined to please his NATO/Neo-con masters.
John, thanks for the link! Jerry missed a verse but made up for it with his guitar playing. Thanks again.
"Trump had the Stealth Bomber buzz Vlad with a flyover. You know that jet. The one that bombed Iran's nuke facility."
I wondered what they were looking up at.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates around 250,000 Russian soldiers have died since February 2022. Their analysis suggests over 950,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of the war.
Russian can't keep suffering these losses; especially with low oil prices and more sanctions that Trump will impose.
"Unlike former law clerks… "
I have known both victory and defeat, of course, as all men have. As has Trump. He was bankrupt. Then Barack Obama thought he should try to dunk on Donald Trump. And if you saw Obama's gay ass first pitch at that baseball game, you'd know that Barack Obama is a little girlie man, unworthy of taking down someone with so large a set of balls such as Donald J. Trump. He literally throws a baseball like a fucking girl.
How'd that shit work out? How'd trying to murder Donald Trump work out. Twice?
Inga's grandchildren need to get her to bed now. It's past time.
What was accomplished? Putin got his 'Summit' moment to steady his image on top of a shaky economy and military quagmire. Trump put Epstein on the back page.
“I have known both victory and defeat, of course, as all men have.”
I’m getting goosebumps.
FormerLawClerk said...
"I really feel sorry for Inga, living such a shallow, safe, protected life. Never once knowing the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat."
****************
Oh, I think Inga's experienced the agony of defeat. That pic of a dumpy, bespectacled woman in a lime green jacket screaming at the clouds, taken when it was clear Trump had beaten Hillary?
That's either Inga--- or her unlucky doppelganger.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is run by the chairman of the Hyatt Hotel chain.
You'll remember them as having the distinction of being the hotel chain that owns the record for killing American citizens with their engineering talent.
That record stands at 114 dead Americans.
I don't think I'm taking their advice on anything.
“That pic of a dumpy, bespectacled woman in a lime green jacket screaming at the clouds…”
You’re a bad husband not recognizing your own wife.
"I’m getting goosebumps."
I'm getting dry heaves knowing that I've somehow titillated someone of your girth.
Oh, I think Inga's experienced the agony of defeat.
I was talking with a Greek friend one time about the Iliad. I said, "No way, King Agamemnon laid siege to Troy for a decade just over some tart who ran off. I am pretty sure he did it to take over Troy's stranglehold on trade from the Black Sea, and therefore Asia. He could have gotten fabulously rich." My Greek friend said "You have obviously been internalizing Trojan propaganda."
FLC must need some more victories, talking like a big macho man on Althouse just isn’t cutting it.
This is a really sad news story about a guy (who had had a stroke) who was lured into taking a trip that led to his death:
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-death/
Here's more Inga : Watch the video here
I just returned tonight from a full day at my State's Fair. My wife and I had a lot of fun, even though it was hot, crowded, noisey, and somewhat chaotic. There were so many people there that all of the parking lots were full, so we had to pay $10 to park on someone's lawn and then walk all the long way to the gates. One lasting memory I have is of all of the morbidly obese people there at the fair. Maybe it's because of all of the junk food that they serve at a fair. Foot long deep fried corn dogs. You get the picture. The only other two places that I have observed that had so many morbidly obese people were at a Wal Mart, and at a Trump campaign rally.
I like the sequence of your sunrise photos - looks like the tide was ebbing as the Sun arced higher.
I love the way Gavin Newsom is trolling Trump lately, very well done!
Video: A conspiracy motherload, condensed in 1 minute and 15 seconds.
"I love the way Gavin Newsom is trolling Trump lately"
LOLOLOLOLOoooooooooo
That's some Grade A cope right there, boys.
"Trump brought up “Russia Russia Russia” during the so called press conference. How embarrassing for the US to have this fool of a president bring up his petty domestic grievances to Putin as if Putin were his daddy. Trump clapping for Putin on the red carpet, it was cringeworthy and"
Considering that Obama's intelligence agencies fabricated a narrative that Putin meddled in the 2016 election, I wouldn't exactly characterize it as solely domestic. Not only was it treasonous, it was dangerous.
Looks like a long unpleasant night in the Comments.
FLC, ref picketing Psaki: anyone doing that would enter the vortex of a perfect storm. Arlington is safe because their police still arrest people. Which would include anyone violating time/place/manner restrictions. And then you'd pinball from righty police to a lefty jury.
