Today’s post title is self-explanatory, but incomplete. This might be the last link dump ever for this blog on this platform.
Like too many of today’s companies, WordPress is trying to put the onus of fixing the continuing blog issues on me. I did try one of their suggestions, but of course it didn’t work. What I am telling you is that my days on this platform are very near their end; my days on any platform might be near their end.
A female admirer to Winston Churchill: “Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech the hall is packed to overflowing?”
Churchill: “It is quite flattering, but whenever I feel this way I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.”
Let the link dump begin…
Those of you who are admirers of the 44th President (I suspect few reading this blog are) will not want to read this long piece in Tablet, but you should, anyway. Here are some excerpts:
“During the Trump years, Obama used the tools of the digital age to craft an entirely new type of power center for himself, one that revolved around his unique position as the titular, though pointedly never-named, head of a Democratic Party that he succeeded in refashioning in his own image.”
“Until the fever broke. Today, Donald Trump is victorious, and Obama is the loser. In fact, he looks physically awful—angry and gaunt, after a summer and fall spent lecturing Black men, and Americans in general, on their failure to vote enthusiastically enough for his chosen heir, Kamala Harris, the worst major party presidential candidate in modern American history. The totality of Obama’s failure left party donors feeling cheated. Even George Clooney now disavows him. Meanwhile, Trump and his party are in control of the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court.”
Here is the first sentence of this piece, “The Obama Doctrine is as dead as Yahya Sinwar. And the world is better off in both cases.” Here are two very relevant paragraphs:
“Fortunately, Israel ignored Joe Biden and eliminated Hassan Nasrallah, who was involved in those murders, and decimated much of Hezbollah’s capacity to wage war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, far more risk-averse and far less hawkish than his critics maintain, was compelled by the popular will to settle all family business after Oct 7. The conventional wisdom has been that Israel, a small nation, is impelled to finish wars quickly or risk an economic crash. That was surely the case in the conventional wars of the past. The Jewish state proved it could engage in a prolonged conflict, striking one decisive victory after the next.
Conventional wisdom also said that Israel would be unable to effectively strike deep within Iran. Yet, after the Islamic regime launched 500 ballistic missiles and drones in its direction, Israel slipped 100 jets into the Iranian territory and calmly engaged in precision strikes — a warning that it could mete out far more devastation if it felt like it. And perhaps it will in the future.”
Appeasing evil NEVER works, but too many modern politicians seem to ignore the lessons of history.
Who said this recently?
“Our First Amendment stands as a major block to the ability to be able to hammer disinformation out of existence. What we need is to win…the right to govern by hopefully winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to implement change.”
None other than 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry. “Our First Amendment stands as a major block…” For not the first time, smug, self-righteous and arrogant is no way to go through life. Government does NOT have the right to micro-manage the lives of citizens. Such an arrangement is slavery.
Related to free speech, and the article where I was first made aware of Kerry’s remarks, is this piece in The Free Press that I think/hope you can read without a subscription. By the way, congratulations to The Free Press for reaching one million subscribers. Hey, I always thought I was one in a million. 🙂
Here is a link to a video showing the end of a person who was beyond evil, but is now beyond alive.
Really shifting gears, I was quite impressed with quarterback Drake Maye the two times I saw him play on TV while he was in college. Here is an excerpt from a recent ESPN article:
“It is simultaneously true that [Jayden] Daniels has been excellent, that [Bo] Nix has been good and that Maye has actually been the most impressive of the three. And it doesn’t take anything away from Daniels or Nix that Maye has been so wonderful.
The average NFL viewer likely hasn’t caught much of Maye’s game this season. The Patriots have only three wins and rarely make “NFL RedZone” appearances. Perhaps the 24-21 loss to the Bills brought a few more eyes to the superhero cape that Maye wears every Sunday.”
The three players mentioned are rookie quarterbacks selected in the first round of the most recent NFL draft and who are starting for their teams. The Patriots, Maye’s NFL team, have awful talent surrounding him. For example, according to ESPN metrics the Patriots rank dead last in the league in something they call “Pass Block Win Rate.” Right now, the Patriots would have the second overall pick in next year’s NFL draft. I hope they do right by Maye and get him some help via the draft and free agency; New England is projected to have the most available salary cap space of any team in the league. It is easy to spend money, but much more difficult to spend it wisely.
This article from The Drive reports that Dodge has “changed course” and will continue to produce the Hemi V8, but–for now–it will only be available in the Durango SUV. From the piece, “Dodge cited demand and “customer feedback” as it reversed an earlier decision to shut down V8 production for good by December 31.”
I’m sure John Kerry would like to fine Dodge out of existence for that decision, but fuck John Kerry. My contempt for his ilk burns with the heat of a million suns.
#LastLinkDumpOf2024