How dare you aspire above your tier of the justice system? Silly citizen. Work, pay your taxes, and stfu.
RR
JSM
After falling behind 8-1 in the 2nd inning, the Brewers battle back to win 10-8.
"The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates around 250,000 Russian soldiers have died since February 2022. Their analysis suggests over 950,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of the war."
CSIS estimated the Ukrainian KIA are 100,000 which makes me doubt their numbers. Russia has a massive superiority in drones, missiles, artillery, and AFVs. The Ukrainian offensive into Kursk was remarkable for its disregard for losses, and the UFA normally lets its soldiers get killed or taken POW rather than give ground.
Either Ukrainian losses are a million, or Russian losses are much less than 1 million. Pick one.
By comparison during WW II in the MTO and ETO, the US army was constantly on the offensive, and had a 3-1 superiority in tanks, artillery, and 10-1 in air power yet our KIA and the Germans was more or less equal.
Looks like a long unpleasant night in the Comments.
IOW, "inga and friends".
Lem Vibe Bandit said...
Video: A conspiracy motherload, condensed in 1 minute and 15 seconds.
**************
So...."They" somehow managed to swap two ships gigantic for their era.....and nobody noticed?
You're right, it is a "conspiracy motherlode". And a pantload to boot.
Here's AI's take:
Reality:
"The ships had different construction details that would be impossible to fake (port hole arrangements, deck layouts, interior fittings)
Detailed construction records exist for both ships showing their distinct features
Olympic's damage from HMS Hawke collision was fully repaired and documented
Thousands of workers at Harland & Wolff would have had to be part of the conspiracy
Insurance payout was less than the ship's construction cost - not profitable fraud"
SNORT
BTW just saw "Westfront 1918" a movie put out in 1930 and now on Criterion. German made, its more realistic and cynical than "All Quiet on the Western front". But it makes "The Big Parade" look fake and phony by comparison. Primitive in many ways, it packs a punch.
I'd say "wooden crosses" also put out by Criterion remains my favorite WW 1 movie.
"After falling behind 8-1 in the 2nd inning, the Brewers battle back to win 10-8."
Wow.
Do notice how Mr. True Conservative repeats the same, stupid shit as the deranged leftists on this board.
However, I know who those leftists are and what they stand for. And they're a helluva lot more honest than some fucking asshole who claims to be a Republican.
RCOCEAN II said...
By comparison during WW II in the MTO and ETO, the US army was constantly on the offensive, and had a 3-1 superiority in tanks, artillery, and 10-1 in air power yet our KIA and the Germans was more or less equal.
************
Jeez, ya think the fact that the Krauts had already conquered, dug in and fortified the MTO and ETO countries before the Americans landed in Africa and on the Continent to take them back, had ANYTHING TO DO with their relatively high losses?
YA THINK?
Its interesting that there's no 1930s English equivilent to "Westfront" "All Quiet" or "Wooden Crosses". "Journey's End" a 1928 play that was anti-war wasn't made into a Movie till after WWII. In fact, its hard to think of an Anti-war British movie before 1965.
The brits love war, as long as they don't have to fight.
Considering how Gavin failed the state of CA - watching it all burn, in so many different ways... not a surprise to see Inga adore the handsome vapid dumbass.
My point Effing, is that its ridiculous to think the Ukes are inflicting 2.5-1 KIA losses on the Russians when they are being outnumbered in air power, fire power, and tanks. Just like the germans in WWII vs. the Americans. I still don't know what your point is.
Inga said...
I love the way Gavin Newsom is trolling Trump lately, very well done!
Wow.
Just when you think the average democrat can't be any dumber.
Kurt Schlichter
@KurtSchlichter
Remember, they’re not afraid that Trump will fail to negotiate a peace. They’re terrified that he will.
Dave Begley said...
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates around 250,000 Russian soldiers have died since February 2022. Their analysis suggests over 950,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of the war.
Russian can't keep suffering these losses; especially with low oil prices and more sanctions that Trump will impose.
The problem with this "analysis" is that Russia would not be consistently taking ground if it were true.
We know that Ukraine is losing more men than that.
Ukraine has almost certainly lost more men than Russia.
RCOCEAN II said...
My point Effing, is that its ridiculous to think the Ukes are inflicting 2.5-1 KIA losses on the Russians when they are being outnumbered in air power, fire power, and tanks. Just like the germans in WWII vs. the Americans. I still don't know what your point is.
********
Since you clarified your point, it needed clarification. So..OK.
"Remember, they’re not afraid that Trump will fail to negotiate a peace. They’re terrified that he will."
That's why I despise them. They are amoral scum.
Inga said...
Putin was smirking and holding back actual laughter, especially when Trump brought up “Russia Russia Russia” during the so called press conference. How embarrassing for the US to have this fool of a president bring up his petty domestic grievances to Putin as if Putin were his daddy. Trump clapping for Putin on the red carpet, it was cringeworthy and debased the US presidency.
A decent human being would be embarrassed that they fell for lies and supported a traitorous conspiracy to depose the President of the United States.
But Inga is a complete piece of shit so.
gadfly said...
Trump is a very stupid man taken to task by VVP who agreed to nothing. And if you didn't believe in "Russia, Russia, Russia" before, there is no doubt now that Russia owns him. Putin said not a single word about a deal but Trump is fundraising because nobody makes a deal like Trump.
Trump promised a call to President Zelensky about any progress on a deal. but went on Fox News with for an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity instead.
Your problem is that Obama sold Crimea to Putin and Biden let Putin start this war. Hillary sold US uranium to Russia as well.
Remember when Obama promised he would have more flexibility after the election in 2012? That was him negotiating. How much do you think they got for Crimea?
I am also curious how much of the Biden cash he got from Russia was for depressing US oil production and keeping oil prices high for his friend Vlad. If Biden hadn't raised oil prices then Putin wouldn't have been able to afford his limited incursion.
Of course the capstone to this was Obama and Hillary working with Russian spies to create the Steele Dossier.
All of this is on video and thoroughly documented. Could you imagine the hullabaloo if Trump had done even one of these things?
Gavin Newsom rattled by a hat.
lonejustice said...
Putin is playing Trump like a Deliverance banjo. Putin is playing 3 dimensional chess. Trump is playing checkers. Putin knows that Trump has no standing, since he already promised the American voters that he would end the Russia/Ukraine War within 24 hours, which of course never happened. All talk and no show on Trump's part. Putin knows this.
It is as if these people don't remember how this war started. They are just so stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi2qd5QHG6k
The thrill of victory and the agony of de feet. Plus, lots of commercials!
Back when SNL was funny:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_01LySbRnY
Inag - at least Kamala lost. We sure did dodge a bullet there.
As far as your lame mind-reading - lol. You must snort MSNBC with your whine.
Looks like lonejuicebox and Howard (that Howard) have traded places.
https://youtu.be/LUCCR4jAS3Y?si=NYQYGtHBYL1NkAlo
Fuck the EU.
CNN - Trump may not have lost, but Putin certainly won.
LOL. We have 13 year old Girls running our TV networks. Two men in charge of two countries with 12000 nuclear warheads, meet to end a war that's killed thousands of people. And the libtard media reduces it to.. Gosh, advantage Putin.
It'd be easy to laugh. Except these killer-clowns brainwash millions of libtards. "Hey, we need to stop that there Putin and we need to give billions to keep the war and the death and destruction going on, because Orange man bad"
Could someone from the sane side of this discussion about the Alaska summit (the MAGA side) explain why the Democrat Trump-haters $ so thrilled that Trump’s efforts at ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict are so far (!) been unsuccessful. What is the thrill to them of neverending wars? I mean, I get that if Trump were to advocate for oxygen, then Kaki, Freder, and Inga the Stinka would put plastic bags over their heads and tape them tight around their necks, but why the glee from nominally moderate Democrats? War is wasteful, of lives, of resources, and of people’s hopes and dreams, and anything that has the potential to end a war should be encouraged (or so it seems to me). So why would people dump on him to get him to quit seeking peace?
Russia has long had a strategic goal of turning the Black Sea into a Russian lake, and this goes back centuries. In the 1850’s the fought a war against the combined armies of Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire to add the Crimea and the port of Sevastopol. The Aurelian’s lost and the Oftomans got to keep the Crimea — for a little longer. The Brits got a famous poem by Tennyson and the legend of Florence Nightingale out of the war, and not much else besides thwarting Russia. But Russia, having at last gotten Crimea, isn’t going to give it back.
So we shall see. Zelenskyy won’t budge easily and Putin won’t budge easily, but Trump is amazingly persistent. We shall see
Achilles said...
Inga said...
Just when you think the average democrat can't be any dumber.
Oh Achilles, Inga is far below average.
Gavin wearing the hat that rattled him…
https://x.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1956140833570234524?s=19
"Since you clarified your point, it needed clarification. So..OK."
Well you win then. What a childish clown.
“The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates around 250,000 Russian soldiers have died since February 2022. Their analysis suggests over 950,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of the war.”
Almost a million casualties in a relatively low-intensity border war waged against a smaller opponent? I think not. A quick dip into modern conflict casualty figures will made it obvious the CSIS is someone’s propagandist.
Why are car and truck exterior colors so boring these days? I bought a Santa Cruz XRT in Canyon Red a week ago, it was the only XRT new or used on the lot out of 3 dozen that was not white, black, gray. I drove directly to Mom’s parking garage and noticed the same, 40 cars, half of them very high end sports cars, and with the exception of one maroon Tesla, they were all black, white, gray, or silver.
Igna wants peace to fail, for cities and civilization to fail, for a million dead Ukrainians and Russians. Because Trump.
Like I told my son when his 401k took a hit during the tariff chaos. Sit tight. Trump plays the long game.
The Crimean War was NOT about keeping the Crimea. It was the result of Russian aggression in the Balkans - it was just more convenient to pressure Russia there. Currently reading Orlango Figes "The Crimean War", which is very relevant deep dive into that mess. Highly recommended, Figes goes way beyond the usual military histories, and goes way broader than Tolstoy, who gives a worms eye view (a most poetical worm it must be said). Go buy all of Figes through Althouse.
Tactical optics may have been achieved, but from a signaling standpoint the strategic optics were sub-optimal — especially given how China watches these moves when calibrating deterrence in places like the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. And if Russia isn’t going to de-escalate and Ukraine’s payoff is degenerating regardless, then a soft-line U.S. posture risks producing the worst possible signaling outcome — encouraging Chinese opportunism rather than deterring it.
Curious how you all see it?
From the Ukrainian point of view the goal is liberty and national survival. How hard are you willing to fight for your own liberty and nation? And what kind of a creep would you have to be to disparage them for trying?
Via Canada’s SDA blog : “The Doctor will kill you now”
Link to latest Insta NY Post column
Early Halloween
The MAGA hatred for Ukraine has reversed my previous support. There are a host of things wrong with the US that MAGA might fix, and desperatelyneeds fixing, but this evil hatred for an oppressed country makes me question the morals of MAGA people. Being anti-Ukraine is simply Satanic.
And then there are the Satans spawn in the US that are dedicated to destroying it. I, and no doubt many others all over the world, are stuck between satanic elements in the US. Satan to the left of me, Satan to the right of me, between Inga and Achilles, you characters are all tails and horns.
buwaya said...
The MAGA hatred for Ukraine has reversed my previous support.
************
What is YOUR plan?
Why is wanting to end a war a symptom of "hatred" toward one of the combatant countries?
Do you think the US should show its "love" for Ukraine by committing our weapons and young people to fight for the Ukrainians?
Do you not understand the Obama and Biden set up this situation by pushing for Ukraine's NATO membership AT THE SAME TIME they got them to give up their nuclear weapons?
Their perfidy directly lead to this war. They should broil in Hell for doing so.
RCOCEAN II said...
"Since you clarified your point, it needed clarification. So..OK."
Well you win then. What a childish clown.
***********
Why do you think authors need "editors"? What do you think they do?
Peterr writes:
Trump hates being told he is wrong or will lose.
He hates it when his lawyers tell him that.
He hates it when judges tell him that.
He hates it when the intelligence agencies tell him that.
He hates it when foreign leaders tell him that.
Most of all, he hates it when the media tell him that.
As I said two years ago, Trump will cling to his Lloyd Christmas (Dumb and Dumber) 1-in-a-million chance — that one judge, that one lawyer, that one intelligence person — that tells him he’s right. And right now, Putin is that guy.
Which gives Putin power.
And Putin knows it. I can hear him now, making his opening pitch at the beginning of this meeting in Alaska, behind closed doors with just Putin, Trump, and Putin’s interpreter . .
“You need me, Donald.
To show the world that you are right and all of them are wrong.
To get the vindication you are due.
To get the revenge you long to deliver.
To get the accolades and rewards you so richly deserve.
You need me, Donald.
You don’t need Zelenskyy.
You don’t need Starmer or Merz or Macron or the rest of the EU so-called leaders.
You don’t need the dweebs in Congress or the Deep State fools at Foggy Bottom, the Pentagon, and Langley.
You don’t need the oh-so-Important media pundits.
You don’t need the ivory tower historians.
You need me, because together we can bend them all to our will.
You can prove them to be wrong.
You can prove them to be stupid.
You can prove them to be weak.
You need me.
And this is what I need from you . . .”
Fiona Hill: It’s a mistake for Trump to meet Putin alone
It was GHW Bush that got Ukraine to give up their nukes more than 30 years ago. Who cares what other American idiots permitted Putin to commit the evil he was always inclined to do? That does not permit you to excuse or evade your responsibilities.
Correction, it was Clintons people that actually signed the Budapest memorandum. It made sense at the time in the cause of anti-proliferation, and was a continuation of policies of the previous administration. But Russia was a different place then, and so apparently is the US.
Orlando Figes specializes in Russian history. I have most of his books and I recommend them. "A Peoples Tragedy", on the revolution and civil war, is especially good, and is an education in itself on the sociology and economics of Russia.
@buwaya (12:44), if I’m wrong about the proximate origin of the Crimean War then I have a lot of company. I’m not where I can research this past Wikipedia (which seems to agree with you) but thanks for the pointer. I will stand by Russia desiring that the Black Sea become a Russian lake, however.
But then you wrote ”The MAGA hatred for Ukraine has reversed my previous support. There are a host of things wrong with the US that MAGA might fix, and desperatelyneeds fixing, but this evil hatred for an oppressed country makes me question the morals of MAGA people.”
Most of us don’t that much care about Ukraine, past the scary fact that our munitions were being sent to Ukraine — and expended — faster than they’re being replenished, and the danger to the US is obvious. But we are not “anti-Ukraine” to be pro-USA. Incidentally, we don’t another forever war so soon after Afghanistan.
Origins and purpose of the Crimean war. A lot of the background thereof was very reminiscent of the sort of thinking the Russians have been displaying lately btw, such as the crushing of the liberal governments of Romania and Hungary (1848). Russia was a problem for a very long time. It was not just the Soviets.
Jen Psaki is a lying animal who doesn't care how many young black men kill each other. You are 98 times more likely to be murdered in DC if you are black, virtually all killed by other blacks. That's 98 times, not a percentage. And Jen Psaki is such a sick, heartless racist that this matters to her only as a talking point against Trump. Sick bitch, right down to her bones. May she reap what she has sown.
Rt41Rebel said...
“Why are car and truck exterior colors so boring these days? I bought a Santa Cruz XRT in Canyon Red a week ago, it was the only XRT new or used on the lot out of 3 dozen that was not white, black, gray.”
Several factors.
The single biggest one is costs involved in paint shop logistics. If a manufacturer has more color options, the paint shop has to switch out colors more often, which costs time and money. Euro luxury brands like Audi offer (or at least used to), an expanded color palette, although it would require a hefty surcharge.
With a restricted palette, manufactures tend to offer neutral colors for maximum appeal. The applies not just to the customers, but the same company’s products as well. For example, a little Hyundai Kona in a bold color looks cute. Your bigger Santa Cruz in the same color would look ridiculous. So the majority of the Santa Cruzes are painted a neutral colors, with a lesser number of ‘splash’ colors like red.
There’s probably more, but those are the main reasons I remember off the top of my head.
I’d be worried more about that Hyundai engine than the damn paint color.
I love Inga. Even before 2016, Inga has been, like George Costanza, the ultimate and reliable guide for decision-making: Whatever position Inga takes — I take the opposite. Whatever Inga says — I say the opposite. Works every time, every where, in every way. Since 2016, I have never made a bad decision, I have never been wrong, I’ve been right about everything. Thanks, Inga! Love you girl!
From Lawrence Person's Battleswarm Blog, yesterday:
"Remember how Alan Dershowitz said that two judges are holding up release of the Epstein files?
Obama Judge Refuses To Release Ghislaine Maxwell Grand Jury Transcripts
District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer (Obama) wrote in his order that the government’s premise that unsealing the records would shed light on meaningful new information was “demonstrably false,” and that “unsealing the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence.”
“Contrary to the Government’s depiction, the Maxwell grand jury testimony is not a matter of significant historical or public interest. Far from it,” he wrote. “It consists of garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents. And the information it contains is already almost entirely a matter of longstanding public record.
Translation: Either it implicates powerful Democrats, or else we need to keep the issue alive to try to dirty up President Trump."
"...The MAGA hatred for Ukraine..."
I think that's a ridiculous thing to postulate. Trump voters do not hate the Ukraine. I would even go so far as to say, too many Americans could not even pick it out on a map, unless it was marked 'transgender', thanks to our education system.
What they hate, and they've been conditioned to hate, is that hundreds of millions of taxpayer's funds have been siphoned off to fight a proxy war against a much-bigger opponent, using Ukrainian souls as cannon fodder. And the whole thing has been engineered into existence by previous administrations for reasons that are not openly discussed.
What is honorable or justifiable about that? Our country has a sordid history of clandestine conflicts that our intelligence services were responsible for creating. Name one of them that was popular with the general public, either at the time or after. Americans.
When the Soviet Union fell, James Baker negotiated tirelessly to get all the nuke stacked in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other Soviet satellites, taken care of and disposed of, so that we didn't have such toys lying around for reckless people. The Ukrainians have long been known as the most corrupt country in eastern Europe, and for good reason. Yet here we are, two Democratic administrations shoveling money into that place without the least accounting for it - but it's the MAGA voters that are wrong-headed about it. I don't pretend to be any expert on the conflict. Maybe you could explain your position without the emotional pejoratives.
"But then you wrote ”The MAGA hatred for Ukraine has reversed my previous support. There are a host of things wrong with the US that MAGA might fix, and desperatelyneeds fixing, but this evil hatred for an oppressed country makes me question the morals of MAGA people.”"
You are fundamentally not understanding. There is no hatred of Ukraine. You trivialize a complex situation. It is a hatred of the traditional political corruption in Ukraine. So we have two hopelessly corrupt cultures going to war with each other. Why should I care?
What the hell happened to buwaya?
Remember the days when the left said that Republicans were too confrontational with the USSR and that we all had to learn to live together on this fragile Spaceship Earth. Today, it seems like any step away from maximal confrontation with Russia is labeled treason by Democrats.
Democrats and the left may have had a point back then as hard as it was for the right to acknowledge it. That is to say, they were wrong but they may not have been entirely wrong about everything. Poking the bear may not always have been the best strategy, especially now that the Communist threat (with or without scare quotes) is no more. The way ought to be opened for a dialogue between 1950s-1980s liberals and today's progressives.
@Inma
I have that concern, if not for the 100k/10yr warranty, I probably would have gone in another direction. Anecdotally, I have two friends with very old high mileage Hyundais that haven’t had any problems at all.
Perhaps the Uke and/or Rus soldiers will turn their guns on their officers and go home, or simply refuse to go forward.
Such things have happened before in that part of the world.
With regard to the color of cars, I have read that the more money people spend on something the more conservative they get about it. For example, it’s pretty rare to see a house painted purple or orange. With the price of a new car heading north of $50K (not m, John Henry), people are more conservative about the color of their cars. Thus about 85-90% of the cars in the typical parking lot are black, white, silver, and gray.
Nothing uglier than a teal car.
I once owned a bright orange Camaro. Nowadays, when thinking about what color of car to get, I'm considering I don't want anything that would draw any more attention than necessary.
A 40 Ford woody in teal would look awesome.
I had a teal woody. I sought immediate medical attention.
RR
JSM
Disarmament of the former Soviet republics was BS. All nukes were controlled by the KGB and the Strategic Rocket Forces. With the Soviet habit of sending the various nationalities into each others countries, no Ukrainians were anywhere near the nukes in Ukraine. Had the Uke government tried to blow past the Tajik gate guards or Estonian outer perimeter, the Russians in the silos would have done a Chernobyl to make the nukes unusable. Or Moscow might have ordered them to nuke the middle of Siberia, while giving us the flight plans. Or if the Russians trucked them out without warning, who the hell was going to play highwayman with a convoy full of Plutonium?
The US and Russia exchanged things they didn’t want for things that couldn’t happen. Just to look like good guys.
RR
JSM
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